November 29, 2011

We Love Our Giveaways!

We love our fans~ We've had a fantastic response to our Giveaways and can't wait to get more sponsors soon! Your comments are encouraging to us that you, like our members, Love 2 Upcycle and that this is not a trend~ it's a movement!

On that note, let's announce the winner of last week's giveaway!

Congrats, Berendina Dykema!! You've won a custom color Owl Baby from

Spin A Yarn!


Thanks again to our fans who entered~ and especially to Dena and Adrianna from
Spin A Yarn for their support of our efforts to spread the word about upcycling! We wish them continued success with their upcycled products and especially with their charitable efforts and youth education!

If you are interested in supporting Upcyclers and the upcycling movement, please consider sponsoring a giveaway! Contact us at Teamupcyclers@Gmail.com


November 27, 2011

Sustainable Sundays: Yoonique Designs

Each Sunday we select one item to feature from over 1,500 sustainable shops on our Upcyclers Etsy Team!  Shops actively selling, promoting and participating on our team are available for selections.

This week I took care to find Upcycled shops offering fabulous deals for Cyber Monday!

This week's featured shop and item...


A pair of really fun earrings, just in time for winter! The materials used for this piece have been upcycled and repurposed. You can be assured that all materials were thoroughly cleaned and treated and ear wires are, of course, brand new.  Each pair comes with a complimentary pair of rubber ear nuts and is gift wrapped as well!
Yoonie from Yoonique Designs runs a beautiful shop from Virginia Beach, Virgina.  She acquires beads and semi-precious stones from different parts of the world making her creations “Yoonique”!  Enjoy Yoonie's special offer: 20% off your entire purchase! Enter coupon code "smallbiz20" at check out. Offer good now through Cyber Monday.

It is always hard to pick one upcycled item from all our active shops each week! Here are this week's runners up (they have Cyber Monday sales too):

Upcycled Green Depression Glass Tiered Tray - Use coupon code EARLYBIRD11 at check out to get your 30% savings!

Upcycled Silver Bolt Brown Necklace - Free shipping on ALL!  No coupon needed. Offer good Black Friday through Cyber Monday.

Upcycled Seashell Wine Bottle with Message - 20% OFF everything with coupon code: BLACKFRIDAY11. Offer good Black Friday through Cyber Monday.


You can find more sustainable creations on Etsy by using our official team search tag: teamupcyclers when shopping this holiday season.

Happy (Upcycled) Cyber Monday shopping!
~Bee
The Wooden Bee
inspired to recycle wood
www.thewoodenbee.etsy.com

November 24, 2011

Let's Shop 'Til We Drop!

Happy Holiday Season from Upcyclers!

'When You Wish...' by collagical

May all your holiday dreams come true! Best Wishes from Upcyclers, An Etsy Team whose members Love 2 Upcycle!


Spaceship table night l...
$400.00

Pointed Top Vintage Ale...
$28.00

SUN KING Wall Sculpture
$90.00

Star pin brooch silver ...
$13.00

Vintage Milk Glass Door...
$85.00

UpCycLed Red Moasic Bow...
$25.00

Owl oil painting on can...
$76.00

WINE Bottle Cheese Tray...
$24.00

the man in the moon bal...
$28.00

Winnie the Pooh Recycle...
$20.00

Recycled Glass Cobalt B...
$18.00

Carburetor Lamp
$315.00

Rising Star- In Blue, G...
$5.00

Manger Scene Baby Jesus...
$5.00

Pendant, Flying FAIRY T...
$24.50

Sparkly Ice Blue Cadet ...
$42.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

November 22, 2011

Upcycled Gift Bows & Tags


At the beginning of the month I wrote about Upcycled Gift Wrap Ideas.  This week, I'm going to share some of the trimmings & bows that can accompany your upcycled gift wrap.
During the holidays our sustainable shop offers free gift wrapping, and of course it has to be eco-friendly.  So this year, on my quest to find eco-friendly gift wrap options for a cheap as possible, I complied some great gift ideas to share!

A Classy Tutorial for Burlap Ribbons found on For the Love.

Have extra magazines laying around? Make some magazine bows with this tutorial.

Ruffled Newspaper Ribbon by The Shabby Creek Shop on Etsy

When deciding our shop's gift wrapping, I decided to use this upcycled flat bow for shipping purposes. You can see how I made them here.

You can always skip the bows and decorate the paper yourself, like this hand drawn gift wrap found on Craftzine.com.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Can't forget the gift tags! They are definitely needed to help us remember whose gift is whose, but they can also be beautiful additions to your gift wrap.

Here are some great ideas from our every own Upcyclers shops on Etsy!

Christmas Snowman Red Bandana Fabric Gift Tags by ITSYOURCOUNTRY

Recycled Giftcards created into Upcycled Gift Tags by Almond Works.

 
Making gift tags out of old Christmas cards seem to be the most popular method of creating upcycled holiday gift tags. I used the idea (and my craft punch) to make my own this year.


You can find different shaped recycled Christmas card gift tags all over Etsy, Pinterest and Google. Here are two tutorials on making them:

Punch Out Gift Tags from Greeting Cards, by Crafting a Greener World

Recycled Gift Tags - this post uses post consumer waste like cereal boxes


Here's a few more eco-friendly gift tags finds on Etsy...

Handmade Recycled Paper Gift Tags by Perks by Melissa.

Distressed Chalkboard Gift Tag


Let us know what you are upcycling into gift wrapping this year! And remember to save this year's holiday greeting cards for next season's crafts!

Happy Holidays!

Thanks, Bee
inspired to recycle wood

November 20, 2011

Sustainable Sundays: fairyshadow

Upcycling is the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality and higher environmental value.

Upcyclers is a team of 1498 Etsy shops that are upcycling all over the world!

Each Sunday we feature a sustainable product from one Upcyclers shop.

This week's featured shop and item...

Upcycled Red Flower Hair Tie by fairyshadow

This handmade upcycled red ponytail tie is made with recycled cotton. Each petal was hand sewn and secured to a beefy no metal ponytail elastic. Great for every day ware or a splash of holiday color this season.  Reclaimed fabric is soft, very comfortable to wear, and even washable! Making this tie great for kids or adults.

fairyshadow sells handmade flower hair accessories crafted from upcycled textiles. Flower headbands, hair ties and hair clips are hand sewn by Tania Prosser.          

Shop Stats:
Opened April 7th, 2011
111 items for sale
43 sales
Feedback: 15, 100% positive

It is always hard to pick one upcycled item from all our active shops each week!  Here are this week's runners up:



You can find more sustainable creations on Etsy by using our official team search tag: teamupcyclers when shopping this holiday season.

Happy Upcycling until next week,
~Bee
The Wooden Bee
inspired to recycle wood
www.thewoodenbee.com

November 19, 2011

Weekly Giveaway: Spin A Yarn!

Our First Anniversary Celebration was fantastic! We are so excited about all the new followers and fans of Upcyclers/Love 2 Upcycle and our wonderful sponsor~  
Fisher Cat Fiber Co.! We had so many entries and kind comments, we wish you could all win! But only one lucky winner did: that was Katy~ The Country Blossom, And you can get to know Katy and follow her on her inspirational blog!
Thank you to all of you who entered and another big hug of gratitude to Annie for sponsoring our Anniversary giveaway!

Now for this week's giveaway! Our sponsor this time likes to Spin A Yarn!
Literally, that is~ The mother and daughter team behind this Etsy shop loves to weave a tale of a different sort, from recycled wool and natural fibers of all colors and textures. They are generously offering one of their Owl Babies in the custom color of the winner's choice!



Dena and Adrianna are avid spinners, weavers, wet and needle felters and even collect buttons! These projects also sponsor their efforts to support the Merry Mittens Project. They donate one pair of mittens or a hat to the homeless of the Pacific Northwest for every item sold in their shop.

Located on tranquil Whidbey Island, Spin A Yarn is a home-based, community minded family business. They even raise their own alpacas! The alpaca fiber is blended with other exotics including qiviut (musk ox), angora, silk, mohair and merino. They like to call their yarn "art yarn", since each skein is lovingly handspun and is a one of a kind artistic creation.


They offer a wide variety of colors you can choose from, as well as their other custom creations like their Owl Babies and other Fiber Friends, diaper and shopping bags and purses, scarves, mittens and gloves.

If you win our Giveaway, your Owl Baby will be one of a kind, constructed of natural fibers and vintage/antique buttons in your color choice, stuffed with merino superwash, organic lavender from a certified farm and lots of LOVE! In addition to supporting the Merry Mittens Project, the proceeds of all sales of these cuddly Owl Babies goes to the support of youth fiber arts instruction through their 4H efforts. 




And now for your chance to win!

First, be sure you are a follower of this blog, Love 2 Upcycle~ not a follower? Just look to the left and click. Voila! You are a follower. But you haven't entered yet.

Now, you can choose 4 of the following ways to enter, up to 4 times!

1. Check out Spin A Yarn on Etsy, favorite their shop and add them to your circle.

2. Follow their blog: Everything But the Oink!

3. Become a fan of Everything But the Oink, Recycled Fiber Arts!

4. Tweet or share this Giveaway!

5. Tell us here what other Fiber Friends Spin A Yarn creates.

Remember, only 4 entries count, and each one must be left in a separate comment! If you don't have an email listed on your bio, leave it here in one of your comments. Deadline to enter is Midnight, November 25th!

Winner will be randomly drawn using Random.org's generator.

Good Luck!

Would you like to Sponsor a Giveaway on Love 2 Upcycle? You don't have to be a member of Upcyclers to be a sponsor, all Etsy sellers of upcycled or eco-friendly products are welcome! But of course, we'd love for you to join the team!

November 17, 2011

All Steampunked Up~cycled for the Holidays!

One of the most intriguing fashion trends of recent years is Steampunk~ a fantastical blend of Victorian-era fashion and pre-modern industrial technology. It's popularity started in the 80's and the movement is still growing strong, with dedicated and imaginative fans attending expos and gatherings around the planet.

For Upcyclers, it's a fantastic genre to work with. We create new from old~ using cast-offs unwanted by society that would otherwise be destined for overfilled landfills. Steampunk's inspiring and bizarre images drive you to think beyond the normal use of typical items and take you to another time and place in history.


'Upcyclers Team Challenge: All Steampunked Up~cycled for the Holidays!' by collagical

Think of Victorian~Industrial~Gaslight~Turn of the Century Romance for the Holiday Season! Steampunk is upcycling's soulmate and a favorite style of many our members! Check out these entries and other items from our team of Upcyclers!


Steampunk Key to Atlant...
$29.95

Scrap Art Couture - Upc...
$700.00

Steampunk Watch Case Pe...
$20.00

Forest Fey, Skipper But...
$36.00

Dr Who Clockwork Doll ...
$15.00

Vintage Postage Re-Card...
$3.99

Time travelers wife cuf...
$55.25

Vintage - Stamps - Coll...
$5.00

2 Antique Brass Drawer ...
$4.00

Grey beaded ring - recy...
$30.00

Steampunk Bug Brooch Pi...
$40.00

Steampunk altered art r...
$30.00

Steampunk Pendant Drag...
$22.00

Earth Metal Upcycled Sw...
$65.00

Steampunk - Brown Leath...
$36.00

Victorian Masquerade Ma...
$75.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.