Category Archives: MOOP

Strawberry Tower from Plastic Bottles

Vertical gardens are great for a balcony or other small outside areas. From plastic bottles you an easily and quickly build you own – reducing waste & cost. Here is a great description with pictures on how to build your own: http://containergardening.wordpress.com/2011/09/07/bottle-tower-gardening-how-to-start-willem-van-cotthem/

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The picture shows the start of two small towers as I had only a few bottles – all in different sizes. I mainly use glass and avoid plastic wherever possible. So I gathered them from my family, sat down for 10mins to read the instruction, another 10mins slicing up bottles and squeezing in dirt and strawberries and YAY to the start of my new vertical garden.

I will probably continue it whenever I come across more bottles – I am not in a rush.

From Jumper to leg warmer and skirt

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This is a beautiful and simple way to upcycle a jumper. This one was leftover from a cloth swapping party – too short for anyone to wear. Nice wool and color though. With some simple cuts, 5 minutes of sewing, an elastic band and a safety pin this jumper was upcycled into a skirt and a pair of leg warmers. Multiple matching new clothes. And pretty unique.

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Just cut the jumper appropriately as in the picture, sew a loop around the edge and pull through the elastic band with the help of a safety pin. Put in a knot at the desired strength of the elastic and sew together to close the hole.

 

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From the collar that is left over one could even make a poncho by sewing on some additional fabric at the lower bid.

More creation, less consumption!

 

Repair your broken phone screen

broke phone screen

It is pretty simple to repair your broken iPhone screen, there are multiple instructions about it on the web. Just google your specific type of phone. Inspired by my friend gaiageek I used these instructions and it worked really well:

http://www.wikihow.com/Fix-an-iPhone-3G-Screen

I admit, it was a bit nerve wrecking and I had my repair-it-all dad with me who is more specialised in cars and was amazed himself that we could repair a smartphone. But with time, humour and the right size screwdriver we made it. It is also a good idea to consider replacing the battery as this is only a few more steps and can increase your phones value.

There are multiple repair packets, I bought my iphone screen for around 8 EUR and the battery for 10 EUR on ebay.com and ebay.de. If the LCD part is broken it is slightly more expensive.

Reduce.Reuse.Recycle.

floppy disk upcycling

Floppy disk your photos

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Floopy disks are very much outdated and I would not even know where to use one now. I did find a staple at my parents place and before throwing them out I thought about some ways of reusing and upcycling them.

Now this is my first trial – a photo holder or pin board. This could be extended with more floppy disks to the side or even longer at varying length of cord. The disks usually have two holes however it needs drilling two more holes to be able to connect the disks. I used a gimlet for drilling and some cord for connecting the disks. It needs some patience to have the cord at the same length on both sides. You can see my first trial is a bit uneven. I can imaging colourful cord to look cool. Furthermore you can turn the floopy disks around and write on the sticker that is on there.

Great (christmas) gift for a techie friend.

floppy disc connectionfloppy disk frame

tyre bag

Upcycled tyre bags

Old bicycle tyres are great for upcycling. With a sewing machine they quickly are turned into a useful little bag – a perfect present for yourself and others. It can be a simple phone protection case or a bag for jewellery or a torch. Just be careful with your sewing machine. The lower thread needs to be widened much more than for clothes material. You can do that on the little screw of the case that your lower thread is usually living in.

The pictures below give some design inspiration where also the opening and closing mechanism is from recycled material. The blue band is looped through holes created with a paper punch. The white cord with the plug is from a broken headset cable and was a present for my best techie friend. The last picture shows a bum bag where the upper part is open for a belt to fit through.

The main thing that makes upcycled tyres look special is using colourful thread and unique closing mechanisms. Make use of what you have around.

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Upcycling skirts – puffing it up

These two cord skirts were lying in my wardrobe for many years unworn. Somehow an odd length and not matching my body shape. Or maybe it was just my perception of fashion at the time. Instead of going out shopping for something new I though of ways to make them more interesting. Unique. Add something. Something simple but effective.

By folding the lower part and sewing a loop for an elastic to go through the cigar void created I created two new favourites. Puffy short skirts, adjustable depending on occasion – clubbing or uni – comfy and unique. 

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knitting with plarn

The plastic revolution – upcycling plastic bags

Most products are wrapped in plastic. It is hard to avoid in your daily shopping from food items to toilet paper. Plastic bags are easily turned into plastic “wool” for knitting or crocheting. Start reusing plastic bags by making yarn out of them. You can then knit or crochet anything that comes to your mind. I was inspired at Peats Ridge Festival – a New Years festival near Sydney know for it’s sustainability focus. The little workshop tent was full of hand bags and clutches. 

In the picture below I have started knitting a curtain for our bathroom window out of the plastic bag that toilet paper is stored in. Preparing the plastic wool is more time consuming than buying wool but it takes rather time than money and then the knitting is much faster as plastic is thicker than wool. The outcome also makes for different purpose than wool. It is more robust and can also turned into e.g. a mat for shoes. You can go colourful. You can knit hand bags and braid the handles. You might want to experiment with different size needles.

Be creative and share your ideas with me!

IMG_0040upcycling plastic

How to create yarn out of plastic bags:

1. stretch a plastic bag
2. roll it up like dough for cookies with the longer side facing you.
3. cut off the end parts – the bottom rim and the handle
4. cut the long dough piece in 2cm wide pieces
5. unfolded they turn into a large loop.
6. now you connect loop through looping and you will have a string of yarn

This is a great video to explain the process http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdTm2V4ssvY

Turn your Old Pants into Shorts

recycled shorts

Do you have torn pants that you don’t wear any more? Instead of throwing them away you can turn them into shorts. Just cut them at the desired length and fold the lower part up. With the leftover leg part you can sow a bag or use the material for patching up other clothes.

If you have some other fabric that would match and like more individual looks, sow it on the lower part like in the below picture.

colourful shorts