What I Got For Free Today: Plastic Bin

When I picked up a few bins of t shirts to make a couple of quilts, the woman who dropped them off mentioned that she wanted her bins back. "No problem!" I told her. Most of my t shirt quilts start in bins, and they make the entire process so much easier, so I don't mind them temporarily taking residence in the guest room, and I don't mind all of the free space when they leave.  When I went to grab the bins however, the woman remarked that one of them was broken, so I could just throw that one away.

Throw it away?? For a small crack in the side? I asked if she would mind if I just kept the broken one. She looked at me and shrugged her shoulders. "Sure, if you want it." She said. Snap crackle and pop! Welcome home new worm bin! Or maybe new chicken compost bin. Or maybe new potato planter bin. Or mini greenhouse. Or hand washing station. Or tiny rain barrel...

I could go on... But what are your suggestions? What would you do with a slightly disfigured, but free plastic bin complete with lid??

Salty Upgrade

With me being home, and needing more projects, I have really taken on the role of house wife and homemaker (sometimes).  Mostly, this means that I am more aware of when things need cleaning and I have really gotten into the habit of cooking/shopping/saving us money on groceries.  This also means that sometime we buy in bulk.  And sometimes my sweet husband notices that I love to reuse things and then this happens.

He refilled the "old" salt container with new sea salt from our bulk container in the pantry.  He knows me so well.  Keeping a former container and just refilling it.  I knew I married a good one.  But I couldn't just leave that blue tape on there.  So like a good wife, I went back behind him and fixed it.


I cut off the top from the old container, flipped it upside down and traced the mouth of one of my canning jars onto the back side of it.

Then I flipped them both over, added the salt, twisted on a canning lid and labeled accordingly.

Later I added a few rubber bands around the glass to make it easier to hold and less likely to slip and break.  It still pours the same and is now completely refillable.  Plus moisture is less likely to seep in and it cost me exactly zero dollars.

I have a few more canning jar upgrades to share over the next few weeks too, but I have to stop soon because I need those jars.  Last year we only put up tomatoes, salsa, peaches and pears, but this year I'm excited to try out our new pressure canner.  We will be able to preserve so much more without having to pickle everything and I cannot wait to get started.

Going Through People's Trash

Alternatively titled:  Why Marco Says I Cannot be a Waste Management Worker, even though I think I would be really, really good at it.

Some of you know that I have addictions to things.  Some of you know that I inherited those addictions from you particularly (here's looking at you MOM, with those cardboard boxes hidden under the water bed when I was like 5 and me thinking "What a GREAT use of that space!!") But I have them nonetheless.

One of those things, that I may have briefly mentioned here and here and here, is that I love to collect trash.  I especially love if that trash is unusable and has fallen out of someone's car or been left on the side of the road, or is hidden behind a dumpster in fancy-pants Rome where my husband tries to excuse my behavior in Italian and I explain in English that these people don't know me and will never see me again but that I have only one chance at that ripped, possibly stained, blue, silk whatever-it-is and I'm taking it home with me to America... but I digress.

I love collecting trash.  I love it so much that I honestly looked into waste management as a career after college because I also love recycling and consumption control and all of those parts of it too... but I thought it was time that I actually shared my collection and collection strategies.  Especially since I just asked one of the biggest groups in Oxford for their stained and ruined sweaters- I thought I'd go into more detail.  (Hey ladies!  Welcome!)

This week (alone) I collected the following items.  They are listed by order of appearance and with notes on how I acquired them as well as ideas for how I might use them once I quit my job and collect trash full time (ha! Take that Marco!).

1.  One half of an entertainment center left on the side of the road in my neighborhood.  I drove by this entertainment center for five full days before I finally caved in and made Marco help bring it home.  I'd take a picture but it's dark outside... I think I may turn it into a play kitchen or a dress up area.  Or I may take it apart and use it in my bathroom or for a desk...

2.  Several cardboard food boxes.  I may have taken these out of a recycling bin on one of my runs.  They are pasta boxes with the little windows so you can see inside.  I love those boxes.  I think I am going to use them in the recycled scrapbooks I am putting together (and by putting together I of course mean "storing on my dining room table until I actually have time to sit down and assemble them).

3.  Stained sweaters and sheets from locals.  People BRING me trash.  I ask for it, and they bring it to me.  Y'all.  It's enough to make me consider staying at the library.  Sure I offered to let them come to my next Moms and Tots craft class for free (November 9th- easy and free (or almost free) ideas for gifts for the holidays, plus a hand poured candle craft), but the point is, they just bring me these amazing wool sweaters that have holes and stains or have been shrunk in the washing machine.  There are sheets that are ripped and stained and so worn in places you can actually see through them.  I love my patrons and my moms and tots.

4.  A door, complete with frame, for our new shed.  Y'all.  I went to see my therapist on Tuesday and there were three doors by the dumpster.  I was like "Hey girl, hang on, I have got to call my husband." and in like 10 minutes, one of those doors (someone said we only needed one...) was ours.  Went to Home Depot tonight, so I could truly gloat, and it turns out that I just saved us $113.  So Marco bought me mums.  Score!

5.  Several (ahem) pallets.  After Marco picked up the free door from outside my therapist's office, I went to therapy and came out... and there were still pallets sitting there.  Free pallets that no one was going to take home.  Pallets that had not been rained on or broken or spray painted.  I loaded those babies up and brought'em home.  Unloaded them and hid them under the deck.

6.  And finally, a broken wrought iron style door that has been broken in half.  Saw it on the side of the road this morning and just could not help myself.  It was broken in half so I could easily fit it in my car.  It has pretty scroll details that don't match a thing in my house.  There was no door knob and the hinges may give me lockjaw... I would have punched someone in the face if they had tried to take that door away from me.  I have visions of using it for our gate for the fence, or a sculpture installation   Maybe a headboard of some kind... or a water feature somehow.

And it's only Wednesday. Who knows what I'll find this weekend... but I'll be sure to let you know, and take pictures when I finally have a chance to get started.

Boarder Project

Part of the fun of working from home is the ability to focus more on our home and homelife.  I started this project in my mind a few months ago and I am so excited to finally see it starting to take shape.  It has taken a while to collect the necessary materials, but I think the overall effect is going to be really charming. 

This is what we started with:

See how square and sharp and angular everything looks?  The windows, the house, the driveway, the boarders, the stairs, the porch... so many squares and sharp angles.  I wanted something to soften up the look and I really wanted bigger flower beds.  We thought three feet deep would do it, but I have really taken to collecting plants from friends and family so I quickly found that we would need MUCH more room.  Plus, the flowers help soften those angles as well and break up the "white space" of the house.

So I started with preparing my materials for my makeover.  Which basically meant I looked like an addict for a few days while everything soaked and then got scraped and then dried.

Just FYI:  New cat litter plus drying bottles makes for a really messy bathroom.

Then I had to plan my new curvy outline.  I just used water hose and guestimated where I thought I'd want my new flowerbeds to go.

Soon it was time to start digging.  I had planned on trying out several methods to find the "perfect" method. I thought I'd scrape off the topsoil (what little there was) and move it to where we needed it.  Look!  Recycling! Saving! Gardening and stuff!  But what I actually did was call my Daddy.  He brought over his mini tiller and we tilled the line twice, then used a shovel to brake the soil up a little bit more.  We actually only did this "break up the soil more" step on only have of the new line and I wish we had done it the whole line.   There are a few bottles I need to adjust and that extra step really was worth it.

I wish I had photos of the ditch, but I don't.  I was too busy laying out bottles.  Sorry.  And I don't have big reveal pictures either because it turns out- we were short about 40 bottles.  But I can show you an in-progress sneak peak!

Oooohhhh.  Curvy.  Bottle-y.  A little bit messy.  But getting so much closer!  I just hope we get a few more warmer evenings so I can finish it and share.  So if you're into wine, and you happen to have a few green/brown/blue bottles hanging around... I'd be glad to take them off your hands.

Anyone else making the neighbors worry?  Or calling in reinforcements to help dig up trenches?  Anyone else get into all kinds of trouble when their husbands are away for work??

Outdoor Table Remake

It was pretty simple.  We needed an outdoor table that we didn't have to worry too much about.  But what we had was this:

and  

but after a few cuts and some screwing (tehehehe) we had this:

Marco was not here when I was staining/painting it so I added the blue around the edge.  Luckily he likes it!  One less table in the trash and one more table on our deck.