Drinks, Memories & Campervans

Ey up my faithful blogworms, more this week about how you can recycle discarded or broken everyday items into something unique, fabulous & functional.

It was William Morris who said " Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful ! " I couldn't have put it better myself, function should definitely come before form but there's no reason why it can't look fantastic too if designed right.

The two items I'm showing you today, made by my own hand, in my shed ( where all the best things are made ! ) tick all the form and function boxes you would ever wish to, but are made completely by recycling other stuff. That's what I think Morris would have added today !.

I know this has nothing to do with eco kitchens but it sort of does really, it's to do with our kitchen in our campervan which, itself, I made from recycling oak floorboards.

We've decided to start a sort of 'tradition' of our own when going out in the campervan with our good friends in theirs.

Arrive at site, set up the awning, get unpacked, have a drink. That's the sequence. That's where these fab little boxes come in. I've made us one each, ours has a picture of Pandora, our bus on it, and theirs has a picture of Poppy, their bus, on it.

Ours is made entirely from recycling a wooden framed swing / hammock that my mum had & enjoyed right up untill she passed away a few years ago. So it great for us to think the a little piece of my mums memory goes with us on every trip we make. It holds 2 Gin & Tonics, perfect for us and we've got other spirit miniatures for our kids to take with them when they, in turn, take their kids away for a campervan trip.

The second box took a whole load more making than ours as the design challenges were more difficult. It's for our really good friends, Tracy & John from Liberty Campers , a camper hire company based here in Ilkley, it holds two beers and is made in the colours of their bus 'Poppy' who's red with a white roof.

Modelled on a Westfalia pop top roof, it's the only "Westfakia Pop Top Beerbox" in existence, made from recycled plywood, recycled mdf and recycled curtain linings for the pop top fabric.

Using a small hydraulic piston, the pop top opens automatically when you undo the catch and you just lift out you bottles of beer. The fabric lower edges are on Velcro so they can be released to clean out the box if necessary and to let you replace the piston if it ever stops working. 


Completed by the addition of a picture of 'Poppy' on the lid & the number plate on the front, should Tracy & John ever sell Poppy ( god forbid ) the box could be repainted with a new pic on the lid and it's ready to go with a new bus. !! Simples.

Well, there ya go, isn't recycling wonderful, a few bits of discarded material, a bit of lateral thinking and a whole new campervanning accessory is born. 



A positive heirloom that can be passed down the generations of future guardians of our wonderful vehicles !!

See ya next time, Jules