Trashpicked an old treadle sewing machine, the top was beyond repair, but the base was still in good condition. Trashpicked a nice piece of wood that had laminate on one side, but the other side was okay and a chair. These three combined are now the desk in the hallway. I did have to purchase a can of paint for the base, but DH already had the screws to secure the top to the base and we had paint for the chair. I had been eyeing this fabulous Queen Anne style secretary at an antique mall that cost $400! My desk may not be the secretary of my dreams, but I am happy because I have something that cost $1 and I like the way that it looks. The drawers from the sewing machine have new lives also. 1 drawer holds mail on the desk, 1 holds make up in the bathroom, the third drawer holds CD's and the last one is an organizer on the kitchen counter. The drawers have a pretty design on the side and are attractive. The remainder of the machine is in the shed waiting for a use. Any suggestions?

Looking through magazines, I found 2 things that I wanted in the kitchen, an island and a shelf for cookbooks. Found some old boards in the attic, that DH turned into a cookbook shelf and painted with paint that we already had.

Dad helped with the island. He used some scrap metal to make the base. The "island" top is the piece that was cut from the counter for the sink when they remodeled 30 years ago (Dad NEVER throws anything away) and a shelf underneath is a scrap piece of wood that he had. I painted the base white with paint we already had, so this project did not cost any money. The top of the "island"  holds the bowl that my Grandmother used to make biscuits, and fresh fruit. The cost was simply our time, and added benefit was the time that I spent with Dad too!

Dad helped again with a shelf that hangs over the couch in the den. The picture was found in an old magazine. The front is a yard sale frame with a shelf built behind it. The shelf was built with scarp lumber, and nails on hand. The frame was attatched to the shelf, finished with stain that we had on hand, and holds yard sale collectables. This project cost a quarter for the frame.

Have enjoyed reading everyone's ideas on second lives for things and plan to use your ideas where I can.

These are all great ideas!  I come from a family that throws nothing away as well.  It's come in very handy though, I'll tell you that!   I am particularly fond of the sewing machine reuse.  I actually learned to sew from my grandma on one of those things.  I always had a heck of a time pushing the treadle because my legs were so short!

 No ideas on the top part of the machine unless you're into gears and such.  I'm trying to figure out a way to use my old 10 speed bicycle to charge up a battery to run the pond pump.  I think I can do it and I even suspect that there is an old but still useful motor lurking around somewhere in DHs workshop.

Dear Crystola, If I were you, I'd google:  "How can I use a 10-speed bicycle to charge a battery?"  (Google prefers questions to a list of terms.)  Good luck!  Let us know how it goes.  Yours in Him, Deb

I use baskets and containers for lots of stuff.  my tea towels and dish cloths are in a basket on the fridge. kids slippers in a broken one handled picnic basket etc.

one of my many planned projects is to use the photo albums I have and put recipes in there.  all were gifts.

actually remember one recent thing. apparently our grill on the bbq is rusty and needs replacing (dh dept. the bbq)  so he asked for the foil bbq grills I had bought.  couldn't find them (I didn't remember where I put them. turns out they were in the stove drawer with the cookies sheets etc) so I said use the foil oven tray I had bought for the oven to get drips ages ago. never used it so he punched holes in it.  will flip it over for the next use.

When we got our horse, I insisted on replacing the two-wheeled wheelbarrow that I had hated and loathed for ages (and which has several cracks in the bottom anyways) with a proper one-wheel wheelbarrow.  But before the old one could go to the dump, I found myself trying to carry armloads of hay out to the horse, gettting myself covered in it and dropping some along the way.  Suddenly the old wheelbarrow was looking good!  While two wheels make it terrible for heavy loads, especially on our uneven terrain, a load of hay in it is pretty light and I only take it up and down the driveway.  It's all plastic, so I can leave it in the pasture with the horse and she can't get hurt on it.  Because it's already cracked, I'm not worried when she kicks it around for fun, lol.  And because I only use it for her food, it stays clean (the other wheelbarrow, though, gets used for poop!). 

An aluminum trashcan is the first thing we turned to for storing her feed.  It just holds 100 pounds of feed and because it's metal, the rodents can't chew through it and get the feed (squirrels especially can chew through PVC).  It also keeps the humidity and any other moisture out of it because the lid fits nice and tight.  This system is also good for people who buy large bags of dog food or jumbo bags of rice or anything else that needs to be kept dry and rodent-free.

My husband cooked a big feast for 154 people and people who had promised to bring us stoarge containers, oops, forgot.  I think I was the person who came up with putting some of the cooked vegetables in a cooler.  This kept them hot until it was time to serve them (coolers keep in heat just as well as they keep in cold).  My husband came up with using a trashbag to marinate the mushrooms in (like 20 pounds of mushrooms).  Turkey fryers became additional stoves.  Even before the feast, someone gave us like 50 pounds of chicken thighs in big pacakges frozen solid, and my husband wanted to cook them the next day.  He didn't know what to do, since the kitchen sink wouldn't hold so many packages and he wanted to thaw them out in water, so I came up with the idea of sticking them in the bathtub to thaw out overnight. 

When our sink was clogged and we couldn't afford to get a plumber out, I washed dishes on the porch in a big cooler.  I started out washing them in the bathtub, but I didn't want the food particles going down that drain.  The cooler worked better because I only needed to pull the plug to let it drain out into the yard with no worries about clogging up another drain.  Have washed some hand-washable clothes in the bathrub.  Shower curtain ros make excellent indoor clothes hangers.  When our dryer was down, I put a rod up in the laundry hallway and put everything on hangers and hung them up on the rod. 

Crystola,

You have just made my morning by providing two excellent solutions to some issues I have.

I have tried different ideas for composting in my new home and none have worked out well. A trashcan with a lid where I can roll it sounds like an excellent idea!!

I also have not settled on water barrel solutions. A trash can with holes drilled in and screening attached to the lid to keep out bugs sounds doable.

A tractor wheel rim becomes our firepit. A 55 gal drum laid sideways on legs became our insinerator. A drum cut in half and put on legs become feeders. Wood pallets taken apart and rebuilt into a manger. Old plastic gallon bottles are cut into feed scoops. A milk jug cut at the top holds the toilet brush. Ds had me save any of his doggy tshirts for years then made into a quilt.

Dh cut scrap iron rods of various lengths and thicknesses and welded then together on a bar that he hooks up to the bucket of the tractor...wala, manure forks!

Brandy:

Crystola,

You have just made my morning by providing two excellent solutions to some issues I have.

I have tried different ideas for composting in my new home and none have worked out well. A trashcan with a lid where I can roll it sounds like an excellent idea!!

I also have not settled on water barrel solutions. A trash can with holes drilled in and screening attached to the lid to keep out bugs sounds doable.

 

That's great!  I can't take credit for the composter, I found it many places online and it seemed SO obvious - why DIDN'T I think of that?  As for the water barrel...I think that the trashcan will eventually distort a little over time, so I'm taking precautions by taking out about half of the water after it fills and putting it into a large white cooler (that's lid doesn't latch anymore) for storage.  I need to make sure the lid of the trashcan and cooler stays closed tightly also because I have two young curious daughters.  I think tightly pulled tarp straps will do the trick.  I usually have a need for some of the rainwater right away for the pond or watering indoor plants!  Also - I only got a 26 gal trascan to see how it works out.  I thought if it didn't work out great then I'd transfer the can to become another potato planter and get a metal can to test out.  I'll let you know how it works when it's full - we're getting rain today!  It still beats paying the price for a full-blown rain barrel.

Crystola:

I'll let you know how it works when it's full

Please do let me know if it's worth it.

Peaches:

The remainder of the machine is in the shed waiting for a use. Any suggestions?

There are plenty of people around who want an old sewing machine. More often than not it can be made to work again, most often only needing cleaning and oiling. One that was in a treadle base, but now isn't, could have a handcrank installed on the wheel and put into a box base or case, or in most cases can have a motor and foot pedal installed. I've restored 4 so far and have a handcrank on one; I'll be putting handcranks on the others in the near future.

  These machines are stronger and better made than anything available new now, and once cleaned and cared for will last for many years to come. The people who want these machines are very fond of them, myself included, and love the challenge in cleaning them up and returning to use. They get them repainted if necessary, using auto paints, and either put them in a box base or find iron treadle legs and put a new top on them.

Here is a picture of a darling little girl enjoying her old sewing machine in a new wood base, I found the picture on webshots.com:   http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/1174943227026058746othkdR

And one showing a repainted old machine: http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2088639850059435511WLkOGM

www.webshots.com has thousands of pictures of old machines collected and restored by people. You might see a picture of your machine there. If you like I can possibly tell you more about it. Edey