Blue Velvet Chair: March 2012

Friday, March 30, 2012

Recycled Container Classroom

All I could say when I saw this recycled container classroom in South Africa was "Hurray"! What a brilliant reuse of an old shipping container.

The gathering space and steps on the outside of the classroom are used as the lunchroom and school amphitheater.

It's as good of a learning environment than the rundown schools I attended when I was a kid.

And I could definitely cozy up on this library at the back of the container.

Find out more at TSAI Design Studio.

Seeing this container classroom in South Africa, I was also reminded of the house that Once Upon A Time is building - also in South Africa, also using recycled shipping containers. If you haven't seen this, you must hop over there to have a look - it's absolutely gorgeous. Tell her I said 'hello'.

Until next time...
Mike

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Do you ever look at something and find yourself fixated for a few seconds longer than normal as you think to yourself, "What's That ?!" This week's project comes to us from Afroditi Krassa, a talented designer that is really making a name for herself. It was published in ReMake It in 2010.

Can you see it right away? Can you see what these business card holders and photo holders are made from?

That's right...they are made from recycled yellow pages!

Which reminds me of the bag that I just posted on Facebook a few days back which was made from recycled telephone book pages.

I can't say that I've seen too many projects with recycled telephone books, have you? If you have, share them with us in the comments below or on the Blue Velvet Chair Facebook page.

Until next time...
Mike

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Monday, March 26, 2012

Recycled Toy DIY - A Day's Worth of Inspiration

It's Monday, I'm in a playful mood because the sun is shining in Sweden (finally) - so what better time to feature some fun and colorful recycled toy creations! I don't think it matters if you are old or young - these projects are bound to make you smile.

small plastic toys become adorable lids with a bit of silver spray paint at Craft and Creativity

turning childrens wooden blocks into paint-dipped wall hooks via Present and Correct

recycled makeup and moisturizer jars are topped with plastic toys and painted for a luxurious little box to hold your secrets from Pysselbolaget

recycled plastic animals repurposed as hooks at Pysselbolaget

recycled plastic animal makes a great candle holder at The Sweet Occassion

painted toys repurposed as lamp base by Ryan McElhinney

this cushy sofa at Inhabitots is made by recycling your kid's plush toys when they overpopulate

this recycled Barbie chandelier is featured at Apartment Therapy

recycled Happy Meal toys make this wreath from Infarrantly Creative

Swarovski crystals intertwine with lego for fun jewelry via Chip Chick

recycled toy art from Lucas Mongiello

recycled lego figures make a cute upcycled belt buckle at Craft Gossip

I think this list could go on and on...but it's only a day's worth of inspiration. Perhaps I'll put a larger collection together soon - interested?

Until next time...
Mike

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Thursday, March 22, 2012

Finding Your True Colors

I was trying to match some colors from a picture that had that 'it' feeling when I looked at it. So I did a bit of looking around and found these two super-easy-to-use color palatte programs that I think you'll like to play with. Want to match colors in a picture? Or find the perfect color for your next painting project?

Start with this color palette match program from CSS Drive. It's so simple - you have the option to find the color palette in a particular photo with a quick photo upload, or find the palette for a web page that you like by simply entering the URL. The Palette Generator quickly gets results and even gives you light, medium, and dark shades within the same palette. And as if that's not enough, it gives you a full 49 shade palette with every subtle nuanced tone.

The second program is Color Scheme Designer. Just find the little black dot on the color wheel and move it anywhere around the wheel to get a palette according to the schemes you choose - Mono for similar shades, Complement shades, triad, tetrad, etc. I just had a great time moving around the wheel and watching the real-time color palettes appear.

Now it's time to click on some colors!

Until next time,
Mike

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

What's That ?!

Today's edition of What's That ?! spins me right round baby right round like a .......

Do you see it right away? What these wall posing people are made of?

Here's a closer look.

Did you guess it was made from this?

This isn't exactly a DIY unless you happen to have a CNC router at home to cut out the identical figures. This fun piece of LP art took shape over a couple of months on the wall behind the counter at Renga Arts. The LP people are cut by CNC, then heated and hand shaped into these 'performance' poses.

There are lots more funky junk creations to be found on the Renga Arts Facebook page. Hope over and tell them we say 'hi' from Blue Velvet Chair.

Until next time...

Mike

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