SPOTLIGHT: Heather of Re-Zip It: Recycled Vintage Zippers Transformed Into Beauty

Green Recycled Vintage Zipper Brooch or Hair Clip

Heather of Re-Zip It transforms recycled vintage zippers into beautiful wearable works of art! Her eye-catching creations are one-of-a-kind and handcrafted with stunning detail. Heather has been featured on the Today Show as a top 10 finalist in the Art of Reuse Contest sponsored by NBC, and she has also been featured in the LA Times!

We have awarded her the "May 2011" Handmade Spotlight Award here on the Etsy Recyclers Guild blog!
Sunflower Up cycled Zipper Flower Brooch or Hair Clip

Tell us a bit about yourself.
I am a full time working, married, mother of a beautiful
boy named Benjamin. I work in a jail, as a therapist, with
individuals that battle from issues related to drugs and
alcohol. This career choice came after growing up in a
family of addiction. I have a very stressful job and have
learned over the years that it is important for me to have
some form of stress relief. My creative mind allows to express myself while making others smile and keeping the earth GREEN all at the same time!

Pink Recycled Vintage Zipper Brooch or Hair Clip

What inspires you?
Through my quest in creating an outlet for myself I was
inspired to work with old materials to make new treasures.
Zippers were attractive to me because I was reinventing
here conventional use.

Black Vintage Zipper Flower Brooch or Hair Clip

How did you start your business?
My process began with the search for zippers. I was
fortunate enough to find a lady that had 8000 zippers in her
basement, she acquired them from her great grandmother that
owned a sewing store. She had no use for the zippers and
just wanted to get rid of them. Little did she know that her
trash was about to become my treasure.

Orange Recycled Vintage Zipper Flower Brooch or Hair Clip

Tell us a about your creations; what do you want people to think when they see your products?
All my patterns have been completely inspired and
designed by me to attract a vast population. I only use
recycle vintage zippers that have the cotton metal
component.

Please visit:


ReZip it on Etsy HERE

The Etsy Recycler's Guild Upcycles Paper!

Did you know that: Recycling 1 short ton (0.91 t) of paper saves 17 mature trees, 7 thousand US gallons (26 m3) of water, 3 cubic yards (2.3 m3) of landfill space, 2 barrels of oil (84 US gal or 320 l), and 4,100 kilowatt-hours (15 GJ) of electricity?! This is enough energy to power the average American home for six months! (Resources: "Wastes – Resource Conservation - Common Wastes & Materials - Paper Recycling"- US EPA)

The Etsy Recyclers Guild is upcycling recycled and vintage paper and transforming it into some beautiful treasures! Please check out the treasury I created below featuring exclusively recycled paper creations all from members the Etsy Recyclers Guild; the treasury is titled "Orange Cats Love Recycled Paper".My darling sister, Andrea of Storybook Artifact, created a picture tutorial just for the Etsy Recyclers Guild instructing how to make upcycled paper confetti gift/package stuffing "curlicues". Andrea puts these upcycled decorative curlicues in all of her Etsy shop order packages...I bet her customers feel like it is their birthday when they open their packages!

How to Make Upcycled Paper Confetti Package "Curlicues":

1. Collect some magazine pages with brightly colored pages (on both sides of the page if possible). These usually consist of advertisements; however, it is okay to have a little bit of text as long as the other side has lots of color. Recycled clippings of gift wrapping paper is a wonderful choice since they have brightly colored designs and are sometimes shiny or glittery. Furthermore, it is perfectly fine to make different sizes of curlicues (short, long, thin, wide), so you can create them with ease while watching your favorite television show!2. Take the sheet of recycled paper in one hand and the your scissors in the other (sharp scissors work best) and cut off a strip of paper.3. Now take the strip (if it is uneven and not completely straight that is okay) and with the sharp end of the scissors, pull the paper from end to end with a sliding motion to create a curlicue. As shown below.Thank you Andrea of Storybook Artifact for sharing this picture tutorial with us! I encourage everyone to check out the vintage items in her shop...Remember buying vintage is recycling and reusing items from the past! I just love this vintage little leather library collection titled Victorian Literature Collection...It's made of vintage paper!
This post was contributed by Jessica of Eco-Friendly Freckles

See all posts created by Jessica under the tag *Eco Friendly Freckles Column!
Visit her shop, or her blog

Book Review: "Eco Craft: Recycle Recraft Restyle" by Susan Wasinger

Oh my goodness, I checked this book out from my local library and I can't put it down! I am amazed with the creativity and brilliant upcycling ideas expressed in this book! Can you imagine recycling the plastic binders that hold soda pop cans together and making a beautiful wood framed room divider with them? Or recycling a plastic milk jug and making a stunningly modern light? This book is full of fun, stylish, and gorgeous upcycled creations. I can't wait to make the papier-mâché bowls featured in this book.

Here is a lovely lamp shade featured in "Eco Craft" made from a plastic grocery bag!

...And here is a romantically rustic chandelier with elegant extravagance made from recycled baby food jars! Etsy Recycler's Guild members and other stylish recyclers will be drooling over the pages of this awesome book. I have only mentioned a few of the incredible creations featured in "Eco Craft" which has high quality photos and great instructions.

This book is called "Eco-Craft: Recycle Recraft Restyle" by Susan Wasinger

This post was contributed by Jessica of Eco-Friendly Freckles

See all posts created by Jessica under the tag *Eco Friendly Freckles Column!
Visit her shop, or her blog

Loving Mother Earthships

What better way to show our love for Mother Earth than to create a beautiful nature dwelling that uses recycled materials and natural supplies from the earth?! These amazing structures are called "earthships". Many earthships are designed to catch and use water from the local environment, normally harvested from rain, snow and condensation; they are also designed to collect and store their own energy from a variety of sources (solar panels, wind turbines, etc.). You can be completely off-the-grid in an earthship...and when combined with a garden and farm, you can be quite self-sufficent too!

I think earthships are stunningly gorgeous! The earth-rammed walls (made of either compacted "earth": dirt, sand, and sometimes cement; or with a collection of recycled old tires packed with earth) create a warm and inviting space; the floors are also typically made of rammed earth which supports holding in the thermal heat collected from the passive solar. Windows are placed on sun-facing walls which admit lighting and heating ("passive solar"). These large passive solar windows are also generally used to provide lighting for an indoor greenhouse. Earthships are often horseshoe-shaped to maximize natural light and solar-gain during winter months.

I love how earthships utilize so many natural and recycled materials! To live in a home sculpted with your own hands with stucco and earth, and a home created by so many things that would otherwise be packing a landfill would feel incredibly empowering, rewarding, and benevolent.

Not only are so many of the walls created with old recycled tires, plastic bottles, and aluminum soda pop cans, but many of them are embellished with lovely illuminating windows made of glass bottles (some colored) creating a kaleidoscope of colors with an almost art deco design. Isn't it amazing how beautiful a home can be with using recycled supplies?! My husband, Joe, and I would love to build an earthship of our own someday...along with having a garden/farming homestead!

To find out more about Earthships, please check out the link below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthship

This post was contributed by Jessica of Eco-Friendly Freckles

See all posts created by Jessica under the tag *Eco Friendly Freckles Column!
Visit her shop, or her blog

Reuse and Recycle Your Packaging Materials

Embrace you eco-friendly heart and reuse your packaging materials in your Etsy business. Did you know that paper products are the largest component of municipal solid waste, making up more than 40 percent of the composition of landfills?! Save your cardboard, popcorn, bubble wrap, paper, and brown paper bags by reusing them when shipping out your Etsy sold items!You can get crafty and creative by embellishing your recycled materials with printed tape and elegant wax seals like my sister, Andrea of Storybook Artifact, did (package pictured below); she reused a cardboard box and attached information about her Etsy shop printed on recycled paper. I like to embellish my packaged items with descriptive tags and paste recycled inspirational Yogi Tea tag messages on them. You can also incorporate some fun, unique recycled items into your packages like old maps, sheet music, buttons, used stamps, bottle caps, etc.If you don't want to do the work, yet want to support the cause, please consider purchasing these embellished upcycled packaging materials from Etsy Recycler's Guild members for your next sold shop items!"6 acorn gift tags autumn colored ties" by 42 Things Upcycled Goodies.
"12 Upcycled Handmade Envelopes - Eco-Friendly Set Made from Wallpaper" by Harvest Moon by Hand.
"Shoe Advertising Pendant 4 Necklace - Embellishment, Package Tag or use in Mixed Media" by Retro Chalet.
"30 Upcycled Blank Business Cards from Bingo Cards" by Paper Picker.
"Vintage Map Gift Tag Set" by The Weeping Willows.
This post was contributed by Jessica of Eco-Friendly Freckles

See all posts created by Jessica under the tag *Eco Friendly Freckles Column!
Visit her shop, or her blog

Creative Reuse : Ruti's Roots and Etsy Finds, How Did She Do That?

Ruti'sRoots: 190 Pieces of Recycled Paper Make This Bowl

!

Bowl made from all recycled paper!

This seller, RutisRoots, was on the front page in a treasury tonight. Her green bowl immediately caught my eye, as it was unusual. I had to look twice at her creations, because they were made from recycled paper.  Soon I was reading how she was reusing gum wrappers, tea bag covers, and just about everything imaginable to make gorgeous art bowls and sculptures!

A Swan Made So Beautifully!

Tea Bag Wrapper Bowl

Her name is Ruti and she is 25 years old. She was born and raised in Jerusalem and is currently studying Occupational Therapy in the city of Haifa, Israel.  Her love for paper, artistry, and creative reuse show in these gorgeous designs.

I thought I was seeing things as 1050 gum wrappers transformed into this gorgeous swan like sculpture!

Ruti says, "These colorful stylish products can add a lot of grace and peace to your home or work environment. Moreover, since the items are sturdy, and have a durable cardboard lower part, they make perfect storage solutions for precious tiny items, such as: jewels, change, remote controls, CDs, game pieces, stationary, small cloths or whatever you feel like. "

This would look lovely holding a small potted herb plant atop saucer in the bottom.

Bowls range around $35-$40 and swans range between $50 and $80 on average, with very good shipping rates to the USA.  

Creative Reuse : What to do with that before you throw it out....

'Creative Reuse - Unique Etsy Finds, Most From the Etsy Recyclers Guild' by RetroChalet

I'm in awe of these artist's abilities to reclaim, repurpose, and reuse certain objects such as these. Whether you're looking for home decor, jewelry, or supplies, these sellers have it all. Most are members of the Etsy Recyclers Guild Team, but a few are guest featured here. Show some love and thank them for keeping these items out of the landfills!

coquette. reclaimed stiletto... giddyspinster $60.00	Orig J Craig Recycled Flori... IntoTheTrees $42.00	6 recycled musical heart sha... 42things $4.00
x.592 thomasjack $325.00	Watermelon Black Red Sweater... Brokenghostcou... $39.00	Unique Broken China Pendant ... beadsbuttonsan... $24.99
Vintage stool. Cottage Garde... shemakesremake... $80.00	Recycled beer bottles small ... bottlehood $25.00	Vintage plastic floral butto... mattiereidchic... $6.00
Victorian Ruffle Cuff - Bead... TranzendentalA... $20.00	With this Red, White and Blu... lizziecaye $89.95	London Cheese English Pendan... RetroChaletStu... $14.95
Grey Days Notebook relove $14.00	Mr. Tyrannosaurus Portrait -... BeatUpCreation... $52.00	Sapphire Blue Computer Circu... clonehardware $15.00

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