5 Awesome Upcycling Ideas for your Home
We all know the importance to reducing our carbon footprint. We all know that reducing our consumption, upcycling whenever possible, and recycling our waste are the best ways we can contribute to this process. What is not often so clear is where to begin and what we can do to keep things fun and interesting. Here are 5 fun upcycling projects you can do in your home. If you have young children consider sharing the experience with and impart the important of remaining environmentally conscience.
1. Keyboard Key Thumbtacks
If you’re like me, you probably have at least one (or two or three) old keyboards collecting dust in some dark corner of your home. You can breathe a new life into these items with a simple hot glue gun and set of thumbtacks or magnets. Simply pop out the individual keys from the keyboard (a flat head screwdriver works great) and glue the thumbtack or piece of magnet to the bottom. You now have a great new set of thumbtacks to hang pictures on your wall, or a new set of magnets for your refrigerator.
2. Car Side Mirror for Make-Up Table
Look around any woman’s room and you’re likely to quickly find a small table with a mirror nearby that has taken the form of a makeup application station. You can spruce up this area by adding a unique and ultra-functional mirror to the mix. Find yourself an old car side mirror, preferably before the days of automatic windows and mirrors, and place it right on the table. Not only does it look great and provide a great mirrored surface, but you can move it around wherever you need and easily adjust the angle.
3. Old TV Dog Bed
If you have a dog in the house that isn’t of the enormous great dane variety, an upcycled TV dog bed may be a great addition to your living room. First you’ll need to get your hands on an old style TV set with a wood housing. Digging through Grandma’s garage or making some calls to your local thrift store would be a good place to start. Once you’ve acquired the set, open it up and remove the large “tube” and glass screen portion along with any other protruding mechanical pieces. Place a lining on the floor and walls, toss in a pillow and Sparky’s got a new home.
4. Altoid Tin Candle
Used Altoid tins always seem to have a million uses for me. Here is a nice and easy project that makes a great candle set for traveling or just home decorating. Pickup some empty Altoid cases along with some candle wax and thread from your local craft store. Melt down the wax, pour it in the case and add the wick. Check out this nice DIY video tutorial here for more help. If you really get into it you can add your own scents and colors to the wax. Lastly, decorate the outside of the tin however you see fit, spray paint or wallpaper works great.
5. Imac Fish Tank “imacquarium”
If the keyboard thumbtacks weren’t geeky enough for you, upcycling your old imac into a fish tank is sure to give you your ultra-geek fix. Get your hands on an old style imac, or for an extra retro feel, a 1984 Apple Macintosh. Next, you need to open up the device, clear out all of the hardware and seal up all the seams and cracks to make it hold water. There is an excellent tutorial with step by step instructions available here. Once the computer frame is prepped for aquatic life, find some bright colored gravel, a rock, some water plants, and drop in your fish. Add a nice backlight and your upcycled imacquarium is in business.
