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

thriftwizard

Good find, GQ! I wombled some big old tent poles from our local Household Recycling Facility some years ago, and I have a big canvas flysheet, acquired from a re-enactor; those tent poles let me use it as a freestanding awning, either in the garden as extra shade, or outside the van when camping, with the girls' small tents at either end, so we all have our own space but also a covered shared area. Add bunting - made from leftover canvas from making a windbreak, canvas bought second-hand & poles wombled from a worn-out one - !KEA tea light lanterns and solar fairy lights, and we're "glamping" at a fraction of the price!

gentlepurr

Found some lovely voile table runners that come to a point at each end, and has tassles. I've cut them in half so each half is about 45" deep, hemmed ( i hate sewing but it was just a quick running stitch) the top for a curtain pole and hey presto curtain panels to screen an overlooked window

I also had a couple of lovely sleeveless summer tops which sadly dont fit me any more. Turned them inside out and sewed the bottom up, turn them back to the right side and i now have extra shopping bags, bonus is they are so stretchy they're like the old net bags my mom used to have years ago

GreyQueen

I like your style, thriftwizard. My circus tent was pimped with a pal's bunting string made from plastic string and little flags of umbrella fabric. I shall be making my own, smaller strings specially to fit the octagonal tent. Severely tempted by fairy lights. Someone on the campsite had them on their tent and I just about died with envy.


Have spent a happy few mins this evening turning a piece of wooden child's play furniture into an allotment side table, flasks and sarnies for the use of. Amazing what fun can be had with other people's cast-offs!

parsniphead

Such a fantastic thread.

I used to live like this a lot but life got in the way as it does. Recently I've been trying to become less wasteful again and I have seen some great ideas on here.

Looking forward to reading more.

buildersdaughter

I have now run out of old net curtains (we don't need them in this house) but I made fruit & veg bags out of them. Use at the greengrocer / supermarket instead of a plastic bag, at home rinse the fruit or veg whilst it's in the bag before it goes into fridge.
One of the workers st the greengrocers is copying the idea with her old nets and putting out the bags in return for charity donations.
When I need more I'll have to look in charity shops!

Primrose

When we had to replace our old Hills hoist rotary airer we turned it into a useful bird feeder.

We removed the plastic cable, shortened the three arms by two thirds by sawing the ends off and then replaced the plastic sealing cap at the end of the arms

We banged two spikes (from B& Q) to insert the central pole into our lawn in different locations so we could move the feeder around close to shrubs where birds can flee for protection.

Any bird seed which drops into the grass is hoovered up by ground feeding birds and being able to move the feeder around gives the grass a chance to recover if it's heavily trampled on in frosty weather. Saved ourselves about £50 not buying a posh wrought iron feeder!

GreyQueen

Today's re-use project is a double-divan bed frame, the kind which comes in two halves, minus its fabric.


I've stood the two bits up on end and lashed them together in several places with string. Using some plastic garden fencing, the green stuff you get with 2 inch squares, made of plastic, I have fashioned two shelves. Am now out of mesh as it was just a couple of bits found lying around the derelict plot next to my original one, when I took that on. Will look out for some more bits.



The mesh is held on with small staples but, where they come over the front edge, they were sticking out a bit and a potential hazard. I resolved that by taking an old inner tube from my bicycle down over it.



I've effectively got a 4 shelf bookcase-type thing to play with, have added a couple of lengths of wood to two other shelves, cut from bits from the stash which lives in the apex of the shed roof.


Oh, in case anyone'd be interested, if you have an apex roof shed, you can put 4 cuphooks, one each on the roof supports and make a sling between them. I've used bike inner tubes in the last but am presently using the straps from very elderly handbags. Then, you have a sneaky place to keep bamboo canes and other bits of long thin wood.

Primrose

Empty Benecol pots sprayed green and used as decorative cane tops in garden to avoid poking my eye out.

Plastic veg punnets from supermarkets used as seed trays for seed sowing in spring.

Old net curtains used for covering greens as protection from cabbage white butterflies.

Large empty bottles of water have base sawed off and used as protective cloches. Jumbo ones from office water fountains particularly useful.

Surplus nylon luggage strap used with wall hooks for anchoring my mini plastic greenhouse to house wall to prevent winds blowing it away.

thriftwizard

Oooh, I like that idea, thank you, GQ! You could kind of call our whole allotment shed repurposed, considering it was Gumtree'd for free as firewood. Half of one side was missing; we begged a bit of old conservatory roof (twinwall) from a friend, removed the slats from the upper half of the half-missing side & replaced them on the bottom, then cut down the twinwall, attached it to the side & lo & behold, we had an intact shed with a nice long double-glazed window! But mysteriously, the door is at least twice as old as the rest of it; though they came together, I had to cut an inch off it to fit it into the frame.

ETA: was continuing, but got interrupted IRL: because we're on the windy edge of the site, and the only place we could sensibly put the shed is alongside that edge, we "braced" the insides with pallets on their edges. These act as a tool store on one side; forks, spades & the rake just tuck in to them, upright. The end one & the other side support a triangular piece of wood which functions as a table when we want to make a cuppa (a small & well-worn "suitcase" camping stove lives underneath & the kettle & teabags on a pallet wood shelf above it, with enamel mugs on hooks underneath) but also as a potting bench.

I noticed the other day that my brother has moved his wall-mounted pallet herb-growing space up to his allotment; last summer he made a pallet bar for a friend's wedding, and I've seen a beautiful kitchen made entirely from pallet wood, never mind my friend's very stylish pallet coffee table. Is there anything you can't make with pallets?!

Need2bthrifty

buildersdaughter wrote: »

I have now run out of old net curtains (we don't need them in this house) but I made fruit & veg bags out of them. Use at the greengrocer / supermarket instead of a plastic bag, at home rinse the fruit or veg whilst it's in the bag before it goes into fridge.
One of the workers st the greengrocers is copying the idea with her old nets and putting out the bags in return for charity donations.
When I need more I'll have to look in charity shops!

Hope you have better luck than me, I've been to five charity shops in two towns and not a net curtain in sight, eventually found a pale blue voile panel which will do.