Buffie's Amazing Creations

Meet The Woman Winning Awards For Turning Trash Into Treasure.

- Steve Landells

Junk and waste may not typically be a source of glamour, but west Auckland mum Buffie Mawhinney is boosting its image with her award-winning upcycling creations.

Buffie, a sustainability co-ordinator for Ranui Community Centre, is growing a reputation for reusing building materials and turning them into quality, fashionable products.

Born into a creative and practical family, Buffie’s passion for upcycling began young.

“Before computers there was the World Book Encyclopedia and we had a set,” says Buffie, whose mum is a gifted seamstress in fashion and film, and whose dad was a furniture maker and woodturner.

“My favourite World Book when I was young was the Make and Do, which got me started on making things. Over time, I made useful things from unwanted products.”

She calls her style “rough stick” and not “rustic” because, as she jokes, it is often “over engineered and over sewn”.

For years she dabbled in upcycling, but in 2016, while working at the centre’s cafe, she saw an opportunity to be involved in a more ambitious project – a major renovation of the centre.