Cardboard Creations: 45 Recycled Works of Art
December 19, 2011 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
[ By Steph in Art & Design & Home & Garden. ]
Cardboard is just a throwaway material, short-lived and impermanent. But it doesn’t have to be. While cardboard may perform mostly temporary functions in our lives, it can serve as the basis of some absolutely amazing sculptures, furniture, functioning electronics and even entire offices and apartments. These 45 works of recycled and reclaimed art made with corrugated cardboard might just get you to look at the material in a whole new light.
Christmas Trees
(images via: materlialicious, design buzz, cascades, cardboard christmas tree)
What’s the greenest tree of all? Unless you’re simply decorating an evergreen that’s already growing in your yard, a recycled cardboard creation might just be the answer. Cardboard Christmas trees come in all shapes and sizes, from intricate handmade versions to flat-pack kits you can purchase online.
Shop Interiors
(images via: psfk, ecofriend, francescasignori, great interior design, kostavoyatzis, dezeen)
Eco-minded retail stores – whether permanent, or just temporary pop-up shops – utilize cardboard in the most amazingly creative ways. Lulamae used post-consumer cardboard to create its entire flat-packed store, and a shop called Low in Lisbon, Portugal utilized molded cardboard for shelves, benches, tables and stools. The store eBarrito features a cool display made of cardboard tubes, and the Athens boutique Yeshop used edge cardboard to sculpt its walls. Australian apothecary Aesop used cardboard for a product stand, and a Hiroshima boutique called Karis has cardboard tubes suspended from the ceiling.
Incredible Art
(images via: mark langan, village of joy, peeta.net, instructables)
Cardboard has been used to create art of all sorts. Would you imagine that lowly toilet paper tubes could turn into fascinating scrunched faces, or that the corrugated material could be arranged to resemble aerial landscapes? It has been the medium for three-dimensional graffiti displayed on gallery walls. You can even take a crack at it yourself with a very ambitious project: Instructables has the instructions to make a 17-foot-tall cardboard Ghandi statue.
Furniture
(images via: inhabitat)
Painted bookshelves and flat-pack chairs. A table set made of cardboard tubes. Fun furniture items in the shape of animals. Surprisingly comfortable lounge chairs. Even a barely-altered cardboard moving box can become a sturdy bench or table. Check out all of the possibilities at Inhabitat.
Offices
(images via: smarterware, freshome)
Offices tend to be pretty unhealthy places, thanks in large part due to the toxins that are off-gassed by cheap pressed-wood-and-vinyl furniture. Maybe next time, your company should follow the lead of ‘Nothing’, a creative agency in Amsterdam that made an entire office out of cardboard including desks, chairs, shelves, cubicles and even steps and a small loft. This effect is achieved on a smaller scale with ‘Pop Up‘, a mobile flat-pack office that transforms from a sheet of cardboard into a platform with a desk and chair within seconds.
Stereos, Cameras and Computers
(images via: technabob 1 + 2, amazon, better living through design, hyperbole studios)
Actual functioning electronics made out of cardboard abound. You can find speakers systems, boom boxes, cameras, computers and more that use cardboard as a biodegradable, recycled, eco-friendly housing rather than plastic or metal. The Recompute PC was an entry into the 2009 Greener Gadgets competition. The handy portable boombox has an iPod dock and is so realistic, it would take you a moment to realize what differentiates it from others that look similar. The i-Ecko speakers are commercially available on Amazon for just ten bucks. Another cardboard radio has an appealing vintage look, and there are many cardboard cameras that look amazingly complex, like these by Kiel Johnson.
Pavilion
(images via: dezeen)
409 cardboard cylinders of varying diameters and thicknesses were connected with ties to create this beautiful dome-shaped pavilion called Packed. The pavilion was created by design students Min-Chieh Chen, Dominik Zausinger and Michele Leidi of the ETH Zurich in Switzerland using CAAD (Computer Aided Architectural Design) and was exhibited as part of the Shanghai Expo 2010.
Cities Big and Small
(images via: laughing squid, reuben miller, artnet)
You can walk into the temporary communities that make up the Russian collaborative art project Cardboardia, erected November 1-6 every year in the city of Ulyanovsk. Artist Ana Serrano’s Cartonlandia is much tinier but even more complex with little roads, vehicles, trees and people. Another miniature cardboard city was built by director Michel Gondry for his film ‘The Science of Sleep’ and displayed at a New York City exhibition entitled ‘The Science of Sleep: An Exhibition of Sculpture and Pathological Creepy Little Gifts.’
An Entire Cardboard Apartment
(images via: gothamist)
A full-scale apartment was erected in Times Square in November 2010 as part of a fundraising effort for Serving the UnderServed (SUS), an organization that provides housing and additional services to the homeless and disabled. The cardboard apartment featured a bed covered in folded cardboard clothing, framed photos, an alarm clock, a telephone and even slices of bread coming out of a toaster.
Bicycle
(images via: inhabitat)
Does making a bike out of cardboard make it less tempting to thieves? The novelty factor alone may negate that intended effect, but then again, it would only cost you $30 to replace it. That’s the biggest perk of this project by Sheffield Hallam University design student Phil Bridge, which can hold a rider weighing up to 168 pounds. The bike is all cardboard except for the tires, seat, chain, gears and pedals.
Bridge by Shigeru Ban
(images via: inhabitat)
Japanese architect proves the strength and durability of cardboard by erecting a cardboard bridge across the Gardon River in Southern France. Made of 281 cardboard tubes, the bridge is strong enough to carry 20 people to the other side of the river all at the same time. Ban has figured out how to engineer the bridge so that the tubes can stand up to the weight. “It is a very interesting contrast, the Roman stone bridge and the paper bridge. Paper too can be permanent, can be strong and lasting. We need to get rid of these prejudices,” Ban said.
Cars
(images via: design boom, reuben miller)
Can you guess the size of each of these two cardboard vehicles? It’s hard to tell, but the top one is a full-sized cardboard sculpture by artist Chris Gilmour while the second is a miniature made by South African Kasi Custom Rides. The scale of Gilmour’s works doesn’t quite come across until they’re placed in context.
Musical Instruments
(images via: oddity central, tjonglolongo, impactlab)
A musician named Hilary Grist built a full-sized cardboard piano and covered it with a miniature cardboard city to use in one of her music videos, and artist Chris Gilmour is responsible for the piano hanging from the ceiling as well as the guitars.
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Refuge in the Alps Looks Like a Giant Telescope
December 16, 2011 by admin · View Comments
[ By Steph in Art & Design & Geography & Travel. ]
After a long day of climbing mountains in the Alps, looking out over snow-covered boulders and valleys shrouded in fog, wouldn’t it be amazing to spend a night in this cozy cantilevered getaway? The prefabricated tube juts out over a cliff, resembling a giant telescope from which occupants can continue to gaze at their incomparable surroundings.
‘New Refuge Gervasutti’ was designed by Italian architects LEAPfactory, who specialize in modular survival structures that can withstand extreme conditions and environments. The tube was built off-site and carried to its rocky perch by a helicopter. Though the red pattern has a practical function – making the refuge visible to climbers and mountaineers – it also has a bit of Alpine charm, looking like decorative trim on a sweater.
The refuge pod features a number of circular porthole-like windows on either side, and is covered in solar panels which power lights, a weather monitoring station and other electronics. There’s a living area with a kitchen, a table and seating, and a sleeping area with bunk beds and storage space for gear.
Say the architects, “The realisation of the refuge is a great achievement, in that the materials used are of a high standard and use sophisticated technology capable of handling the problems of extreme temperatures and the difficulties of installation, given the altitude and the position in the midst of a glacier.”
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Thundersnow: The Sound And The Flurry
December 13, 2011 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
[ By Steve in History & Trivia & Nature & Ecosystems & Science & Research. ]
Thundersnow… if there’s a more awesome-sounding meteorological phenomenon, then bring it on! While the name “Thundersnow” is eminently suitable for a Marvel superhero, a WWE wrestler or a heavy metal band, it’s actually an easily explainable (though rare and unusual) aspect of wild winter weather.
Thundersnow, The Other White Noise
(images via: To Be Sugarfree and Anokarina/Picasaweb)
Thundersnow is one of those odd occurrences that, while fully natural, just seem somehow “not right.” You’ve got your thunderstorms, which we associate with hot and humid summer days. You’ve got your snow, either blown forcefully by howling winter winds or delicately falling in silent flotillas of frilly flakes. But thunder? In my snowstorm? It’s not only less likely than you think, it’s not likely period.
(image via: Night Sky Hunter)
Not likely perhaps but far from impossible, when one considers the same basic “weather physics” that spawn thunder and lightning can occur any time of the year, in any temperature range. What’s required above all is a powerful storm system that features significant vertical mixing of air masses resulting in a separation of positive and negative electrical charges.
(images via: Rance Rizzutto and FamousDC)
Ice crystals are also seen as a catalyst for lightning formation; even in summer thunderstorms. A severe winter storm creates more than enough ice crystals to go around and their presence in cold-weather supercell systems may act to promote lightning strikes regardless of the lower degree (pun intended) of heat energy in winter storm clouds.
(images via: The Courier, Scientific American and IMWX)
Though thundersnow isn’t a component of every blizzard, the aforementioned conditions that are most conducive to thundersnow also frequently produce high winds, heavy snowfalls, severe drifting and whiteouts. If you can hear thundersnow, be thankful you’re indoors or feel anxious if you aren’t. An erstwhile cameraman from Dundee, Scotland managed to capture multiple thundersnow lightning strikes on a wind turbine outside the city’s Michelin works. Image at above top, video goodness below:
Dundee lightning strikes 28/11/10 11:45am, via Thegameof1
Shocks and Awe
(images via: Baird’s Travel, BolgerNow and Deadspin)
The fact that thundersnow often accompanies strong storms producing heavy snowfalls – up to 4 inches per hour in some cases – means that the phenomenon is occasionally observed inadvertently by weathermen (weatherpeople?) who are familiar with the phenomenon… or should we say, “should” be familiar.
(images via: Daily Mail UK)
Take Jim Cantore (above), for instance. The long-time Weather Channel on-air personality and storm tracker has acquired a reputation for really getting into his work, usually on live TV broadcasts. You’d think nothing weather-wise could faze Cantore but a 1996 thundersnow event in Worcester, MA, definitely threw him for a loop. It even made his “Best of Cantore” 25-year video retrospective. Here, check this out:
Jim Cantore: Thunder Snow, via Illinoisfury
(images via: CityRag and HipHopStan.com)
Fifteen years later, thundersnow still has the ability to astound the so-called “Thundersnow King” but Cantore’s thermodynamic theatrics aside, thundersnow is indeed rare if one goes by the official stats. A variety of sources referencing the NOAA note that between 1961 and 1990, only 375 occurrences of thundersnow were officially recorded with the state of Utah accounting for 36 of those events.
(image via: Zazzle)
Thundersnow’s rarity may be somewhat of an illusion, however. Meteorological research has uncovered the fact that falling snow acts as an acoustic suppressor. That is, sounds emanating from within or behind a curtain of snow are effectively muffled. It’s estimated that thundersnow can be heard up to 3 miles from an individual lightning strike while in run-of-the-mill rainy thunderstorms the hearing distance is roughly double. So then, if a lightning bolt falls from a winter thunderstorm and no one is within 3 to 6 miles to hear it, does it make a sound?
Thanks, It’s Been A Wintery Blast
(images via: NovelTP, Web2txt and BearsEatPeople)
“Thunder shook loose hail on the outhouse again…” The eerie opening lyric from Magazine’s disturbing 1979 track “Permafrost” may be the only musical reference to thundersnow, albeit indirectly as hail often falls during summer thunderstorms. What’s worse, sitting in an outhouse during a hailstorm or while thundersnow rattles the walls? Perhaps being in an outhouse in winter, under ANY circumstances, is frightening enough in itself.
(images via: Cerebraleye/DeviantArt, Everyday Odyssey and DatPiff)
Thundersnow, as awesome and unexpected as it is, surprisingly hasn’t made much impact on pop culture. When the writers of 1987′s The Running Man needed a name for an especially chilling villain, they picked Sub-Zero… isn’t that a refrigerator? Sub-Zero later inspired the creation of SubZero, who appears in the Mortal Combat universe.
(images via: Bat-Mania, FoodCourtLunch and Gothamist)
Even Batman blew it, bringing in Mr. Freeze when “Thundersnow!” was a much better bet to finally kick the Caped Crusader’s ice. Then there’s Thundersnow Ice Cream Cone Guy… talk about yer 15 seconds of fame.
(image via: Texas A&M News)
Perhaps thundersnow’s time to shine has yet to come. Weather channels the world over are pumping the Storm Chaser gig for all it’s worth, while at the same time the popularity of YouTube and the improving attributes of mobile phone cameras have turned almost anyone into an amateur weather reporter. With that said, thundersnow may indeed come out of the dark someday… but it’ll never come in from the cold.
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Go Eco with Vintage Decor! 35 Ways to Use 9 Items
December 12, 2011 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
[ By Steph in Art & Design & Home & Garden. ]
Decorating your home? There’s nothing more environmentally friendly than choosing pre-owned goods, especially those that may be seen as trash by others. Look for aging items with lots of texture and character like apothecary cabinets, bins and baskets, bird cages, dressing tables, suitcases, picture frames, shutters, scrap wood, jars and tins. Use these 35 photos as a visual guide to pick out quality vintage pieces at thrift stores, flea markets and yard sales and integrate them into your home.
Apothecary Cabinets
(images via: ffffound, flickr, diychichome)
Originally designed to store herbs, spices and medical goods in retail stores, apothecary cabinets have many small drawers that can be extremely helpful in organization. Often weathered, giving a hint of their history, these beautiful cabinets can be found in excellent vintage condition from locations all over the world. Reproduction models are also available (but are nowhere near as charming or eco-friendly.) They can be used for the home in so many ways: storing linens and special tableware items in the dining room, arts and craft supplies, baby items and random odds and ends.
Bins & Baskets
(images via: restoration hardware, poppytalk, schoengeistig, country living)
They’re among decorators’ most-loved vintage finds: bins and baskets from times past, typically very sturdy and well-made, often printed with text that tells of their initial use. If you’re lucky, you’ll see metal baskets from old locker rooms, industrial metal bins, milk crates and French mail bins. Naturally, the uses for these bins are practically endless. Slide them onto bookshelves, or use them in place of drawers in dressers. Mount them to the wall. Use them in the bathroom for towels and extra toilet paper. Place them inside open kitchen cabinets or pantries to reduce the look of clutter.
Bird Cages
(images via: knock off decor, design sponge, bhg, womans day)
Bird cages have a certain ‘shabby chic’ aesthetic that some vintage-loving decorators just can’t resist. Many are decorative enough to simply hang empty, or place atop nightstands and book cases. Some place candles or potted plants inside them, turn them into hanging lamps, mount them to walls or remove one side to create a cute little organizer. Get instructions to make the latter at Better Homes and Gardens.
Dressing Tables
(images via: craftynest, the how and tell blog, hellolovelyinc, traceytilley)
Why keep dressers hidden away in the bedroom when they have so many uses? Snag one with potential, re-paint it and revamp it into a foyer table, an organizer for tableware in the dining room, a changing table, a television stand or even a bathroom vanity. Look for real, solid wood (not particle board, which can bend and warp) and interesting hardware for maximum visual impact.
Suitcases
(images via: re-nest.com, cupcakes and cashmere, apartment therapy, style me pretty)
Who knew suitcases had so many purposes? Aside from schlepping around your travel gear, vintage suitcases – especially those a little too worn for their original use – make beautiful and unexpected nightstands and decorative elements when stacked. Just like baskets and bins, they can be placed inside a dresser instead of drawers; have one open on a tabletop to display some of your favorite items.
Picture Frames
(images via: shelterness, citified, shelterness 2, curbly)
The trick to making a gaudy old picture frame chic and modern? Spray paint. Even the busiest frames can be vastly simplified with a coat of paint – try black, white or a high-impact bright like red or turquoise. Weathered wood frames are beautiful as well. Take cues from these inspirational images and use them to display photos in unexpected ways, frame a chalkboard or display jewelry.
Shutters
(images via: good housekeeping, martha stewart, iffers, jaimescott)
Room screens. Headboards. Wall art. Furniture. Tuck memos, mail, notes or photos into the slots.
Shutters have so much texture, and their mere presence seems to make a room brighter and more welcoming because they provide the illusion of more windows. Another way to use this effect to your advantage – and visually enlarge a room – is to place them on either side of a large mirror.
Jars and Tins
(images via: houzz.com, etsy, etsy 2, ionwkathy, designsponge)
Vintage jars are so in-demand that they can sometimes sell for up to fifteen dollars each. That’s a big success story for an item that was once thought of as trash. Mason jars, tins and other kinds of glass and metal containers – especially the old blue Ball jars – are a small but dramatic way to bring some vintage flair into a room. They can be hanging lamps, terrariums, vases, planters, soap containers and votive holders. Melt down leftover wax and pour it into an old tin for a double shot of reuse. If you’re in love with the look of those blue jars but can’t find any, try this tutorial by Like a Cup of Tea, which uses glue and food coloring to create the effect.
Weathered Scrap Wood
(images via: traditionally modern designs, u-create crafts, alternative apparel, cenzo design)
Strips of salvaged wood bring so much character into a space, whether used sparingly or applied to an entire wall. Drill 2-inch holes into a scrap wooden post to turn it into a rustic candle holder for your mantle or tabletop. Nail them together into whimsical wall art. Use them to cover the top of an uninspiring table, or create a window valance.
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Fairytale Abodes: 15 Tiny Storybook Cottages
December 9, 2011 by admin · View Comments
[ By Steph in Art & Design & Home & Garden. ]
Humble and beautiful in their imperfection, little cottages with hand-made details call to mind the tales of the Brothers Grimm and other fairy stories, making us long for an adorable abode to call our own. These tiny houses provide inspiration to simplify and live smaller, and they’re definitely fun to look at. So make yourself a mug of hot cocoa, settle into some blankets and get ready to daydream about cozy snow-covered cottages brimming with the magic of storytelling.
The Queen’s Hamlet, France
(image via: stuck in customs)
You could say this is a real, authentic fairy tale cottage. It’s called ‘Hameau de la Reine’, or the Queen’s Hamlet, and it was built for Marie Antoinette between 1785 and 1792. Everything from its proportions and thatched roof to its lopsided staircase and beautiful garden serves as ideal inspiration for modern-day cottage copies.
The Storybook Cottage of New York
(images via: storybook-cottage.net)
If you’re longing for a fairytale experience but no where near building a little home of your own, live out your fantasies at Rhinebeck, New York’s Storybook Cottage. This rental home is in high demand, so the wait list is long, but it’s so worth it: the stone walls, warm wood and whimsical design details make it feel like it’s fit for a princess.
English Thatched-Roof
(image via: simply think shabby)
Thatched roofs, as seen in this adorable example, are one of the hallmarks of storybook homes. Thatching methods are used all over the world but are most closely associated with the countryside of the United Kingdom. Over 250 roofs in Southern England have coats of thatch that were applied over 500 years ago!
Rounded Stone
(image via: home-designing.com)
This sweet stone cottage has a sculpted thatch roof, leaded glass windows and multiple chimneys along with a gated garden – can it be any more evocative?
Tiny Cottage in the Catskills
(images via: tiny house blog)
A hunting cabin transformed into an all-white, shabby chic cottage in the hands of Sandra Foster, who uses it as a romantic retreat. The cottage measures just 9 by 14 feet and cost just $3,000 to renovate and furnish into this Victorian beauty.
Picturesque Garden
(image via: 24 media)
This little cottage almost looks too perfect to be real. Its setting, just against the dark woods, contrasts with its picture-perfect topiaries and welcoming steps.
Tiny Victorian House
(image via: Pandorea)
It’s a playhouse and garden shed rather than somebody’s home, but this tiny colorful house with Victorian details could easily house a person inclined to live small. Cecile’s Garden is reminiscent of a Tumbleweed House, which are tiny wooden houses built on wheels or foundations.
Hansel
(images via: tales from carmel, storybook1)
There’s no greater modern-day fairytale village than Carmel-by-the-Sea in California. This community features a number of charming homes built in the 1920s by Hugh Comstock. It all began when the architect’s wife asked him to build her a doll house as a show room for the rag dolls she sold, and the result was ‘Hansel’, above.
Windamere
(image via: redbubble)
Windamere is another Comstock cottage in Carmel, with its most eye-catching and distinguishing feature clearly being its unusually textured roof. The cedar shingles were steam-bent to curve and meander along the surfaces of the roof, a skill that is not easy to find among today’s craftsmen.
Sunwise Turn
(images via: tales from carmel)
Imagined by many a passer-by to be the cottage of the Seven Dwarves, Sunwise Turn is another Comstock creation. Shabby and sweet just as a real unkempt cottage in the woods, the home also known as the Elspeth Rose house is totally timeless.
Obers
(images via: linda hartong)
Obers was Comstock’s own home, made of adobe brick, local stone and hand-carved trim.
The Tuck Box
(image via: linda hartong)
Looking almost like something straight out of Disneyland, the Tuck Box was Hugh Comstock’s office and was built in 1927. It’s now the Tuck Box gift shop, which includes a tea room.
Marchen Haus
(images via:tales from carmel)
One more Comstock house to make you sigh in dreamy envy. Marchen Haus bears all the hallmarks of a lovingly hand-crafted home including asymmetrical windows, curving roof tiles and a misshapen chimney.
Rectory Cottage, Plymouth, England
(image via: bex ross)
Who wouldn’t want to live in an old rectory in the English countryside? This old groundkeeper’s cottage is now a private home, still adjacent to the old cemetery with which it was once associated.
Amazing Wooden Cottage, Poland
(image via: kebabsuperior)
From Poland comes another stunning hand-crafted creation. This cottage is located in Białka Tatrzańska, the Tatra Mountains.
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Fairytale Abodes: 15 Tiny Storybook Cottages
December 9, 2011 by admin · View Comments
[ By Steph in Art & Design & Home & Garden. ]
Humble and beautiful in their imperfection, little cottages with hand-made details call to mind the tales of the Brothers Grimm and other fairy stories, making us long for an adorable abode to call our own. These tiny houses provide inspiration to simplify and live smaller, and they’re definitely fun to look at. So make yourself a mug of hot cocoa, settle into some blankets and get ready to daydream about cozy snow-covered cottages brimming with the magic of storytelling.
The Queen’s Hamlet, France
(image via: stuck in customs)
You could say this is a real, authentic fairy tale cottage. It’s called ‘Hameau de la Reine’, or the Queen’s Hamlet, and it was built for Marie Antoinette between 1785 and 1792. Everything from its proportions and thatched roof to its lopsided staircase and beautiful garden serves as ideal inspiration for modern-day cottage copies.
The Storybook Cottage of New York
(images via: storybook-cottage.net)
If you’re longing for a fairytale experience but no where near building a little home of your own, live out your fantasies at Rhinebeck, New York’s Storybook Cottage. This rental home is in high demand, so the wait list is long, but it’s so worth it: the stone walls, warm wood and whimsical design details make it feel like it’s fit for a princess.
English Thatched-Roof
(image via: simply think shabby)
Thatched roofs, as seen in this adorable example, are one of the hallmarks of storybook homes. Thatching methods are used all over the world but are most closely associated with the countryside of the United Kingdom. Over 250 roofs in Southern England have coats of thatch that were applied over 500 years ago!
Rounded Stone
(image via: home-designing.com)
This sweet stone cottage has a sculpted thatch roof, leaded glass windows and multiple chimneys along with a gated garden – can it be any more evocative?
Tiny Cottage in the Catskills
(images via: tiny house blog)
A hunting cabin transformed into an all-white, shabby chic cottage in the hands of Sandra Foster, who uses it as a romantic retreat. The cottage measures just 9 by 14 feet and cost just $3,000 to renovate and furnish into this Victorian beauty.
Picturesque Garden
(image via: 24 media)
This little cottage almost looks too perfect to be real. Its setting, just against the dark woods, contrasts with its picture-perfect topiaries and welcoming steps.
Tiny Victorian House
(image via: Pandorea)
It’s a playhouse and garden shed rather than somebody’s home, but this tiny colorful house with Victorian details could easily house a person inclined to live small. Cecile’s Garden is reminiscent of a Tumbleweed House, which are tiny wooden houses built on wheels or foundations.
Hansel
(images via: tales from carmel, storybook1)
There’s no greater modern-day fairytale village than Carmel-by-the-Sea in California. This community features a number of charming homes built in the 1920s by Hugh Comstock. It all began when the architect’s wife asked him to build her a doll house as a show room for the rag dolls she sold, and the result was ‘Hansel’, above.
Windamere
(image via: redbubble)
Windamere is another Comstock cottage in Carmel, with its most eye-catching and distinguishing feature clearly being its unusually textured roof. The cedar shingles were steam-bent to curve and meander along the surfaces of the roof, a skill that is not easy to find among today’s craftsmen.
Sunwise Turn
(images via: tales from carmel)
Imagined by many a passer-by to be the cottage of the Seven Dwarves, Sunwise Turn is another Comstock creation. Shabby and sweet just as a real unkempt cottage in the woods, the home also known as the Elspeth Rose house is totally timeless.
Obers
(images via: linda hartong)
Obers was Comstock’s own home, made of adobe brick, local stone and hand-carved trim.
The Tuck Box
(image via: linda hartong)
Looking almost like something straight out of Disneyland, the Tuck Box was Hugh Comstock’s office and was built in 1927. It’s now the Tuck Box gift shop, which includes a tea room.
Marchen Haus
(images via:tales from carmel)
One more Comstock house to make you sigh in dreamy envy. Marchen Haus bears all the hallmarks of a lovingly hand-crafted home including asymmetrical windows, curving roof tiles and a misshapen chimney.
Rectory Cottage, Plymouth, England
(image via: bex ross)
Who wouldn’t want to live in an old rectory in the English countryside? This old groundkeeper’s cottage is now a private home, still adjacent to the old cemetery with which it was once associated.
Amazing Wooden Cottage, Poland
(image via: kebabsuperior)
From Poland comes another stunning hand-crafted creation. This cottage is located in Białka Tatrzańska, the Tatra Mountains.
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Honey I’m Home! Urban Beehives For Sweet City Living
December 6, 2011 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
[ By Steve in Animals & Habitats & Home & Garden & Nature & Ecosystems. ]
The latest buzz on urban gardening? Urban beehives, of course! These 7 bee-friendly beehives may be designed for city slickers who think Honeycomb comes in a box, but they’re ideal for anyone who wants to invite a little urban wildlife into their nature-challenged neighborhood.
The Beehaus
(images via: Physorg and New York Times)
The Beehaus might look a little like a very large breadbox but it’s really more like a honeypot – just add bees! Designed to suit the needs of both bees and beekeepers, the Beehaus comes with a 10-page instruction manual that covers pretty much any eventuality an urban beekeeper might face.
(images via: Delicious Magazine and The Crossed Cow)
Most images of the Beehaus show it in yellow with gray trim but buyers can actually select from a range of bright, flowery colors. The Beehaus is a thoughtful update on the classic man-made hive, a design that really hasn’t been significantly updated since the 1920s. With that said, the Beehaus isn’t cheap: one UK site has it listed “from £495.00″ but each kit includes everything you need to support a healthy honeybee colony. You can even order a beesuit and bees.
Bikube
(images via: New Tech News and Hot and Cool Stuff)
The Bikube Urban Beehive By Adam Weaver addresses an interesting hypothesis: city bees are doing well compared to their country cousins thanks to urban gardeners, who grow a bewildering variety of flowers yet use less pesticides than most farmers. City beehives are different too, witness the Bikube which is designed to attach to a home or apartment’s exterior wall. The attachment side is actually the Bikube’s only flat side: its other surfaces are curved to direct rainwater off the hive.
D.I.Y. HONEY
(images via: creativeDNAaustria and Philadelphia Weekly)
D.I.Y. HONEY is a design project from Austria’s Lena Goldsteiner. This acorn-shaped bee condo takes its inspiration from Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic domes. The support mechanism resembles that of a hanging basket, though one wonders how the bees will react to wild weather, winds and storms.
The BeeCrib
(images via: Linda Raharuhi and Re-Nest)
The BeeCrib may not be as stylish as some other urban beehive designs but it makes up for that by being easy to assemble: no tools, no glue, no problem! Designers from the Bachelor of Design Innovation program at New Zealand’s Victoria University Wellington set out to create a top bar style beehive, the parts of which can be easily shipped in flat-pack format.
(images via: Linda Raharuhi)
The ultimate goal of the designers was and is to support urban beekeeping and thus boost the numbers of honeybees. The overall simplicity of the BeeCrib should appeal not only to new hobbyists but also to open source manufacturers who can ensure easy availability and low cost.
Mason Bee House
(images via: CrispGreen and Home Orchard Society)
While harvesting honey from your urban beehive is sweet payback for the work put in making your winged guests comfy & cozy, other types of bees are worth supporting too, honey or not. Take the Mason Bee: slightly smaller than honeybees, non-stinging Mason Bees visit up to 1,000 flowers daily – 20 times as much as the average honeybee! The Mason Bee House is built from biodegradable bamboo and its network of hollow tubes perfectly suits the nesting needs of Mason Bees.
The Warré Beehive
(images via: Bee Happy)
The Warré Beehive, invented by Abbé Émil Warré, is a simple and practical design that seeks to approximate as closely as possible the natural conditions under which bee colonies build hives in the wild. With that said, the design also works well for novice and/or urban beekeepers due to its simplicity and practicality. The so-called “People’s Hive” resembles a stack of boxes – when more space is needed, another box is added to the bottom of the stack.
(images via: The Beekeeper’s Digest)
Some Warré Beehives are constructed with viewing windows at the front that allows beekeepers and their guests) to monitor the progress of honeycomb-building from the outside. The bees don’t seem to mind being watched and will happily build their honeycombs right out to the clear glass pane.
The Urban Beehive by Philips
(images via: Nanaimo Green Developments)
The Urban Beehive from Philips is a two-part affair that “aims to bring fresh honey right to user’s living rooms.” Now don’t panic – although the portion of the Urban Beehive that contains the honey may be in the living room, the bees aren’t thanks to an ingenious mounting system that keeps access to the hive strictly on the outside.
(image via: Treehugger)
The Urban Beehive is as sleek and modern as they come, and that includes the gracefully curved integral flowerpot that provides hard-working bees with a quick sip before landing. The device also features a built-in smoke activator that comes into play when collecting honey from the hive. While only a concept, the warm reception given the Urban Beehive during its debut at Dutch Design Week bodes well for both bees and bee-lovers.
(image via: Serious Eats)
Are you catching a buzz yet? Urban beekeeping can be hugely rewarding, eminently fulfilling and just plain fun but it’s no casual endeavor. Being a bee boss demands time, care and patience – the lack of any of which can turn the sweet taste of success to the bitter sting of defeat… especially if you step on a bee barefoot. Respect the hive and you both may thrive!
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Christmas Crafts: 13 Projects for Kids & Adults
December 5, 2011 by admin · View Comments
[ By Steph in Art & Design & Home & Garden. ]
Forget going to a big-box store and piling a cart high with cheap, mass-produced holiday decorations made in China. Warm up your home with handmade ornaments, wreaths and more that you (and the kids!) can easily make out of reclaimed and natural materials like toilet paper rolls, pine cones, wine corks, scrap fabric and cranberries.
Toilet Paper Roll Owl Ornaments
(images vía: con m de mujer)
Are these owl ornaments cute or what? They’re actually just cardboard toilet paper rolls, painted in bright colors and decorated with black permanent markers. One end of the roll is simply pinched to create the owl’s ‘ears’ – a fun and easy project for both kids and adults.
Pine Cone Decorations
(image via: good housekeeping)
Simply gather pinecones in your yard or at the park, use a vegetable brush or a nail brush to gently clean them, and attach a looped ribbon to the end with a dab of hot glue. These natural holiday decorations can be hung on doorknobs and cabinet knobs, or used as ornaments on the tree.
Terrarium Ornaments
(images via: design sponge)
Create your own little nature scene in a terrarium that never requires watering. Dried sheet moss is placed inside a clear glass ornament globe along with any little decorations you like including feathers and paper butterflies. Get the tutorial at Design Sponge.
Wine Cork Wreath
(image via: good housekeeping)
Gather wine corks from parties, special events or your favorite restaurant and use them to add a little cheer to your front door or your kitchen. Good Housekeeping explains how to string the corks together with jingly red bells using floral wire.
Hand Print Ornaments
(images via: stephanie lynn)
Flour and salt are all you need to create the dough for hand-molded ornaments, perfect for capturing the handprints of your little ones or even the paw prints of your pets. This is a great project for kids to participate in, and the results will be lifelong keepsakes. Get the tutorial at By Stephanie Lynn.
Christmas Village
(images via: country living)
Make this DIY paper village even more eco-friendly by saving cardboard boxes from cereal and other food products and painting it, either a solid color for simplicity or to include more architectural details. Country Home has a series of .PDF patterns that you can download and print.
Pretty Paper Ornaments
(images via: lilybeedesign)
The scrap paper odds and ends that you’ve been saving have just found a perfect use. You can use a shaped puncher or hand-cut circles from the paper, and then tape the paper to a beaded string as indicated at Lilybee Design.
Coffee Bean Trees
(images via: factorydirectcraft.com)
Here’s yet another unusual use for coffee beans that you might not have thought of. While most ‘coffee bean tree’ tutorials advise that you purchase styrofoam cones as a base, we all know that styrofoam is not eco-friendly in the least. Instead, try carving a cone shape out of styrofoam packaging you already have on hand, using paper birthday hats or cutting and glueing a cone shape out of a piece of thin cardboard.
Painted Ornaments
(images via: voyages of the creative variety)
This cute project can revive even the ugliest, most dated ornaments or give purpose to random round objects like balls. Tori at Voyages of the Creative Variety applied bits of printed paper to round wooden ornaments with glue, and then painted and drew adorable animal faces on them. Get creative and go for your own subjects and color schemes.
Scrap Fabric Scented Sachets
(image via: studiobotanica)
If you’re handy with a sewing machine, this holiday DIY couldn’t be easier. Little bits of scrap fabric are simply sewn into the shapes of your choice and filled with a scented material like fir branches or cloves.
Cranberry and Popcorn Garland
(image via: budget wise home)
This is a great craft to undertake while watching your favorite Christmas movie. You’ll need to pop up a big pot of popcorn (no butter – yuck!) and purchase bags of fresh cranberries. Use a heavyweight sewing needle and waxed dental floss to make your garlands, according to the instructions at Simply Christmas.
Mini Trees Made of Branches
(image via: espritcabane)
Choose your favorite fallen branches in your yard and use them to make miniature trees that will lend a rustic charm to your holiday decor. Using a disc of wood, a screw and some wire, the branches are cut into size and stacked into shape. Get the tutorial at Esprit Cabane.
Carpet Remnant Stockings
(image via: martha stewart)
Small, unusable carpet remnants evoke the aesthetics of the Victorian era when crafted into stockings a la Martha Stewart. Look for scraps at your local rug warehouse or shop at thrift stores and flea markets; you could also use old blankets or shawls.
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25hours: Reclaimed Shipping Container Hotel in Hamburg
December 2, 2011 by admin · View Comments
[ By Steph in Art & Design & Geography & Travel. ]
Have you ever visited a harbor bustling with barges, cranes and sunburned dock workers and thought, ‘I wish I could sleep here’? If so, you’re in luck. The architecture firm Stephen Williams Associates have completed a hotel in Hamburg that will make you feel like you’re staying in a shipping warehouse “with the roughness a sailor would appreciate.”
The central unit of the 25hours Hafencity Hotel is a bright orange, weather-worn shipping container that was donated to the project. It encloses a conference center adjacent to the main lounge, where the floor is painted with yellow grid markings. The main desk is made of plywood boxes, and when guests arrive, they pile their luggage onto industrial trolleys that are lugged around by burly safe in Breton shirts.
Guest rooms are intimate as ship cabins, each fitted with a trunk stocked with drinks, a logbook, information packets and electrical sockets. The architects emphasize that staying here is an experience in itself, boasting, “The ‘Hafen Sauna’ is on the rooftop built within a rusty container with panoramic views over the industrial harbor. It is the furthest from wellness that one could imagine.”
“We wanted to create a web of meaning with interrelating signs and symbols referring to seafaring and harbour life. A place where old and new stories come to life,” says Stephen Williams. “Objects are just like characters in the script, they are not the story itself. It is the interplay that brings this to life, the context of spacial sequences. To achieve democratic spaces where everyone can feel comfortable and be who they are is worth achieving. Then we have created the true living room of the Harbour city.”
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Trash to Fashion: 13 Chic & Crazy Upcycled Collections
November 28, 2011 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
[ By Steph in Art & Design. ]
Rescuing discarded materials like parachutes, military blankets, shower curtains, wood chips and festival tents from the dumpster, eco-minded designers create couture that ranges from the cute and totally wearable to the artistic and avant-garde. Whether it’s ready for the rack or meant for the runway only, these 13 collections of upcycled fashion definitely make surprising and innovative use of items others see only as trash.
Recycled Packaging by Karishma Shahani
(images via: arts.ac.uk)
Designer Karishma Shahani distills the colorful essence of her home country of India into a stunning collection of upcycled fashion. “Yatra” includes recycled plastic packaging mixed with natural fabrics like cotton, silk, linen and muslin that were dip-dyed using plants from a local market.
Dresses from Paraglider Sails by Valerie Pache
(images via: valeriepache.fr)
New life is breathed into old, retired paraglider sails by Valerie Pache, a French designer who creates colorful and quirky upcycled garments. Pache takes this material – which she gets for free – and crafts it into dresses, jackets, accessories and even wedding gowns. “People are very surprised to see dresses in this material, especially paragliders who have no idea what can be done to give a second life to their sails. And that seems to make them really happy.”
Festival Tents into Costumes and Rain Coats
(images via: madeinschool.dk)
Long after they have sheltered thousands of music lovers at Denmark’s Roskilde Festival, event tents can shelter fashionistas from the rain in the form of highly unusual upcycled clothing. Designer Lisa Våglund was inspired to use the material after seeing how much trash is left behind each year.
Discarded Wood Chips into Scaled Couture
(images via: ecouterre)
In the hands of designer Stefanie Nieuwenhuys, wood chips rescued from the floor of a university workshop transform into reptilian scales in soft shades of beige. Nieuwenhuys used this inspiration to create a collection of fascinating ‘biomimetic’ corsets, evening dresses, pants and accessories, working with a bio-waste firm to obtain discarded pieces of plywood which she laser-cuts into shape. The designer told eco fashion website Ecouterre that the scales created a “simulacra of nature, without discarding nature’s inherent harmonies.”
Reclaimed Underwear into ‘Knickers Dress’
(images via: design.nl)
Would you wear a dress made of old panties? Designer Antoine Peters gathered up dozens of undergarments and sewed them all up into this kooky experiment in upcycled fashion. The panties are interwoven, and some of the tags are still showing; the designer tried to use every component so that it would be a zero-waste project.
Amour Sans Anguish Salvaged & Recycled Fashion
(images via: amoursansanguish.com)
Designer Tawny Holt of Amour Sans Anguish crafts salvaged and recycled materials into cute, feminine, highly wearable garments. Each piece is entirely one-of-a-kind. Check out all of the lovely designs – including custom-made bridesmaid dresses! – at the Amour Sans Anguish Etsy shop.
Parachute Netting into Camouflage Garments
(images via: ecouterre)
Who would have thought that parachute netting could be so pretty? British designer Debbi Little teamed up with AO Textiles to create a line of lovely dresses and accessories made from discarded Ministry of Defense parachute netting.
Recycled Trash Shoe – by Christian Louboutin
(images via: nmdaily)
Would you pay over $1,000 for trash? How about if that trash were recycled into signature red-soled pumps by Christian Louboutin? The famed shoe designer created the “Ecotrash” slingback heel that incorporates trash from the designer’s dumpster including sequins, fabric swatches, thread and postage stamps. Unfortunately the heels also include python skin (a huge eco no-no) and toxic PVC.
Intricate Gowns Made of Recycled Paper
(images via: papier couture)
Decked out in Lia Griffith’s incredibly intricate paper couture, you might feel like you’re in a fairy tale, an experience that would only be amplified if you were to be caught in the rain. But Paper Couture’s creations, made of recycled paper, are more wearable art for runways and photo shoots than a viable option for weddings and proms.
Totally Wearable Upcycled Fashion by Goodone
(images via: goodone)
Now this is upcycled fashion that the average woman would love to wear, for prices she can afford. British retailer Goodone released a “Basics” line made from reclaimed, deadstock and end-of-roll fabrics that would otherwise have been discarded. The collection includes casual garments with figure-flattering shapes made of jersey and lightweight knits.
Military Materials to Warm Winter Fashion
(images via: lost at e minor)
Looking at this collection by designer Christopher Raeburn, you’d never guess that it was crafted from unusual reclaimed military materials like wool blankets and parachutes. For his Fall/Winter 2011 collection, Raeburn rescued these materials and transformed them into outerwear that doesn’t scream ‘trash’.
Wacky Raincoats Made of Recycled Plastic
(images via: ecouterre)
Why yes, that is an old shower curtain on my head, thank you for noticing. Designer Jane Bowler created these rather unusual high-fashion raincoats out of recycled and reclaimed plastics using stitch-free processes like heat-forming.
“Plastic Fantastic” by Tomaas
(images via: the coolist)
Okay, so these ones aren’t exactly wearable, but they’re gorgeous all the same. Fashion photographer Tomaas has captured a series of images in which models are decked out in common plastic items like water bottles and forks. Because of the styling, the plastic somehow looks much more high-fashion than it really is.
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