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Melanie Abrantes Designs Vases Made from Scrap Materials

Sustainable designer and maker Melanie Abrantes sought ways to make use of leftover material from hand-turning her own products over the past five years. Instead of throwing them out as many manufacturers do, Abrantes picked pieces of cork and wood and paired them with thrifted glass vessels. The cork and wood pieces are laminated together before being fit together on a woodturning lathe. Each vase has a different combination of colored glass, cork, and hardwood that have been sculpted together to become a piece of functional art. The results are the Marais collection of limited edition vases that are completely unique from one another.

Photographer: Melanie Riccardi

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.