Earth Day Thoughts from Team Upcyclers

Earth Day, on Tuesday April 22nd 2014, aims to inspire awareness and appreciation for the earth’s environment. Since saving unwanted wood and materials is the core of our business, we think it’s a great month to celebrate all things green!  

How do you give back to the environment? Earth Day is a great time to renew your eco-friendly goals.   While we should do our part every day, Earth Day is a great time to reflect on our efforts, and see how we can lessen our impact on the planet's resources, while living a healthier life.

Each year I set goals on Earth Day, and see if I have achieved them the following year. Last year, I said I wanted to replaced the plastic-ware in my kitchen with glassware.  I bought the glassware at different thrift shops over the course of the year, and I upcycled and recycled the plastic cups and tupperware into other uses.  It was a simple goal. I usually set more than one, but if you take one small step, a million small steps could have an amazing impact on our beautiful planet.

This month, I asked some of the talented members of Team Upcyclers on Etsy, what they do for Earth Day, and what advice could they offer our blog's readers?! Here are just a few of the replies I received, along with one handmade piece from each Upcyclers artist.

"I live in NYC, and the amount of boxes I see on the sidewalks every day to be thrown out is crazy. I plan on asking businesses to give me their boxes, which I can then use to ship out my sold products on Etsy."

Barnwood Frame w/Silver Wire and Mini Clothespins

by AClaimToFrame

"One of my goals in being an upcycling artist has been to bring other people into the process and broaden awareness about what and how much we throw away. I've met some wonderful people who collect "Jane Jars" for me. I have a growing network of people who collect "garbage" for me to use in my jewelry and artwork. In exchange for them keeping a "Jane Jar" to collect things like beer caps, bread tags, candy wrappers etc. for me, I give them a 10% discount on all purchases."

see more: Collaborative Upcycling for Students

"You're the Queen" Postage Stamp Collage Card

by Jane Koopman

"I bought a dual canister for both trash and recycling [to encourage more recycling], and bought a water purifier to start eliminating plastic bottles from our home."

Repurposed Wine Bottle Planter

by RecastGlass

  "I plan on growing a large herb garden this year.

I recycled office supplies I collect at work through Terracycle. I recycle sharpies, highlighters, tape dispensers, and pouch packaging."

Mother's Day Handmade Greeting Card

by Nature's Touch Boutique

"I try to avoid waste before it enters the house. Shop in bulk and use homemade over store-bought..."

Upcycled Blue Cotton Onesie

by SensibleShirts

"I'm taking biodegradable trash bags with me on walks around our neighborhood to pick up trash."

Reusable Market/Tote Bag

by FashionGreenTBags

"We always join the local clean up effort. Maybe people could look for an event locally or start one?"

Recycled Jeans Purse

by Our Children's Earth

We hope you enjoyed a little upcycled inspiration, and Happy Earth Day!

~Bee

The Wooden Bee

www.thewoodenbee.com

Upcyclers Creativity Challenge: October Results

October's challenge was full of fun!  Stephanie from OurChildrensEarth challenged us to upcycle broken or unwanted Halloween decorations for this month Upcyclers Creativity Challenge!

All entries can be found on our Pinterest board, HERE!

Here's what this month's judge had to say...

First Place Winner: Alison from Pru Pru

This is an amazing way to recycle old wax from Halloween that most people would throw away. I have never seen this done before. What an original, creative and super cute way to make our world a better place.  You can view Alison's excellent blog post HERE!

Second Place Winner: MaryJeansThings

What a great way to use old Halloween catalogs. Most people will throw these away after the season but I love that they were saved and recycled for the next year. These are beautiful and colorful. What a fun idea to use for parties or family get togethers.


Thanks, Stephanie
Our Childrens Earth

Wednesday's Welcome!

It's been a long time since we've brought you daily posts on our blog~ a huge thanks to Bee from The Wooden Bee and Tricia from Upcycled Stuff for keeping us going even as intermittent as we've been! Without them, we may have fallen to the wayside like so many other blogs. I have had one tough year, and I don't know what I would have done without them and the other team leaders on Etsy I have come to love and count on. They, too, have had their own tough and busy times and have managed to still keep us posted with contest results, articles, discussion threads, tweets, Facebook posts, treasuries and our weekly Linky Parties. They have taught me the meaning of the word TEAM.

That said, I hope with our upcoming third anniversary on November 8th, we can start a new wave of consistent activity in our upcycling movement with new and exciting things to put us back on track. We are looking for more contributors to our blog, social networks and Etsy discussion threads, as well as developing new features and, ultimately, a new website with more to offer everyone. So with that said~ here is the first!

Wednesday's Welcome!

Each week we will feature three new Upcyclers~ either from our team on Etsy, our Twitter followers or our fans on Facebook. Whichever venue we find each week's featured upcycling artists, writers or companies, we promise to bring you something awesome and interesting every Wednesday. All we ask is that you welcome them by checking out their shops, pages, websites, blogs, etc. Whether you tweet, share, tumble, stumble, pin, comment or purchase~ show your Love 2 Upcycle by supporting your fellow Upcyclers!

But don't think we are going to neglect our dedicated and long time Upcyclers, we've got plans for you, too! We will sponsor new contests and giveaways, revamp our Blogs 2 Love and share more DIY ideas, tutorials, and links to the most innovative sites we can find so we can inspire you to keep upcycling and living a sustainable lifestyle. Our world is rapidly changing it's attitude toward what we do and it's up to us to show everyone it's not a trend~ it's a necessity. We all must face the need to adapt to the demand for accountability for how we use the resources of our world and to be responsible inhabitants of not just this planet, but the universe. The beauty of the internet and social networking is the opportunity it affords us to reach out globally to spread the word with an impact.

But we need your help. No one can do it alone, we have to do it together.

Our thanks again to all of you and~ Welcome to this week's new Upcyclers...

The first is a new member of Upcyclers on Etsy. Why this one? You are going to love how they describe upcycling. I could not have said it better myself...

Studio ABCD

A graduate from National Institute of Fashion Technology in Bangalore, India, and a student of architecture, Raahul Khadaliya has immersed himself in a sustainable lifestyle that is emulated in his innovative, yet traditionally based products. Using a handmade, eco-friendly method of block printing firmly routed in his culture, he creates brightly colorful and artistic gift wrap from discarded newspaper, as well as other products. Yet, even more beautiful is how he describes why and what he does:

"It is high time now to link things we have used, to the things we will use, and this link between the two holds a promise to a sustainable possibility for future. We know the grave possible problems in times to come, and its ironic that we don’t do much to help the situation. The solution is as simple as rethinking the complete design process incorporating ideologies like cradle to cradle design into both minor and major systems of creation. The need of the hour is to justify the energy, raw materials, human resources and other natural energy that are used in creation of a product and question ourselves each time we discard any thing we use.

To expect a third party to save the environment is passé, when everyone of us can help the cause by re-using things of daily requirements…" ~Visit his shop and profile to read more of his philosophies. He also illustrates his idealogy and method in an amazing infograph on his website.


B - Reloved

Our next Welcome is to another new member on Etsy~

"If the only thing that can not be recycled is wasted time, I thought I might as well put my time and any God given talent I have into making things beautiful by using the power of Recycle. Mission: To bring a creative approach to recycling."

We, in all honesty, prefer to call Christa Behen's approach to the art of recycling~ upcycling, but we also know that many still are more familiar with the term recycling. No matter, it's beautiful!

A hearty welcome also to a new fan on Facebook~ Redeemed, a Museum/Art Gallery in Sharon Pennsylvania, held it's Grand Opening on September 28th! This shop looks amazing, I wish I could take a trip north just to see all the wonderful upcycled treasures it holds! Stop by if you are in the area, or give them a 'Like' and a Welcome on Facebook!

We hope you've enjoyed meeting these three new Upcyclers! I can't wait to Welcome more of you next week!

;) Cat

The UncommonGoods Upcycle Design Challenge!

Our team has been invited to participate in the 2013 UncommonGoods Upcycle Design Challenge! The grand prize is $500.00 and there are no entry fees! Here are the basics straight from the UncommonGoods website:

GRAND PRIZE: $500 and an UncommonGoods vendor agreement.

RUNNERS UP: All runner-ups will receive a critique of their work from the guest judges, and UncommonGoods' marketing team will provide tips for marketing and growing their businesses. Additionally, UncommonGoods' buyers will review each entrant's full portfolio and may consider adding the work submitted to the UncommonGoods website in the future.

DEADLINE: September 30, 2013 at 11:59 PM ET

WHAT CAN I SUBMIT? We want to see anything and everything - from handbags to kitchen tools, from gadgets to wall art. As long as your design has an upcycling story, we want to see it!

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE AN "UNCOMMON" ARTIST? Your design should be expressive, it should tell a compelling story, and it should highlight your individuality.

WHAT KINDS OF MATERIAL CAN I USE? We accept all sorts of materials as long as they are safe and animal-friendly-so no lead, leather, feathers, or pearls. We love unique materials, especially those that tell an interesting story, so don't forget to share your medium's tale with us in your product description.

WHAT DO I SUBMIT? We will need your contact info, product info, photos and an optional video. You can share 1 to 5 images through the entry portal with the choice to feature a single item or a collection. We judge each item individually, but would love to see your body of work. If you would like us to view more than five images, please provide us with a website or portfolio link. You can find the entry form located on the bottom of this page.

GOT A QUESTION? Browse through the rules, or send an email to upcycling-contest@uncommongoods.com. Please fill out your contact info completely before you upload your images. Remeber to double-check the email address entered to ensure that it's valid.

So there you have it! You can find out more about UncommonGoods on their website. I know our team has tons of fantastic submissions to offer, let's show them what Upcyclers can do!

Good Luck, Everyone~ and we promise to keep you posted on the results!

Upcyclers Creativity Challenge: August results

Each month here at Upcyclers we ask one shop to host an Upcyclers Creativity Challenge! For August, our lovely Tricia from Upcycled Stuff encouraged us to upcycle by selecting the medium... old utensils! For inspiration she even created her own Pinterest board full of ideas for the challenge!!!

Here are the results...

I have to say that I was a little nervous when I announced my pick for the August Upcyclers challenge. But, what a fabulous collection of projects we had! Picking a winner is not fun, everyone submitted fabulous entries this month. But since I had to...

 

Kayla from Love Letters Upcycled wowed me with her silverware lamp! Such a creative use of all the different parts and what a fabulous shadow it casts when on in the evening.

I love this key holder by Ganev at ReTain ReMake ReNew. It's wonderfully different from all the other key holders from silverware that I've seen. And being the animal lover that I am, I just couldn't resist!

Thanks, Tricia
Upcycled Stuff


All of August's entries can be viewed on our team's special Pinterest Challenge Board! And team members be sure to check the discussion boards on Etsy! September's challenge is under way!

Love 2 DIY on the Weekend~ with Upcycled Stuff!

Sometimes you just have to hit a 'typo' to find a treasure on the internet!!

I was on YouTube looking for some upcycling videos to post on our Facebook page and I tried typing in upcycled and didn't come up with much. So I tried upcycled stuff. Only I forgot the space!

Well, there was Tricia and her 'Upcycled Stuff'!

But when I had tried that in the past, I never saw her. But I had typed the space between upcycled and stuff. And no Tricia.

What's my point?

I am always boggled by search engines. They skip the most relevant results and give you random stuff sometimes that is so irrelevant!

Lesson learned? Try some quirky search tags, try eliminating the space, sometimes you even have to tell Google to shut up and listen, that what you typed is what you wanted and no, you didn't mean something else! Upcycled has been considered misspelled every time I enter it anywhere, but one day, they might just recognize the term. In the meantime, keep searching for jewels like Tricia's Upcycled Stuff (without the space for now) DIY Videos.

Which by the way was the real point of this post!

Here's some of her most popular ones, the number of views range but I came up with about 100,000 views on her various tutes before I stopped counting!











Who knew we had a 'DIY Diva' in our midst? I have been so grateful to Tricia for all her hard work on our Linky Parties, and now I am also grateful to have someone so motivated and creative on our team! I admire her drive and dedication, without her (and Bee) we would have had a pretty boring blog these past months due to my absence for family reasons.

So here's a shout out to you, Tricia, our resident blog extraordinaire and 'YouTube' star!!! Keep reaching for the moon!

Domino's National Upcycling Collaboration

We are always pushing the team concept as part of our mission to spread upcycling through our strength in numbers~ but occasionally it is the outstanding singular effort of one member that demands our recognition and gratitude for the individual's achievements.

Liz Ohsiek deserves that and more~ And we are so incredibly proud to call her a member of Upcyclers! 

Domino's recently changed their marketing strategy including a newly designed logo~ and in an effort to reduce waste decided to UPCYCLE their stock bearing the previous logo. Liz told us all about it in a recent blog post:

"I don’t usually like to talk about myself. At least not important stuff. I’ll bore my friends with the minutia of life (what I had for breakfast, what craft my kids are working on, how many loads of laundry I folded, blah blah blah) but when it comes to my own shop and business, I don’t typically share. Maybe I just don’t think anyone really cares — and I don’t like to sound braggy (especially when I don’t have tons of faith in myself). I know, I have issues.

BUT – right now, I want to tell you about a really exciting project that I’m participating in. I’m going to toot my own horn for a minute. Ah-OOO-gah!!

Several months ago, Domino’s Pizza contacted lil’ ol’ me (ME!!) to tell me about their Second Hand Logos project. They recently changed their logo, and rather than throw away all of the old ones, they’ve asked independent craftsmen and artists like me to upcycle the old stock into new creations. I am one of 10 artists nationwide to participate in this amazing initiative.

The project was unveiled on June 17, and since then there has been a bit of online buzz including a Yahoo! Finance article that used my photograph and mentioned my name. (You can check that out here. My 15 minutes of fame! There are also articles that use my product photos here, here and here).

Domino’s sent me some employee t-shirts, pizza boxes, and food wrappers all displaying the old logo. I made them into scarves, notebooks, and bowls."

Making Domino’s Scarves from old stock t-shirts

Pizza Box Notebooks

Paper Bowls

These items are available for purchase in Liz's Etsy shop! And you can see all of the talented artists and their creations at www.SecondHandLogos.com

It is fantastic to see the upcycling movement recognized by a global corporation like Domino's. Collaborative efforts like this inspire our team to continue creating art, crafts and practical goods from what the world once considered "TRASH"! Perhaps one day we will look back and wonder why we abandoned the centuries' old tradition of 'using it up and wearing it out' for what has become a largely, throwaway society. Until then, we thank Liz Ohsiek for dedicating her talent to Upcycling and for being a member of Upcyclers!


*Editor's Note~ Read Liz's opinion about "What is Upcycling?"

 

Upcyclers Creativity Challenge: July Results

Copper Flower Earrings by The Salvaged Edge

We've been inspiring upcycling ideas through our team's monthly creativity challenge for over a year now! This month, Ada from Charoite Wind, selected the upcycled medium... flowers! The task was to simply upcycle something into a flower, or incorporate flowers into your upcycled design. This medium offered some amazing entries!  You can see all of them on our special Pinterest Board!

July results from the talented Ada are in....


As many of you have already vocalized, this month's challenge was really hard to choose first and second place winners. As Bee wrote at the beginning of the challenge, "We are all winners in this challenge!" and I hope each and everyone of you will believe that to the core. Each and everyone of you has put in so much work, and time into this challenge. It really showed through all the entries. 

Before I announce the first and second place winners (that will have a mini ad on the FRONT PAGE OF THE TEAM'S BLOG for one month following the challenge), I wanted to mention that I am very proud of each one of you. It is an honor to be working along side such talented, passionate and dedicated artisans. As mentioned earlier, choosing only two winners was mind bottling. So I implemented a 15 point system. The first 5 points are based on if the item 'used floral materials or already made flowers'. Making additional flowers was an additional optional, however the actual challenge was to upcycle ready made materials. The next five points were based on the presentation of the item. Anything from photography elements and principles (shape, form, point of view, focus, etc) to item description was considered. Lastly the remaining five points were based on overall store appearance. Questions I had to ask while flipping from on shop to the next was, "is this visually pleasing?", "is there a cohesive theme?", "does it make me want to purchase or favorite everything?". The two challenge winners are not only showing their product, but the face of their company. I had to make sure not to be bias, fair and through. Some entries tied in points so I really had to explore the tie breakers and deal breakers. 

The winners of the July Challenge 2013 on the Upcyclers Team are 'itzaChicThing' for second place, and 'itsyourcountryspirit' for first place! 

I love itzaChicThing's overall store appearance, I wanted to buy everything from the store, and she used similar techniques throughout her boutique. What really caught my eye was the vintage crochet flowers and intricate stitching. Very professional. Great job! 

I really enjoyed itsyourcountryspirit item photography. What's clever is the item is almost the same from every angle, but they still took shots from every angle to really convince the customer! I would infidelity purchase a lot of items as well and the company had a great face. And of course the item was originally made from floral fabric! 

Thank you everyone for entering the challenge, it was a pleasure being on the judging panel this month!
~Ada
Charoite Wind

Guest Post~ Jane Koopman

Lessons Learned at the ROM Recently, my husband and I visited the Royal Ontario Museum, commonly known as the ROM, in Toronto, Ontario. The ROM is an amazing place, full of natural specimens and cultural artifacts. You'd need a few weeks to fully explore the entire collection. Because we only had a day, my husband and I decided to focus our attention on the museum's third floor, which features artifacts from many world cultures from prehistory to the 20th Century. As we strolled through the African baskets, eastern Buddhas, Egyptian cat mummies, Grecian pottery and Rococo furniture, I felt inspired and affirmed as an artist. Maybe that's obvious: a trite reaction. But there were two things in particular that I realized in a refreshing and uplifting way. Greek pottery from the ROM's collection (photo from the ROM). The first thing that struck me like a two-by-four was the fact that art, adornment and beauty have been a necessary part of culture from the beginning of time. As an artist/artisan, I sometimes wonder, "What's the point? Nobody really needs the stuff I create." These misgivings were clearly challenged by what I saw at the ROM. Through many ages of history, artists and craftspeople were highly esteemed in all cultures, and their work touched every aspect of life: birth, work, celebration and death. Artistic items like beads and jewelry were sometimes used as currency. Jewelry and decorative, artistic detail in clothing have been part of every world culture as soon as people could work metal and weave fabric. In other words, art has always been integral to life. In fact, without art, the ROM would have very few cultural artifacts, and we would know very little about the people who came before us. The second affirmation I experienced during my visit to the ROM was that upcycling and repurposing are age old practices. People have always used the everyday objects around them to create art, clothing and jewelry. I saw jewelry made from the garbage and trifles of ages past: bone, seed pods, animal teeth, stones, scraps of leather and wood, tiny pieces of shell. Feathers, fur and hair were incorporated into art, masks and even weapons. I think it's only since industrialization that people have had the "luxury" to waste. We can learn a lot from the multitudes who lived before industrialization about finding practical and beautiful uses for scraps and shards. I've always thought of my efforts in upcycling as being mindful of the present and future, but now I see they're also deeply connected to the past. The ROM's beautiful South Asian Gallery, with a stunning tapestry in the background (photo from the ROM).

Love 2 DIY on the Weekend~ Is For the Birds!

If you love birds in your backyard habitat, we've got some way out and somewhat, wacky upcycled inspiration for some cool habitats for your winged visitors~ If you don't want to DIY, some of these birdhouses are available for sale in the artist's studio or online shop.

Brian Carlisle~ GadgetSponge.com

It's a Crazy Life...what craft is Sam working on now?

The Guilty Crafter~ confessions of a domestic Goddess wannabe

Upcycled Garden Style...a website from Gardens Inspired

April Crafternoon@ fdlpl.org

Tale of Twisted Fibers

Mama's Nook

EcoCycled

So look around your garage, basement or attic and turn an old treasure or tossed away article into an upcycled home for your feathered friends!

Have a fantastic weekend!
;) Cat

IT'S A RED, WHITE & BLUE UPCYCLED FOURTH!

We hope all of our Upcyclers' friends and members from the USA enjoy their  
Fourth of July with their loved ones! Here's a tribute to the Red, White & Blue represented by handmade, upcycled products from our team!

Red White Blue & Upcycled! by collagical on Polyvore

Patriotic Greeting Card Statue of Liberty Denim by ITSYOURCOUNTRY
etsy.com

Patriotic Collage Pin/Brooch Recycled by VeryCreativeCreation
etsy.com

Pepsi Throwback Stars Christmas Ornaments Soda Can by LizardSkins
etsy.com

Gel Cooling Pad Patriotic Polymer Stay Cool Pad Red by iycbrand
etsy.com

CLEARANCE Size 18 mo 3T Americana Dress CLEARANCE by 3GiraffesInc
etsy.com

Fourth of July Decorations Hanging Planter Red by WrenewedDesigns
etsy.com

Denim Americana Vest Original Handmade by itsyourcountryspirit
etsy.com

Denim Hip Bag Belt Loop Pouch Upcycled by itsyourcountryspirit
etsy.com

upcycled red white and blue crocheted tshirt rug by iamthemandy
etsy.com

Original Blue Ribbon Recycled Pabst Beer Journal by EcoImbiber
etsy.com

Drawstring Bag Novelty Red White Blue Stars and by Art2Carry
etsy.com

Denim Eyeglass Case Soft Eyeglass Case Polka Dots Red by Art2Carry
etsy.com

Brooch Zipper Flower Red White & Blue Zipper Pin by CreatedbyLee
etsy.com