Becky Striepe
Husband and wife team Shawn and Brenda Fletcher of YAVA Glass turn discarded bottles into beautiful housewares and beads. Shawn hunts down screen-printed glass bottles to transform, while Brenda takes care of the business side of things. They love working with recycled glass and “the idea that each of our glasses has been spared the landfill and that an object that might otherwise have been discarded or deemed worthless finds value among our customers and supporters.”
They’ve also got a selection of recycled glass necklaces. Check out this teal one made from a Bombay Sapphire bottle:
Part of the challenge with this sort of glass work is finding bottles with screen printing that can stand up to the heat, especially when they’re flattening them for spoon rests and coasters.
Not only do their products keep some waste out of the landfill, they’re gorgeous to boot! They find some interesting bottles to use. I’m really into the Boylan bottle designs (like the ones pictured above). The clean design on the bottles gives the upcycled pieces a cool, vintage look!
They preserve the screen printing on the bottles, letting the original artwork give it a little extra character. The pieces range from designs like the Fresca label to something on the kitschy side, like this super-cute Leninade glass and coaster set:
You can find YAVA Glass in their shops on Artfire and on Etsy.
[All photos via YAVA Glass, used with permission]
Who knew something so neat could be made from an old glass bottle. I love the little shot glasses at the top. They are so unique!