Making Christmas Ornaments From Upcycled Sterling Plate Flatware Silverware

Have A Merry Merry Upcycled Christmas

Here is a great gift for those of you who love a vintage holiday look. Artisans at Twisted Metal  creative beautiful Christmas tree ornaments upcycled from Sterling Plate Flatware Silverware. You will so find so many unique holiday gifts and functional art  made by artist Neva Starr. Here is the link http://www.spoon.fish/shop

C. Dianne Zweig is the author of Hot Kitchen & Home Collectibles of the 30s, 40s, 50s and Hot Cottage Collectibles for Vintage Style Homes. She is also the Editor of I Antique Online an actively growing internet based resource community for people who buy, sell or collect antiques, collectibles and art. You can find Dianne’s fabulous retro and vintage kitchen, home and cottage collectibles at The Collinsville Antiques Company of New Hartford, CT, a 22,000 feet antique emporium with an in-house retro café. To read more articles by C. Dianne Zweig click on this link: C. Dianne Zweig’s Blog Kitsch ‘n Stuff Email me at dianne@cdiannezweig.com Visit my website, CDianneZweig.com Dianne is a member of: The American Society of Journalists and Authors The Society of Professional Journalists

What To Do With All Those Extra Chopsticks

 Chinese Take Out Extras That You Can Re-Use In Your Kitchen Or Craft Room

If you visited my dad over the years and you opened his kitchen drawers you would find compartments of  "extra" condidments that came with Chinese food take out orders. There would be  Duck Sauce packets to last a lifetime. Amazingly he kept his inventory of packets of Soy sauce, Duck sauce, Mustard, Fortune cookies, Chop sticks etc very organized in designated drawers. His closing line after he called in his order was always "please give me extra____".  Every Sunday was Chinese take out from "Kings", a nearby restaurant that expected his order and his plea to send along "extra packets". So over the years dad had quite a collection of Take out STUFF.


Upcycling Your Chopsticks: Holiday Trees and More  

I wouldnt advise saving food packets for too long, (certainly not as long as dad did) but Chop sticks and empy clean containers are another matter. There are so many things that you can do with chop sticks from making holiday trees to using as skewers for fruit or marshmallows. Not to mention converting chopsticks into lamps and baskets. Check out the links below for tons of ideas.

 What To Do With Chopsticks

 https://www.thisoldhouse.com/ideas/10-uses-chopsticks

http://www.networx.com/article/50-uses-for-disposable-chopsticks

http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/01/08/50-uses-for-disposable-chopsticks/

http://www.artistshelpingchildren.org/chopstickscraftsideasforkids.html

Holiday tree image spotted on Pinterest.com

C. Dianne Zweig is the author of Hot Kitchen & Home Collectibles of the 30s, 40s, 50s and Hot Cottage Collectibles for Vintage Style Homes. She is also the Editor of I Antique Online an actively growing internet based resource community for people who buy, sell or collect antiques, collectibles and art. You can find Dianne’s fabulous retro and vintage kitchen, home and cottage collectibles at The Collinsville Antiques Company of New Hartford, CT, a 22,000 feet antique emporium with an in-house retro café. To read more articles by C. Dianne Zweig click on this link: C. Dianne Zweig’s Blog Kitsch ‘n Stuff Email me at dianne@cdiannezweig.com Visit my website, CDianneZweig.com Dianne is a member of: The American Society of Journalists and Authors The Society of Professional Journalists

What Is The Difference Between Recycling And Upcycling?

 Upcycling Is Eco Friendly  

For quite  some time now I  have been fumbling with the terms "re-cycling versus up-cycling". I often confuse the two ideas and no amount of reading up until today has straightened out my confusion. But today I have finally gotten to the bottom of these two terms.

Thanks to a blogger at http://www.relevedesign.com/ I am confident that I have just learned about "what up-cycling" is in the clearest description.

Here is what Releve Design says:

WHAT IS UPCYCLING ?

When we’re done with magazines or plastic bottles we usually throw them away. Sometimes we reuse them. Other times we recycle. Recycling actually downgrades the material. For instance, the quality of plastic lessens each time it’s recycled. Different types of plastics and impurities get mixed together, weakening the plastic. Fortunately, there’s a better way to deal with waste, and that’s upcycling.

Upcycling is a special type of repurposing. In general, repurposing puts things to use in a different way than originally intended. Repurposing is not always eco-friendly, especially when it uses new and usable things. Upcycling is an eco-friendly way of repurposing, because it only uses unwanted and discarded materials and transforms them into something new, desirable, and more valuable.

Image from http://www.hometalk.com/1187323/sunny-days-and-repurposed-benches#

C. Dianne Zweig is the author of Hot Kitchen & Home Collectibles of the 30s, 40s, 50s and Hot Cottage Collectibles for Vintage Style Homes. She is also the Editor of I Antique Online an actively growing internet based resource community for people who buy, sell or collect antiques, collectibles and art. You can find Dianne’s fabulous retro and vintage kitchen, home and cottage collectibles at The Collinsville Antiques Company of New Hartford, CT, a 22,000 feet antique emporium with an in-house retro café. To read more articles by C. Dianne Zweig click on this link: C. Dianne Zweig’s Blog Kitsch ‘n Stuff Email me at dianne@cdiannezweig.com Visit my website, CDianneZweig.com Dianne is a member of: The American Society of Journalists and Authors The Society of Professional Journalists

Retro Furniture Makeovers Group Forum Now On I Antique Online.com

Flea Market Furniture Makeovers Discussed In New Group Forum


I have added a new group forum on my site  I Antique Online.com called "Retro Furniture Makeovers"  as well as a new board for me on Pinterest.com with the matching name "Retro Furniture Makeovers" Both the group forum and the Pinterest board were soaring with visitors and members in a just few hours of their launch.

The I Antique Online.com group description is: "upcycle or make over your old furniture with a hip Retro look. Design ideas, tips on restoration, refinishing and
decorating."

Upcycling Vintage Furniture 

Already there are over 20 articles posted capturing some of the best re-posts from popular blogs and online magazines as well as photos and  
original discussions from out IAO members.

I urge my readers to visit this exciting new   group " You can als

o leave a comment here about your favorite upcycle and flea market makeover blogs and I will add them to the I Antique Online.com group "Retro Furniture Makeovers".
Photos courtesy of  http://www.hometalk.com/1187323/sunny-days-and-repurposed-benches#

http://refoundvintage.blogspot.com/2012/12/favorite-5-furniture-makeovers-of-2012.htmlhttp://refoundvintage.blogspot.com/2012/12/favorite-5-furniture-makeovers-of-2012.html

C. Dianne Zweig is the author of Hot Kitchen & Home Collectibles of the 30s, 40s, 50s and Hot Cottage Collectibles for Vintage Style Homes. She is also the Editor of I Antique Online an actively growing internet based resource community for people who buy, sell or collect antiques, collectibles and art. You can find Dianne’s fabulous retro and vintage kitchen, home and cottage collectibles at The Collinsville Antiques Company of New Hartford, CT, a 22,000 feet antique emporium with an in-house retro café. To read more articles by C. Dianne Zweig click on this link: C. Dianne Zweig’s Blog Kitsch ‘n Stuff Email me at dianne@cdiannezweig.com Visit my website, CDianneZweig.com Dianne is a member of: The American Society of Journalists and Authors The Society of Professional Journalists