UPDATE: WE WILL NOW ACCEPT ENTRIES THROUGH FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 7!

Here at Birds & Blooms, we love when readers create something out of nothing, especially when upcycling is involved. So now we’re on a mission to find 10 of the best upcyclers in the country who can reuse, redo and recycle ordinary objects into extraordinary birding and gardening projects. We’ll offer up $20 to cover materials but that’s it, so innovation and creativity is a must!

Want to know how it’s going to work?

We will accept email applications from eager upcyclers through the end of August. In early September, we’ll choose our 10 favorites, and then we’ll send participants $20 for supplies to create birding or gardening projects. More details to come if you’re chosen, but participants must be willing to mail us their creations by the end of the year.

Is there going to be a winner?

Of course! The person with the most innovative idea (as chosen by our staff) will get $500! More details to come if you’re chosen.

Will the projects be in the magazine?

You bet they will! We don’t know exactly how many will make it into the magazine or an exact timeline, but our intent is to share them with B&B readers either online, in the magazine or both! So if you have an Etsy business or website, this is a great opportunity to get featured in a national publication!

Think you have what it takes?

If you would like to compete as an upcycler, send an email to stacy@birdsandblooms.com. In the email, you should write a few sentences about yourself. Let us know about your past experience, and tell us why you think you could take on this challenge. We also need you to submit a photo of a past project that YOU did. We’d prefer it to be related to birding or gardening, but we’ll look at indoor projects as well. We just want to see how creative you are.

Do you have any additional tips?

Don’t forget to include your contact information with your email. And here’s a final tip—don’t overdo it. Just send one photo and a simple write-up. Your creativity will shine through without a lot of words of excess pictures.