Cheapskate Tuesday

I'm all about recycling this week.

I've spoken before about how I seem to be on an almost permanent declutter. I am still chucking stuff out but *hopefully* not bringing as much stuff into our lives.

I can slowly see a difference, as the house doesn't seem as piled up with stuff on the days I don't have time to do much housework.

Even when Frog decides the whole contents of her room belong scattered between my kitchen and loungeroom (and this was before 9am!) it's not such a huge task to take it all back anymore.

I think I may be winning..... a bit!

As I've been simplifying our lives I've come across a bit of a problem. We have stuff we no longer need, the op shop doesn't want, and I don't want to throw out (not because it's "too good" but because I feel awful creating waste that is unecessary)

There's not really enough to make a garage sale. And in fact a lot of it I would have in a "please nick off with this box asap" pile, but it's not worth the effort of blowing up some balloons and making a sign because I'm not trying to get rid of any large items like a couch or some nesting tables (who has those? seriously? they are the stupidest design I've ever seen) and no one would come.

I've been putting things in a "re-use" box and waiting for inspiration to strike.

Yesterday WonderMan helped me with phase one of my recycling mission. He drilled some holes in the bottom of a very old and warped muffin tin. Later this week the cups will be filled with potting mix and sprinkled with herb seeds.

Useless kitchen junk becomes kitchen garden!

I have another very old bread tin, which I don't use because I don't bake bread. That's what my grandmother is good at and I don't want to disappoint her with my lack of home made bready bliss skills.

With the help of WonderMan and his trusty drill it's going to become a strawberry pot. It will nicely fit two strawberry plants, one for each of the girls. And being small and movable I can put it up out of the way of the local blue tongue lizards, so we may actually get to enjoy some of the berry sweetness!

My mother uses pretty coffee mugs with broken handles for window pots. She just pops a small plant in it's pot inside the cup (small succulents or ferns work best) and lines them up on her windowsill. It sounds strange but in reality is quite pretty!

Pictures of my kitchen/garden goodness will be up later in the week.

Have a look in your cupboards.... think about how much you use things..... pop unused items in a box or cupboard and look in there whenever you are starting a new project and you "just need a few things". You will be suprised what you can create with all that "junk".

I would love you to share your recycling ideas/projects. Pictures or suggestions can be emailed to me at glitterbug01@dodo.com ~ I will collate them into a post for you all to share!