http://blog.upcycleit.com where trash becomes treasure Sat, 19 Sep 2009 18:48:31 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en [caption id="attachment_42" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="Wine Bottle Torch"][/caption] Gerard & Co has a nice write up on how to turn a a used wine bottle into a rather elegant looking outdoor torch. Could be a pretty cheap project for your next party if you've got some wine bottles laying around. Link [via Make:] http://blog.upcycleit.com/2009/09/19/upcycled-wine-bottle-torch/ Living in Gainesville, Fl I see literally hundreds of shopping carts abandoned on the side of the road. As far as I know, most of these will end up in landfills since many are generic with no identification for where they're from or damaged to a point that stores can't ... http://blog.upcycleit.com/2009/03/09/turn-a-lame-ass-shopping-cart-into-a-bad-ass-easy-chair/ I remember as a kid I always wanted all kinds of kits to build, but inevitably parts would break and you'd just have to buy more parts or the whole kit all over again. It sucked. Well the folks at ÜBERSTIX have solved part of the problem. The toys ... http://blog.upcycleit.com/2008/05/21/toy-kits-require-recycled-goods/ Another simple idea using paper towel tubes, use them to store extension cords. Link-via unclutterer http://blog.upcycleit.com/2008/03/16/store-extension-cords-using-paper-towel-tubes/ I bought a wallet made from Tyvek about 2 years ago and it's held up pretty well but is now starting to fall apart, so maybe I'll make myself one of these guys. Demokr from Instructables has a nice write up of how to make these from either paper or vinyl. ... http://blog.upcycleit.com/2008/03/07/papervinyl-wallet/ Picked up a copy of The Family Handyman issue "228 Storage Tips & Easy Projects" and I was pleasantly surprised to find all kinds of projects using commonly thrown away things. Some of the things they found use for: PVC piping odds and ends Old paint buckets Altoid tins Bulk CD cases Coffee cans Egg cartons Variously ... http://blog.upcycleit.com/2008/03/05/the-family-handyman/ Here's a link to several ways of making low to no cost laptop sleeves provided by Geek Technique. Link http://blog.upcycleit.com/2008/02/25/no-cost-laptop-sleeves/ We just added a new article on what to do with all that Styrofoam you usually have lying around. Thanks, Brad. This procedure involves dissolving Styrofoam in a solvent and using the resultant gloop as a glue. Let us know if you've tried this, we'd love to hear how well it works. Link ... http://blog.upcycleit.com/2008/02/08/polystyrene-aka-styrofoam-to-glue/ Electronics Lab is a kind of eBay like store for electronics in which you can buy or sell all kinds of electronics. Could be useful if you wanted to dismantle your old electronics and sell the parts. Link Read our article on how to identify your electronic parts http://blog.upcycleit.com/2008/02/01/buy-and-sell-electronics/ Kwytza Kraft has some cool products made from old chopsticks, like the fruit basket pictured above. They also offer some other products, like lamps and a necklace. It would probably be pretty easy to make these on your own, I know I have enough chopsticks laying around at my ... http://blog.upcycleit.com/2008/01/30/recycled-chopsticks-folding-baskets/