Upcycling drawers

I love these ideas. I don't think that a tutorial is needed, but keep in mind that you need to install a plastic liner inside the drawer to avoid water leaking....

Upcycling bookends into a floating bookshelf

As you might have noticed, I love what Umbra is doing, in a previous post, I showed that you could make your own butterflies or wall flowers with soda cans.
Here I'd like to show that you can use a regular easy to find metallic bookend to make the now-famous floating bookshelf from Miron Lior sold by Umbra.

How to make it

You just have to use tin snip pliers to make 2 little notches and fold them with regular pliers. These little pieces of metal will be used to hold the back cover of the first book. The first book in this configuration will have to be thick enough to cover the piece of metal otherwise you can cut almost flush the whole piece of metal and make the same cutting and bending, in this case, any book will fit to start.

To attach on the wall, 2 hole using a drill and anchors on the dry walls will be needed.

I think it's funny that a bookend could also make a great floating bookshelf!

Upcycling vinyl records

Seen on pinterest.com

Sometimes it's hard to say if it's upcycling or destruction... But it makes beautiful butterflies too!...
I'm on vacation in France with family until August 5th but I will try to see if I can find upcycling ideas or projects there.

Upcycling a three ring binder

I needed hooks next to my BBQ to hang a towel or some tools for grilling.
This project could also fit in a kitchen or an office.

The tools needed:
Pliers and scissors

The material:
A 3 ring binder and 2 screws.

How to make it:
There's no really need for a tutorial on this one. The tricky part might be to remove the rings from the hard cover using the pliers.

These hooks are great outside since you can close them and secure from the wind the stuff hanging.

This upcycling project is not my idea, I give all the credit to Bettina who's also one of my wonderful and creative followers.

Upcycling the Mason Jar

Found on Etsy

There are probably tons of upcycling ideas with mason jars, but I really like the lamp concept.

As a chandelier in the kitchen or hanging on the wall, electric or with candles, the uneven glass reflects and diffuses the light in a beautiful way. I haven't started this project yet, but, inspired by these pictures, I really consider making mason jar lamps hanging on my deck with electric lighting, a new tutorial to come then...

From Kara paslay designs

Seen on Anna's blog with tutorial

Here is a tutorial to make the candle one.

The good thing about this project is that it's fairly simple as long as you are very careful when you play with electricity!! if you have any question about how to make one of this project, just drop me a comment or an email.

My blog featured on Remodelaholic !!!!!

I had the honor of being invited to write a guest post on Remodelaholic.com about the fishbone chair replica that I made from salvaged plywood. Have a look! A big thanks to Cassity for the invite!

Sad News for upcycling....

This is a variation of the torch made with bottle of wine posted here. A simple project that looks good on picture. You can find the attachments in the plumbing department at your local store.

Also, sad news for magazines. Readymade Magazine won't publish anymore... Decision from the parent company. It was a great magazine that will be missed by all upcyclers... The website is still working though.

Plastic crates are upcyclable too!

I don't know if I would do this upcycling for myself, but I must admit that these sophisticated and sustainable milk crate furnitures look really stylish.
The ceiling light is also an interesting and colorful piece of art.

Upcycling wine crates

 

  

You can upcycle wine crates at different levels. From a useful shelf to art exhibit. This is few pictures showing how versatile these wood boxes could be. And how easily you can modify them.

You can find wheels at amazon for less than $10 the set of 4! you just have to use wood screws to attach them.
When you hang crates like this, you have to make sure it's well attached to your wall, and that no kids will try to use the structure as a ladder. You better use good wood screws to attach the crate to a stud. Between the studs, use at least three butterfly anchors for each crate, they look like this, it's pretty strong:
      

Probably my favorite upcycling from ciclismo jewelery

A side table from Nicolas Maison on Etsy

A basket from the garden crate company

I'd like to end this overview with a little bit of art with australian artist Tracey Johnson who uses his jigsaw to open the crates and creates light sculptures. 

Iphone/Ipod charging dock

No new project to post yet, but I found this cool, elegant and decorative docking station that could be a future project. Old good-looking books are easy to find and it's an inexpensive project. If you are lazy or don't have enough time, you can find some on etsy for around $60.

Upcycling an Imac

This is what I found in the trash this morning at my workplace...The one I found is not working anymore, and I'm looking for ideas to upcycle it. The most obvious is the desk lamp called the iLamp. It's a cool idea I found on the web, I'm still wondering if it's stable... I really want to try my own version with how-to-do-it instructions, unless you have a better idea?? Let me know!

The iLamp

Upcycling shipping pallet into a trunk (2/2)

This Saturday, I had time to finish the trunk. Keep in mind that this trunk will stay in my son's bedroom, so the blue might be a bit too much to your taste but I wanted to stay away from white or just wood. It's also the only wood staining bottle I had in my workshop...

The tools needed:
Wood screws, a drill/screwdriver, a jigsaw (or table saw), a brush.

 

The Material:

2 regular Shipping pallets.

The cost:

$1 for the screws.

$3 for the hinges.

The Result:

How to make it:

The main important step is (like the chair made from shipping pallet) to make each side of the trunk.

This is how they should look like (front and back view):

Once this is done, the most difficult is done, you just have to select and cut the length you want the pieces of wood for the front, back and bottom.

The lid is made of 2 pieces attach together with leftover from the legs. This is a flat view of the lid (seen from the bottom):

Conclusion:

The project can be done in 2 week ends. I think I can do some more upcycling on this trunk by using a rope as a handle to open the trunk. I'll post as soon as I find some rope...

Upcycling a coffee cup sleeve

In the last issue of ReadyMade Magazine, there's the new MacGyver Challenge. It's about upcycling a coffee cup sleeve. Since I have heard about this challenge, there were only one thing I could think about that is easy to make.....An other Ipad holder !!!! Please don't think I am a monomaniac with only one think in mind (beside upcycling) but this holder was the obvious project, made for a coffee cup sleeve.

The tool needed:

Almost nothing beside a razor blade and a pencil/ruler

The material:

Almost nothing beside having an Ipad to test it...

The cost:

The price of 2 cups of coffee :-) I don't drink so much coffee, so yesterday I went to the coffee place and took 4 sleeves to give it a try and left right away. I don't know if somebody saw me but they might have thought I was crazy.

The Result:

How to make it:

You need 2 coffee cup sleeves and follow the schematic:

You have to cut through the 2 layers (front and back)

As you can see, Front and back have different cutting patterns

Conclusion:

- It's posted on readyMade website, please come and say you like it... if you do ;-)

- It's also  possible to use only one sleeve, and it's almost as stable and sturdy than 2 sleeves: