Supplies:
• Watertight glazed-ceramic or plastic pot, at least 50 to 60 cm tall and 45 cm in diameter
• 3 or 4 bricks
• Pebbles or gravel
• 3 or 4 aquatic plants
• Goldfish (optional)

Choosing the plants
• To make a pleasing multilevel arrangement and help keep the water clear, choose from three types of aquatic plants:
1. An immersible oxygenating plant to help keep the water clear;
2. A floating plant; and
3. A tall plant with leaves that will extend upward out of the water.

• In this arrangement (shown, top left) are:
1. Immersible Bacopa caroliniana, or water hyssop;
2. Hybrid pink-flowered Nymphaea, or water lily ‘Firecrest’ (the leaves float, but the roots are potted), and purple-flowered Eichhornia crassipes, or water hyacinth (the whole plant floats); and
3. Tall Acorus calamus ‘Variegatus,’ or variegated sweet flag.
• Ask nursery staff to help you choose a good mix of plants.

For the rest of the instructions go here.

DIY: Miniature Potted Pond

Here is a cool bed that has been made from pipes. To make this bed you require the following:

*  1 1/2″ schedule 40 iron pipe: Available at plumbing/hardware stores. Rather heavy. You can buy 10′ lengths and then cut it yourself. Note that 1 1/2″ pipe is not actually 1 1/2″ in diameter. It’s really closer to 1 7/8″!

* Hacksaw/pipecutter/chopsaw: For cutting the pipe down

* Couplers: You can buy these from mcmaster carr, they are used to build railings. They are sometimes called “speed rail” or “speedrail”. Search the online mcmaster.com for “speedrail” and order the couplers you want. I got mine for free and they were all of the “4 outlet crossover” kind so I used only those but theres more suitable configurations.

* Allen wrench: for opening & closing the couplers

* Plastic pipe-end covers: get these at the place with the pipe, they protect your floor

* 1×8 wood panels for making the slats, and 2×4′s for holding the slats together

Head over here for full instructions.

DIY: Pipe Bed

Materials:
- Two 17″ x 13″ Rectangle of Mesh Fabric, Netting, or Tulle
- 30″ Length of String or Cording
- Thread
- (Optional) Toggle

Tools:
- Scissors
- Ruler or Measuring Tape
- Straight Pins
- Safety Pin
- Sewing Machine

Read the full post here.

DIY:Reusable Bag

We here at Bedzine, pride ourselves on being purveyors of eco-friendly products. Hence we love the recycling storage solution by Samuel Wilkinson which has been made from powder coated aluminum. Each bin has a green colored handle tab to indicate where paper, glass, metal and plastic objects should go.

Via Design Boom

Recycling Bin by Samuel Wilkinson

The Ra Biang Bed by Life Shop Collection is a daybed that has been made from plastic resin weave. Available in shades of dark brown, white and translucent white, the daybed comes with cushions, which can be upholstered in sunbrella fabrics.

The Ra Biang Bed

Curves are always good and this hold true’s even in furniture! Check out the Hantahan Settee which is a little twisted but still very chic.  The low seats are available in natural weave or in a synthetic plastic resin weave and can be specified for indoor or outdoor use.

Hantahan Settee

The Milan Furniture Fair shows some killer designs and the Myto Chair was one of those products which scream understated chic. The  Cantilever chair entirely made of BASF Ultradur® High Speed plastic and is available in shades of lack, white grey, traffic red, pure orange, grey, yellow green, aubergine and light blue. Stackable (8 chairs). For in and outdoor, recyclable.

Myto Chair

However, plastic has been known to be one of the more controversial objects that add to the green woes the world knows of today. While there are alternative ecological packaging that can be used, it is pretty clear that splitting the use of plastic in half is a sign of trying to go green for all bed and furniture item purchases that is regular these days.

Read the full article here: IKEA Canada to halve plastic bag use

IKEA Spits Plastic Bag Utilization