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Craft Recycled: Upcycled Lamp from a Wire Waste Basket

Becky Striepe — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:00:43 +0000

For folks who are into cross-stitch or weaving, the texture of a wire waste basket begs to be fancied up with stitched or woven fiber, and Poppytalk did an awesome job transforming a wire waste basket into a lamp! They used strips of fabric, but you could also use yarn or grouped strands of embroidery thread - this is a great project for busting that fiber stash. You can check out the full instructions on how to do it over on Poppytalk!

The folks at Poppytalk used a new waste basket, but you can hunt at thrift stores for a second hand one to make this an upcycled project! The trick is cleaning that waste basket well because, well...it's a waste basket!

How to Clean Your Waste Basket

Wire mesh is not a joy to clean, but with the right tools on hand, you can make it easier on yourself. Here's how!

Get scrubby. Use a scrubby brush and hot, soapy water to get any gunk off of your basket.
Rinse. Rinse it out under running water. Your bathtub is a good place to do this, if you don't have a hose in your back yard.
Soak that sucker (optional). If you feel like it's still not totally clean, grab a bucket that's larger than your basket, fill it up with water, add a generous squirt of dish soap, and submerge. If your basket wants to float, use a brick to weigh it down. Soak for around 30 minutes, then rinse.
Dry. Set your basket out to dry. You can dry it in the sun, if it's warm and clear out or just set it upside down on a clean towel to drip dry on the bathroom or kitchen counter.

Ta-da! Easy peasy, and you're ready to make an upcycled lamp!

How to Make Your Liquid Dish Soap Last Longer

Becky Striepe — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:00:20 +0000

If you do any cooking at home at all, you probably use liquid dish soap. I don't mean the sort for the dishwasher, but the kind for hand-washing your dishes. Not only do we seem to go through our liquid dish soap quickly, it can be pricey, especially if you're opting for eco-friendly dish soap.

Whether you make your own liquid dish soap or buy it at the store, it seems to run out at the most inopportune times, doesn't it? I feel like we make most of the last-minute trips to the store around our house for two things: cat litter and dish soap. You can't really push it with cat litter, but last time we were out of soap, I found a great way to stretch the bottle for a couple more washings! Here's how:

Fill the bottle halfway with tap water.
Shake really well.
Apply liberally.

There's enough soap residue in the bottle to do at least a few more dishes, and maybe more! We "ran out" of soap days ago, and I'm still using the bottle that we refilled. Since the soap is super diluted, it's going to take a lot more to get a lather going, but it's all soap that would have otherwise been wasted, so just use lots!

Have you found any simple ways to make things last around the house? I'd love to hear more ideas in the comments!

Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by Jek-a-Go-Go

Spotted: Indoor Herb Garden

Becky Striepe — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 12:00:58 +0000

Like I mentioned earlier this week, I've been getting more into gardening, mostly growing my own food. It's tough to keep that up in the winter! Most of my plants have seen better days. Some of the winter greens, like bok choy and Swiss chard, are doing all right, but my food garden isn't nearly as diverse as it was in the spring and fall.

One of the best ways to keep growing food in the winter, if you don't have a green house or hoop house, is to keep some food plants indoors. I love this indoor herb garden, featuring mint, parsley, and rosemary all in one pot!

Mint really likes to take over whatever container it's in, so I'd probably keep the mint separate and replace it in this arrangement with something like basil or pineapple sage that's still hearty but also plays well with others. I love the idea of mixing up herbs in the same pot, though, to maximize what you can grow even in a small space.

Are you guys doing any indoor gardening this winter?

Image Credit: Remixed Creative Commons photo by kpaulus

Spotted: Succulent Centerpiece

Becky Striepe — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 12:00:12 +0000

This gorgeous succulent arrangement is a perfect centerpiece for your eco-friendly holiday table!

We are in full holiday swing around here, and that means parties, big dinners, and lots of decorating! A centerpiece can be a lovely addition to your holiday table, but the conventional sort isn't so kind to the planet. Cut flowers usually come with a hefty environmental footprint, and faux flowers are usually made from glorified plastic. Yuck.

Luckily, you don't have to deal with the flowers dilemma this year! Emily at Cupcakes and Cashmere has a visual tutorial on how to use a few sustainable materials to create this eye-catching, eco-friendly succulent centerpiece.

Craft Recycled: 5 Eco-Friendly Place Cards for Your Holiday Table

Becky Striepe — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 12:00:25 +0000

Place cards add such a nice touch to the holiday table. I think they show guests that you really thought about each one of them, and clever placement can even help you sneakily avoid family drama at the dinner table. A win all around!

The trouble with store-bought or even more conventional DIY place card ideas is that they usually involve brand new paper, and you know how we feel about that! This year, instead of hitting the big box store for place card-making supplies, head outdoors or to your recycle bin instead! Here are some eco-friendly place card ideas to get you started!

Fallen Limbs - On Wednesday, we pointed you to a tute for turning a fallen tree limb into a reusable chalkboard place card.
Wine Corks - Over at Life Hacker, you can check out a super simple how-to for making wine corks into place cards. Bonus points if you use paper you reclaimed from the recycle bin!
Reused Drawer Knobs - 100 Layer Cake shows you how to use an old set of drawer knobs to make very sweet place cards. Don't forget to check the recycle bin for junk mail or other discarded paper you can use to write the names.
Reused Paper Grocery Bags - You can easily use this simple grocery bag seed packet tutorial from Crafting a Green World to make place cards that are also party favors.
Seed Paper - Part of keeping it green is thinking about what will happen to your creations after they've outlived their usefulness. Check out this tute for plantable place cards from Polka Dot Made.

Have you guys whipped up any reused or reusable place cards of your own? I'd love to hear about what you're working on in the comments!

4 Best Reasons to Use a Wood Stove

Chris Keenan — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 13:22:27 +0000

There are numerous benefits that come with heating your home with wood, some of which are obvious, and some not quite as prominent. This is especially true if you have never had the joy of sitting next to a toasty wood stove as you warm yourself up after a trip out into the cold.

Today's wood stoves are much more energy-efficient that those of yesteryear, and they now maintain efficiency of 70 percent or more. Here are the most important reasons you might consider a wood stove for your home heating needs:

1. Self Reliance

Using a wood stove is a step in the direction of self-reliance. Heating choices like coal, oil or gas are non-renewable and beyond a person’s control. However, a sustainably maintained forest is a renewable, healthy, and self-propagating alternative.

Home owners can cut and manage their own firewood and know exactly where it came from. With other heating options, you have no clue how it is handled and are at the mercy of the large utility companies. Well-maintained forests can be a source of heat practically forever.

2. Get in Shape

Taking a dip into the wood heat pool comes with the added benefit of gym-free, vigorous exercise. After all, wood doesn’t cut, split, stack and move itself, does it?

The winter months offer a great opportunity to feel some invigorating fresh air as you work up a sweat splitting your wood. By the time you're done stacking your wood inside the garage door, you may be warm enough that you won’t need to burn as many logs to feel warm in your house.

3. Save Money

In general, heating with wood is cheaper than fossil fuel. If you can gather your own wood, then it can be as cheap as the tools to chop it.

Even having wood for our stove delivered still cost under 100 bucks a cord. That is a significant savings over typical heating costs through the major utility companies. Even better is that your money spent on firewood is money invested into your local community.

4. Heat More Efficiently

With typical heating setups, a large amount of energy goes to waste. Do you really need a baseboard heater in the bathroom when the door is open 95% of the time? Do the bedrooms need to be the same temperature as the rest of the house? Of course not, and with a wood stove you can directly heat the areas that you want to be the warmest, such as your living room or kitchen. Heating only the spaces where you need it is good for your wallet, and our natural resources.

These are just a few of the many benefits to using a wood stove to heat your home. Besides the obvious, a fire just warms a home, both literally and figuratively.

Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by Kentishman

Green Crafter: Upcycled Birdhouses from Gadget Sponge

Becky Striepe — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 12:00:59 +0000

You know we love upcycled birdhouses around here, so when Brian from Gadget Sponge emailed to tell us about his creations, we were pleased as punch!

Artist Brian Carlisle turns found objects into beautiful, upcycled birdhouses. Each of his birdhouse is a one-of-a-kind work of art. While the metal birdhouses are for decorative use, you can use them as a traditional birdhouse if you keep them out of direct sunlight and cold winds. How lovely would these look on a covered patio or front porch?

Brian took some time to answer a few of our questions about what he does, why he does it, and what inspires him!

gUP: What inspires you to make your birdhouses?

Brian Carlisle: Many things inspire me when making the birdhouses. Knowing that I'm rescuing things from the landfill to hopefully give them a longer lifespan than originally intended. Encouraging the public to think about our birds, wildlife and nature and to keep in mind or daily affect on them. And lastly, just getting excited each time wondering where each item will take the next birdhouse to completion. By trade, I'm a professional graphic design of almost 20 years. So design is always in my mind as far as the composition of the pieces.

gUP: Can you tell me a little bit about how you source your materials?

BC: Most of my materials come from thrift shops, antique shops, friends and family. Most of the time, it's the things that have been sitting on a shelf forever either in a shop or in someone's home with no future.

gUP: What draws you to upcycling?

BC: I find it very satisfying reusing the things that have either met the end of their intended purpose or reusing items in totally new and creative ways.

gUP: Do you have a crafty hero?

BC: My crafty hero is probably made up of a lot of people. Most of the time, it's whoever I've been exposed to recently. When I see someone doing really creative work and exploring new ideas in art, it really pushes me to try even harder to push the envelope within the creative work I do. One of my dear friends, Chris Broussard, has been a professional artists for many, many years. She works in several different mediums. Her work, her enthusiasm and creativity have always been a source of enjoyment for me. If I had to pick one person, it would be her. I can always go to her to bounce ideas off or to get an honest opinion when my creativity is stuck.

gUP: Where can folks find your work?

BC: My upcycled decorative birdhouses can be found on Etsy and also at Timeline Antiques on Line Avenue in Shreveport, LA. My upcycling blog is Gadget Sponge, and my ephemera blog is Paper Sponge.

Photos via Gadget Sponge.