Hello friends,

I have a confession to make. I am a closet upcycler. If you are here then you are aware of my trash hoarding disorder and you might be surprised that I am shy about my blogging and the projects that I make, but I assure you I do keep it a secret from most of my friends and acquaintances. It’s not that I am exactly embarrassed by having lampshades made from trash or table tops covered in tin cans. It’s not even the fact that I wear mostly second hand clothing or have a portfolio of projects made from toilet paper tubes.

It’s just that these topics do not flow smoothly in everyday conversations. When asked how is your day? An average acceptable answer might be: “It’s good.  I just finished planting my garden.” Or “It’s OK I am a little tired because I didn’t get much sleep last night.” Or even, “Well it’s terrible because ………”

What is not an acceptable answer is. “Great! I spent the morning melting plastic shampoo bottles in my oven and then I made a video about what to do with a bed sheet after your dogs have chewed a hole in it.” These kinds of answers do not produce even polite responses. The effect they have is to induce an immediate state of dumb-founded-ness, at which point the conversation is over, after an awkward moment of silence and a strange look while the person involved replays the conversation in their head and ponders if there is any chance that they heard you incorrectly.

I guess what I am saying is upcycling is not exactly mainstream conversation.

I will let you in on another little secret: even my family and friends,that do know about this blog are not really interested in reading about my projects. Not even the hubby. Really! In his defense he does end up having to live with a lot of the stuff that I make (extraordinary creations or mediocre crap, depending on your point of view) so really why should he have to read about it too. But the rest of them well they have no excuse for not showering continuous praise upon all of my hard work and creativity.

So it is you my friends that keep me going with your kind comments of encouragement and visits to this site. OK, let’s be honest it is you and the never ending stream of trash that flows through my life that keeps me inspired to keep trying to reinvent things. Wait that is not entirely true either because my destructive critters have also been instrumental in inspiring many of my projects.

So, you, the stream of trash, the Dogzilla’s and Cat Monsters keep me motivated to continue. Plus I just like making things and I like writing silly blog posts that make fun of the way I spend my free time 🙂

But seriously if you are still here.  Thank you.

Anyway, back to my completely wonderful and loving family (even though they don’t read this blog.) This is how I get back at them. I give them gifts made from trash. 🙂

Last Christmas my parents received a family tree made from scrap cardboard and toilet paper tubes, my niece was the recipient of a magazine paper mustache purse and even by brother in law was not exempt from my wildly impractical gifts of garbage. As he was awarded this silly upcycled chess set.

Supplies for this project

1. Empty square tin (I used one from the Scene It game. I am not sure how I lucked out but everything fit perfectly.)
2. Spray Paint
3. Printed chess pieces
4. 16 Mini liquor bottles
5. Scrap cardboard
6. Glue stick
7. 16 plastic shot glasses
8. Paper and a printer
9. Duct Tape
10. Scissors

To start assemble supplies and print out the chess pieces.

Glue the pieces to the scrap cardboard and cut out the shapes.

Attach pieces to shot bottles. Cut out paper pawns and glue to shot glasses.

Spray paint and decorate the tin.

Use scrap cardboard and duct tape to make the game board.

And assemble pieces in the box.

Happy Upcycling,