Ikea hack of the year 2012

Big fan of the ikeahackers.net website I could not resist to show the Knuff table, hack of the year 2012, made by imchaser from Singapore.
Upcycling  this :

Into this:

A great upcycling for a very functional coffee table!

Book bookshelf

Instead of trashing books for recycling, what about reusing them for another purpose, Not tom designers found a simple creative way. I don't know if they used a long metallic stem going accross all the books and stopping in the middle of the first and last book, but it certainly doable at home.

It reminds me of this old Ikea ad I already showed you few months ago :

Upcycling cassette tape ribbons into..... portraits!

Erika Simmons aka Iri5 makes unbelievable portraits, just using the ribbons from tape! Have a look at some of these portraits or go on her website for more! This is amazing.

Here she is, creating one of this art piece.

Upcycling zip ties

These amazing bowl and vase were created by Chen Neta and Rochman Mali from "The Israeli Connection Project". The ingenious way the zip ties are connected is creating designs and curves. I'm collecting zip ties right now to try the fruit bowl. Did you know that you can reuse a zip tie?
Check this quick video, some zip ties open better if you use some kind of needle or the tip of a knife.

Christmas wreath made with spoons

Found here

Found here

and here



This last one where you will find a full tutorial on how to make this beautiful wreath by clicking here.

Upcycled Christmas tree

Picture from Design you trust

In Lithuania, they used 40 000 bottom of sprite bottles linked together with cable ties. The light inside the tree give a beautiful glowing effect.

Soda can

Soda cans are a real source of inspiration for artist. Call this upcycling, recycling or just art.
Japanese artist Makaon bring soda can sculpture to a different level.

From iconic pop art Mario:

To Hokusai and "the great wave of Kanagawa"

What he can do is unbelievable, specially when you know that he does not use painting (or very few) but just the original can color. 

Few more sample of his talent and the way he's creating curves on his sculptures

You can even upcycle parts of a ... Plane!

Into a bed

Into reception desks

A bar

Into "wing tables"

Desks

Crazy "Ejection seats"

Or Flight simulator!!

All of these great and a bit-expensive-upcyclings are made by a company named MotoArt. They design and create high quality corporate and home furniture made from vintage airplane parts. Some of their unique pieces might go up to $60,000. It looks great, but most of these pieces of art won't fit my house anyway...

Reusing lunch bag to make Pop Corn

Did you know that microwaveable popcorn bags are nothing more than a paper bag filled with popcorn and whatever chemical flavor you choose.

I took a bunch of lunch bags that I don't use anymore and tested few spoon of corn.
You just fold the top of your bag, don't use any kind of staples or paper clip in your microwave, just fold loosely.

It works like a charm, and you choose how much sugar, caramel, or butter you want to add in your pop corns without the extra preservatives and chemicals you usually get.

One of a kind

By studio Denieuwegeneratie

A jaguar turned into a bookshelf.... a bit excessive to me, but I like to see how people are trying to push the limit of upcycling.

Happy halloween!

Making pumpkins from...

 

 

 

 

 

Jar lids

 

 

 

Book

sweater on Etsy

And my favorite:

dryer duct

Upcycling corks...

... Into planters:

Found here

or bath mat:

Found on Etsy

Or a chair:

Name holder:

Found here

A flash drive!:

Made here

A christmas wreath:

On Etsy

Dust pan from milk jug

Would you have thought of such a great upcycling?

Found here

Milk jugs are a great items that you can upcycle into great useful things.

Have look at what you can do with them for Halloween!!! Click here.

Upcycling Crayons

We had to find a gift for our son's teachers at day care, and decided to go for a frame with their initials made with crayons. We used super glue and a razor blade to cut the pieces, an easy project and teacher were happy to get something else than flowers and chocolates :-) you can also buy the letter from Etsy.

Upcycling light bulbs into planters

These bulbs will be more and more difficult to find, but they make wonderful miniature green house!

Found here

upcycling and art

Once in a while I like to post some artist who are doing amazing job upcycling their own way items that would go to the recycling bin.
Here is Eric Barclay, an illustrator, who's inspired by the graphic design from the 50s and 60s, you can see illustrations on his blog.
And this is what he does with containers:

upcycling a boat...

....into a suspended bed.

You'll just need enough space, a high ceiling and .... a nice looking boat.

Cable drawings

from here

Using a cable with cable attachments to re-create a frame or something else on the wall. Wonderful idea!
I would hang a simple mirror in the middle maybe or maybe not.