Reuse First

New Year + New Goods

2012-02-03T17:30:00.003-06:00

We've had a great start to the new year! We've picked up a few new clients, made a couple new greeting cards, got some new equipment and started working on several wedding invitations/save the dates! We're looking forward to an exciting and productive year!

'Tis the Season to Shop Local!

2011-11-19T23:03:00.004-06:00

There's a chill in the air and I can almost smell the turkeys and tofurkeys cooking! With black Friday just around the corner we feel compelled to encourage folks to support their communities by shopping for local, handmade wares. Box stores might have all the deals in town, but let's take a step back and remember that when we support our local craftsmen and craftswomen we put our money back into the community. Alright, alright, I'll step off my soap box! :) Here's a quick list of Chicago based artists you should check out for some fantastic gift ideas!

Allie's Minis
Craftbelly
Inkling
Invisible Jet Publishing
Kinaloon
Laura George
Letterform's Nourishing Notes
Marlingsworth Marley's Munchable Morsels
Orange Beautiful
Paper Parasol Press
Paper Tiger Cards & Friends
Reuse First
Rar Rar Press
Simply Keen
Steff Bomb
Wonder Wheel

In other news, we traveled to Pittsburgh for the Handmade Arcade show (which was amazingly wonderful, we can't wait to visit again soon!!) and are currently in Atlanta for the Indie Craft Experience show. We'll get next weekend off and then we will be at Chicago's Renegade Craft Fair Holiday Market and the following weekend we'll be back on the road again and headed to Chattanooga's Chatty Crafty! Come say hello!!

Since we're on the road and don't have the means to post up pretty new photos to appease your hungry eyes, we leave you with this parting image. cheers!!

Is this how we'll feel when the craft fair season is over?!

2011 Chicago Renegade

2011-09-15T12:56:00.001-05:00

A big thanks to all those who came out to show their support last weekend! It was a perfect day for the fair and lots of friendly faces popped into our booth. This year we had a few new items that turned out to be red hot sellers! We were amazed at the positive response to our hand poured soy candles and plants in our hand cut liquor bottles. We've applied to the Renegade Holiday Fair here in Chicago and if we get in you better believe there will be a booth chock full of yummy scented candles and soothing succulents in liquor bottles!

Here are a few photos of our new products and some booth shots!

Lovely little aloe vera plant.

The evil Bunny Ear Cactus! Beware of its spines!!

Rainy Day Savings Jug

Before and after shot at the beginning and end of day 1
We went home and made a couple dozen more over night!
Our motto, "Sleep is for the weak!"

The right side of our booth.

Let's Play a Game!

2011-08-15T21:27:00.001-05:00

We here at Reuse First LOVE Stanley's Fruit and Vegetable Market. We buy all of our produce from them weekly. They offer a bountiful variety of produce, local breads, spices and more. Our last visit to Stanley's filled our little fridge completely and has kept our bellies quite full and happy. We'd like to play a little guessing game with our readers! Just as they do in The Price is Right, we'd like you to guess how much our bounty of produce cost. The closet guess without going over will win their choice of a free greeting card from Reuse First! Comment with your best guess!

We <3 Stanley's!

Reuse First's Wedding Invites

2011-08-10T21:49:00.000-05:00

Seeing as how we make cards candles and books regularly, it was the natural choice to make our own save the dates, invitations, thanks you's and favors for our wedding. It was important that we upheld our Reuse First values to show our friends and family our dedication to being creative with discarded materials. Designing the invitations was definitely a challenge, we had two separate receptions as well as chair cards for immediate family members. We had to create a coded check list in order to keep track of the replies. As far as the bicycle and flash mob theme goes, we should probably explain! The two of us met over bicycles twice, randomly on the street. The second meeting was at a midnight bike ride through downtown Chicago. Bikes have always been a part of our relationship. Jeremiah's proposal even took place during the monthly Critical Mass bike ride. We originally joked about doing a flash mob ceremony, but as we explored other options, the flash mob stuck out as the most fun and well, affordable! There was no synchronized dancing, we just told everybody to show up at the same place and same time and to disperse quickly.

All that being said, here are the save the date, invite, thank you, and favor photos.

Hand poured soy candles in assorted reused jars with scrap wrapping paper wraps.
Photo by Clarissa Bonnet of I Luv Photo

Hand silkscreened jotter with custom wrap.

We do custom jobs for any occasion! We love when people have an idea and we can actualize it! Contact us at reusefirst{at}gmail{dot}com

Reuse First Gets Hitched!

2011-08-03T09:36:00.000-05:00

We finally got married!

On June 18th, we said, "I do" in a vacant parking lot located in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood. We had a huge turnout and can't say thanks enough to all of our amazing friends and family who helped us make the day amazing and worked their butts off to make the day possible!!

We can't say enough wonderful things about our photographer, Clarissa Bonnet of I Luv Photo. Anyone out there gettin' hitched? Call her up! I Luv Photo is also a husband and wife team who usually shoot together. Their creative approach seamlessly captures every last moment!

Before it filled with 250 people!

Jeremiah and his Mom and Dad

Michelle and her Mom and Dad (my dress was handmade by Candice Reilly-Powell!)

Sweet and Simple was our motto!

Salina and James dancing down the isle

Nicole and Joe dancing down the isle

Heather and Alex dancing down the isle

Your's truly dancing on down the isle

Eeeee's lovely pedi cab

My handmade veil by Karen Simpson, my hair was done by Sara Hernandez of Paper Tiger Cards

My beautiful boquete by Sharlan Edmons

Handmade paper flower boquetes

Handmade paper flower boutonnieres

Serious faces!

It's not a wedding if the groomsmen don't JUMP!

Here are a few photos of our decorations and favors!

Hand poured soy candles in baby food jars with scrap wrapping paper wraps

We had broccoli, celery, cauliflower, and brussel sprouts in mason jars as our center pieces

Our delicious, homemade vegan wedding cake by Karen & Heather Simpson

Sweets table! Penent by Lizzie Greco of Craft Belly

Our wedding cake topper, compliments of the Simpsons!

Handmade tissue paper flowers by Kat's Phrase

We'll do our next post on our handmade wedding invitations and save the dates! Thanks for looking. Cheerio for now!

Customized Window Gardens!

2011-04-18T05:17:00.001-05:00

All winter long we dreamt of growing food in our home. We hemmed and hawed over the daunting tasks of not only teaching ourselves how to garden hydroponically but also over designing and building the actual hydroponic units. We decided on using the large Jameson bottles that we collect from The Boiler Room and Jeremiah and Alex set to figuring out all the logistics.

It's been around 2 months since we first put sprouts into the unit and they've done nothing but impress us with their progress! We're still sprouting and adding rows, not yet pictured is our newest row with strawberries and

In the beginning....

Happy Tomatoes, Spinach and Sweet Peas

Cucumber Sprouts!

These zucchini sprouts mean business! The arugula and
peppers are coming along slowly but surely!

Cat Grass! We won't be growing this hydroponically but it looked
so delightful and springy I had to photograph it!

Little Broccolis!

'Maters, Cukes, Zuchs, Broc, Basil, Arugula, Romaine, Rosemary,
Thyme, Cilantro, Sage, Peppers and more!

Nutrients drip through these tubes, through the
Hydroton balls and to the roots!

Check back again soon for photos of our first customer's unit!

Happy Spring Chicago!

Introducing... Alex Kircher!

2011-02-25T15:21:00.002-06:00

This year is going to be a good year for business, we can just feel it in the air! We've picked up a new partner/craftsman/brain stormer, the wonderful Alex Kircher! Alex is helping Reuse First design and execute hydroponic growing solutions using bottles we collect from local bars that don't recycle or choose to donate to us. Check back soon for photos! And not only that, he's also designing a better system for bottle cutting. We're so pleased to have Alex on board with Reuse First and can't wait to showcase his work! Check back soon for photos!

We should also mention, we're in the process of finalizing our first ever wholesale line list! We can't wait to spread the word about what we do and hopefully pop up in some more stores! We recently sent out an order to the lovely Leo Handmade in beautiful Chattanooga, TN, thanks guys! I suppose the next step for us will be to get a "grown up" website where we can streamline our blog updates, new products, and maybe even offer a shopping cart! Ooo la la! We can't wait to join the ranks and have our very own site to update.

No pretty photos this time around, but i promise there will be some soon! Thanks for reading!

Coffee Bags and Sleeves

2011-02-07T10:52:00.004-06:00

Some of our latest endeavors have brought us into the wonderful world of independent coffee roasters! Upon meeting Grinderman, an independent roaster who offers bike delivery service, we not only fell in love with his coffee beans, but also started silkscreening his coffee bags, which are biodegradable! His bags were previously made using a hand cut block print which was beautiful but laborious and would run if it came into contact with moisture. Check out what we made up for him!

Grinderman then turned us on to Ipsento who was also looking for some custom silkscreened bags. Again, we fell in love with their beans and adore their cozy store front coffee shop with their portable roasting machine (which, I should add, they take to farmers markets in the summer months). They used to print off their logo and coffee types onto stickers which they would position onto each bag. Check out how vibrant the silkscreened bags look!

After successfully printing the Ipsento bags, we then started silkscreening their coffee sleeves which were originally stamped and a bit difficult to read.

End of 2010 Recap!

2011-02-01T14:20:00.001-06:00

The last few months of 2010 proved to be a busy time for Reuse First! In November we headed down to lovely Chattanooga, TN for the first ever annual Chatty Crafty event. We met tons of wonderful independent artists/crafters, the degree of friendliness there was refreshing! Here's s small handful of our favorites:
Let's Be Friends
Devochka
Buffalo Blue Designs
Hollandsworth

Then we zipped down to Athens, GA for the Winter Craftstravaganza event where we had a great day of selling and of course, meeting the other lovely vendors. Upon returning to Chicago we did a small pop up craft show at the Weekend Handmade Gallery. Then, we organized the annual Indie Arts Holiday Market that takes place at Schubas Tavern in Chicago. Buzz buzz buzz, are you getting tired yet?! How about some photos of our latest creations!

Unicorn Card

T-Rex Card

100% Soy Wax Candles!

Absolut Mango Long Burning Soy Candle

Jim Beam Long Burning Soy Candle

Absolut Citron Long Burning Soy Candle

Stay tuned for more product updates and exciting news! We are currently waiting to see if we will be a part of this year's Austin, TX Renegade Craft Fair.

Renegade was Fantastic!

2010-09-30T00:17:00.000-05:00

It's been nothin' but work work work for the past month and a half! We are just now finally getting a chance to catch up on things. First off, Renegade Craft Fair was tons of fun! We were running on about 45 minutes of sleep, coffee, and pure adrenaline. The first day started with a steady drizzle and a long, slow line of cars waiting to get the go ahead to enter the grounds and set up. Luckily, Reuse First had plenty of wonderful helpers who made setting up a breeze (thank you SO much guys!!) The rain cleared up fairly quickly and the day become perfectly cool and partly cloudy. We saw lots of familiar faces and met tons more new ones! A big thanks goes out to all our friends, families, and supporters who dropped in... and an especially big thanks to all those who came over and helped us in our preparations. Alright alright, I'm beginning to sound like someone who just won a Grammy!

We are excited to have gained several more donors of various items. The Boiler Room is a very unique bar/pizzeria located in Logan Square who has started donating empty liquor bottles to Reuse First. Go there and grab some $3 Jameson on tap and a slice of pizza, they've got some awesome specials! Not to mention they use solar panels and the whole place is done up using reused materials. We'll be popping in on Tuesdays to collect bottles.

Another exciting donor is a wine tasting company. On Monday we picked up around 30 bottles from them, and there are plenty more to be had.

More on other donors next time! For now, I leave you with a few shots of our booth at The Renegade Craft Fair!

The right side of our booth

The left side of our booth

Jeremiah manning the booth

Michelle and Salina manning the booth

Recycling in the Big City

2010-09-07T12:09:00.000-05:00

Those of us city dwellers in Chicago probably know just how difficult it can be to recycle. Only select neighborhoods have recycling services. It IS possible to get private recycling services, but at a cost of course, and most landlords opt against the extra expense.

Here is a map of the city with all the areas that DO have blue bin service.

We've done a little footwork here at Reuse First and have put together a map of recycling drop-off locations. It should be noted that drop offs in city parks are typically just a series of single bins with the recycling symbol on the side. The major drop off centers have several huge blue containers. It is asked that you don't bag your recycling, instead, carry it in a box or paper bag. If you must carry it in a plastic bag, rip the bag open when you get to the bin to empty it and discard of the bag in the trash.

View Chicago recycling dropoff centers in a larger map

We found another helpful guide to recycling in this Reader article. The article explains how the recycling programs in the city work and well, don't work.

Here is the guide for your convenience.

If you live in an area that doesn't offer recycling, try your hardest to do your part and make a trip over to a recycling center when possible. Make friends with a neighbor who has a car and plan a couple days a month that you two can get all your recycling together and drop it off. Post a sign in your complex and try to get others interested in recycling. It's worth it!

Renegade, here we come!

2010-09-06T20:48:00.000-05:00

Reuse First has been busy bustin' butt, preparing for the Renegade Craft Fair next weekend! We hope to see lots of familiar faces there, it runs Saturday the 11th through Sunday from 11am-7pm. We figured it's only fair that we share a sneak peak of some of our latest creations with our lovely readers.

First and foremost, check out this awesome 3-D paper mache logo we've created thanks to Jeremiah's perseverance and the help of a few amazing friends and family members.

And now to tempt you with a few of our newest products!

Jeremiah's mom is always on the lookout for ways to help Reuse First, her latest discovery were these interesting bingo boards. She found them at a church in Kentucky! They came three to a board and are nice and thick.

Michelle's been stamping like a madwoman, creating these fun new cards. The stamp came from "Crafty Claus" a friendly fellow who dropped off a giant box of his old crafting supplies at Paper Boy.

And the last teaser we will leave you with is this lovely, hard cover Chicago flag book.

We're going to have tons of new goods, including a variety of buttons for only a buck a piece! Hope to see you at Renegade!

Yarrrgh!

2010-07-08T12:02:00.001-05:00

Reuse First was recently commissioned to design the invites, thankyou's, guest book, centerpieces, place cards, and table cards for a pirate-themed wedding.

We've been collecting empty liquor, wine and beer bottles from a local bar that does not recycle. (see below for the first planter's we made using the bottles) Since pirates are notorious for their love of booze, we decided to make the centerpieces by cutting the bottoms off of bottles and using the top as a tabletop lantern and the bottom for floating tea lights. Each centerpiece had two lanterns, one floating tea light holder, and one bottle cut to hold the table name.

As is the way of Reuse First, all the paper used was collected from local printer's and binder's scrap cut-off bins. The invites, place cards (individual names were inkjet), thankyou's, and guest book were all hand silkscreened.

We had so much fun working with the couple and were really pleased with how well everything came together. If you have an interest in getting custom wedding invites or center pieces please contact us reusefirst{at}gmail{dot}com

Renegade 2010 ... Reuse First is in!

2010-06-19T16:08:00.000-05:00

We are very excited to announce that Reuse First made the cut and will be a part of this years Chicago Renegade Handmade craft fair, taking place September 11th and 12th! Check out http://www.renegadecraft.com/ for more info. Lots of planning from now til September! We'll do our best to post up sneak peaks of the new products as we create them. We'll also be working on coming up with fun, interactive activities for our booth. For now though, it's time to plan some serious brain storm sessions!

On a side note, we will finally be posting up photos of all the lovely things we designed and created for the pirate wedding in the next day or two (I promise!!)

<3

Spring is in the Air!

2010-03-16T00:53:00.000-05:00

The recent heat wave (ahem... 50's IS a heat wave) has inspired us to get started on our latest endeavor, custom cut planters for herbs like fine leaf basil, chives, cat grass etc. We will update with pictures when our sprouts break through the soil... hopefully soonly! Til then, here are photos of the containers.

If you have an interest in purchasing the planters (with or without plants/sprouts/soil) contact us at reusefirst@gmail.com

Goodness! It's time for an update!

2010-01-25T15:07:00.000-06:00

Well well well, where to start? Reuse First has been through quite a bit since May of last year!! Lots of growth and many many changes. We have relocated twice (we lived in 3 different places last year!) and those who have seen the inner-workings of Reuse First... or graciously helped us relocate, know that it is NO easy task! We are pleased to say that we have finally settled into our wonderful new live/work abode. We have all the space we could ever ask for and are finally back to a point where we can once again focus on Reuse First.

In more exciting news, we acquired a letter press! A beautiful piece that needs a few minor adjustments before we get it up and running. Keep your eyes peeled for our first letter pressing endeavors in the near future!

In other news, we have recently become addicted to etching glass bottles. Photos soon to come! Thanks to a few very loyal customers, we have pressed forward with this and developed a solid technique. We will be selling custom bottles on Etsy very soon so keep an eye out! Our Etsy page will be revamped in the coming weeks as we update it with all of our new, exciting products.

As a side note, I thought I should mention that the two folks behind Reuse First, Michelle and Jeremiah became engaged last July... you can actually check the story out here and see a video of the whole shebang here, enjoy!

That's all for now. I promise it won't be so long between this and the next update!

<3

Reuse First

Indie Arts Market and Updates

2009-05-27T14:21:00.000-05:00

It sure has been awhile since we've had a spare moment to update our blog! Saturday, May 30th 11-4pm is Indie Arts Market at Schubas Tavern located on the corner of Belmont and Southport. It's a big year for Reuse First! We have the biggest space available and are working day and night to make enough lovely things to fill the space. Included will me Michelle's photography and Jeremiah's paintings and other artwork. Don't miss it! It's one day only!

Reuse First is now officially moved in and back up and running at our new abode. Pictures of our new studio space will soon follow! It was no small task getting turning this huge basement room into a functioning studio, and we still have so much more to do! We're on the right path though and hope to be finished with all the major work within the next couple weeks.

Jeremiah, Brad and friends all worked their butts off to try and fix the water problem. We have accomplished the following:
tore down all old drywall, carpeting, and mirrors (it was an old workout room!)
powerwashed all walls (mildew GALORE! ick!)
broke up cement by hand (pick ax and sledge!)
dug out a long trench and deep hole for a sump pump and tile pipe system
emptied bucket after bucket of water, mud, and debris
installed sump and tile drain
added backfill (little rocks) and cemented over trench

We are hoping to eventually set the studio up so other's can rent out studio space and time to do their own silk-screening, painting, drafting, book-binding, letter pressing, etc. etc. Maybe even hold small classes!

That's all for now, pictures coming soon!

Reuse First is Moving!

2009-03-08T03:45:00.000-05:00

Reuse First is relocating to an amazing space in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood. We found two incredible people with a vision and the drive to convert half of an old gym into a beautiful live/work space with a focus on efficiency. To see more check the blog our roommate started! http://hotelrenard.blogpsot.com

We will be updating again soon on our upcoming events like our Kansas City trip and Jeremiah's show at Paper Boy. Check back soon!

<3

Reuse First Fights Back!

2009-01-29T16:35:00.000-06:00

We all know the economy hasn't been doing so hot for awhile now... but is there any excuse for companies taking advantage of their consumers?? Tons of well-known corporations have been sneakily reducing the sizes of their products and keeping the prices the same. Some companies even left their claims of "25% more free!" on products they significantly reduced the sizes of. We find this behavior totally unacceptable! In an effort to raise awareness of this unethical business practice, we've created some hand silk-screened postcards. It's important that we tell businesses when we don't agree with their practices, let them know we will NOT stand for this behavior.

We encourage you to send these companies your two cents! For more info and some detailed articles, please check The Consumerist

Here's the link to our postcard

Give 'em hell!

<3

Reuse First

Ooolala

2009-01-21T00:43:00.000-06:00

Here's one of the latest Reuse First Valentines cards. See our Etsy for purchase info and to check out our other items! We have a handful of other Valentines cards in the works, they should be up on Etsy this weekend, so keep an eye out!

<3

Reuse First

Valentines and new creations, oh my!

2009-01-18T15:28:00.000-06:00

We're busy little bees over here, getting our creative thoughts together to make some super fun and unique valentines day cards. By the end of this week they will be up on Etsy and in the store Homeboy (3327 N. Broadway) and possibly in Paper Boy (1351 W Belmont Ave ). Keep your eyes out, we'll post again when our cards are finished!

Our other exciting news is that we are now in the process of making Reuse First stuffed animals! We are currently working together with Chicago artist Nice One to create little guys similar to this:

Crate and Barrel kindly donated a huge garbage bag full of old fabric swatches they no longer needed and well, we decided now would be a good time to start making some sewn goods for Reuse First! We'll also be working on some pillows so again, keep your eyes peeled!

That's all for now!

<3

Reuse First