Using PVC pipes to make a bike seat

There are a lot of front mount-bike seats on the market. Most are available on line but you can not try them on your own bike. I found this one on Amazon that I like but was concerned about the geometry of my own bike to fit this device. This front mount seat was $99 and is not available anymore on amazon.

I then decided to make my own using only PVC pipes and zip ties.

The main pipe is 2 inches PVC pipe that I drilled at each extremities to fit the seat post and on the other side where the stem is. I used hole saw attached to a drill to make clean holes all the way through the pipe.

On the seat post

On the stem

For the passenger feet, I had to design a T-Shaped structure made of 1 inch PVC pipes, I happened to have 2 holes in the frame where you can attach a bottle holder, instead I attach the foot rest pipes, with an extra zip tie to help the screws that are a bit further down:

I attached an old saddle to the main pipe by drilling little holes and using zip ties:

At the end, the PVC pipe is very sturdy and does not care about a 40 pounds kid seating on it. I did not put any handle for the passenger, I think it's not safe in case of a fall. it's too close to the chest.

Also, one downside with my version: it's not as good looking and It's not quick release, but I do not care.

The good side: it cost almost nothing to make it: $5 if you have to buy the pipes... and I feel very safe to ride with. But even if it looks safe, if you try your own version, I'm, in any case, responsible for any injury that might occur...

Upcycled inside walls

From here

I love the idea of reusing pipes, bottles to create walls and separate inside spaces with an refreshing touch.

From Recyclart

Upcycling naval mines.

Naval mines are probably the most unexpected upcyling you could think of.
This is made by an  Estonian artist named Mati Karmin who collects the mines left from world war II.

A Firelace:

A bathtub:

A chair:

A baby carriage:

With upcycled "toys" for the baby!!

Creative downsprout

Found here

Upcycling old boat into bookshelf

This is just an original way to display your favorite books. I just have to find a boat now...

Upcycling cardboard into a bike!

This bike is 95% made of cardboard and 100% recyclabe material, and can support riders up to 480lb... The development took three years, two years spent on figuring out cardboard complications. The strength of the bike is based on a "simple" principle: If you fold cardboard once, you are not getting twice the strength but three time the strength!
It's also waterproof and guaranteed to last five years.
Best of all, according to its creator Izhar Gafni, the cost of the Alpha bike would be around $10 per unit!
This is a great upcycling but a bit too much work to try at home.

You can see the bike in action in this short video:

Yellow pages upcycling

Once again, I got this Yellow Pages book an my front door... I don't understand why they spend so much money on something that is never used by most of us...
Kristiina lahde has a better solution, she makes sculptures out of these yellow pages, this is few pictures from her Hive serie:

© Kristiina Lahde

© Kristiina Lahde

Upcycling oil cans into ....electric guitars

The people selling these guitars at Bohemian Guitars were inspired from "the resourceful residents of the townships in South Africa who re-purpose materials into playable instruments".
A percentage of all guitar sales goes to donating instruments to schools and youth organizations.
Now they also have their own oil cans. It's a bit less eco friendly but I guess these vintage oil can might be hard to find and collect.

 Here is a video from Bohemian Guitars:

Upcycled Apple Jewelry...

You can find them here

and here

Using Sugru

You might already know Sugru but for those who don't know about it:
I have discovered this great "air-curing" rubber that can fix anything. So instead of trashing a power supply, shoes, racks, hooks. Just try Sugru, it looks to me that you can fix almost anything with it and I'm not getting any money or free stuff from this company.
It looks like some play-Doh, it can be formed by hand and once it's exposed to air it cures to a tough flexible silicone rubber overnight.
It looks like the possibilities are endless.

You can protect your cell phone:

You can prevent breaking from your cables:

You can have ergonomic handles:

You can fix shoes and laces :

You can make a camera kids proof and colorful:

You can upcycle stuff too and make:

hooks:

from instructables.com

Or lego bracelets:

from Instructables.com

I fell in love with this material... I had to share with you!

Shipping pallet

You can find tons of upcycling with shipping pallets, but these german designer (Produktwerft) makes coffee tables with a design and a finish I have never seen before.

Tissue box

Not exactly upcycling, but I like the idea of redesigning the box into something unexpected. It also can be part of an afternoon-activity with kids.

Upcycled fish tank

From Flickr

Old style

New style

Upcycled accessories

From amazon

This is not a new idea, but I love the idea of changing the color by adding an other lego on the top of this base, so you can match with your shirt.

From technabob

Not sure I would wear this belt, just a tiny bit too geeky for me...

One more clock...

There are too many computer boxes where I work, we keep them just in case we need to send them back to get them fixed. Let's face the reality, most of the time they are out of warranty when they decide to die... Then, I took one of them.

Easy to do:

You just need a mechanism that you can get from any old clock, or you can buy it online on a website like this one, it's even cheaper to buy a cheap clock from Ikea or a dollar store and get the mechanism out of it.
You just have to make a hole with a pencil in the box, that's it. It's just an expensive clock if you have to buy the laptop...