Sustainable Sundays: Pir8t

Each Sunday we select one item to feature from over 1,700 sustainable shops on our Upcyclers Etsy Team! Any Upcyclers shop on Etsy that is actively selling, promoting and participating on our team is available for selection.

This week's upcycled selection is...

Peace on Earth Recycled Bottle Cap Necklace by Pir8t

Unique art is found throughout this wonderful Upcyclers shop! This particular piece really caught my eye. The featured necklace has a recycled bottle cap pendant with a silver peace symbol suspended in the resin above an earthy colored background.  The necklace is on a 16" black leather cord with silver findings and a magnetic clasp to complete it's quality design.

Pir8t, aka Randi, is a high school art teacher in Long Beach, Californa, who loves to create recycled and upcycled pieces in her "spare" time. Check out her shop for more amazing creations, including a Recycled Rialto Bottle Cap Ball Game!

Shop Stats:

Opened on Nov. 27th, 2007

93 for sale

328 sales

Feedback: 278, 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:

Upcycled Wool Sweater holder for lip balm or USB by Andreanne12

Upcycled Scrapbook Album with Journal Tags by EcoChiqueboutique

Upcycled Vintage Button & Feather Earrings by RedwingedBlackBirds

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

Happy Upcycling!
~Bee
The Wooden Bee
inspired to recycle wood
www.thewoodenbee.etsy.com

Weekly Giveaway: Plarny Yarn Creations!

We've got a fun giveaway this week~ Lynn Adkins is offering one of her Plarny Yarn Creations~ a water bottle with a plarn carrier! Plarn is made from plastic bags made into yarn~ and Lynn is "hooked" on crocheting this post-consumer material into tote bags, purses, hats, fingerless gloves, baby doll clothes, baby shoes and much more!

We'll show you lots more of her creations in just a minute but first let's announce our winner from last week's Giveaway from Groovy Green Glass! We had a whopping 93 entries last week, but we could only pick one: #74~ Jacqueline! Congrats to you Jacqueline! Thank you everyone for supporting our blog and showing so much love to our sponsor~ And thank you, Groovy Green Glass for sponsoring our Giveaway~ You really are GROOVY!

And now we'll tell you more about Plarny Yarn Creations~ Lynn is just getting started on Etsy, but she has tons of her work posted on her Facebook page. These amazing creations are whimsical and colorful, and made from plastic bags of all different colors! Although Lynn says the colorful bags are the hardest to come by, and she offers to meet up with anyone who has them in the area of the Eastern Shore of Maryland. They are so lightweight that you could probably send them to her for next to nothing if you'd like, as well! It's a wonderful way to get rid of the worst offenders of our environment and a great way to support upcycling. Plastic constitutes 86% of the debris in our oceans and over 1 million seabirds and marine mammals die from plastic ingestion or entanglement!

It's hard to believe Lynn can take something like this:

And turn it into these Plarny Yarn Creations:

Lynn is working on listing her many plarn and yarn products, but if you see something here or on her Facebook page that you like, be sure to convo her on Etsy! She'll be happy to work on a custom creation made just for you! And Lynn says she loves to hear about new ideas for her to create~ she'll also share her ideas with you on her blog~ Plarny Yarn Creations!

If you'd like a chance to win her water bottle and plarn carrier, you can ENTER NOW!

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 Plarny Yarn Creations on Etsy, favorite the shop and add Lynn to your circle!

2. Become a fan of Plarny Yarn Creations on Facebook!


3. Follow Lynn's Blog!


4. Pin one of the photos here or in Lynn's shop to Pinterest!


5. Tweet or share this Giveaway on Facebook or Twitter!


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, February 2nd!
 
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!

Wasteless Wednesday~ "Grow Green"!

This Wasteless Wednesday, we offer you another week's worth of tips~ this time for "growing" GREEN!

How does your garden grow? How about your lawn or yard? Do you have plants in your home? How do you care for them? Do you use fertilizers? Pesticides? Do you overwater because you aren't using indigenous species?

Every bit of green you surround yourself with will help sustain our planet but only if you do it without wasting resources while keeping it green!

Here are our tips for the week:

1. Instead of a typical houseplant in a container~ imagine having a little slice of Earth in your home...a terrarium!

Bear Pair Bowl Terrarium by DoodleBirdie

2. Try raising your plants on air instead of water...

Air Plant Dance Valentine's Day Terrarium from Roots in Rust

3. Use organic or natural pesticides~ Did you know fleas can be repelled by Eucalyptus? There are plenty of home remedies to control insects and pests, just make an effort to find them!

Organic Eucalyptus Essential Oil from Natural Earth

4. Consider carefully when you landscape your yard! Use indigenous, zone hardy and low maintenance plants. Use ground cover species instead of grass. Create ecological habitats for birds, bees and butterflies to encourage pollination.

Garden Mosaic Birdhouse from Winestone Birdhouses

5. Create a "Rain Garden" to catch the potential polluted run-off or stormwater from your property.

5. Use upcycled garden decor or statuary in your yard, patio or outdoor areas~

Yellow Flower Metal Art Sculpture from Metal Art Dude

Metal Flower Garden Candle Holder by Tink and Designs

6. Support and consume organically grown foods and products. Local if you can, but always consider the source!

Gourmet Chinchilla Yummies from Brizel4theAnimals

7. Encourage others to grow their own or "Grow Green"!

Veggin' Out Seed Kit Gift Basket from Humble Seed

We hope you found a way to Waste Less last week and PLEASE spread the word about Wasteless Wednesday~ Have a great week!

Tuesday's Treasuries~ Love is in the Air!

Upcyclers are feeling the love in the air! Valentine's Day is coming and we have some great gift ideas for your sweethearts!

'Be mine upcycled Valentine' by CUTandTEAR

Red Bandana Heart Cowgi... ITSYOURCOUNTRY $4.99	Vintage Prim Shabby He... ITSYOURCOUNTRY $8.99	Infinity Scarf for Her ... ohzie $20.00	Fabric flowers --- 5 re... kmj165 $6.30
Dog Collar from Recycle... squigglechick $18.00	Valentines Day Red and ... ohzie $12.00	Upcycled Red and White ... MollyMooJessic... $8.00	New: Hot Dog bag, eco-f... bouclenoire $34.00
Antique hand woven red ... BylinaStudio $28.00	Hearts in a jar - pink ... LadyshipDesign... $22.50	Vintage Red Cardinal Bi... believeinURdre... $15.00	Coffee Cup Cozy / Coffe... CreamNoSugar $8.50
Up-Cycled Valentine'... DrapesofWrath $35.00	Large Recycled Crayon S... ourchildrensea... $7.00	Dumpling: an upcycled a... bouclenoire $12.00	RED STEAMPUNK HEART wit... FiddlingCats $8.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

'love me twice' by Polyester10

reloved, upcycled items for your valentine

Computer Part Bug Pixel... clonehardware $15.00	Fingerless Gloves, Arm ... Jewels4Thought $12.00	Steampunk Cufflinks Vin... pennyfarthingd... $28.00	Souplantation LOVE Gif... AlmondWorks $5.00
Felted Sweater Wool Mit... jmariecreates $30.00	UPcycled Wool pincushio... thirtyone13 $8.00	Recycled Necktie Wristl... TearfulTouch $20.00	Whale, Upcycled dentdelion $20.00
Pink Ombre Paint Chip B... bibliobags $14.00	A Pair of Catnip Cat To... CATGIRLANDBOBB... $9.00	Spiral Bound Journal No... heavensentcraf... $16.00	Pride and Prejudice Eli... bibliobags $14.00
Recycled Crayons Hearts... ourchildrensea... $6.00	Credit Card Wallet/Gift... ACleverSpark $10.00	Necklace Hearts on a Wi... popcultureprin... $27.00	Dyed Oak Wine Corks - u... TheWoodenBee $3.75

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

'An Eco-Conscious Valentine' by ria13

A Valentines Day Treasury Dedicated to the Upcyclers Team.

Lisner Necklace Double ... Collagical $55.00	Vintage inspired upcycl... mellostuff $13.00	Wall Art made from recy... TheWoodenBee $26.00
Magic Fairy Dust Vintag... 100bracelets10... $85.00	Ice Blue Recycled Wool ... 4EweDesigns $10.00	stuffed owl plush pillo... 5orangepotatoe... $28.00
LOVE Coasters- Ceramic ... WeWhoWander $14.00	Upcycled pencil bag. Bu... 5thseason $12.00	Valentine Art, Heart Or... ACleverHeart $32.00
Upcycled dress reconstr... acornolyphant $46.00	Inspirational Word Art,... ACleverSpark $12.00	Pincushion Necklace aileenrae $12.00
UPCYCLED Zinnia Paintin... AFrenchTwist $35.00	Valentines Day Heart Pi... Upcycledangel $10.00	6 pink Handmade blank c... KentuckysClose... $10.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

'sustainable love' by thewoodenbee

a lovely collection of upcycled, ecofriendly and handmade gift ideashttp://love2upcycle.blogspot.com/

Original scarf necklace... hoshiidesigns $24.00	Valentine's Necklac... Rinnovato $15.00	Valentine Heart Garland... ThePulparazzi $12.50	Heart Necklace Love Let... SalvagedbyMary $35.00
Bottle Carrier Brown RadishCatSundr... $5.00	Pink and Charcoal Gray ... ohzie $12.00	Upcycled Metal Lamp - A... LeLampiste $280.00	Dry Erase Message Board... WeWhoWander $20.00
A Fine Romance Upcycled... aboundingtreas... $40.00	Paper bead dangle earri... dekoprojects $3.75	Live Plant Terrarium: L... DoodleBirdie $46.00	Recycled Pop Can Earrin... RainyRootsStud... $16.50
LY4E 14" x 10"... FromOldStuff $26.00	my Love: gothic romance... NaturallyHeart... $22.00	Copper pocket heart set... MarieYoungdesi... $18.00	Yoyo Collage Lapel Pin ... StitchingInCir... $14.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio. 

You can find more upcycled Valentine's on Etsy by searching with the tag: Teamupcyclers!