Material Donations

Donations are by appointment only.
Appointments are released on a rolling basis, two weeks in advance.
If you don’t see an available appointment time, check back later as new appointments are released daily.

Material donations keep our center running and our community creating

When you donate your preloved creative supplies to ACR, you’re helping to make creativity accessible to more of our community than ever before. Your leftover or unneeded materials get a second life in local classrooms and art studios, and you get that warm, fuzzy feeling that comes with supporting your favorite local nonprofit!


3.2 million pounds saved from the landfill to date and counting!

Donation Appointments

Donation appointments help maintain a consistent flow of materials in the center and a safe environment for our staff, volunteers and shoppers. Check out this video to hear more from our team about how donation appointments help us serve our community even better!

To help us prepare to receive your creative supplies, please select an appointment below that best fits your volume of donations.

Small Donations

  • Maximum of 3 boxes or bags

  • 5 minutes to unload

  • For businesses & individuals

  • Donation receipt available for tax deduction

Schedule A Small Donation Appointment

Large Donations

  • More than 3 boxes or bags

  • 20 minutes to unload

  • For businesses & individuals

  • Donation receipt available for tax deduction

Schedule A Large Donation Appointment

Don’t see an available appointment?

Check back soon! Appointments are released on a rolling basis, two weeks in advance, and can become available sooner when cancellations occur.

ACR reserves the right to reject any donations.

Donation Best Practices

🌟 Want to be a Superstar Donor? Here are a few tips for when you’re gathering your items. A little pre-organization goes a long way and we’ll love you even more for it!

  1. Check to see if we accept what you have to give. There’s info below on the items we do and don’t accept. We will turn away your donation if you bring us items we cannot accept, and we hate having to do that.

  2. Organize your donations prior to bringing them in.

    • Secure items that can tangle easily.

    • Bag small, loose items.

    • Bundle like items or items in a set/with multiple parts together.

  3. Bring your stuff in a container that you will leave with us.

Our “Organization Challenge” video gives you a behind the scenes look at what happens to all of the materials that get donated to ACR and why it’s so important to organize your donations before handing them off to us.

ACR reserves the right to reject any donations.

Items We Love to Receive

 Art Supplies

  • Canvases

  • Paints of all kinds

  • Print Making Supplies

  • Pastels, Charcoals & Drawing Pencils

  • Easels

  • Stained Glass & Mosaic Materials

  • Large & Ornate Frames

Fabric and Notions

  • Quilting Cotton (at least 1/4 yd)

  • Apparel & Home Fabric (at least 18" x 18")

  • Specialty Fabrics & Materials: Burlap, Leather, Fur, Vinyl, Wool (at least 4" x 4")

  • Batting & Interfacing

  • Yardage

  • Sewing Machines

  • Quilting Rulers & Templates

  • Thread of All Kinds

  • Batting

  • Mannequins & Sewing Forms

Fiber Arts

  • Yarn & Wool Roving

  • Embroidery Floss & Hoops

  • Needlework Kits

  • Your Grandma’s Linens

  • Punch Needle Supplies

Scrapbook and Paper Craft

  • Quilling Supplies

  • Postcards

  • Specialty Papers

  • Paper Trimmers

  • Cricut Machines

Craft and Education

  • Small Toys (<4” - plastic, wood, or metal)

  • Puzzles & Games

  • Glue Guns

  • All Types of Glue

  • Beads & Jewelry Making Supplies

  • Organizing Containers

Vintage and Collectibles

  • Photos & Slides

  • Magazines (pre-1970s)

  • Maps

  • Unique Vintage & Antique Items

  • Kitsch

Miscellaneous

  • Drawer & Cabinet Pulls

  • Hand Tools & Power Tools

Don’t see the specific item that you would like to donate? We take lots more than what’s listed above! See our Itemized List of What We Accept.

Still have questions about a specific item? Contact us!

What We Cannot Accept

In general, Austin Creative Reuse will not accept anything that has been exposed to any amount of mold, mildew, pests, hazardous chemicals, poisons, and possible allergens such as peanuts or peanut products. We will also not accept items that have been out in the rain or other elements, items that have a strong odor, or items that have been recalled by their manufacturer.

All donated items should be clean and in good reusable condition and should not pose a danger to our staff and volunteers. If you wouldn’t want to process it, our staff and volunteers don’t either!

When we receive items that we cannot sell or reuse, it costs ACR valuable time and money to dispose of them properly. We’d much rather have our staff and volunteers spend that energy talking to you about your ideas and projects!

Here are some commonly asked about items that we CANNOT accept.

🚫 PLEASE, for the love of reuse, don’t bring us these items! 🚫

  • Hangers

  • Hanging file folders

  • Lamps (except vintage), cloth lamp shades, or lighting fixtures (except vintage)

  • Liquids without their original labels

  • Lumber or scrap wood

  • Mattresses, bedding & towels

  • Pianos

  • Phones (except vintage)

  • Plush toys (except Beanie Babies & other collectibles)

  • POS systems

  • Potpourri

  • Prescription or other medication bottles

  • Shoes & cardboard shoe boxes

  • Single use plastic bags

  • Styrofoam (except craft or floral)

  • Take-out containers, utensils & straws

  • Toxic substances (or anything that contained toxic substances)

  • Weapons

  • Window blinds

  • Air bags (for packing)

  • Alcohol bottles

  • Appliances & large furniture

  • Art projects that require disassembly

  • Binders

  • Candles in glass or ceramic containers

  • Ceiling fans

  • Clothing & parts of clothing (includes socks & denim cutoffs)

  • Cloth masks

  • Computers, monitors, printers or other large electronics

  • Curtains, valances & curtain rods

  • Coffee cups, dishes, pots & pans, utensils (except vintage)

  • Dried out paint

  • DVDs & VHS tapes & cases

  • Educational workbooks (added Apr 2025)

  • Empty spray paint cans

  • Encyclopedias (unless vintage and illustration-driven)

  • Fabric scraps (non-quilting cotton)

  • Flooring & carpet

  • Food jars (except mason jars & Oui yogurt jars with labels removed)

  • General household recycling (plastic food containers, aluminum cans, booze bottles, toilet paper rolls, egg cartons, etc.)

ACR reserves the right to reject any donations.

Other Donation Resources

Just because we can’t take your items, it doesn’t mean they can’t find a great home elsewhere! 
Here are some great additional resources for donating your pre-loved items in Austin:

Austin Reuse Directory

Buy Nothing Project

City of Austin’s What do I do with…

Craigslist

Habitat for Humanity ReStore

Heartening

Donation FAQs

  • All material donations are accepted by appointment. We do not accept donations when our center is closed to the public.

  • Mondays and mornings are our team's only times to catch up on processing material donations and tackle big projects around the center. Because of this, we're unable to take in new materials when we are closed to the public.

  • No. We kindly ask that potential donors respect our space and do not leave donated items outside of the center. Items left outside are subject to theft, rain, extreme heat, pests, and other elements - oftentimes leaving them unusable and requiring us to dispose of them. If you're truly hoping to keep these materials out of the landfill, please make an appointment to bring them.

  • Respectfully, no. On average, we receive 40,000 pounds of donations every month. While "someone could do something" with almost every item folks want to donate - and we would love to make that happen - we have to focus our efforts where we can make the most difference.

  • We strongly prefer that you bring your donation in a container that you will leave with us. We don't always have something readily available to transfer the materials into.

  • Austin Creative Reuse is proud to say that we have a 97% diversion rate, meaning less than 3% of the materials that come through our doors are sent to the landfill. We work hard to save every button, marble, and spool of thread that you give us. Many other reuse organizations throw away up to 30% of what they receive. Rest assured, your donations will find a great second life within the ACR community!

  • Awesome - Thanks for asking! You can really help us out - and make us love you even more - if you organize your donations prior to bringing them in. Secure items that can tangle easily. Bag small, loose items (don't worry, we'll reuse the bags, too!). Bundle like items or items in a set/with multiple parts together. Taking the time to organize your donation means we can get it back into the hands of our community in minutes, not days.