In honor of Earth Day this year, Anthropologie collected corks for use in their store window displays.  As someone who has been saving corks from my wine bottles for years now, my interest was piqued. I haven’t yet decided what to do with my collection, but now I’ve collected some great inspiration! Of course, it takes time to collect enough corks to make much of anything, and now my collection of dozens (maybe a couple hundred?) looks tiny compared to some of these large scale cork projects. So, I doubt I’ll be making a Corkxedo (yes, really, a tuxedo made of corks) anytime soon!

After Anthropologie breaks down their cork window displays, the corks will go to Cork ReHarvest where they will go on to become fishing bobs, brand-new flooring, paper pulp and more.

Cork is a green resource and is 100% natural, renewable, recyclable and biodegradable.  “Trees are not cut down to harvest cork, rather, the bark is harvested by hand every 9 years. Cork oak trees can live up to 300 years, so they are very sustainable resource! Approximately 6.6 million acres of Mediterranean cork forest extend across Portugal, Spain, Algeria, Morocco, Italy, Tunisia and France. These oak forests support one of the world’s highest levels of forest biodiversity, second only to the Amazonian Rainforest.”  -Cork ReHarvest Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve long been intrigued by the visual geometry of mechanical components and have gravitated towards Neo-Victorian style and yesteryear’s machinery as well as the contrast of modern industrialization for as long as I can remember.  I was into Steampunk style long before I heard the term (and posted about it) three years ago. During my college years in Charleston, SC. I was surrounded by historic architecture and objects dating from Victorian times to the Colonial Era; these days I am surrounded by Victorian mining history in the CO mountains.

Gears are a common motif in the world of Steampunk; people are using gears and cogs that are usually salvaged from clocks, watches, bikes, and machines as well as representations of gears in a variety of projects. The following examples just begin to scratch a little rust off the surface.

Being a bit of a music nut, I love these – four of the many funky steampunk guitars as well as some crazy guns as featured on WebUrbanist.

Make your own gear switchplate covers by following a tutorial at the Steampunk Workshop.

This flash drive is a stunning assemblage of tiny watch parts.

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Here’s a quick and easy craft project that takes empty egg cartons and reinvents them as a frugal organizing solution.

I recently inherited some jewelry and quickly realized that I needed to figure out some way to keep it all sorted if I plan on wearing any of it regularly.  I don’t currently own a real jewelry box, so I’ve improvised to create a stylish jewelry storage solution in my hall bathroom.  Small compartments are great for keeping pairs of earrings together and easy to find, and inspiration struck as I spied the pile of egg cartons that I’ve been saving for recycling.

To start, grab a discarded egg carton (corrugated cardboard is my preference, and is the typical packaging you find when you buy organic, free range eggs).  Grab some scissors and cut the top away from the bottom.  Also, cut away the top of the cones that divide the eggs so they are the same height as the container’s edges (see image of finished trays).

Find some decorative paper or fabric (or paint, or whatever you can dream up) to glue to the inside of the lid to add  visual interest.

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