Happy Monday!
I hope you enjoy this funny video with Hoda Kotb and guest host Willie Giest from last week’s Today Show. I’m traveling today to NYC to film a segment with designer Ty Pennington for the ABC show “The Revolution.” (I’ll let you know what date it’ll air!). But come back tomorrow for a fun upcycling project!

We did a photo shoot last week in my studio in Pennsylvania and got a preview of some new Spring/Summer merchandise coming in my line of eco-friendly housewares.    While they aren’t in stores yet, I thought I’d give all of you a sneak peek of things to come!

I am in love with our bamboo block knife set:  It’s eco-friendly, fast-growing bamboo with 3 sharp knives made entirely out of recycled steel.       Unlike knife sets where you get around a dozen knives (and end up only using a few), I wanted to do a set where we offer the most commonly used knives to slice, dice and chop your way through the kitchen.

How adorable is our new herb grinder?  It is also made from recycled steel and has blades inside that can grind down fresh or dried herbs into a beautiful fine blend perfect for rubs, pastas or garnish.

And I’m super excited for a new line of tableware.    Our bamboo inspired spoons are also made from recycled steel and are inspired by the groves of fresh bamboo that grow in my home in Pennsylvania.

I hope all of you have a great weekend!   And if you happen to be shopping this weekend, check out our line of reclaimed and recycled wood frames in stores now!   You can find them in stores like HomeGoods, Marshalls and TJ Maxx.

One of the fun parts of writing a book in the United States is that it often gets translated and published in other parts of the world.    I’ve been lucky to have most of my books published throughout Asia and my latest book Upcycling will be coming to South Korea in a few months.

For this book, we decided to take some traditional Korean materials and upcycle them into fun and beautiful things.  Here’s one idea:  We took toasted seaweed packaging and duck tape and made this super durable and totally functional tote bag!

And remember the earlier post where I saved the paper wrappings that protect Korean pears?  Here’s the final photo:  layers of the thin paper decoupaged onto a plastic wrap covered bowl.      When dry, they turn into durable and beautiful paper bowls that peel right off the plastic covered bowl.   So fun and so beautiful.

I’ll be on the fourth hour of the Today Show this morning with Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford teaching my latest and greatest upcycling projects.    Tune in as I show em how to transform an old wine bottle into a cast candle, some torn jeans into elegant napkins and I might even do a technology twist and upcycle old books into an Iphone charger.  Yes, a charger.

If you’re flying Southwest Airlines anytime this month, you may have noticed this story on upcycling I did for them.   In case you missed it, here it is, featuring my favorite and easiest ideas where you can take the stuff you already have and make new and beautiful things from them.

Click image to make em larger.

I think we all face this dilemma.    We save a can of paint for touch up or just because we don’t know what else to do with it.

Sure, there are household hazardous waste places you can visit to drop it off.   But those can be out of the way or only open a few times a year.    You could try to donate it, but who really wants old paint?   Or you can just toss it illegally into the trash and hope for the best (which I do not advise…but let’s be real: you know some people are doing that).

My tip is this:   when you have excess paint and you don’t know what to do, open it up and let it totally dry out.

This can was half full 2 weeks ago.   I opened the lid and just let it air dry out.  Once it’s dry, you’ll have a rock hard disc that is but legally fine to toss into the trash and throw away.   And since almost all of the paint inside of the can has peeled off from the sides, you can toss the steel can into your curbside recycling bin.

In the future, it’s best to buy exactly the right amount of paint you need so you’re not left with excess cans.  But there will always be leftover paint and this is a simple way to remedy the situation.