upcycling Archives - Blinds by tuiss ®

Thursday thought by tuiss :: it’s a time for giving

December 30, 2010 by Vanessa·1 Comment

This really is the time of year for giving. At tuiss we try our best in more ways than one to share. One example is what we do with things we no longer need.

When we’ve finished our photo shoots we obviously don’t need the window blinds anymore so we take the blinds to our local Oxfam Home shop. What a treat for some lucky bargain hunter, a tuiss blind!

We really had to think outside the box when it came to thinking what to do with fabric samples that we no longer needed. The Women’s Institute is the lucky recipient where nimble fingered ladies turn them into all manner of wonderful bits and pieces. What a nice ending for a scrap of fabric!

Thursday thought by tuiss :: Babybel candles

August 12, 2010 by Vanessa·0 Comment

Thursday thought is all about doing something simple to do your bit to help the planet. This one isn’t ever so simple but it does sound like fun!

My children love Babybels but I do ever so slightly fell aggrieved at both the cost and the packaging. Well I’ve sorted one of them! I spotted on Condo Blues a great idea of turning the red wax into a candle. Instructables also gives instructions for candle-making with babybels.

Get chomping kids!

Thursday thought by tuiss :: upcycling old welly boots

April 8, 2010 by Vanessa·0 Comment

Yet another two pair of wellies have bit the dust in our household with a hole in the side. Never fear, there’s no need to send them straight to land fill, here’s a fun idea from Condo Blues to upcycle ‘had it’ wellies, a funky planter for the garden.

In doing a little research I also came across Smile Plastics who recycle wellies into all manner of different products, here’s a reception desk made from wellies and the odd mobile phone cover!

tuiss Love :: Made by / designed by Andy Murray

March 1, 2010 by Vanessa·0 Comment

Andy Murray (in his own words) is a product designer, maker, crafter and enthusiast of ‘stuff’. One of Andy’s enthusiasms is that we should all brave the credit crunch, use the things we have around us and start making things.

Andy has put together a neat little book with 5 make-it projects all involving the humble tea towel, and who doesn’t have an old tea towel lurking in the back of a cupboard ‘from a holiday to Spain or a wet visit to a castle’?

So if you fancy making a laptop sleeve, watch strap, bag, wallet or belt just order Andy’s Made By book and get crafting. To have a look at Andy’s non tea towel designs just click here. You can also follow Andy on twitter, we do.

It’s not quite the same but if you don’t have any tea towels tucked away then why not treat yourself to some tea towels from To dry for?

tuiss Love :: Who’s glass?

January 20, 2010 by Vanessa·0 Comment

Who’s Glass is our sort of company, they’re clearly passionate about what they do and their heart is in the right place. And it goes without saying that their products are gorgeous.

Did you know that about 3.6 million tonnes of glass is used in the UK every year and over 1 million tonnes goes to landfill? Who’s Glass is doing their bit to correct this by upcycling old bottles into new things of beauty:

Every bottle we use is collected locally, heated and shaped by hand, then slowly cooled and packed. We take pride in ourselves that our glass is about as environmentally friendly as it possibly can be! We use no glues, either with the glass or in our packaging and every piece is hand engraved instead of labelled.

thursday thought by tuiss :: Anyone can upcycle

January 14, 2010 by Vanessa·0 Comment

This is fabulous, the ‘What Watt’ by Tim Fishlock. It took 1243 spent incandescent light bulbs to create a very nice chandelier indeed.

Making a chandelier is upcycling on quite a grand scale, but anybody can do it, and here’s the proof.

Faced with a snowy drive that we needed to clear but only a narrow shovel to hand we needed to make a wider tool. We had a bit of old plywood but what to use for the handle? Aha, one Christmas tree stalk later and a few nails and we were there!

Clearing the snow

Have you upcycled recently? We’d love to hear about it.

Innovative upcycling :: rubbish to beauty

November 13, 2009 by Vanessa·0 Comment

The phrase upcycling was coined by William McDonaugh and Michael Braugart in their book on ecologically intelligent design, Cradle to Cradle. In the simplest terms, upcycling is the practice of taking something that is disposable and transforming it into something of greater use and value. All of the following products have been upcycled and some of them from surprising products.

Some we absolutely love and have bestowed tuiss love on them. In particular take a look at the Smateria website, you cannot fail to be impressed by the dedication and entrepreneurial spirit of the Cambodian people. Take a look at the videos too, taking a plastic bag and turning it into a handbag is tops in our opinion.