Creative Recycling
ChismTrail
19 years ago
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moondream
18 years agolast modified: 9 years agoadgjoan
18 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Hmm...Help w/ unique design issues restrictions - All Hardscape
Comments (14)Nice to see someone resourceful and thrifty challenging themselves with such a fun project! Definitely for a small space it's a good idea to keep materials consistent to avoid a busy look and hence make it look smaller. THose smaller penny pavers (1'x1') are about a dollar each and with a maximum of 168 sq. ft. it only takes up half your budget if you covered the entire yard! With only two small areas to pave, you could build a simple 2 x 2 frame to hold the pavers inside at each location and another line leading to and from them. If HD doesn't deliver use that $40 to have someone delivery it for you. Cedar mulch is ok, cheap, lightweight and smells great! Use the natural colour or have fun with the colours (red, green, yellow, brown and even black). If cash is real tight I believe Japanese gardens often use pine needles for paths. You could collect that for free if there are pine trees in your neighbourhood. Another edging idea is using the cut ends of small logs. People are throwing out recently chopped trees and leaving cut up pieces on the curb. Bury a bunch of those leaving just a few inches and they would lend an Asian feel to it as well. Bigger pieces could be used to make coffee table legs if you throw an old door on top. You can make hanging tea lights with wire and jam jars. Use screws to fix your chairs instead of nails that is if you have a drill otherwise nails will do fine too. Have you thought about painting the chairs a bright colour if they're too far gone? How about hanging an old mirror on the fence for depth and interest? Maybe frame it with an old window? Anyway that's my 2 cents worth....See MoreThe Emporer Has No Clothes
Comments (13)When I first posted a response to this thread, I hadn't read the snippety remarks at the other forum. Maybe this thread should have been called the Queens with Brooms up Their Bums? lol! Kudos to the people on the other forum who said they liked bottle trees and penny bowling balls! I guess some people just don't appreciate folk art the way I do. Or don't respect creative recycling and repurposing. Maybe you have to grow up in a family that didn't have much to truly appreciate the beauty and passion that goes into simple folkart. Why do I have the feeling that the worst of the worst on that other forum don't live paycheck to paycheck? When I was a kid, my mother and I went to Old World Wisconsin, which is an outdoor museum of rural life in the 1800s. The memory jars and jugs in so many of the homes fascinated me. People would add bits and pieces to an old jug or jar using plaster or putty. They were made up of buttons, broken pieces of china, little figurines, broken jewelry, seashells ... well you get the idea. They weren't all fancy or elaborate but I found it interesting that someone thought of a simple way to store memories of little things they collected throughout their lives. I bet those things could tell a lot of stories if they could talk! Another type of folkart I think is gorgeous are the "sailor's valentines." They are simple boxes mosaiced with seashells of all shapes, sizes and colors in elaborate designs. Sailors would bring them home to their sweethearts when they returned from a long voyage. And don't get me started on my love of face jugs! My point is, so much of this folkart is now worth BIG BUCKS! On eBay, there was a sailor's valentine from the 1860s with a bid of $1,380 and there was 14 hours left! Face jugs ... new ones not antiques ... were selling for hundreds of dollars. An antique memory jug was going for $650 with 10 days left for bidding. Apparently some people with big bucks appreciate this primitive art as much as I do. And thank goodness for people like the Kohler Foundation (yes, the toilet people) who support folkart and other primitive art. They have done an awesome job saving and restoring folkart sites like Grandview, Prairie Moon Sculpture Garden & Museum and James Tellen Woodland Sculpture Garden (all of which I have visited). So when I see a GJer's beautiful garden interspersed with primitive art that took good ol' ingenuity, creativity and imagination, I have to stand up and applaud them. That childlike creativeness has spawned some beautiful things. But I gotta agree with tennesseetrash, people should have a right to voice their opinions. I am a bit upset that the original post in question was removed from our forum. I thoroughly enjoyed reading our responses to it! Signed, OOTP (One of THOSE People) P.S. lindasewandsew, I just love that flea!...See MoreStarlight Garden Stakes
Comments (23)Thanks, everyone...we had fun making these "starlight" garden stakes...to answer your questions: We put $10 on them...don't know if that is too high or not...figure we have about $3 in them...so will see. FM was pretty slow (the first one yesterday of the season)...it was cold, windy & just not a nice day. We didn't sell any of these "starlighters" but we did sell a few recycled t.v. antenna "mini-deco bdhse" that my DH made from scrap wood & a broken tree branch (see below)...we'll try the "starlighters" a few more wks when more people come browsing You know, with HD TV and satellite dish, we no longer needed an antenna...so DH took it apart...cut some small logs off a branch & scraps for roof...I drilled a small hole & glued in a bit of pot liner stuff on front & glued pcs. tog....tah dah! (these sold at $4 ea) nana...the green fence stakes fit inside the white metal rails (each 5/8")...DH pounded them in a bit. concrete...for wood rails, my DH drills a hole & then adds a metal rod...that way, the wood rail is out of the dirt! Thanks, GJers, for your comments! Jeanne S....See MoreLook What My Neighbor Threw Out!
Comments (13)Hey, F-R-E-E (aka Linda), what you said about scavengers reminded me of something Bob (my BF) used to do by his old house. He said when he wanted something like an appliance or a car part to disappear, he put it by the magic telephone pole in the alley. My mother was worried once when she had to get rid of her old stove. She didn't know how she would get it to the dump. She didn't realize until I told her that she had a magical vine growing on the back fence near the gate. Things had a habit of disappearing overnight at both magical locations! Our thrift stores are pretty picky too. There are certain items they won't take. So I can see where that is a dilemma. It's too bad because they would get some hefty $$ for something like that....See Morelynne_melb
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