Saturday, December 29, 2012

Upcycling zip ties



These amazing bowl and vase were created by Chen Neta and Rochman Mali from "The Israeli Connection Project"The ingenious way the zip ties are connected is creating designs and curves. I'm collecting zip ties right now to try the fruit bowl. Did you know that you can reuse a zip tie?
Check this quick video, some zip ties open better if you use some kind of needle or the tip of a knife.




Thursday, December 6, 2012

Christmas wreath made with spoons



Found here
Found here
and here



This last one where you will find a full tutorial on how to make this beautiful wreath by clicking here.

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Upcycled Christmas tree





Picture from Design you trust

In Lithuania, they used 40 000 bottom of sprite bottles linked together with cable ties. The light inside the tree give a beautiful glowing effect.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Soda can

Soda cans are a real source of inspiration for artist. Call this upcycling, recycling or just art.
Japanese artist Makaon bring soda can sculpture to a different level.

From iconic pop art Mario:



To Hokusai and "the great wave of Kanagawa"


What he can do is unbelievable, specially when you know that he does not use painting (or very few) but just the original can color. 


Few more sample of his talent and the way he's creating curves on his sculptures







Friday, November 9, 2012

You can even upcycle parts of a ... Plane!

Into a bed
Into reception desks

A bar




Into "wing tables"

Desks


Crazy "Ejection seats"



Or Flight simulator!!
All of these great and a bit-expensive-upcyclings are made by a company named MotoArt. They design and create high quality corporate and home furniture made from vintage airplane parts. Some of their unique pieces might go up to $60,000. It looks great, but most of these pieces of art won't fit my house anyway...








Monday, November 5, 2012

Reusing lunch bag to make Pop Corn

Did you know that microwaveable popcorn bags are nothing more than a paper bag filled with popcorn and whatever chemical flavor you choose.

I took a bunch of lunch bags that I don't use anymore and tested few spoon of corn.
You just fold the top of your bag, don't use any kind of staples or paper clip in your microwave, just fold loosely.

It works like a charm, and you choose how much sugar, caramel, or butter you want to add in your pop corns without the extra preservatives and chemicals you usually get.



Friday, November 2, 2012

One of a kind

By studio Denieuwegeneratie

A jaguar turned into a bookshelf.... a bit excessive to me, but I like to see how people are trying to push the limit of upcycling.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Upcycling corks...

... Into planters:

Found here



or bath mat:

Found on Etsy


Or a chair:


Name holder:

Found here

A flash drive!:
Made here
A christmas wreath:

On Etsy




Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Dust pan from milk jug

Would you have thought of such a great upcycling?

Found here
Milk jugs are a great items that you can upcycle into great useful things.

Have look at what you can do with them for Halloween!!! Click here.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Upcycling Crayons



We had to find a gift for our son's teachers at day care, and decided to go for a frame with their initials made with crayons. We used super glue and a razor blade to cut the pieces, an easy project and teacher were happy to get something else than flowers and chocolates :-) you can also buy the letter from Etsy.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Upcycling light bulbs into planters

These bulbs will be more and more difficult to find, but they make wonderful miniature green house!

Found here

Friday, September 7, 2012

upcycling and art

Once in a while I like to post some artist who are doing amazing job upcycling their own way items that would go to the recycling bin.
Here is Eric Barclay, an illustrator, who's inspired by the graphic design from the 50s and 60s, you can see illustrations on his blog.
And this is what he does with containers:

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

upcycling a boat...

....into a suspended bed.
You'll just need enough space, a high ceiling and .... a nice looking boat.



Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Cable drawings

from here

Using a cable with cable attachments to re-create a frame or something else on the wall. Wonderful idea!
I would hang a simple mirror in the middle maybe or maybe not.


Monday, August 6, 2012

Pringles want us to upcyle their cans



If you buy 4 cans of Pringles in the US or 3 cans in the UKFrance and spain (I did not check all the countries but it looks like it's everywhere you can buy Pringles), Pringles will send you a free speaker by mail. The speaker fits the can and the can is used to amplify the bass. The speaker can be use with any portable device that has a 3.5mm jack such as Ipod.
Pringles not only wants to show the "upcyclable potential" of their cans but most of all, they have a great marketing idea by extending the life of their packaging.



Improving the cheap sound

Brett Butterworth from Sound and vision decided to improve the sound quality by stuffing the can with recycled denim insulation or fiberglass insulation the same way acoustic suspension speakers are made, and it works! He got rid off the bad vibrations from the can with a much tighter and better defined sound.

Pringles cans can be upcycled in many other different ways, but this will be an other post....



Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Upcycling wooden cable reel



Creativity has no limit:

Wooden rocking chair




The classic table that kids could use:

from Curbly
Or a more sophisticated bookcase-coffee table:





My favorite: A computer work station for two, made by Tivesy