The best thing about running an upcycling blog is getting comments and feedback from those of you who take these upcycling tutorials and make your own fabulous creations from them – often with a twist!
It’s also always interesting to see what kind of projects capture your imagination!
In this list I’ve compiled the Top 10 Upcycling Tutorials on Upcycle My Stuff based on what you – our readers – have been visiting most often this year.
In 2020 we published a whopping 59 posts on Upcycle My Stuff. This top 10 list includes some of your new favourites, but it also includes some older posts from previous years that you have been coming back to again and again.
While I am reviewing the year I want to give a great big thank you to everyone who has visited the blog, followed us on social or taken one of our small business courses. It is the community that has grown up around this blog that inspires me to keep going!
I hope you enjoy this list and I hope you find a project to inspire you to upcycle your way in to 2021!
Top 10 Upcycling Tutorials of 2020
Our reader's most read Upcycling Tutorials of 2020!
You loved the idea of reusing & upcycling old plastic clothes hangers by wrapping them in scrap fabric strips.
These are great for prettying up your wardrobe of course but they also stop your clothes from falling off the hangers!
This one was a truly surprising before and after so I'm not surprised it got your attention.
This tutorial is all about using a large plastic tub (mine was from a bulk buy of epsom salts!) and fabric remnants to make a pretty footstool!
This was one of my favourites too!
I used coffee canisters and prosecco & champagne corks to make two types of rustic wedding centrepieces.
But of course they don't have to be for a wedding - you can just make one for your own table at home or make a bunch and use them for any outdoor socially distanced gathering! (it is still 2020 after all!).
This is a tutorial that actually wasn't published in 2020 but it has continued to capture our reader's imaginations this year.
No doubt this is due to the stunning transformation from guest blogger and business directory member Shona Murphy of Made by Murphy who turned a drab old brown bureau into a true art deco work of art.
This is probably the upcycle project in my house that got the most use this year.
I upcycled my son's old cot bed into this summery garden bench in the spring and we practically lived on it all summer long!
Clearly I wasn't the only one trying to spend as much time in the garden this year as possible.
You seemed to be gravitating to outdoor upcycling posts, like this one, that showed two different ways to upcycle a broken chair into a quirky chair planter!
This was an upcycling tutorial that came about on the back of a project for my youngest son's room.
He already had a toy box but unlike his brother's it didn't have a cushy seat to climb up onto to look out the window.
Some leftover foam and a fabric remnant off ebay and now he does! He loves it!
This is another one that is one of my favourites as well as yours.
All you have to do is buy one simple silicone baking tray and you can be upcycling your kid's broken crayons into fabulous personalised gifts for years to come!
Evidence that people really did spend 2020 making their homes as comfortable as possible is that our readers were spending times on posts like this one about how to upcycle old kitchen cabinet doors instead of replacing an entire kitchen.
Cost effective kitchen makeovers were definitely on trend this year!
I guess I shouldn't be surprised by this one!
In 2020 we were all adjusting to the 'new normal' of having to reach for a face mask on our way out the door.
This upcycling tutorial made using an off-cut of old pallet wood and some old drawer knobs was my solution to keeping myself organized by having one place to put clean masks right in our entryway.
What was your favourite upcycling tutorial of 2020?
Did you see your favourite project from this year on the list?
If not let me know what it was in the comments, I'd love to hear what you have been upcycling and making in 2020.
One of my favourite tutorials that didn't make our reader's Top 10 was my Denim Quilt made from 10 pairs of old jeans - my lockdown opus!
In fact sewing projects were what really got my attention this year as I not only took up quilting in 2020, but lots of other scrap fabric projects too.
So much so that I started another small blog to document some of them - it's called Scrap Fabric Love.
If you are into sewing and using up every last bit of fabric, like I am, then you might enjoy checking it out!
If you liked this post and you want to save it for later don’t forget to pin it!
Here are some other posts you might enjoy:
- 17 Brilliant Ideas for Upcycling your Scrap Fabric
- 25 Stunning Ideas for Reusing your Old Jeans
- DIY Handbag Ideas – 10 Upcycled Bags you can Make Yourself
- DIY Kitchen Makeover Upcycle Ideas – 21 Ideas to Try
- What is Upcycling & What can you Upcycle?
- 9 Ways to Make a Rag Rug you’ll Want to Try!
- 10 Summer Upcycle Projects to do in the Sunshine
- How to Flip Furniture