Featured Company: TerraCycle Turns Trash into Useful Products

It's great to see upcycling make it to the news headlines and big companies with funding emeging as a result:

TerraCycle make millions recycling trash and turn it into useful products, such as fertilizers.

Watching their video gives you a clear view of how much the company is doing for upcycling! Look at how they re-use glass bottles:

Or take a look at their chair beautified by candy wrappers!

Great cause to participate in!

Old Sweater into a Bottle Decor #Homedecor

We've seen lots of great ideas to pimp your interior with bottle decor including Wine Bottle Chandelier, Bottle Christmas LED Lights, and Wine Bottle into the Garden Borders.

This time I am sharing an even more original idea: Sweater vases!

You take a bottle, add your old unloved sweater and get unique home decor!

Here's a detailed tutorial and here are more ways to upcycle sweater crafts!

5 Coolest DIY Christmas Gifts

We are now far enough into the Christmas holiday that we are all burnt out from shopping, hungover from parties and sick to death of the music, am I right? It may only be December 7, but it all starts so early these days that I feel as though it is all almost over. Even with weeks to go before the big day is really here. A point that I am constantly reminded of every time I look at the list of presents I still have to make.

I never do big gifts for most of my list. Friend, coworkers, neighbors, my kid's teachers and extended family members are usually on a separate list. One where the main point isn't to give them something so much as it is to show I am thinking of and appreciating them. This is best done (in my opinion) through things I made myself, rather than anything bought from the store.

But what to give? I try to break everyone up into two categories: edible and non-edible. People closer to me go with the former, as it takes more effort for me to make those. The latter are given edible gifts that I can make in bulk and wrap up nicely.

Our previously featured DIY hacks:

• 3 eco-friendly DIY Christmas wreaths 
• CD Christmas Tree
• LED Lights in a Bottle
• Ping-Pong Balls into Diffused Party Lights
• Light Bulb Christmas Tree

This year, myself and my kids will be working together on presents. So I thought I would find some new ideas of DIY Christmas items...here are the five I like most.

Wine Bottle + NY Times = Stylish Vase

If you have been inspired by our previous DIY project and created a geeky dictionary lamp, you will find this vase simply awesome.

It looks awesome and will complement any geeky interior perfectly!

 

Via Etsy

Wine Bottle into the Garden Borders

If you like gardening and recycling, I am sure you are always looking for new creative ways to combine the two.

Here's an awesome tip for you: use wine bottles as borders and edges: this looks nice and is 100% eco-friendly. They can be arranged in a pretty way and they will never get old: will last as long as they want to keep them in the garden.

You may enroll you whole neighborhood into collecting the bottles. This should be fun!

Via 

More ideas on recycling wine bottles:

• Wine Bottle Chandelier
• Wine Bottle Torch

More gardening DIY projects:

• Build a Greenhouse of Plastic Bottles
• A CD Case into Garden Cloche
• DIY Metal Cans Garden Laterns
• Skateboard Table for Your Garden
• Solar Powered CD-Case Bricks

Do-It-Yourself New Year Round-up!

I am sorry I haven't been updating my blog for a while but I felt obliged to post at least something to round-up this exciting year.

Great winter holidays DIY projects: enjoy!

Plastic Cups Snowman

This snowman will never melt and it will serve as the holiday decoration for your home throughout many years!

Recycle Gift Cards into Christmas Tree Ornament

I am sure it is fun to create too! And depending on your gift card providers, can be various colors!

Plastic Bottle Candle Holder

These will come in handy for any winter holiday including st Valintine's day and New Year:

And don't forget these CD candle holders as well!

Drinking Straw Light Fixture

I am pretty sure this one can be used as the holiday decoration!

CD Christmas Tree

OK, it is a bit late now but why not save the page for the next year?

CD Photo Frame

A great last-minute February 14 gift idea!

CD Disco Ball

Can also be turned into awesome holiday decor!

LED Lights in a Bottle

Beautiful decor idea for the holidays!

Ping-Pong Balls into Diffused Party Lights

Wow!

Light Bulb Christmas Tree

Made of used light bulbs this tree looks awesome and is absolutely reusable and environment-friendly!

I hope you feel inspired! Happy Holidays and see you in 2011!

Beer Bottle Cap Table

We've seen a few cool gadgets for beer lovers: beer bottles chair and beer bottle coffee table (with them drinking beer is even more fun!). Today's project is one of the coolest (may I say even stylish).

This also will be a great motivation for you to try different beer manufactures: this way the caps will be different and your table will be even cooler!

Coca-Cola Cap Bracelet

Do you like Coca-Cola? Or maybe any other soft drink with pretty caps? Then don't toss those caps away: collect them and create a nice bracelet (your kids will love it!)

With just a bit creativity you can brainstorm something even more beautiful! Heck, you can get your daughter to draw a draft:

Pepsi Bottle Lamp

Sometimes the most genius things are born from really simple stuff. This Pepsi bottle lamp is the best proof for that. I am sure it will make your home most famous decor: all your friends will be impressed.

Note: the one in the picture is made of a vintage bottle but I am sure the very modern one will look cool as well.

Christmas LED Lights in a Bottle

Can't wait to enjoy your Christmas celebrations? Do you love when there's plenty of light? Then this cool idea is right for you: Christmas LED lights in a bottle! Isn't it cool?

Wine Bottle Chandelier

This beautiful chandelier will make a great blend to the previously shared DIY project: wine bottle hanging lamp. And it looks not really hard to creat too!

Beer Bottles Chair

I am honestly not sure how if this chair is comfortable or solid enough but its other benefits are obvious: (1) it must have a relaxing messaging effect (just like plastic bottle chair and tennis ball chair we've seen before) and (2) it is sure to appeal to your friends who come to visit!

Wine Bottle Corks Armchair

Yes, to be able to create this arm-chair you will have to drink a lot. Or you can ask your friends to store corks champaign and wine bottle they drink over this holiday season.

If you have many friends who can make fun, you stand good chances to create this arm chair in the very beginning of the next year!

And well, another reason to have a really happy holiday!

by Gabriel Wiese

Wine Cork Serving Tray

Do you drink much wine and stores the corks? Now you have a great idea to re-use them: a cool looking wine cork serving tray.

Just arrange the wine corks on the tray and place the clear Plexiglas cover over them. Everything stays in place without a messy gluing process.

Beautiful Bottle Hanging and Table Lamp Styles

If you collect various beautiful bottle designs, this idea will turn particularly useful. You can recycle them into nice hanging and table lamp styles which are actually so good that they can be placed in the most prominent place in your apartment.

Th artist seem to be using various colors and forms to render various shades of light.

DIY: Sandals for the Beach Made of Plastic Bottles

Who doesn't have a bunch of plastic bottles at home? Here's a good way to take advantage of them:

Just crunch the bottle flat and slip your feet in between the label and the flattened bottle.

Source

How to Make a Coffee Table of Glass Bottles

Doesn't it look awesome? Your neighbors are going to love it!

This table is made of glass bottles glued together and it is capable of supporting 200 pounds

Src: Instructables