Make Do, Mend & Minimise

Esmeralda2662

Sorry I haven't posted for a while. Update for the last week or so:

Make do: Borrowed a lovely turquoise scarf from my mum to wear to a funeral rather than buy a new one.

Mend: Glued 3 out of 4 legs back onto a dolls house chair. Bit messy but at least all parts are back together. Mum also used the glue to try and repair 2 pairs of shoes. I guess only 1 pair was successful as later I saw the others in the bin!

Minimise: A box of books sold to online book company for nearly £24! Second box ready to pack and despatch hopefully for another £20+. Very helpful at the minute as i'm on unpaid sick leave for 2 weeks.

Box of glass/china items and bag of other items ready to go to CS.

A box of glass/china items ready to take to my friend in Germany when i visit in the summer. Mind you, depends on weight allowance!

Glad

when moving 4 years ago, a lot of things got left in boxes due to less cupboard space, and some cupboards were filled with things that were useful when I had a family at home. Now there is just me I realise that some of these have not been used in 4 years!
It's always felt a bit daunting though to tackle. So weekend before last I decided on one box/cupboard per week.

The first weekend I tackled the cupboard with assorted electrical equipment, found lots of bits I'd kept even after the mixer for eg had gone, sorted and some sold and now have half a cupboard for spare tins etc after a bulk buy, very useful when I get a 10% off my shop in L!dl
this weekend was the large box at the side of the dishwasher, it had all sorts in, food bags, a hot water bottle, teabags, assorted cans of pop, empty vitamins containers etc etc, sorted, thrown or vinted and all that is there now is the cans of pop

feels really good and roll on the next one 😊

on the mend side, partner used my car keys and trapped them in the door, breaking a small welsh lovespoon hanging on them, promised to buy another but we glued it

Green_hopeful

Great stuff @Glad, makes you feel so much better.

kiss_me_now9

I wondered if anyone could give me advice on a repair I need to make.

Our toddler is obsessed with Cars (the movie) and cars (the matchbox/hotwheels toys). We got him a Cars backpack for his birthday which he loves but within less than 6 weeks the straps have come off completely and he’s devastated. It’s this backpack below - the front (with the character on) is a hard shell plastic and the back is clear plastic. The straps have come off and the zipper is starting to come away because the holes for the stitches are just, quite frankly, shocking. I’ve got a sewing machine but I don’t think I’d be able to sew through the plastic and that it would happen again. Am I best off just supergluing it?

mandy47

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81965624#Comment_81965624

Have you considered returning it and getting a replacement. It should have lasted longer.

Floss

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81965624#Comment_81965624

I agree - that's not fit for purpose.

kiss_me_now9

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81965703#Comment_81965703

I totally agree but it’s one of his favourite things and I 1) don’t think they make/sell them any more and 2) don’t really want to throw it away if it’s fixable. Plus a replacement is likely to fail in the same way I think :(

Cherryfudge

I think trying to sew it would break the needle. A plastic-specific glue could be your best bet, though I agree it shouldn't have broken in such a short time.

beckstar1975

I would glue and then follow up with gorilla tape, that stuff has held our shower onto the wall for at least a decade, and has been used to repair little holes/tears in down coats well too

Cherryfudge

It's absolutely ages since I updated:

Make do - made a couple of batches of flapjacks and several overnight oats to use short-dated oats. That sorted lunches and a contribution to a family get-together.

Mend - three pairs of socks and a shirt. DH is in the process of fitting a new handle to the washing machine door for about £13, rather than buy a new machine. 😊

Minimise

• two Vinted sales, though I've bought myself a coat and a vintage magazine, and DH a new pair of jeans, so there is still more in the house than there was.
• added a lot of medical blister packs to the B00ts recycling yesterday and checked with Rym4ns but unfortunately their pen recycling has not yet restarted.
• treated myself and the grandchildren to watermelon and carefully brought all the rinds home to add to the compost
• gave DH a haircut and put the trimmings in the compost.