"Repurposing" things - what have YOU done? Or what do you have that needs a purpose?

oystercatcher

A couple of weeks ago I noticed our very elderly small dog was struggling to bend down and eat her food, I've seen friends dogs with posh stainless steel stands to hold bowls up a bit higher for their older dogs. A quick google prices them between £17.49 and £89 !!:eek::eek: I just popped each of her bowls on an upside down ice cream carton and she could reach her food just fine :rotfl::rotfl:

oystercatcher

I've just looked down and noticed that , previously mentioned elderly dog is still using the patchwork, padded, fleecy blanket that I made for her out of one of Husbands old fleece jackets for when we first picked her up as a tiny puppy over 14 years ago!

GreenQueen

GreyQueen wrote: »

I'd tried lolly sticks for this in the past, which are obviously bigger, but found that they go mouldy really easily.

Saw a suggestion on a Facebook group I belong to - use old loo roll middles for planting seeds, you can write on the outside of the "pot" and it degrades when you put it in the soil - won't work for all types of seeds, but for beans, tomatoes, squashes, etc sounds a great idea.

Primrose

I certainly use loo rolls successfully for sowing and transplant climbing beans. They're also good for parsnips which don't normally transplant well once sown. I wouldn,t use them for sowing tomatoes, peppers or chillies though as if the weather is bad you would run out of root room for the plants before you were able to plant them outside and the cardboard would start disintegrating too quickly trying to keep the compost moist.

twopenny

I've tried the loo roll middles, work for some things but I found that giving them a really good soak before planting out helped the cardboard rot.
I used to make pots from cut and rolled up newspaper sat in front of the telly in winter, screwing the bottom round was great and disolved easily in soil but not when seedling watered. Sadly now don't have much newspaper.

thriftwizard

Long story, but I'm making drop-spindles with kids at a local museum tomorrow, and I thought I had a bag with fibre, dowel rods, wooden wheels, pencil sharpener & craft knife etc. carefully stashed away, all ready to roll - it's something I do with the local Guild of Weavers, Spinners & Dyers from time to time, at events where children are likely to be. After a fruitless & increasingly desperate hunt, I suddenly remembered I'd given it to another Guild member to use at the County Agricultural Show last year... and panicked!

However, I'd recently dismembered some rather good discarded Roman blinds for their fabric, which was superb quality. (Sadly they wouldn't fit any of our windows, being short & wide where our windows are tall & thin.) The dowelling rods that had run across the blinds were exactly the right diameter and luckily strong enough for spindle-making - I'd usually use hardwood, and these are pine or something very similar - so have been cut into suitable lengths; I still don't have any wooden wheels, but am going to use 2 x giant lolly-sticks (from the local craft superstore) with a hole punched through the middle, crossed, to make Turkish-style spindles instead. I've made up a couple of trial ones & they spin really well.

Just wish I'd had time to go & forage some spindle-berries & sticks to show the kids as well; they're so pretty, and absolutely historically correct, and grow all over the place down here. But I'm glad I found a good use for the dowelling!

Mee

bishopsgirl wrote: »

I cut up plastic milk bottles for plant labels and use permanent marker pen. You can make some long ones which I find handy.

Good idea. Just to clarify she uses the 500 ml yougurt pots which are opaque and long enough.

Dottles1

I love this thread and have picked up lots of new ideas from it. I have a small kitchen with no room for a bin so have put an old bucket In the cupboard under the sink, which I line with a charity bag. We get 2/3 of these through the door on a weekly basis which I have left empty bags out on the designated day to be collected but with no joy.

jackieblack

Working_Mum wrote: »

I have made Japanese Market Bags for my friends from bits of left over material - easy to scrunch up in a bag and easily washable if the get a bit grimy!

https://www.lovesewingmag.co.uk/free-sewing-patterns/bags-and-accessories/item/315-japanese-market-bag/

I also make small fabric totes for friends too if the material is more square - along these lines. I have dyed them or the kids have drawn all over them in fabric pens!!

http://www.molliemakes.com/craft/tutorial-tuesday-20-minute-tote-bag/

Good luck!!

I may be being inept, but I can’t seem to locate the instructions for the Japanese Market Bag from that link 🙁 I just seem to be going round in circles 🙁

Miró

jackieblack wrote: »

I may be being inept, but I can’t seem to locate the instructions for the Japanese Market Bag from that link 🙁 I just seem to be going round in circles 🙁

Same here, I couldn't find it either - shame as I really fancied giving this a try!