Winter projects

I feel very much like a hibernating animal just coming out of its burrow. And rejoicing that it is SPRING! I all ready have 11 varietes of seeds starting inside and another 4 to be directed sowed hopefully this weekend. But that is another post.

This post is meant to catch you up on some projects I did over this thankfully mild winter. Two of the projects were making lamps out of repurposed and salvaged materials and the other was a repurposed organizing thing-y. (Just as an aside, is there a better term than repurposed? Re-do? Recycled?)

So, the first one was a lamp we did. We made the lampshade out of a piece of wood veneer salvaged from the wood some friend's roof tiles were wrapped in. We made the base from an old pepper grinder that no longer worked. And the working bits were cannibalized from some old lights we had found at the dump. A repurposed light at all levels. And a nice hygge (cozy) atmosphere it gives. It's a bit hard to tell in the photo but the cracks actually have these fine strands between them as you can see in the shadow.

And then we also finished another lamp, this time a pendant lightshade. We've been thinking about this lamp for ages (like 18 months maybe) and have tried variations with different wood veneers, different widths, different forms etc. For this actual light, we used the salvaged wood veneer although the red cord is new. For the steaming we used the shower and hot water and various buckets to form curves. It was best to curve them while still wet so there was a lot of drilling in the bathroom. There was also a lot of  wrestling or assembling which took ages to get it into this form. Oh and then dicovering once we had a form we liked that we had to take it apart to do the sanding. Sigh. But further wrestling after the sanding and veneering did make a lightshade we really are quite happy with.

And finally, a quick little organizer. Our rag stash and plastic bag stash were housed under the sink in the utility room. Of course this meant that when putting away rather than reach under the sink and put the rag or bag into the bag, they were just thrown into the cupboard. So the cupboard was a teeming mess of rags, bags, and cleaning supplies. In a typical fit one evening, I felt it needed sorting. And here is how we sorted it:

We used an old sham pillowcase (a pillow case with the opening in the middle rather than at an end) and sewed down the middle to create two sides. A little careful cutting to create a top of the bag, a little sewing on stress points, the sham (fringe) bit cut open, some cute labels sewn on, and then we mounted it on some old bamboo we had. The process of doing this did make us sort through the rag stash and since the new system provides less space than the old cupboard system, we had to decide what to keep. One thing we did was go through the old underwear which had been thrown into the cupboard and cut any good elastic off (especially the wider stuff from the men's underwear) and save it for sewing projects. (And cut and throw out the gussets but that is probably too much information!). We also cut into more manageable pieces the bigger scraps like shirts. Hopefully this will keep us a little tidier!
 What were you up to this winter?

Alternative solutions to buying: quick eye mask

First, a quick apology for my absence for the last little while. There was a trip to the UK (by ferry, another blog post) and then my mother came to visit for a month. I've caught up on the posts and it's been so nice to see everyone's preparations for spring and, well, to see spring!

Thought that I would do a little post about a quick item I made last night. So, last night, I decided to make an eye-mask for my son. Although we live at the bottom of Denmark, we are still north (about 54 degrees north) and at this time of year the sun sets sometime after 9.00 and it isn't really dark until nearly 10. Trying to convince a 9 year old who hates sleeping anyway that he should go to sleep when it is light out is difficult. So, I had been thinking for a while about how we needed to buy black out blinds for his room. And then it occurred to me, that there was a cheaper (yay!) and more sustainable option, a homemade eye mask.

I began by searching for some crafty inspiration and patterns. As you may know from other posts, I have, shall we say, issues, with patience. I can be patient with many people and some things, but not with sewing or crafts. So, I ignored all the suggestions for "fabric covered elastics fancy dancy have to use a sewing machine to make" eye masks and simply made one with found items at home. (The photos are from today though).

Goofy modeling of eyemask

The fabric: an old flannel pillowcase that was starting to thin and was in the 'to be repurposed' box. The advantage of this fabric was that  it was soft and already doubled up. It needed to be doubled up to be dark enough.

Not everyone can pull this look off.

The elastic: the strap of an old bra that was in the 'things I should throw away but might come in useful' bag. Advantage: elastic and heck, who doesn't want a bra strap around their head?

What I did: simply cut out a rectangle of fabric from the pillowcase making sure to do so from an edge so that two sides would already be sewn up. Cut off the bra strap. Sew the bra strap onto the rectangle fabric. Try on. Cut a triangle out where the nose is (on the open side of fabric). Do a running stich along the open side and bottom. Ta da. In about 10 minutes, there was a eye mask. It's not the most beautiful thing in the world but it used materials I already had, didn't involve measuring, took no time at all, and best of all the little boy was asleep before 9.00pm!

For me the lesson is not about crafts but about how to think alternatively and sustainably about solving problems. The conventional solution is to buy black out curtains. The alternative is to make an eye mask out of materials at home. I like the creativity involved in solving problems the alternative way.


Jude

The Smelly Barn

My Junior Girl Scout troop has embarked on a large service project so that they can receive their bronze award at the end of next year.  We have applied for and received approval to submit items to Terracycle.  This company takes recyclable items and up cycles them into other products from bags to clipboards.  In fact, this month they had a contest encouraging the public to submit their creations from recycled materials.

Our school has 550 students and the girls have made signs, decorated bulletin boards and made lunch time announcements for the kids to put their used juice pouch containers, zip-lock type baggies, and empty lunchable trays into special containers.  Once we have collected 500 of any item, we can ship it to Terracycle and they will in turn donate 2 cents per item to the school, and then create new uses for the “trash.”

Here comes the smelly barn part…  since we have a nice large barn, guess which of the two troop leaders was drafted to collect all of the bags of recyclables??  Yep, you guessed it, me! J  So here’s to having a smelly barn, in a different sense, for the next 15 months!

one man's trash is another man's treasure

certain members of our household spend a lot of time on den blå avis - an online site here in denmark that's actually now owned by eBay, but functions more like craig's list. it's a cornucopia of used goodness and items (and even rabbits and horses and kitties and puppies (but no chickens)) looking for a new home. i am at times dismayed at what husband comes home with and initially, i was a little shocked by the purchase below.

huband bought this big messy-looking pile of wood. it's basically offcuts that a guy who has a little lumberyard had left over. it's the bits that weren't quite perfect enough to be sold as grade A wood to contractors and such. and it looks a bit like maybe he actually paid a guy something for his trash and then will actually need a container (or two) to haul it away. initially i was thinking that it wasn't the best deal he'd ever made.

these big pillars, i was less dismayed about, as they look pretty good and will make a great foundation for a variety of structures around here. he also got 9 pieces of that roofing that's on top of them to protect them from the rain at the moment - and those will make a great roof for a chicken coop, a pig shelter and possibly also my refuge in the garden.

the other day, we visited the wood (hence the photos) and if you look closely, there's a lot of good stuff there. this wood, that would otherwise have been wasted because it wasn't perfect enough for the building industry folks, will now be used by us to build a variety of structures in our garden in the rustic style of the building below. we'll be able to have chickens, a couple of pigs, a place to spend time at the bottom of the garden on a summer day. there's probably even enough for a treehouse for sabin and another rabbit hutch for our bunnies. it's upcycling at its best! purchased via a site that promotes an economy of exchange of goods between local individuals.  the more i think about it, the more i like it!

this building was on the site where we bought the wood. we'll use a similar construction technique on our garden buildings.  i can highly recommend perusing your local version of the den blå avis - you just might find treasure and you'll be supporting your local community and recycling efforts all at the same time. collaborative consumption in action.

and as soon as it warms up and the building begins, i'll be sharing our progress.

the domestic side of sustainability

i've been pondering our posts in the back of my head, as i move about the house, cleaning, cooking, sewing...doing things domestic. and i realized that what we've written about, on the whole, are domestic ways of being sustainable - recycling, natural cleaning products, cooking. we seem especially interested in food. maybe it's just that we blog when we're hungry, but maybe it's that food is the easiest and most obvious place to begin. a concrete thing that we use every day and where we can, as consumers (because that's what really underlies all of this - consumerism), make choices that seem sustainable - to consider food miles, how the food was grown, whether it was treated well while it lived, whether excessive pesticides were used, how it's packaged. it's a place to start.

taken last summer, just after we moved in

as you know, we live in an old farmhouse. it isn't one of those grand old manor houses, nor did it ever belong the wealthiest peasant in the area. our lake isn't a natural lake, but was formed when they dug out peat for heating purposes - it's a peat bog lake. and our house was sort of the peat bog central...there were even once railroad tracks across our field from the lake, where they brought the peat up from the lake to the road. but all of this means that our house lacks nice features and details found in many old houses...high ceilings, nice woodwork, built-in shelving or fireplaces. it's very clear that everyone who has lived here was skirting the edge of poverty and didn't invest much in the house.

there are seven different ceiling materials used throughout the house. the electrical board hadn't been touched since 1941 (not even kidding) - you have to pump a metal arm up and back to reset the system. insulation is practically non-existent. it's clear that the radiators in the house have been gathered here and there, probably from the scrap heap at the dump, as there aren't two alike. that bit of recycling i could have done with out, unless they managed to do it with style, which they didn't.  see, already, i put limitations and caveats on the sustainability...if it doesn't look good...how spoiled are we? and by we, i mean me.

the lake, taken on the same day as the photo above

but there are some creative solutions that they came up with - those railroad tracks that once brought the peat up from the lake now compose the ceiling of one length of our house. those who lived here for 30-some years (not the ones we bought the place from, but the ones before them), recycled those railroad tracks into bearing beams which hold up the ceiling in the barn (which is shaping up into husband's workshop and will be my "curry kitchen" sometime next summer and where, upstairs, the new blue room will take shape). now, that's the kind of sustainability i like - reusing materials in a creative way, rather than buying new.

old windows we've gathered via den blå avis

and although i'm spoiled and have a definitely opinion on what's stylish and acceptable, in our remodeling/rebuild of this house, we are striving to use as many recycled materials as we can. husband actually worked every weekend for a month, tearing down a house because he could have the materials for free - big bearing beams and roof construction and loads of bricks. all of those will be reused in our project. we have a collection of old barn windows - and while they're not up to today's thermal window, double-glazed standard, they will be beautiful in our "pleasure house" at the end of the garden, and i have an idea for an inside wall made of them.

not only does using recycled materials keep them out of the landfill and keep consumption down, since you're not using new wood or plastics or bricks - it lends character and soul.

and although what i do as an individual on this sustainability thing isn't going to be more than the tiniest whisper of a drop in the bucket in the big picture, we have to begin with ourselves.