For my Upcycle project, I have decided to create a steampunk-style toaster out of cardboard. I love when the steampunk aesthetic takes up a generic everyday item and what better of an everyday item than a toaster! With my current progress, after last week where I decided what I wanted my aesthetic to be, I started to make some drawings. I wanted to have a few different drawings of toaster shapes as well as designs that I would add to the toasters to give them the steampunk style.

For the stylized parts, I found a lot of themes of industrial pieces such as gears, steel, and bolts. I also noticed how a lot of the designs include keys with ornate designs and clocks. Because I do not plan on including any keys, I wanted to make part of the toaster have that swirly metal look to it. For the clock theme, I thought it would be cool to use that style of nineteenth century clocks to make the dial. Finally, I wanted to include an exposed side if possible with some gears to further fit with the theme.

Going forward, I plan on making my 3D CAD design this coming weekend so I can start to fabricate this item. In addition, I would also like to start gathering my cardboard material. Ideally, I would be able to use repurposed cardboard I find in the recycling at different places on campus such as ATLAS and the ITLL which I know have cardboard recycling bins. In the following week, I plan to continue to fabricate and hopefully have all of the pieces designed and cut out in either a laser cutter or by hand by February 17th so I can dedicate that weekend to assembly and any other embellishments I may wish to add like painting. I think this will set me up well for the deadline on the 21st.