With local flight traffic increasing almost every month, there are more domestic fliers adding up every year. India, as it happens, is one of the fastest growing aviation markets in the world and this brings us to the ensuing competition to be the most preferred domestic airlines. Companies are working on not just their regular branding and fleet uniform et al, but also on incorporating frills like in-flight food packaging. Indigo Air, the said leader among economy domestic airlines, came up with a campaign, designed by Wieden + Kennedy, which was not just about overhauling the look of the flight interiors, crew uniforms but also a complete new take on associated branding consisting of interesting designing of the in-flight food packaging as well. Recently Jet Airways, another prominent domestic airline in the Indian market, has also has come up with tin can packaging for their in-flight food service. With the airlines taking this part of in-flight hospitality seriously, the frequent flyers amongst us have something to look forward to, and collect! From yummy cookie jars, square boxes with assorted nuts or other tit bits, we all have got at least one of these cute and quirky boxes back home with us, [while some of us might have one of each type]. Now that we love these souvenirs, as it were, why don’t we make something more useful out of these little collectibles which can be totally re-purposed and upcycled as small storage boxes and tins.
At Dextra.in, we love taking up the most unassuming objects to give them a whole new meaning. For our present project, we involved two very different people with very different perspectives so as to get two separate takes on re-purposing these metal containers. Both contenders were told that we need to keep the project a simple DIY format, something that our audience can easily emulate, and to get in an eco-friendly angle, if possible, as well. With this as the brief, we have below our contenders introduced along with their resulting creations for you to get inspired with.
John Connolly is an Irish, American, Wannabe Desi living in Delhi. He is passionate about all things environmental, eats organic when possible and upcycles whenever the creative moment strikes him. Ginger and Citronella are his answer to all things that ail you – organic of course. And like his Chai, he is not everyone’s cup of tea.
John’s take on remodelling the bijou blue tin box scored form one of his Indigo flights – “I think this tin works well to gift my Homemade Chai Mix or Masala Chai in. I know it is not Chai Tea no matter what Starbucks says, so I have my own in place. Now before any of you go off and start telling me what all is in a real Indian Chai, I would like to quote Rhett Butler here and say, “Frankly I don’t give a damn”. ‘Coz I’m making my Chai and not yours!”
Spice Mix:
2 Teaspoons ginger powder
2 Stick cinnamon
12 Cloves
12 Black Peppercorns
12 Green cardamon
2 Black cardamom
1 Whole star anise
½ Teaspoon coriander seeds
1 Tablespoon Dried Rose Petals
2 Cups of Darjeeling Cut Tea
Milk, Water and Sugar when brewing…
John prefers to use whole spices and grinds them together in the blender. He says, it ensures a fresher spiced tea. He goes on to add the Tea leaves and rose petals and cautions that, when making the tea boil one needs to boil equal quantity of milk and water, add raw sugar to taste and 1 teaspoon of his special chai mix per cup of liquid. He recommends, boiling the concoction on slow, and then straining in china cups to serve piping hot with a delicious tea cake.
Following his cue, we next have our hot and happening young blogger duo, Sakshi and Shloka. They like to define their blog, Themessyduos, as a young lifestyle blog with the aim to connect with all the teenagers out there and help them stay updated with the latest trend. But they are quick to add that it is not just about the latest lip balm or the latest pair of shoes, but with this blog they also try to promote individuality in their own small ways.
Sakshi and Shloka loved the initial idea and only tried to make it better as they share here, “We were super excited when we got this project as we do collect these boxes all the time, but never really thought of giving them a purpose apart from filling them up with little knick knacks. It was a fun DIY project and being girls we came up with making a neck piece holder box out of it, which was really worth the while. Since, the necklaces keep getting tangled up, we attached hooks to the inside of the boxes so that they we can fix the neckpiece onto it and which then does not get tangled, and is also easy to carry along travelling. We made this with only 150 Rupees and tried using what we could reuse from the things at home.”
Think outside the box? Sure, but first have a look at the box, designed to accommodate every day design essentials. Spacious enough to store all you need, tiny enough to be stored anywhere.
Metamorphosis – Where there is design there is beauty. A handcrafted piece of work designed by the fashion designer duo Teresa and Utsav of Mayfly Clothing, to accommodate your design must-haves every designer needs. The quilted texture, prints and those belts swear to reflect the craftsman personality. The size does matter when a 3×4 box can save so much of your desk’s space.
If this wasn’t enough to get you started, here is sharing some more interesting pictures of recycled tin boxes, we found online, as fascinating.
