Upcyclers Creativity Challenge: May Results

Each month our team puts together an Upcycled Creativity Challenge! For May, Patricia from Patricia L. Johnson Glass Art, hosted the challenge by selecting the upcycled medium, plastic coffee cans.  This specific medium generated some fantastic ideas!  All entries can be viewed on our Creativity Challenge Pinterest Board!  Patricia had this to share about her winning selections...

"Though the entries were few, they were some really good ones and I had a bit of a hard time deciding.

The runner up is Our Childrens Earth with her storage containers. It is such a great practical item. It is a simple project to make and It uses all recycled items. It is also a great way to use up all those scraps.




The grand prize goes to SwooshbyScrollwork for her incredibly adorable Hobbit House. The piece is so creative. I absolutely love her use of very different items …like kitchen scraps. Just amazing!

Thanks to all who participated! This was great fun and some really great entries!"

~ Patricia L. Johnson Glass Art

Creativity Challenge: Upcycle Neckties

Our March creativity challenge was hosted by Endure Upcycled Designs, who asked participants to upcycled neckties for last month's challenge.  We had all sorts of awesome entries, all of which can be viewed on our contest's Pinterest board!

I love how Endure Upcycled Designs gave examples to encourage creativity.

Upcycled Wedding Garter, "Something Blue"

March's winners have been featured on the front page of our site all month long! Endure Upcycled Designs selected these winners:

First Place

Business Suit Tie Purse by Koop Designs

Second Place

Mermaid Necklace by Swoosh by Scrollwork

April's Upcyclers challenge has just a few days left to enter. Check out the team's discussion boards for details. SweetSomeday selected toliet paper rolls for this clever challenge!

Thanks, Bee

The Wooden Bee 

Upcycled Creativity Challenge: CORK

For the first two months of the year we hosted our monthly Upcycled Creativity Challenge. I organized this challenge last spring because we felt it would promote creativity and inspiration within our team.   Not only it is fun, but it's a nice way to see our talented shops take one medium, like corks, and turn it into so many different items.

After helping others host the challenge last year, this is the first challenge I have been able to judge. The monthly judge selects the medium and the winners.  I had several other judges tell me how hard it was to pick two winners and I always thought to myself, oh it can't be that hard. Ha! When you pick your favorite medium CORK and see so many great ideas entered, it does become difficult to select two winners. We had wine cork jewelry, cork hair bows, wine cork boats, and toy cork snakes to name a few of the cool entries!!!

As hard as it was...

First Place

Upcycled Wine Cork Necklace by JaneKoopman

JaneKoopman creates earth inspired jewelry and cards on Etsy. I love her entry into this month's challenge. Beautiful and realistic for every day wear.  I really loved this piece.

Second Place

Cork Tree Recycled Journal by PrairiePeasant

Prairie Peasant sells ecofriendly journals, cards, and envelopes on Etsy.  I love how cleverly Laura used thrifted cork placemats to create the cover! And the tree is just the perfect touch! 

See, I told you it was hard to pick! ;)

And she didn't win anything, but I have to give a shout out to Sweet Someday!
I like how Sarah shared her success and failure in her cork blog post. Her idea to adjust the color of her wine corks was really cool!

You can see ALL the amazing cork entries on our challenge's Pinterest board!

March's challenge is starting soon! Team members can look for Endure Designs medium selection on our discussion board.

Thanks, Bee

December's Creativity Challenge Results

December wrapped up a wonderful year of upcycled challenges!  Each month a selected Upcyclers shop chose an upcycled medium and asked participants to create something unique with it.

For December Stephanie from, Our Childrens Earth, selected old sweaters for a medium. She is pretty handy at upcycling sweaters in her shop as well!

We had an assortment of entries and Stephanie had a hard time choosing the winners!

Congratulations to this month's winners...

First place went to...

Recosas for her upcycled sweater picture frame!

Second place went to...

Upcycled Stuff for her tutorial on how to make a dog sweater!

All entries were pinned to our special Pinterest board!

The Wooden Bee will be selecting a medium and hosting the first 2013 Team Creativity Challenge. 

Look for details soon!

Upcyclers Creativity Challenge October Results: Jeans!

October was an exciting month for our monthly Upcyclers Creativity Challenge! Endure Designs selected DENIM JEANS for the medium and we had a TON of entries!!!

This left Karen, from Endure Designs, a difficult task to pick only two from such an amazing list!

The entries include:

Skirts

Greeting Cards

Gift Tags

Christmas Stockings

Necklaces

Heart Brooches

Zelda Pouches

Bow Brooches

Fingerless Gloves

Coiled Hot Pads

Tote Bag

Cuff Bracelet

Coiled Mat

Handbag

Bohemian Jeans

Hip Bag Belt Loop Pouch

Fringe Scarf Wrap

Bracelet

Backpack

Lunch Bag

Patchwork Quilt

Wrist Cuff

Earrings

and a Patriotic Vest

Amazing how many different items were created from upcycling old jeans! ALL entries can be found on our Creativity Challenge Pinterest Board.

And the First Place Winner is:

Upcycled Denim Hip Bag Belt

by itsyourcountryspirit

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Second Place Winner is:

Denim Stockings by What It Seams

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Congratulations! Winners will have a featured badge on the front page of our blog for the entire month.

Thank you Endure Designs for hosting this giveaway.
Check out this Upcyclers shop for handmade burlap banners, upcycled steampunk clothing and more eco-friendly creations. This was Karen's entry:

Upcyclers shops should check out November's challenge, Luci from Idle Hands Yarn Supply has just selected a medium!

Happy Upcycling!

Thanks, Bee
The Wooden Bee

September Results for Upcyclers Creativity Challenge

The challenge this month was to upcycle a t shirt.  We all have a t shirt or two that just sits in the dresser or hangs in the closet, so why not make something fun out of it, and make that t shirt useful again!

I had just finished a series about t shirt yarn, and was excited to see what ideas it might inspire.  I was blown away by the creative use of t shirts that people submitted!

Three of My Favorites:

RaLaCe's braided and embellished tank top.  How fun is this??

SweetSomeday's fabulous t shirt dress.  She shows how versatile it is in her blog post.  It is wonderful for so many seasons!

 

SunflowersByDesign's fun ToteBag.  I love the design on the front, and the way it is finished!

Honorable Mentions To:

MikesTshirtYarn for his wonderul beanie.  Perfect for winter, and stylish too!

 

TheSalvagedEdge's t shirt dress for a child.  So adorable!!

 

Pearlreef's upcycled basket.  I love anything that can help me get organized!

What did I do?  Well I made a rug!  Okay, I almost finished a rug.  I can only use the bottoms of the t shirts for yarn.  So I cut the tops into strips, and sewed them together to make a braided rug.  Okay, to almost finish a braided rug.  It is "in process", and you can see the strands coming off the end, but you get the idea.  

Thank you everyone for your entries!  It was tough to choose only a few to feature on here, but all entries can be found on our Challenge's Pinterest board:

I really enjoyed seeing what everyone came up with, and cannot wait for next months challenge!

Luci