Growing, Sowing and Arranging Flowers by Jane Wrigglesworth
Like to sew? Like to upcycle? Want to save the planet?
You might like the latest issue of Sweet Living magazine – the upcycling issue. This special edition is all about upcycling clothes (repurposing, refashioning, recycling). Make a handbag from an old leather jacket, make a coat from a wool blanket, upcycle shirts, scarves, jeans, and more.
SEE WHAT ELSE IS IN THE MAGAZINE HERE.
Reuse, recycle, revamp. The call to make more sense out of our leftover items can be heard everywhere. We’re becoming a smart society, not as keen to toss everything in the trash anymore. So, what does recycling have to do with gardening? More than you might think! There are plenty of common items you can find in gardens sheds and your home that you can use and reuse in the garden to make your life much simpler.
Trade Tested tell us more.
When I renovated my home recently I ended up with a collection of door handles exactly like this one. Now I know what to do with them! This cute little birdhouse looks to be made entirely from recycled bits and bobs, including rustic stars cut from old iron.
This image comes from here.
Don’t throw away that ancient, threadbare sweater. Use it to make a hanging plant pouch. There’s a definite trend on at the moment to upcycle old jumpers into plant pockets. They look super cute, especially when they’re embellished with buttons and fancy stitching, like these ones made by Cynthia Shaffer. Cynthia’s provided step-by-step instructions for making your own. Check them out here.
Here’s a super smart idea for recycling tyres. Turn them into lawn seats. This park in the historic town of Lima, Peru incorporates tyre planters, tyre seats and a children’s playground made up of recycled plastic and tyres. How clever is that?!
More images from Architizer.
I confess, I’m a bit of a hoarder. I’m not too good at chucking things out. If the old iron bed head can be put to use as a climbing frame in the garden, then why do away with it? Old garden tools, pieces of scrap wood, even bottle tops can be recycled into very cool garden sculptures or tool racks. Check these out. If you have a rusty old rake, screw the head to the wall and use it for organising your tools, like this clever rack over at Craft Gossip. Or make a dinky-looking dog out of scrap metal, as seen here. Everyone’s got garden stakes, but do they look as funky as these, over at Fine Little Day? Actually, I don’t think they’re garden stakes, but they would look great in my garden.
Here’s a clever idea for a decommissioned door. A shelf-slash-hanger-slash-storage space. Set one up in a sheltered spot outside, or fix one to a bare wall in a shed or garage. That’s just what I’m going to do to the spare door I have stashed under the house (it was removed after a major renovation). A slap of paint will spruce it up nicely, I should think.
Recycle throw-away items into cute, perky containers. As far as the materials go, the sky is the limit! Here an old bottle crate and vintage dairy box provide the perfect vessels for a miniature garden. Line wooden boxes with plastic to prevent rotting, and make sure you punch drainage holes through the plastic and the wooden bottom.
