Upcycled for you by a celebrity...

If you are a regular reader of the Phonebox magazine, you'll be aware of the 'upcyced' series, which gives different upcycling and recycling ideas each month. While researching some top ideas for you to try at home, we came across upcycling legend, entrepreneur and TV presenter, Max McMurdo. 

Max first become well known in 2007 when he appeared on the BBC2 programme, Dragons Den. His pitch of eco-friendly products saw him receive £50,000 to expand his business. Today, Max designs and creates a variety of upcycled products, with a contemporary and stylish feel while still being eco friendly. Looking at his work, it's inspiring to see how such stylish products can be made out of something old and previously disregarded as rubbish.

There's currently a competition which ends today, where you could get an item of your furniture of your choice transformed by Max himself. Maybe you want to turn a bookcase into a bench, or you've got an old bath that could become a new sofa, the possibilities are endless. Avoid having to get your DIY skills out, and have it done by a professional! For a chance to win, email a photo of the item you want upcycled with your phone number and information about the item by 6pm this evening, to this email address.

I'm a Celebrity... Get me out of here! Starts tomorrow night!

It's that time of the year again, where we get to watch celebrities make a fool of themselves and get scared to death out in the Australian jungle. This is the fourteenth year of the show, we're wondering what twists and surprises there will be this year in order to keep it interesting.

The 'celebrities' involved each year get less and less famous, and are generally people who are wanting to make a bit of a comeback in one way or another. This years contestants have been revealed as:

• Newsman Michael Buerk
• Presenter Melaine Sykes
• Footballer Jimmy Bullard
• Model and singer Nadia Forde
• Actor and DJ Craig Charles
• Rapper Tinchy Stryder
• Superbike champ Carl Fogarty
• 'Allo 'Allo actress Vicki Michelle
• TOWIE star Gemma Collins and
• Reality star and model Kendra Wilkinson

The closest link to us here in the Milton Keynes area is footballer Jimmy Bullard. Now retired, Jimmy played for a number of teams including Fulham, Hull City and Ipswich Town, before a short-term contract with MK Dons. He then retired from football just 2 months after signing for the team, having had his football career brought to a close by a series of injuries. Bullard has been rumoured to have lost a large sum of money recently, perhaps explaining his accepting the invite to the jungle. Known for being quite the prankster, it looks like he may create some entertainment, which is good news as it could get boring watching them sit around chatting all day... 

One twist to the show this year is that viewers get to vote before the series has even started on who gets to go to the 'celebrity slammer'. An interesting spin, seeing as the viewers won't yet have 'viewed' anything, and may not even know who the celebrities are, probably a scheme to get more money through the phone calls. Either way, it's something of a tradition for many to watch I'm a Celeb, and it highlights the real start of winter, signalling the end of the series for Downton Abbey and the start of the buck tucker trials, enjoy!

National Gardens Festival Weekend

This coming weekend will see a wide variety of gardens across England and Wales opening to the public for the second ever National Gardens Festival Weekend. Over 500 gardens are planning on opening over the two days, with the aim of raising money for nursing and caring charities, such as Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie Cancer Care and Carers Trust.

There are a number of different types of gardens included in the weekend, such as:

• urban gardens
• formal country gardens
• designer gardens
• herb gardens
• artist's gardens
• village 'group gardens'
• celebrity gardens

                          and more! 

There will also be demonstrations, stalls, arts and crafts, live music and other events happening at some of the gardens. Why not give them a visit and see what different things you can discover in the gardens this weekend?!

In Olney, the Cowper & Newton Museum gardens will be open for both days of the weekend, with live demonstrations and artists, as well as the gardens to view.

For more open gardens, click here.

Sport Relief

It's that time of year again, and today marks the official start of Sport Relief! Although you've probably seen merchandise in the shops and adverts on the TV and radio for the last month or so, today actually kicks off the Sport Relief weekend.

Events are taking place across the country, with the Sainsbury's Sport Relief games; the swimathon, the mile and the cycle, which are taking place in a number of locations, allowing for everyone who wants to get involved to do so. Sponsorship raised through these events goes towards the work Sport Relief are doing, which helps people both at home in the UK and abroad, helping create safer lives, stronger communities, healthier finances, better futures and a fairer society. In the UK, Sport Relief provide young people with shelter and protection for those living on the streets and suffering domestic abuse, and further afield providing communities with clean water and life-saving vaccinations.

As well as the big three Sainsbury's games, there will be numerous other events and activities taking place across the country today and over the weekend. Today will be a big one for schools and workplaces I reckon, with various sponsored events taking place all in aid of Sport Relief. There's a song that's been written with the idea of getting it sung in school assemblies, some schools will be holding Sport themed events which the children have been fundraising for, as well as fundraising sales, mufti days and more!

How do you feel about the event? It's clearly a great way of raising money and helping loads of great causes, but is it a bit too hyped up or do you think that's just the necessary way of getting the message across to thousands of people at the same time? We'd love to hear your thoughts on Sport Relief, let us know if you're doing anything for the weekend in order to raise money. Or maybe you're the less sporty type and are planning on watching the night of Sport Relief TV tonight (7pm)… I know which I'll be doing!

Sarah