Friday, February 27, 2009

ReUsing Golf clubs in the garden

Another great Idea from The Salvage Studio:
I finally found a good use for Golf Clubs- Growing tripods for Sweet peas. Very simple to make- just take three golf clubs put together and wrap with wire. Very cool. Don't have any clubs at home? they are just a couple of dollars at the thrift stores!

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Aint it the truth?

Even DIY'ers need to stop and have a chuckle every now and then!


funny pictures of dogs with captions
see more puppies

How to make tin can Luminarias

This is so easy- Take an ordinary tin can (this one was stewed tomatoes),Clean it, draw a design on it, punch holes for the design, or use a drill with a small bit (a nail and hammer works as well-find a small log or something round to put the can on so you have a hard substance to pound on) Or fill can with water and put in freezer for a day or so so you will have a hard substance to make holes in can- the can will then not collapse!)

Add a tea light, turn out the lights and you have a luminaria made from a tin can!

This is great for lighting the walkway or patio. Or try making some for Halloween or Christmas!

Neat buys!

When I go to Ikea I go in through the exit and straight to the As-Is bin, where I find great deals on Ikea Junk to buy. Today I went in and bought these to lamp holders (at least that's what I think they were) I put some jam jars on them and put some tea lights in the jars. All this for $1.50 for both lamp holders; the jars and tea lights I already had. They will look great on the patio this summer!

Sunday, February 22, 2009

How to make envelopes out of catalogs!


As always I look for new and cool ways to re-use things- I came upon this site from Brazil- This Recycled Life and she makes the coolest envelopes out of Catalogs!
Great for sending cards or letters in. Or maybe using envelopes made from a gardening catalog for seed envelopes? Possibilities are endless! She even puts patterns on her site so the rest of us can make this cool stuff.
She also shows how to make stars from catalogs. Very cool site! I am gonna have to add her to this site's blog list!
POST EDIT- The link to the envelope pattern appears to be broken- so here is how Martha makes envelopes and here is a video on envelope making. And here is a link to envelope making sites

Sunday, February 15, 2009

RE-USING: A Table for the porch


The NEED?:
A Side Table for the porch!
It was simple- I recently had to buy a new microwave and venthood- It was one of those ventable microwave over the stove- so before putting in the pile to take it to the appliance recycling at the local transfer staition, I pulled out the turntable, and removed the power cord. I reused the power cord on the new vent hood, and re-used the entire duct work in putting up the new vent hood. The turntable became a new glass top for a 15" plant stand purchased at the thrift store COST: $2.50 (it still had the original tags on it!) RESULT: a neat table to put drinks on on the porch!

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

How to grow Sprouts and Garden Inside

Another repost from my Rob's World Blog:
Delicous radish sprouts

Since my new founded interest in sprouting, I would dearly love to try one of those fancy sprouting systems sold online, But instead I madesome new sprouting jars. The easy answer is to use a meshy fabric like cheesecloth or some nylons and wrap around the top like in the second video. But, being a guy, I don't have nylons lying around and not about to go out and buy some Big Mama nylons. These are easy to make- don't buy sprouting jars or lids. Here is how I make mine. Take an ordinary mason jar. You need to buy some type or meshor netting to use in place of the cap. I use plastic canvass, which is available at JoAnn's and I would imagine Michael's has them as well. Take a mason jar and put it on the plastic canvass lid side down-
Take a mason jar and put it on the plastic canvass lid side down- and a sharpie to mark the circle.
Then simply cut the circle out of the canvass. Now place it ontop of the mason jar and screw on the lid. There you have a sprouting jar in whatever size you need! For instructions on using your sprouting jar, go to sproutpeople or sprouting.com or best yet the cityfarmer.org.
Roger and Anna are a tad bit irritating but give good info:



Good info one making sprouting jars using cheescloth or nylons:

Sunday, February 1, 2009

How to make a Bird Bath from an old lamp


Just follow the nice lady in the video

Now what I did different- instead of using a Light Cover for the tray, I found a neat silver plated plate at Value Village- drilled a hole in the center. You could use a round cake pan or a pie tin- just so long as it has sides on it and it is not more than 2 inches deep! Also instead of using silicone I bought a couple of Neoprene Rubber washers from my local Ace hardware. My total cost for a new birdbath is:
Lamp from Value Village with no shade....$4.99
Silver plated Plate.........................................$1.99
Neoprene Washers........................................$o.84(tax included)
TOTAL With WA State sales tax of .08%..$8.71
Imagine a beautiful piece of yard junk that will make the bird and butterflys happy for under $10!
Another variation of the lamp bird bath here

My thanks to the ladies of the salvage studio for their inspirational video