Tristin and Tyler talk trash with Tiffany

My new friends Tristen and Tyler stopped by my design studio a few weeks ago. I showed them the latest in RePlayGround trash projects and we upcycled up a storm. Check out this "Tristin and Tyler's Tales from the City" clip and maybe you can make something for yourself, too:

T-shirts and tomatoes

It was a year ago today that my good friend Josette and I got ready for the tomato festival of our lives - La Tomatina in Bunol, Spain. Imagine a city-wide food fight with only tomatoes to throw. Most anyone who knows me knows of my love of tomatoes, particularly of the homegrown variety. But I must say after having tomatoes thrown, smeared and smushed all over you, you kind of lose the taste for salsa for a while. It's been a year now and I've long been back on the tomato wagon, partaking in this summer's bounty.

In preparation for last year's exciting event, I didn't want to wear just any old shirt. I wanted to show off a little crafty New York love. Here's the how-to for turning an old I heart NY tee into a one-of-a-kind tank.

Materials:
2 old t-shirts
fabric scissors
safety pin
ruler
sewing machine or needle and thread
iron

Transform a t-shirt into a tank:
1. Cut the arms off the t-shirt. Then cut straight across the top, just under the neckline.
2. Fold in the edges .25” around the armpit. Iron down. Sew in place. Then, fold .25” under on both flat sides across the top. Iron. Then fold under again by 1” and iron. Then hem along this edge. These sewn strips across the top will become the casing for the top ties.
3. Cut 1” wide strips off of the bottom of another t-shirt. Pull on the ends to make the edges roll in. Tip: you can also use ribbon in place of t-shirt strips.
4. Attach a safety pin to one end of the t-shirt strip. Work it through the casing. Repeat with another strip for the other side. Tie the ends in a bow on either side. Your new tank is ready to wear!

Garbage Moguls! Airing this Saturday!

Hi there friends of RePlayGround! If you're friends of us, chances are you're friends of TerraCycle, too! I'm excited to announce that TerraCycle's trashy reality show, Garbage Moguls, is airing this Saturday. And it's not just one episode. It's four trash-packed episodes airing in a eco-marathon. You can catch me in the shows along with the rest of the TerraCycle crew.

Tune in to the National Geographic Network at 7pm EST and rewatch the pilot kite-flying episode. From 8pm - 10pm you can watch three all-new episodes. What garbage will we attack? That's why you need to tune in. You never know what kind of trash turns up at TerraCycle.

woo hoo garbage moguls!

NYC Expands Recycling - and we've got an even better idea

Good news for us New Yorkers - speaker Christine Quinn has just announced a major expansion of the city recycling program. This means more types of plastics, e-waste, and textiles get recycled, and there will be more public recycling bins all over the city.

Great news - but why not go one step further and try to keep stuff out of the recycling stream in the first place? Recycling is awesome, and definitely better than sending material to landfills. But it still involves a lot of waste and energy spent. After all, the trucks that come to pick up your bags of plastic jugs and aluminum cans sure use a lot of fossil fuel, and then everything needs to be crushed or melted down in big factories before it becomes reusable raw material - not a simple process! - so we think that upcycling your waste, re-making it into something useful before it ever hits the trash can or recycling bin, is the best solution of all.

And we have plenty of suggestions on how to do it. Plant your herb garden in those old yogurt cups. Save your soda tabs for a stylish belt. Weave thick cardboard or treated paper into nifty placemats or coasters. Or check out our projects index for more ideas, and happy upcycling!

Etsy Recyclers Guild

A fellow design junkie and friend, Erin Stevens, turned me on to the Etsy Recyclers Guild which is "A GLOBAL community of eco-artists, crafters, and vintage sellers who have united in the name of green."

We love Etsy, we love recycling, and we love supporting communities of eco-artists. Stop on by for a visit and support your fellow trash lovers. There's even a shop that puts members' upcycled goods all in one convenient shopping spot.

Be sure to check out Erin's "trashy" couture site like this necktie camisole. I own a similar one and get compliments every time I wear it.

Satisfy your NYC Maker Faire craving this weekend!

Hey there New York City area people! Are you drooling in crafty anticipation for this September's first ever NYC Maker Faire?

You can get a taste of it this weekend at the NY Hall of Science. Think of it as an appetizer to Maker Faire's do-it-yourself projects. RePlayGround will be crafting it up once again this Saturday and Sunday from noon - 5pm. Saturday will be magazine stationery and Sunday we'll be making food wrapper wallets and collapsible dishes. Plus we'll have even more upcycled projects up our vintage sleeves. All projects are free with museum admission so stop on down and craft it on up!