She transforms military uniforms into treasures!

Some veterans donate their old uniforms or stow them in a closet, but former Air Force Staff Sgt. Nicole Pompei Zettlemoyer had a better idea. Now she's made more than 4,000 wreaths to honor our heroes

- Bill Holton

"I get to celebrate the service of so many," Nicole says of her uniform wreaths

When Air Force Staff Sgt. Nicole Pompei Zettlemoyer traveled home to New Jersey to visit her mom, she brought her newly issued uniform and her old standard fatigues.

“I don’t want to bury these old fatigues in my closet, but I have an idea,” she said, logging in to her Pinterest account to show her mom how someone had used old clothes to fashion a decorative wreath.

“That’s adorable,” Nicole’s mom, Lori, agreed, and together they modified a pattern to turn strips of burlap into a wreath.

The women cut, folded and knotted Nicole’s old uniform, and in less than an hour, their creation was complete.

“I’m going to hang it on my military wall beside my pictures,” Nicole decided.

After displaying the wreath, she posted a photo online.