The weekend before last, I was invited to an absolutely amazing blogging event: Upcycling with Currys. Upcycling is something that I’ve loved reading about and always had an interest in doing, but have felt held back. It’s a lot easier to participate in the upcylcling movement in America, I think. Or literally anywhere where your abode has a driveway or a garage. It’s hard to spray paint or sand down things when you live in a flat with no parking outside. So when I received my invitation from JoeBlogs, excited was an understatement!
First of all, I’d like to thank all the lovely staff at The Old School Club where the event took place. They were all absolutely incredible and put up with even my most stupid questions and requests. (I’m a tools novice so there were quite a few). They offer lots of classes on everything from sewing to upholstery and I’ll definitely be back some time in the future; most likely for one of the sewing classes.
The task was to reuse old washing machine drums. Everyone in the group either made a table, a lamp or a footstool. I opted for the table. We needed a side-table and I was going to make us one or die trying. Step 1 was to sketch your creation. That didn’t go particularly well for me. Step 2 was gathering the wood and washing machine drum that you’d need for your project. I had weirdly decided to try to set myself the impossible task of attaching the top of my table (the wood) to the base (the washing machine drum) on a hinge so that the top could open up and the drum could be used for storage. With a lot of help from the lovely people at The Old School Club, my crazy idea was actualised.
And nerdily, one of the highlights of the day for me was winning a vacuum for “best tweet of the day”. We have carpet in the bedroom and hardwood in the rest of the flat, which is great. But we bought our hoover from a local charity shop for £3 and it’s older than I am. And way less efficient. It’s like gently blowing on the floor. I get better results with a broom and a roll of tape. So when I won the vacuum from Currys, I was absolutely thrilled. Ecstatic even. I texted Sam (no joke): “Ahhhhhh!!!!!! I have the best news ever!!!!!!!” The simple pleasures in life.
And I have to say it – I’m pretty darn chuffed at the results!
The promising beginnings of my table.
(The upcycling group, photo courtesy of JoeBlogs.)
My finished table all comfy in it’s new home.
Thanks once again to JoeBlogs, Currys and The Old School Club for having me along as a guest for this brilliant day!
Have you ever upcycled anything?
