Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2017

silvasava

Thanks Culpepper - will have a googly!

savingpennies

Culpepper - I'm very interested in using Turmeric as DH has arthritis in his hands and apparently its a very good anti-inflamatory. I'd like to try it but dont know if there is a recommended amount to use daily - a teaspoon/tablespoon?? Do you know of a website with information?[/QUOTE]

Have a look here:

http://www.arthritisresearchuk.org/arthritis-information/complementary-and-alternative-medicines/cam-report/complementary-medicines-for-osteoarthritis/tumeric/trials-for-oa.aspx

I'm trying these at Holland and Barrett, which are currently on offer:

http://www.hollandandbarrett.com/shop/product/nature-s-garden-turmeric-400mg-containing-curcumin-capsules-60000525

Athome1

Happy Easter everyone! The sun is shining here so I'm going to mow the grass .. instead of just thinking about doing it 😁 I'm having a family free day today so that is minimising my work load .. don't mean to sound ungrateful but a bit of solitude now and again is lovely!
As to mending .. well sort of .. I used an old jumper to cover a box (ideal stolen from pinterest -except I added handles) and it looks lovely and is so useful .. am definitely going to make some more. Have a lovely day all x

mrs-moneypenny

Sorry I've not been in mse for a couple of weeks hope everyone is as well as can be.
I've been busy, I made some hearts for dd2s partners mums wedding, have visible mended ds1s jeans so they now have done colourful patches, embroidery and darning on them. He's really pleased with them.
I mended a hoodie dd2 bought that needed some adjustment, I've cleared my mending pile, half of the ironing pile done a load of Easter baking, mum in laws garden has been weeded and planted up with summer bulbs.
I think that about it. I do need to go round mils and give her bungalowa good spring clean and sort through her paperwork files.
I'm early making the most of the two weeks Easter hols do keeping busy.

Have a lovely Monday everyone. X

LizzieR

A good day of making do / mending for me yesterday! Spent the day at my folks and have created an outfit for a wedding I'm at in a few weeks. It has a steampunk theme, so with help from my Mum I've created an outfit from some clothes that are now too big for her and just slightly too big for me due to weightloss! We started with a long tiered jersey skirt - cut off the elasticated waistband, rolled over the top and added new elastic to make it a bit smaller/shorter so it fits me better. I then stretched 2 strips of elastic down the front from the waistband to the top of the lowest tier - this means the skirt is now ruffled / ruched at the front - so chuffed with this! Next was an old tailored velvet jacket of Mum's that's too big, and really not something I'd wear as it was. We cut off the sleeves and shaped the bottom so it has 2 points at the back and front (coincidentally these match perfectly with the elastic ruffled lines of the skirt - a happy accident rather than by design!) and then used the sleeve fabric as a sort of bias binding to finish the edges. Mum did most of the work on the jacket - a beloved old fave of hers so I was too worried about ruining it and she is a better seamstress than me :-) Meanwhile I made a mad looking petticoat from a load of white jersey cotton and 2 different colours of netting that I'd bought - It really fluffs out the skirt and because of the ruffles in the skirt you can see the netting in places. All finished off with a cream gypsy style blouse that I already have, the outfit looks great! I suspect I will be wearing most of it (minus the mad petticoat) quite regularly :-) Really pleased at giving the old velvet jacket a new lease of life in particular.
So, for about £20 for the fabric for the petticoat and a few hours work I have an outfit for the wedding - Having looked at outfits in this sort of style online I'd probably have spent about £150-200 to get something similar. Far more satisfying to have made it myself, well, with quite a lot of help from my Mum of course!! It may be a good 15 years since I made any clothes but it's a good skill to have at my disposal - now time to get on with the pile of stuff I have to mend, remodel etc.....!

RainbowHippie

Wow, sounds like everyone has been busy! Mrs MP and LizzieR your sewing creations sound lovely - the visible-mended jeans and the steampunk outfit - i'd love to see pictures if you're able to upload them (love having a good nosey and admire of others' crafting projects!)

Well i haven't been massively successful in getting out in the garden more, as it's been a bit miserable weatherwise where we are, but have tidied the yard part of our garden and done a bit of sorting/ebaying of stuff that has been taking up space in the garage. Fingers crossed it will all sell quickly. I want to grow tomatoes and salad leaves this year if nothing else, and have been looking at ways to make tomato 'hanging baskets' from old plastic bottles which looks like it could be a nice (and free!) project.

Was going to mow the lawn yesterday but it was still wet from the morning's rain, so instead i spent the time indoors and measured up for some shelves i want in the kitchen and utility room so we can display our cookbooks better and store more bulk-bought herbs and spices, dried pulses etc as our existing couple of food cupboards are overflowing since starting to get the cheaper dried/bulk items. We have a fair bit of old wood that had a previous life as shelving in my dad's garage, my mum was making him throw it out when they had the garage redone so i stepped in to rescue it! Hopefully it can now repay me as i think there should be enough for at least one set of shelves and i have half a tin of paint to make it a bit prettier.

Also tidied some stuff from downstairs into the attic out of the way (some of my massage equipment i rarely use, boxes that aren't currently useful etc) and while i was up there swapped out my summer clothes that were stored away. Went through both summer stuff and the winter stuff i was packing away and a few more things were added to the ebay pile. Managed to list most of them yesterday but a few more to do this evening. Talking about it sounds like i was a lot more productive yesterday than it felt at the time!

So some good making-do coming up with the shelving and tomato pots, and hopefully some minimising of stuff via ebay. I've also hopefully helped towards mending my OH's sore wrist, it's been hurting where it rests on his desk while at the computer. I made a long tube from an old jeans leg and filled it with buckwheat to make a squishy sausage for him to rest his wrists on. If he wants he can also put it in the microwave to warm it up!

Enjoy the rest of the bank holiday everyone, happy MMMing xx

[Deleted User]

Good evening chums and although the sun has been out its not that warm. today has been an expensive one as i had to get my car MOT'd plus I needed three new tyres.I am off to manchester on friday for a week and I didn't want any problems on the motorway as its about a 260 odd mile drive, I won't compromise road safety for anything My life, and that of my oldest friend is worth more than a few tyres.
But my fridge is almost clear of fresh food and I am freezer diving for tonight's veg for dinner. I am out to dinner tomorrow night so no cooking to do then. So car is mended (although it was an horrendous bill ) and its something I can't make do without., and its certainly minimised my bank account a tad Hopefully the sun will shine next week at least and my friend and I will get to see some of the sights of Manchester and its surrounding area:)

Hope everyone is all OK and hanging on to their pennies
Cheers chums
JackieO xx

Siebrie

RainbowHippie wrote: »

Wow, sounds like everyone has been busy!
So some good making-do coming up with the shelving and tomato pots, and hopefully some minimising of stuff via ebay. I've also hopefully helped towards mending my OH's sore wrist, it's been hurting where it rests on his desk while at the computer. I made a long tube from an old jeans leg and filled it with buckwheat to make a squishy sausage for him to rest his wrists on. If he wants he can also put it in the microwave to warm it up!

Enjoy the rest of the bank holiday everyone, happy MMMing xx

Hi RH, the buckwheat jeans sound very resourceful, but may I suggest you check the way your dh sits at his desk, too? His wrists should not be resting on the desk while at the computer, maybe the desk can be lowered a bit, or the chair put a bit higher? The underarms, wrists and hands should be one length, with just the fingers dangling down.

savingpennies

Good morning everyone. I've been really busy recently so I've not been on here much and I've not done a lot on the MMM front. We've had a couple of family birthdays recently mine and my mums so we've had some lovely days out. For my birthday last week, we had a lovely day out in Salford at the Lowry. (Jackie O - worth a visit when you are in Manchester: there is the Lowry art gallery, a shopping outlet and the Manchester Imperial War Museum just across the canal). We went to watch Jane Eyre (5*) and had dinner out. Not exactly money saving but I got good seats and paid concessionary rates (senior for OH, student for me), and we ate at Pizza express using gift vouchers I had bought when they were discounted in Tesco/Sainsburys. Sadly as it was Saturday I couldn't use any of their meal deal vouchers.
I've also been helping my mum sort out her front garden as she finds it difficult now to get down on her hands and knees to do the weeding (not that I am much better).
On the minimising front, I'm trying hard to use up what is in the freezer and plan to update my freezer inventory either tomorrow or Saturday. I've also got a lot of minimising to do on the shoe front. Being retired means a lot of shoes i wore for work are of no use now, so I aim to sort through and get rid of them.
Have a good day everyone.

[Deleted User]

Our local cobblers has a bin for shoes that are no longer needed and they are sent to help out in places where they are needed rather than binned for landfill:) the Lowry sounds right up our street, along with the Imperial war museum.Apparently the nearest station to where we are staying is Disley and its recommended to use a train to get into the city rather than a car because of parking.I don't mind that as it will be nice to be able to look around without worrying about parking charges. So looking forward to our visit