Tag: reuse

The start

Christmas crafting and waiting to move…

theminismallholder

It has been another packed fortnight. We are getting ready for the move and have taken the chance to look round the new house again, well mainly the garden and sheds. It still feels unreal and as if at any given moment it will all shift again. There must be a word for when life eventually slots in to place, but you are too suspicious to enjoy it? Well that level of caution is ok for now, but we intend to move before Christmas…..So now on to my conundrum. Do we ignore the festive period until we have moved or do I go all in and get my zero waste presents sorted and wrapped ready in advance?
Obviously I chose the second option, but this is quickly filling my house with funky stars of all sizes made up from old books which didn’t make it to the charity shop, or old wrapping paper form my birthday presents. I am also so fidgety in the evenings with anticipation I may have cut and stuck around about a mile of paper chains, which I am hoping will be transported easily to the new house! I keep thinking that if I limit my crafting to only upcycled gifts, it doesn’t count. But when your house is already a little too full of boxes and all of your crockery is slowly disappearing into cardboard packing cases, perhaps a spot of calm wouldn’t go a miss?
I did manage to find lots of rags and old clothes for my rag rug, so at least that is completed. I feel like it may have left a bit of a hole in my creativity though and so I have been playing around with lots of old wrapping paper to make some rustic stars or flowers really for our own tree. The new house has a log burner and I am really looking forward to drying out the citrus fruit on there and filling the house with a gorgeous smell of Christmas.
I do realise how much we have to achieve before then though and perhaps we need a little motivation from time to time. Thanks for reading and as I am writing this I think I will be putting together an article on zero waste house moves as that seems like a real struggle at the moment.
Let me know what you are enjoying and what you may like to see more of in the future.

Thanks again and please have a lovely couple of weeks,
xxx

recycle, reuse, repurpose
upcycling

Recycling old tin cans – an easy and cheap alternative

theminismallholder

A very simple and easy way of recycling old tin cans into planters, saving you money and meaning you don’t have to rely on plastics so heavily. When you think about it tin cans are a real renewable resource in our houses as, although they can be recycled by most councils in our fortnightly collections, why wouldn’t we use them ourselves?

 

You Will Need;

Old tin cans, washed and left to soak the labels off,

Hammer, 16 oz and 1 Screw

Paint Brushes

Paint such as Gloss Paint 250ml Oxford Blue Wood Metal Door Children Toys Furniture Oil-Based Indoor Outdoor

Old Newspaper to pop on the table and floor depending on who is ‘helping’ with this project!

STEP ONE take your washed and label free tin can and up end it to reveal the bottom, then very gently use the screw and hammer to make tiny little holes in the bottom. These holes will allow the plants to not get water logged and are ideally not too large either.

STEP TWO open up the tin and stir the contents to ensure it is all mixed well together.

STEP THREE if you hold on to the tin can from the inside you are less likely to get paint on yourself, but be careful of sharp edges.  Then just start to paint it, you can be as uneven as you like or you can keep very little paint on the brush to create different effects. Either way it becomes as unique as you are and a perfect planter for gifts or your windowsill!

tin can upcycled project

 

 

Another use for your wood paint, and actually quite a nice way to co-ordinate your crafts