What is it about bread?

While scrolling through the numerous lists of Creative Packing complied by Bored Panda, we noticed a trend - bakers come up with some great ideas to package their goods. 

Who's your Gnomey?

Slightly cheesy, but still funny packaging for Japanese black melon bread

This one was part of a breast cancer awareness campaign.

Now this turned out to be a highly lucrative idea: “We got into cooperation with bakery that supplies bread to neighborhood stores. Together we created FIT BUNS — a branded healthy buns with coupon for a free visit to fitness center inside the box. Results:2996 packs of buns sold the first month. 658 people came for a trial session, 217 purchased membership cards. That increased the number of fitness center clients by 25%. FIT BUNS sales generated 115% return on investments.” (Advertising Agency: MEX, Ukraine)

The BIG Dog Purse

Because it's the silly season, we decided to share something silly... presenting the BIG dog purse!

Another bright idea – transform light bulbs into oil lamps!

We’ve already shown you how to create a vase from a busted light bulb, but here’s another great way to repurpose old light bulbs that won’t leave you in the dark.

You’ll need:

• A clean light bulb
• A cotton shoe lace
• A metal bottle cap
• A rather large washer / spacer
• Two small magnets
• A drill / punch
• A drill bit a little smaller than your shoe lace
• Tape
• Lamp oil
• Some sand
• Water

Instructions:

1. Disassembling/Cleaning the Light Bulb: First, take your drill/punch and tap at the bottom of the light bulb, until you break the black glass. Then tap on the inner tube inside the bulb with the wire in it, and extract the insides of the beast. Now, go grab your sand or another granular substance and put some into the bulb. Add the water and swirl the mixture, while you are swirling you'll notice that the inner white coating will flake off. Once all the white coating has detached itself from the inside of the bulb, rinse the bulb thoroughly and set it aside.
2. The Cap: After you have cleaned the innards of the bulb and washed the inside, grab your bottle cap and shoe lace. Locate the centre of the cap and drill your hole - start with a small hole and work your way up to just under shoe-lace-diameter. Before you cut your shoe lace, tape the middle with a little bit of tape, so when you do cut (in the middle of the tap band), you won’t have a frayed mess. Thread your taped end into the fresh wound in your bottle cap and pull the lace through. Screw the cap (with the lace threaded) onto the top of light bulb and do a measure test, you want a little slack at the bottom, but not much. Take off the cap and find where your magnets have run off too.
3. Making the Base: With your washer/spacer in hand, and magnets stuck to some valuable electronic devise, put a small length of tape on the one side. Flip it over and centre one of your little magnets on the tape. Cut another length of tape and stick it on the washer/spacer, trapping the menacing little beast inbetween.
4. Finishing: Go ahead and find your lamp oil. Before pouring the oil, put the other magnet into the bulb, and set on the base. Carefully pour about 2-3 teaspoons of lamp oil into the bulb. Find your cap, complete with shoe lace wick, and screw the cap on to the light bulb. You may need to roll the liquid around a bit to get the wick a little damp. There should only be no more than about a centimeter of wick poking out the top of the cap. Grab your lighter, and light it up!

Be sure to head on over to the Instructables  page, where this tutorial by bumpus was originally posted. You’ll not only get a chance to see how others adapted the idea, but you’ll also find a large dose of inspiration and motivation. 

Season's Greetings

Here’s a bright idea! Convert an old light bulb into a vase

Give used light bulbs a new lease on life with this great do-it-yourself project from ReadyMade. 

You’ll need:

• Leather gloves
• Safety Glasses
• Needle-nose pliers
• A hammer
• ¼ inch Allen wrench
• 3/32-inch aluminum welding rod

Instructions:

• Put on leather gloves and safety glasses (consider going outside since this process involves breaking glass).
• Peel off the contact at the base of the bulb using the needle-nose pliers (see photo below).

• Crack the black glass at the base of the bulb by tapping it lightly with the hammer. If this doesn’t work, try sticking one of the jaws of the needle-nose pliers into the hole of the black glass and twist while applying a little pressure. it requires some persistence, so keep at it.
• Insert the 1/4-inch Allen wrench into the glass tube inside the lightbulb after removing black glass (see photo). Apply some leverage to break the glass inner tube; a different size key may be necessary depending on the brand of bulb.

• Pull out the innards of the bulb through the hole you’ve created with the pliers. if the hole is too small, make it bigger as you did in step 4. The filament and attached glass may need to come out in a few pieces if they are too large (shown in photo).

• Create a stand for your new vase using the 3/32-inch aluminum welding rod, available at your local hardware store. Sculpt your stand to your own design, or mimic the one in the pictures—a square base with one end of the wire coiled around the metal part of the lightbulb.
• Insert your favorite flower, water, and enjoy!

Are you a Classic Chap?

If you find yourself wondering around England these holidays on a quest for something antique, vintage or retro, we recommend that you head to Classic Chaps in East Sussex. Here you’ll find a wide range of exotic, traditional and stylish clothes for the contemporary gentleman.

Beware! This is not the place to go if you’re looking for jeans, a t-shirt and trainers. This is where a fellow may find tweeds, bow ties and walking sticks instead.

If you’ve elected to remain in sunny South Africa these holidays, but are still keen on picking up a new dinner jacket we suggest you visit the Classic Chaps website by clicking here. 

Another brilliant solution to your storage problems!

We absolutely love this Antique Wooden Ladder Bookshelf from Naturally Cre8tive. Not only is it an excellent example of how good repurposing can look, but it’s also an ingenious use of space.

You can purchase the bookshelf from Naturally Cre8tive’s online Esty store (click here to go shopping), but why not have a go at creating your own version.