Never Buy Potting Soil Again

This is the new thing I've recently started taking out of the trash: abandoned planters with soil still in them. The big square one has pretty nice potting soil in it, which I'm going to hold on to for the next time I need to repot a plant, or something like that. The other two are going to end up in my compost pile. I've thrown some other abandoned soil in it already. All of which brings me around to pointing out that my compost piles (there are in fact two), are in serious need of expansion...

Recycling Old Shirts into Baby Clothes

My friend Tina just sent me these pics of clothes she made from recycled clothes for her new baby Tycho (I just saw him last night, and he is cute, cute, cute!). Here's what she wrote: "I'd like to make some stuffed toys for Tycho out of old clothes. I've been making him pants out of old shirts--I've sent along a picture of the latest pair and the onesie I raw-edge appliqued a matching patch onto. Despite my poor seamstressing skills, I persevere because I know soon he'll just want to wear jeans and spiderman t-shirts." Tycho's Dad calls them his 'clown clothes'. I think these are great, and her seamstressing skills are much better than she thinks! She suggests this post from another blog for advice on how to make kid's pants from your own pattern.

My Bulletin Boards are Better Than I Thought!

A while back, I wrote about putting up multiple bulletin boards around my house, making some of them myself from Homasote. I've just read at Apartment Therapy, via this post on Not Martha, that homasote is a recycled material, made from old newsprint. Cool!

A Use for Vintage Suitcases: Sidetable w/ Storage

The top suitcase in this photo did come straight out of the trash. Some neighbors were cleaning out an attic when I spied it on top of the dumpster. I asked if I could have it and they gladly handed it to me. (That I didn't get in on the ground floor and get things out of the attic before they were put in the dumpster is a long, sorrowful story...) But the other suitcases I've bought at various thrift stores and garage sales over the last few years. Stacked together they make a cool looking bedside table, and they offer some extra storage space for sheets, towels, etc. And I don't know about you, but I am always in need of extra storage space. (The only thing is that I suggest only using them to store things you don't need very often, since you have to unstack them to gain access. They would work great for holiday decorations, for example.) This is not an original idea, I know, but I think it's good enough to bear repeating.

Creative Uses for Corks!

I started saving my corks, mostly champagne, as I don't drink much wine but do occasionally throw big parties where I serve a lot of bubbly, after my contractors pointed out that I could use them to repairs the holes in my baseboards that some lazy person drilled in order to run cable. But now that all those holes are filled, I have at least a large coffee can full of those nice, plump champagne corks. So, here is a great post from another blog about some projects for all your left over corks. Personally, I like this one best:Thanks for sending this to me, Lynneguist!

Another Great Post on Recycling from Boing Boing

My friend the Lynneguist sent me this link to a post about how to make a play kitchen for kids from an old unwanted entertainment center. I love it! It was posted on Boing Boing, a site I should look at more often. This seems like the very best thing anyone could do with such a thing, better even than oh, I don't know, putting a television in it.

A Great Use for Plastic Containers - Mini Greenhouses!

I came across this very clever idea at a blog I keep on my bloglines. I think this is a great idea, and I am definitely going to try this next year, when I hope to grow some tomato plants from seed.

Ode to Spring and Clothespins

I am so happy that Spring is finally upon us. Here in upstate NY we had to wait a while, and grin and bear it through some unseasonably cold weather in April. But now it is reasonably warm, and the daffodils I planted in the Fall are up, and my gardens are beginning to get green. But the best thing about Spring for me is laundry - yes, laundry! My dryer died just about a year ago, and I decided not to replace it. So I resurrected the old clothesline in the yard last summer and used it into the Fall. I had thought I would use it all winter, but it extends out from under the eaves of the back of my house, so once the snow arrives it gets ice bound, along with the rest of the world around here. All winter, then, I hung up my laundry inside, using a wooden rack and radiators - not a good way to do things like sheets and bedspreads. I'm getting all caught up now, though. So the other day I cleaned my clothespins which I had left out all winter. (I soaked them with a little bleach, then rinsed them with a little vinegar). And I finally got around to attaching my clothespins holder to the house next to where the clothesline begins its descent into the yard. I picked up this cheap, aluminum, old colander at a yardsale last summer for a quarter (still a deal at twice the price!): Then I squashed it a little and screwed it right to the side of the house. It sits under the eaves, so it should stay pretty dry, but water will drain out in any case.I find that on a warm, breezy day, laundry dries in less than two hours (except for towels). I do miss the way that the dryer gets rid of lint, though. But in general, not having a dryer hasn't been that much of a sacrifice. I managed without it all winter, except for once when I needed to wash my duvet cover and put it back on my bed on the same day, which I brought to a friend's house to dry.

You Can't Have Too Many Bulletin Boards!

A couple of years got back, I too got caught up in the clever idea of magnetic bulletin boards, that is, using a metal surface and magnets to post notes, messages, etc., rather than a more traditional push pin type of bulletin board. And I found an old enamel top table at at a yard sale for $10, so I took the top and secured it to a wall in my last apartment, which I thought was really extra clever of me: This takes a bunch of magnets, so that gave me the excuse to make more button magnets (simple to make: hot glue round magnets to the back of old buttons):But then, when I moved into my new house (I've lived here for more than a year now, so I wonder when it will stop feeling 'new'...), I decided that I was over the whole idea of metal bulletin boards. The button magnets, or even more traditional smaller magnets take up a lot more room than do push pins, and how many enamel tables does anyone really want to take apart? (I recently found one in the trash, took it apart, and stuck it in my garage, but I'll leave that for another post.) So, I've returned to regular old bulletin boards, and I actually have four, all over the house, because I find them so useful! (Meanwhile, I put that green enamel top table back together and use it in my craft room.) Here's the cool vintage one I found years ago at the Salvation Army in Cleveland, that I keep in my craft room, with various inspiring images on it: Then there's a little green one, from the same Sal Army in Cleveland, with fish swimming across the top. I use it as a small rotating gallery. It currently has old pictures of my house, kindly given to me by a previous owner. But if I manage to collect a few old chipmunk postcards (such is the kind of ambition to which I'm susceptible) then they will go there next: And, after I had painted the kitchen and the back study, I made two more bulletin boards out of homosote. (This is very easy: go to a lumber yard, and have homosote, a soft cardboard like material which comes in 4' x 8' sheets cut to whatever size you like. Then stretch over it any fabric that can withstand the pushpins and staple it to the back. Finally, attach it to the wall with screws and washers. I learned this from my sister Julie, who teaches me many cool things.) I made a relatively small one just for displaying my modest collection of 'display-worthy' vintage kitchen towels (the collection of usable vintage kitchen towels is far from modest): And I made a larger one for next to my desk, for the usual desk-like things: calendar, movie listings, etc. So, that's four in all, which so far seems to be enough, so I don't even have to put things on my fridge, which I'm glad about. So, all I've got on the fridge is all those left over button magnets!

A New Use for Old Graters

I was just browsing through all the iPhoto albums on my Mac, when I came across these pictures: The pictures were taken the day of my nephew Eli's wedding. The reception was at my sister Julie's house, and I made these lights as one of my contributions towards the festivities and decorations. I made them out of the old fashioned graters that come with big old industrial style food graters. I used a string of Christmas lights, cutting them apart, running the wires through holes in the tops of the graters and then rewiring the lights. I think that there must be a better way to do this, but it did the trick at the time. The picture don't show this very well, but they cast a very nice, mildly funky light at night. My sister kept the lights up for quite a while, but eventually returned them to me. I've got to see if I can find them, and put them to use this summer when I hope to host some gathering s in my back yard.

Men's Shirts as Cocktail Napkins

So, I've long liked the men's shirts at the various thrift stores I'm known to frequent. I love the stripey patterns and smooth fabric, and I usually stop to rifle through them admiringly. But I've never had any idea of what to do with them, other than buy them for my non-existent boyfriend. But recently, somewhere or other on the web, I saw that someone had refashioned a men's shirt into a pillow cover, by very cleverly taking advantage of the buttoned front placket, which does away with the need to bother sewing in a zipper. (I am perfectly incapable of sewing in zippers. I used to cajole my sister into doing it for me through flattery: "But you do zippers so well!". But she caught on pretty quickly, so that gig is up.) So that got me to thinking. Then, a week or so ago, I had a couple of friends over for cocktails. (I finally caught up with the trend, and have been very into having a bar and making cocktails lately. And, oh yeah, drinking more. Want a great cocktail book? Try this one - it's great.) I've been wanting for a while to have more nice cocktail-sized napkins - just big enough to rest a martini glass on. I've got tons and tons of dinner sized cloth napkins, so many that it usually takes a year or so to work through the stash and then spend a long evening ironing. But I didn't have enough little ones. So, I decided to make a little project out of making cocktail napkins from men's shirts. First, I bought a couple of men's shirts with the following criteria in mind: 100% cotton, pleasing pattern, really big for more fabric, and, crucially, half-price. With that in mind, I found these two shirts, for $2 each:So, I cut them up into 12 inch squares, based on some small napkins I already had. (I was somewhat surprised by how few napkins I got out of each. I have to look for even bigger shirts in the future.) Then I ironed a narrow hem all around and pinned these in place. After sewing them all around, I folded and ironed them again, and I was done. Eight new napkins to put on the bar, and an idea for easy hostess or housewarming gifts in the future.And I did this while watching "Ocean's Eleven" on tv, admiring George Clooney's shirts all the while! Now, if only I could get him to take his shirts off for me...

Glass Paperweights as a Photo Collage

Okay, so you are probably familiar with these old glass paperweights. You can find them in a range of sizes and shapes at thrift stores, antique shops, yard sales, and so on. Sometimes you find them empty, and sometimes they have an old image, or sea shells, or dried flowers in them. Several years ago, I took an old one, I don't remember where I had found it or what was in it, and put my own photograph in it. It's one of my very favorite photographs of the seven children in my family, back when we were still children (I'm the little girl on the bottom right). For a long time, that was the only one I had. Then, slowly, I gathered more of the old paperweights, and scrounged around my mother's house for more old photographs, like this one of my father with his brothers, his father standing in the background (his father died a year or so after this photo was taken, so it's a rare image of my grandfather). And so the collection grew. I haven't done any in a while, for reasons of space, and also because I've now represented just about everyone in my family. So, lately I've been thinking of doing these as gifts, but I have yet to follow through on that! I do worry a little about keeping them in front of a window that at some times of year does get direct sunlight, so I am planning on making some sort of simple fabric cover for them so that they don't fade.

Who Says Christmas Is Over?

So, why is it that I never have enough time to do Christmassy crafts during, oh, I don't know, Christmas season?!? Oh well, at least I'll have this to use next year. I finally, finally got around to making this Christmas card wreath , the idea of which I got from a magazine god only knows how long ago. I honestly don't remember which magazine, but it certainly has the feel of an MSL idea to me.It was very easy. I bought a wooden embroidery hoop for a couple of dollars at Joann's, and glued the two pieces together. Then I tried different sizes of clothespins, but found that the ones I had were either too big (normal sized) or way too small (minis, at 1"). So, I found some on Ebay which were just right (okay, so now some nursery rhyme has found its way into my head), at 1 3/4 ". I glued them on with wood glue (which swells the wood a bit for a really good attachment), spaced about 2" apart. I put every third one facing into the circle, with the idea that the middle of the circle has less space than outside of it.

Later (and by 'later' I probably mean next year, in a not-enough-time sleep deprived pre-Christmas frenzy) I'll do something ribbony around the top to hide all that wood. And I'll try to get a more reasonably sized bolt, before this one puts my eye out.
Yeah, Christmas never ends!

Double Letter Score

So, I was working on amassing my little pile of Christmas and belated birthday gifts for my best friend from college, when I hit upon the pretty simple idea of hot gluing some magnets to the backsides of scrabble tiles. I have built up an impressive cache of extra scrabble tiles, usually acquired for a dollar or two per hundred at thrift stores and yard sales, and I've done other fun things with them, which I'll save for future posts. My friend is a competitive scrabble player (meaning that, among other things, she studies the scrabble dictionary for two and three letter words, which can come in very handy), so I thought this would make an especially appropriate gift. (Although it later occurred to me that, living in the UK, she doesn't have an American sized fridge, so she will have to find some other place to use them.) I spelled out a pair of words, and then added a few more letters to the mix. No, these magnets are not an especially original idea, I know. But the importance of originality is overestimated, if you ask me.

Saving Christmas Past

So, in my own view, decorating the outside of your house with Christmas lights comes in four distinct varities. First, there is the elegant look: little white lights, green garlands, red bows, single bulbs in windows. This is fine, although when a town or village does nothing but this, (and I do have a particular NY upstate village in mind here), it makes me think that they think they are just a little too precious. Second, there is the artsy, funky look, such as when someone puts out nothing but little lights of one color. A house I fondly remember from my childhood in Needham, Mass had little blue lights strung along every, and I do remember it as every, line of the house. The effect was very cool. You couldn't quite see the house, just the outline of it. Third, you can always go with a vintage, nostalgic look. I'll say more about that in a minute. Of course, what we really want out there in the vast world of Christmas lights, is a nice mix of these three styles, so that when you walk your dog late at night, you can appreciate the unending variety of human artistic ambitions. Last, there is the ugly. I'm not going to catalog all the many ways in which Christmas lights can go wrong, or, well, I'd get myself worked up into a snit. But I think you know what I have in mind. The little white lights that come as a net and everyone, or at least nearly everyone where I live, just lays across the top of their carefully manicured yews. Or the house that is just overdone, but with no particular theme or idea in mind. (Good things my next-door neighbors don't have a computer, or I'd have to shut up now.). Don't get me wrong, I'm all for over-the-top Christmas lights, and I aspire to have that kind of house one day. But just going back to Walmart to get another blinking or moving or huge Christmas thing because it turns out that there is another square foot between the trash cans and the birdbath (and the garage roof is already full) is not exactly what I have in mind. The newest things in the ugly category, though, are those huge, inflatable figures and such. What the hell? Okay, I feel a snit coming on, so I better move on.
My preference is for the big, colored bulbs of my childhood. Like these:
They look very retro and cool, especially when you've got a lot of them. I've decided that this is going to be the Christmas lights look for me. So, here's the thing: they can be hard to find. When I do find them cheap at thrift stores, they often don't work. I could buy them new, but I want so many of them that I'm going to have to rent a cherry picker to put them up. It turns out, though that the more recently produced ones have little fuses in their plugs, which get blown, which is why they don't work and they end up at thrift stores. The fuses look like this:Now, I could replace the fuses, but then they would just blow again (and I do intend to have the kind, or should I say quantity, of lights that would blow a fuse). So, I realized that I could just replace the plugs, like this:So, for four dollars each (the strings cost me $2 at my local Salvation Army and the new plugs cost $2 at Home Depot), I've got three new strings of old-fashioned lights.
Safety first? I say Christmas first! Anyway, for those of you who do worry about this kind of thing, my lights get plugged into GFI outdoor outlets, so the fuses are redundant anyway. I know today is Christmas Eve, so I'm getting a little ahead of myself, but I'm already excited about next year's lights!