Let’s start this week with some exciting news! Bec Boop has been selected as one of twenty bloggers in the UK to take part in the Gumtree Upcycle Bloggers Challenge. If you have been following me on Periscope (@BoopFashionista) you will definitely have seen me hard at work on this project over the weekend and it’s beginning to come together nicely.

Basically the challenge involves buying a product from Gumtree and upcycling it within one of three categories. I selected challenge two ‘Create a storage item for jewellery, makeup or accessories for the bedroom’. We were each given £100 budget to cover both the purchase of the product and the upcycle cost. The project has been set as part of Gumtree’s support for National Recycling Week (June 22nd – 25th) and in particular National Upcycling Day – June 24th.

Once we’ve finished the upcycling process our products will be showcased at the exclusive bloggers upcycling event on Tuesday 16th June where expert upcycler Max McCurdo will select his favourite item. The winner will receive £500 for the charity of their choice. 

After the event we then must sell our upcycled products on Gumtree with money raised again being donated to charity.

I went for this cabinet which I’ve chosen to upcycle as part of the challenge. I have opted for challenge 2 and am making a makeup/jewellery storage unit out of this little baby! Remember upcycling is about turning an unwanted product into a better quality product. That’s exactly what I intend to do.

Since I moved to London earlier this year I did purchase some household furniture on Gumtree so I was already familiar with the layout of the site but it’s super easy to use as I’m sure you probably already know. I narrowed the location down to London as I wanted to be able to collect the product in a taxi-cab. I’ve been super lucky with the taxi service beside where I live as the drivers have always been more than happy to help out when the furniture is a little too big for Boop to carry. 

I contacted the seller by email on the gumtree site and had arranged within an hour to purchase the product the very next morning. Everything went to plan and I had the cabinet at home in my apartment with ideas flying around my head the next day. 

Now you guys are well aware that I’m mostly a fashion and beauty blogger with a sprinkle of lifestyle thrown in there for good measure. So this is totally outside of my comfort zone! I speak often about the importance of creativity and I’ve always been a little artistic and creative so I was definitely excited when I was first asked to take part. I also like to support charity whenever possible so with the opportunity of winning a sum of money which I can donate to a charity of my choice, of course I was going to take part. There are quite a few charities which are very important to me and I would love to be able to support them in this way.

I also have no idea which other bloggers have been selected to participate so I am sure the competition will be quite difficult, there are most likely bloggers who focus solely on upcycling and furniture restoration and I’m really excited to see what everyone comes up with, at the showcase. Bearing this in mind I am here to enjoy the challenge and see what I can do in this situation. I work another job aswell as full-time blogging so finding the time for additional challenges like this isn’t easy but when I set my mind to something I will always see it through 🙂

Now that I’ve begun the upcycling process I cannot wait to get it finished and meet everyone at the showcase. You can follow the discussion at #UpcycleRevolution and I would like to thank the wonderful team at Gumtree for inviting me to participate. I will be sharing updates on Periscope so make sure you’re following me there to follow my upcycle adventure (Just search BoopFashionista or Bec Boop).

I will of course have another blog post after the event where you guys can see my finished piece and I’ll tell you all the news from the event then too but I really wanted to share the beginning of the journey here with you too.

Have you every upcycled? Any tips are most welcome.

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