Thursday, January 27, 2011

Never Underestimate an Upcycle

These days it seems we can't simply renew an item, we need to make it glitter and gloat "crafty" or it isn't worth our time. Yet retail stores are selling simple, solid colors by the millions; they never forget, solid shades are timeless. So what if simple doesn't emulate the I-spent-time-on-this craft mentality.  It's still a valuable undertaking. 

I do believe more of us are performing easy upcycles, we just aren't sharing them because they're not glittery to gaze upon.  Well, I don't have that fear. I'm going to make you look at my underestimated thrift projects, because they're impressive (to me). 

Underestimated Upcylce Numero Uno: Johnathan wanted a wall rack for his sweatshirts.

His chair wasn't cutting it anymore. It had lost its chair-ness.
So we went to the thrift store and bought one for a $1.99.  Except it had been crafted on before, and didn't quite suite Johnathan's style.

This pic makes the paint job appear far better than it was. Trust me.

Johnathan's timeless shade choice is black. So we needed to make a few crafty, quick changes   Luckily we had everything we needed right at home: *Sandpaper *Primer *Black Spray Paint and  *Screws,  which were kindly packaged and taped to the back of this donated wall rack. 

I sat down and sanded off the raised paint and small chips. Then we went outside and sprayed the rack with primer.



Once the primer dried, we took the rack back outside and spray painted it a stylish black.  We left the screws yellow for a small dash of color...

And voila! No more sweatshirts piled all sloppy on a chair.  

 

We accomplished a craft of organization. 

Sometimes easy does it, which is why we should never underestimate an upcycle.  Besides, most of these racks sell anywhere from $15.00 - $60.00--
upcycling an item will feel like a steal.  

Upcycle Star for Me!
Thrifting and upcycling aid the Earth's sustainability as well as our wallets.  
Win - Win

TRIPLE win here (we're cleaner than we were yesterday)!

6 comments:

  1. Love the result. I want to share my simple upcycling as-it-happens, too. Even if it's not glittery, it always inspires me.

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  2. So many DIY projects take way less time then people imagine. I just hope more than one person says "hey, I can do that!" and begins reusing materials in simple ways...it's so beneficial to accomplish something, reuse something, and even save some mula.
    I actually hesitated in creating this post, because I kept thinking it would be too boring, but then it hit me-- these are exactly the kinds of things that are worth sharing.Thanks for supporting that!! :)

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  3. sometimes, the simplest solution is the best one. classic, lovely re-do.

    (and i had similar thoughts recently about the whole state of crafting and creating and sharing which you touched on. sometimes, it really is a bit much. <a href="http://imadeitso.com/2010/10/28/what-not-to-do-with-an-old-cheese-dome/>here</a> is my post, if you're curious.)

    thanks so much for sharing jacqueline.

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