Upcycled Animals

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Upcycling is the new recycling these days. Even though it’s kind of the same thing, recycling old materials to create new ones is all the rage. It eliminates waste and encourages sustainable living practices.

So take your child’s favourite blanket for example, or an old T-shirt that is too difficult to part with. The most logical thing to do is turn them into an owl, or a hippo, of course.

Local mom entrepreneur Lou Lynn, a fashion designer who has loved owls since she was a child, has combined her talents and passions to create wonderful, whimsical Wishing Owls—a stuffed toy that is as popular with adults as it is with the kids they were made for. Now in her second year of business, Lou creates each owl individually, but each has one similarity: a pocket for hiding those special hand-written wishes or teeth waiting for the fairy to pick up. Lou sources her fabrics from second-hand stores, and uses eco-fill for the stuffing and eco-spun (aka felt) for the eyes, both of which are made from recycled plastic bottles.

Although the owls mainly end up in the hands of small children, she finds that adults want them too, and many people want to have a customized owl made out of a sentimental item such as an old hoodie, blanket, onesie, or pair of jeans. Lou handles the customized orders directly through her site, but if you want to buy one of her pre-made large or small owls, head to one of the Vancouver children’s stores that carry her works of art (small $25, large $40).

Melissa Saunders, another local mom entrepreneur, is brand new to the scene with her fun kids’ clothing line, which includes tees, onesies, dresses and caped-tees. Melissa’s idea for Barking Hippo came to her as she tried to find cool clothes for her young son without spending a fortune. She found her solution in her husband’s drawer of old T-shirts. Instead of donating them, Melissa turned them into a new children’s clothing line made from inspiring second-hand materials. All of the pattern-making and sewing is done locally, and even the scrap material is kept to be made into baby droolers, resulting in minimal waste. Barking Hippo has a great selection of pre-made children’s clothes available on their site, and they offer customization if you have your own fave tees that you want made into something fun. Customized tees start at $15, making fun and funky very affordable. 

‘Owl’ bets are off—it’s hip(po) to upcycle this holiday season. Even the biggest Scrooge will agree.

Tested by Michelle T., Vancouver