Relay: Mesquite’s Monster Fashion Show
Mesquite, Texas: Last Saturday at Town East Mall, recycled couture fused with the spirit of Halloween at the Great Big Spooky-Wooky Recycled Costume Contest.
This was the 6th annual recycled fashion show Keep Mesquite Beautiful has hosted, and all were welcome to submit their festive upcycled garments.
Image: Keep Mesquite Beautiful
Their main advert featured a Tim-Burton-inspired Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, (played by the mystical Helena Bonham Carter). Keep Mesquite Beautiful’s executive director Paige Swiney took the time to breakdown the process of creating the queen– a job far less taxing then you might have imagined.
Swiney and a few other board members worked together in parts, gathering and piecing together recyclables that people would come into contact with on a daily basis. The computer components were gathered at a local electronics equipment recycler, and the billboard wasn’t that much of a challenge to obtain.
“…They can hold [the billboards] for 90 days until the owner claims them. If they’re unclaimed…they will recycle them.” Keep that in mind, D.I.Y. or DIE crowd.
Perhaps the most fascinating aspect about the costume was the actual construction. “We taped it onto the model,” Paige explained. “It probably took…only a few hours. The hardest part was doing the makeup.” The ease and flexibility of creating an affixed costume turned out excellent, and that approach is always easier for busy parties interested in upcycling old parts into works of wearable art.
Other costumes included this clockwork dolly and the awfully fierce cousin of Godzilla. About 4,000 people saw the show over different periods of time, which was a stellar turnout for this public event.
“There is a lot of imagination and creativity that goes into these costumes,” Paige stated. “If we created something for Halloween, or inspired people to think about their Halloween costumes differently…we can challenge people to think differently about trash.”
Sure, there’s eight days left until Halloween. But that’s more than enough time to gather materials to whip up your own recycled Halloween costume this year.
Etsy Bomb #7: La Vieille Lune
Doing my usual Etsy rounds, I stopped with widened eyes at the jewelry on a certain designer’s Etsy page.
Kim Hand–owner, maker, designer and curator of La Vieille Lune–-has been selling her pieces since 2010. She prides herself on re-purposing old pieces of jewelry, lace, handbags and more. All of her pieces are painstakingly detailed, with a lot of her lace products hand-dyed.
This is one of those stores where it’s better to just take a peek inside! And after viewing her Etsy Store, be sure to follow her work on La Vieille Lune’s Facebook page as well!
Etsy Bomb: Episode #6 | Coffin Kitsch
March’s Etsy Bomb features a lovely shop that specializes in upcycling and DIYing clothes into new creations. Based in Buffalo, NY, store owner Meagen Kyla loves working on fixing up jackets, though she doctors up all sorts of clothes into staples for your wardrobe! Take a peek this at this month’s Etsy store, Coffin Kitsch!
Wanna know what’s also cool about Coffin Kitsch? There’s also a fashion blog you can check out! So check out some fashion concepts and styles by Kyla truly!
Etsy Bomb: Episode #5 | Parts and Scraps
I’m a sucker for a good choker, especially if they incorporate ribbons. So it’s only natural when I stumbled upon Parts and Scraps I lost my #$!@ upon seeing the chokers and necklaces. They’ve incorporated and transformed can soda tabs, recycled computer bits, and recycled bicycle parts into stellar pieces of wearable art. And how attractive they all are! Colourful, sustainable fashion accessories that are seriously affordable are always welcome here. Take a gander at Annemarie’s Parts and Scraps in January’s (late) Etsy Bomb!
*Also, in case you didn’t know, you can right click the pictures in the slideshow to go to the direct web page. Save yourself some time and energy, yeah?
Relay: National Costume Swap Day
October 12th, 2013 is the date! Organized by Green America, trading posts will be set up in cities country-wide that allow both adult and children costumes to be swapped. Instead of purchasing a new costume, why not obtain a gently used one, or rather, a custom costume that can’t be purchased in stores? And for those of us who don’t see the month of October as just a silly holiday, there might be certain outfits and accessories that can be new staples in your wardrobe.
Locations nationwide can be found here, and if you want to host a Costume Swap in your city, you can fill out a form here.
Etsy Bomb: Episode #4
September’s Etsy Bomb’ll be showcasing Bianca Strom’s Etsy shop, Alter-Eco Clothing!
Based in Nelson, British Columbia, Canada, Alter-Eco Clothing’s lineup changes every-so-often, with new designs that are mainly geared towards female fashions. The shop owner herself has two other Etsy shops, as well; ReLovePlanet features more cutesy apparel, accessories and gifts, and Enstasy Designs stocks handmade jewelry. All of her products are either upcycled/recycled, eco-friendly and vegan and/or utilize vintage materials. Custom-order are very much encouraged, so be sure to drop her a line if you want something specific and unique!
DIY or DIE: Steampunk Projects +
When perusing the internet, I usually stumble across other blogs from time to time that feature a collection of neat projects. Sometimes, it breaks my heart when the item being created asks for all brand new materials, but a few among the recycled projects isn’t always that bad.
Recycle Renew Reuse Mother Earth Projects has a collection of arts and craft projects that can add character to one’s home, or provide beautiful gifts to someone deserving. There are running steam punk and other alterna-themes going on with a bunch of the projects, or at least they can be adapted and themed as so.
Here are just a few of my favourites, but by all means, feel free to check them out and do some!
Image:”Recycle CD Green house”
Image:”How to Make a Tree Branch Candle holder”
Image:”How to make Tea Cup candles”
Image:”How to make a Feather Quill and Magic Ink”
Image:”How to make Dia de los Muertos Masks”
Image:”How to mae a Suitcase Chair”
Etsy Bomb: Episode #2
After a couple weeks of lurking and waiting, our featured Etsy artists for Episode #2 gave me the okay to feature their work!
I’m quite thrilled, and you should be too.
Introducing the work of Mihaela Slav and Roberto Toselli at their shop, dECOnstructionLabs!
dECOnstructionLabs is a collaborative store between Mihaela Slav and Roberto Toselli that has a mission to turn scrap fabrics, leathers, and reclaimed vintage into functional, appealing accessories and attire. Based out of Turin, Italy, they make sure each one of their products are made entirely or partially from recycled materials, and they strive to ethically produce their goods in the respect of people, and nature. dECOnstructionLabs ships worldwide, excluding Cina, Peru, and Brasil, and they’re even open to wholesale orders! So go ahead, and browse their wondrous goods at their Etsy page ASAP!
Update: dECOnstructionLabs also has a Facebook Page! I hadn’t realized before, but if you go and like them, you can keep up-to-date with their pieces, along with seeing pictures of their work process!
Mihaela was also an angel to both myself, and my followers! When purchasing at their Etsy shop, if you mention FloraGothica, you’ll receive a one-time 5% discount on any item!
So now, there’s really no excuse. Just give in and buy–all their products are beautiful!
Skate Guitars: That New, 1K Way to Play
It’s been a while. Summer school reading has me clutched by the throat. Luckily, I like the tension.
I also like these new guitars that turn old skateboards into music making machines. They’ve been pretty viral, but if you haven’t seen them already…
Based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Skate Guitars is a dual effort between pro skater and guitarist Gianfranco de Gennaro, and luthier Ezequiel Galasso. Using two decks–be them used or broken–they create their masterpieces, and each one is built from hand, one at a time by Galasso.
On their Facebook page, they stated that handcrafting these instead of mass-producing these is how things should be, however they are still trying to come up with a way in which anybody who wants one could get their hands on one. The base price for one of these is a grand ($1,000) plus shipping, but hey, they’re absolutely lightweight, versatile and damn it, they look good.
If seriously interested, you can e-mail them at skateguitars@gmail.com with the heading “Quiero mi Skate Guitar” (I want my Skate Guitar), and they’ll add you to their listing, showing new products and the sort.
Etsy Bomb: Episode #1
I dunno about you all, but I do a lot of my shopping online.
Now, if I was back at home in NYC, I probably wouldn’t shop online as much. Then again, I’m lazy, picky, and–well, the list goes on. If you’re the same, I have a treat for you.
From time to time, I’ll feature an artist, designer, or just a collection of some Eco-friendly finds ranging from outfitting one’s self to outfitting one’s home and so on. I’ll pull not only from Etsy, but ModCloth, Artfire, and some similar sites I’ve rounded up.
So, for this episode, Etsy designer Kristin Gallup of KrakenWhip is in the spotlight!
Kicking off our very first Etsy Bomb episode is a talented designer who recycles all sorts of material into sexy, functional pieces to wear. San Franciscan-based Kristin Gallup’s craftsmanship is solid, and her products range from skirts to chokers to tops and other accessories. While the bulk of her current stock is tailored towards females, she’s to release more male products in her line very soon! Her prices are reasonable as well, considering the work she puts into each of her pieces and the positive impact she’s making on the environment. So be a dear and take a look at her Etsy page to see more of what she has in stock.
Flora Gothica 