Recycling Upcycling Queen

Hello, and welcome to Tightwad Towers Recycling Centre. There was a knock at my front door this morning, my friend Bob was on his way to the council dump when he decided to call in here first in case there was something in his car that I could make use of. Most of it was packaging, but I had to rescue a few things. I'm not sure if I actually need them, but I couldn't see them thrown away. I can probably use the two big frames, but the smaller ones might go to the charity shop. 

I do need a small lamp shade, but I these are going to be too big. Probably charity shop. Three cushions. Don't need them myself, but I could take them apart. They have too much stuffing in them, I could make four cushions for the church. My goodness I've got loads to do now, I'm going to be busy trying to keep up with all this recycling upcycling lark.

I made a sign to go on the lamp post on the High Street near to the Village Hall. It's simple, didn't want to spend too much time on it, as it will only be up for six days, then put away till next year.

Two shopping bags made today, with the fabric from one of the beds. They are a slightly darker shade than they are here on the photo.

So, that's what I've been doing on this chilly but dry Sunday. The days are very short now, it's a job to get everything done in reasonable daylight. I've got to go. There's a ginger cat demanding my attention, he wants to snuggle up to me. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Another hippy bag finished

Hello. This bag has been hanging around for a few months, waiting to be finished. Today I got my finger out and bingo, it's done. I forgot to photograph the back, which is a dark red, same fabric as the handles. It has a red satin lining, and is 12 inches by 13 inches, and the handles are long enough to hitch over your shoulder. 

Some machine stitching and some hand stitching. I made the front and back as two separate pieces, and sewn them together by hand with blanket stitch. They have several layers so won't go floppy.

The bluey greeny one I made earlier, not sure which I like best now. 

I've been on the phone today, booking another short break, not so far to go this time, three days walking in Derbyshire. Thought I'd try another hotel in the Christian Guild group. They have a special offer of £39 a night at the moment. Have a look at Willersley Castle, it looks very nice. It's not far from Matlock, plenty of good walking in that area.

The car is empty, all wood put away. I've washed the fabric which I salvaged from one of the beds, it's a lovely shade of blue. I'm making a sign for the Christmas Fair to put on the lamp post near the Village Hall. Will get that finished tomorrow. I'm not sure when they will be building Santa's grotto, if it's the day before I won't be able to help as I may be out walking with my buddies, if the weather is ok. Perhaps I can do it on Thursday, we shall see.

That's it for now. Thanks for popping in. We'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

Home made shopping bags are in fashion

Hello and Good Morning. Here's another colourful post for you. Why do shopping bags have to be dull, boring, plain, brown, grey, plastic, or covered in advertising logo's? There are alternatives. Let's brighten things up and make shopping bags a fashion accessory. Let's have them in a multitude of colours and designs. Let's use up all the spare fabric we have and make pretty fabric bags which can be washed and used for years. Here's my latest selection just finished. 

Made from fabric sample books so the two sides are different. I found some extra fabric for the handles so they don't match, but it doesn't matter. The sample books were included in my £5 basket when I last went shopping in the Scrapstore, so these cost virtually nothing.

If you don't have a Scrapstore, you could look in car boot sales and charity shops for cheap fabric. Curtains work well, bed throws, as well. Anyone with a sewing machine can make shopping bags. Let's all brighten up the High Street, the shopping malls, the markets and supermarkets. Are you game for this? Go on, give it a go. Show off your own home made shopping bag with pride.

How to make a shopping bag.

Thank's for popping in, I've got things to do, we'll catch up soon. Enjoy your Sunday.
Toodle pip.
PS. When I say, 'we'll catch up soon', there is no particular time scale on that, it could be anytime.

What can you do with a tin of peas

Hello. There are some days when I don't mind what I eat, as long as it's cheap and fills me up. Saying that, you won't find any meat or fish in my fridge, unless it's cheap white fish for the cats, I no longer buy ready meals either. I will sometimes splash out a bit more dosh for something extra delicious, but not very often because I can make tasty food from scratch myself. So, I buy my food on price. My meals don't always look appetizing, my aim is to eat it, not to step back and admire my handiwork. 

A while ago I picked up a dented tin of mushy peas from Tesco, maybe I ought it eat it. 

My lunch yesterday was a spud in the microwave and half of the peas. Scoff scoff, it filled my tum, and at only 15p, it was a bargain. Bags of spuds are in season and cheap at the moment.

Dinner last night was steamed sprouts, broccoli, potatoes, and an onion, topped with the other half of the peas. Another tum filler at possibly 40p, a wild guess.

This is ten shopping bags waiting to be assembled. I had a fabric sample book from the Scrapstore and took it apart. The pieces weren't big enough to make a complete bag and handles, so I have used other fabric for the handles. I don't think it will matter, the two sides will be different anyway because there is only one sample of each. Best get on with it then. Need them for the Christmas Fair.  

Thanks for all your comments on the previous post, it's good to hear that we are all on the same wavelength. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip

My hippy style bag

Hello. I've been busy getting on with stuff, plenty to do at Tightwad Towers. Thank you so much for all your kind wishes, I am overwhelmed by how many people take the time to send in their comments. But, life goes on and I have a lot of memories to look back on. Uncle Stan had a long and full life, and I hope to follow his example and fill mine with what makes me happy, and that is mainly keeping busy doing things I enjoy. 

I spent this morning finishing off this bag. It's 12 inches by 13 inches, and made out of scrap fabric, some hand stitching and some machining. I made the back and front as two separate pieces then blanket stitched them together. It is several layers thick so it isn't floppy. The handles are long enough to go over one shoulder, which is how people like to hold them. 

I have added a tab with a piece of black elastic to the back, which fastens onto the button on the front.

All the stitching is random, I didn't have a plan, just added it where I thought it would look nice. I frayed some of the edges of the fabric. 

The back is a plainish piece of fabric.

I am very pleased with it. I have made another bag front with a mixture of red and pink fabrics. Another work in progress to join the other projects. I need to do some work in the garden in the next week. The lilac trees are down but there is still a lot of trimming up on the other bushes, and the front garden needs some attention too. Thank goodness for the electric hedge trimmer.

I'll get off I've still to do the walk yet, don't want to get behind. Shed of the Year is about to start but I'll catch it later. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip.

Guess the magic word

Hello. I've been making more shopping bags to sell on our cat stall at our Village Fete next month. Fourteen in total now, blues, reds, and greens. It's very strong fabric, and waterproof, they will last for ages. 

I have one bag to give away to a lucky winner. All you gave to do is include the magic word in your comment. I did have it written down somewhere, but it has disappeared. It was on this piece of paper, but I can't see it. Well that's strange. Anyway, you'll have to guess what the word is, so have a go, and the one to guess it correctly wins a bag. Easy innit  ;o) Closing date Wednesday morning 1st June at 10am BST.

Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon. Toodle pip.

Easy to make handy little bag

Hello on this sunny Saturday morning in North Lincolnshire. Boy did it rain during the night, all my water buckets and bowls are full and overflowing, and the ground is very soggy. I will wait until things dry out before I attempt any garden tidying today. 

Yesterday I did some tidying in the crafty stock room, and came across the remains of a pair of thick black tights with one leg missing, previously removed for an experiment. A pair of one legged tights is not much use, unless you have a second pair which you can wear together. I remember doing this years ago, when I had a ladder I saved the tights until I had another similar pair. Cut off the laddered legs, and bingo, a new pair of tights. I haven't worn tights for years, gone right off them. I prefer leggins under jog bottoms in the winter, and light cotton trousers in the summer, or bare legs with either shorts or a long skirt if it is really hot. 

After cutting off the second leg, I ended up with a pair of pants. Hmmm, what to do with it now? I know, I have an idea. Turn it inside out with the back and front seams now on the sides. Run the sewing machine across the bottom a couple of times, I did zigzag stitch. Turn it the right way, you now have a bag that will scrunch up quite small to put in a handbag or pocket. 

I did a test, curious to see how much shopping it would hold. The gusset is now the handle.

I loaded it up with some weighty stuff. Packed neatly it will hold quite a lot.

Yep, I could certainly carry this from the shop to my car. 

Right, an easy project for you to tackle. Go and look in your drawers for some thick tights that you no longer wear. Even better would be some colourful or patterned ones. For a slightly thicker bag you could use leggins of any size. Cut the legs off straight across from about two inches below the gusset. The top of the tights is now the bottom of the bag, sew across with a machine or it can be done by hand.

If you carry a small bag around with you like this one, you will never be caught out if you suddenly remember you have to pick up a few items from the supermarket on the way home. If you are walking, put one in your rucksack. Could be used for carrying books to and from the library. Good eh!

I'm going to get my walk done early today, in case it rains later, so I'll sign off and leave you too it. Have a nice weekend whatever you are doing. We'll catch up soon.
Toodle pip.

Sewing, cheap food and collecting stuff.

Hello. I did my three miles earlier today while it was still light. It was surprisingly warm, I needn't have put a jacket on. I'm up to 148 miles for Jan and Feb, but I know there are people who have done more than that. Keep going peeps, only another ten months and ten days left to do. 

I am getting a reputation in this village as someone who is collecting fabric for crafting purposes. A friend of a friend rang last week and offered me a bag of mixed pieces that she didn't think she would ever use. I went and picked them up. There are some nice colours. I promised her I would make her a shopping bag.

Today I delivered two shopping bags, but she wasn't in, so I folded them carefully and pushed them through the letter box. I hope she enjoyed the surprise.

I called in at the Cash and Carry on my way to town yesterday, I haven't been for ages, so I wondered if they had anything new in. I found these porridge in a mug sachet's, £1 for three boxes, 15 sachet's. Not quite as cheap as a 1kg bag of oats at 75p, but I thought they would make a nice change because they are apple and blueberry flavour.  They have a best before date of 27th Feb, which is fine.  

I already have some of these Vegetable Granules in my cupboard, they are handy to add to all sorts of meals. I picked up five more jars at 20p each. They were out of date in April 2015, I don't care.

These noodles were priced up at four bags for £1. There are four separate servings in one bag. I thought four bags would be too much for me, so I bought one bag for 30p. That's 7.5p per serving. The date is best before today, 20th Feb 2016.

And my fourth bargain is a 500grm slab of mature cheese, priced at £2.50. I usually buy a 350 grm pack of cheese for £1.59 from Aldi. The date on this is 25th March 2016, so well in date. I can't find this on the Tesco web site, but they have Cathedral which is similar at £3.50 for 350grm, so I think this was a good buy.

As well as people wanting to give me fabric, it seems I am also the drop off point for friends who are de cluttering. They know that I help with the fundraising for the cat rescue, and anything we can't sell I will take to the charity shop. A bin bag of stuff was delivered to me today, some of which we can sell. Set of new glasses in a box, white ceramic bowls, a money box, and other bits and bobs.  

Rocky wasn't too impressed with his Santa's hat which was in a bag of Christmas decorations, ha ha. 

I think it's time we went out for a last bimble before bed time, so I'll say cheerio for now. Thanks for popping in. Catch you soon. Toodle pip.

It's in the bag

Hello. Every day seems to be a race against time at the moment with only eight hours of daylight. Sewing by natural daylight is much easier on the eyes. Housework, what little I do, is easier if you can actually see that  your efforts at keeping the house clean make a difference. Tidying the garden is is much easier in daylight, ha ha. It's so much easier to say stuff it and simply sit on your bum and do nothing. Help, I NEED more daylight.

I've been busy making this bag. Normally I would run them up quickly but I wanted to make a special bag for a very good friend. After faffing about with several ideas, I finally came up with plan xyz, this one. It needed to be sturdy to carry heavy weights, the fabric is heavy duty, thankfully it went through the machine at the point where the handles are attached. I didn't have enough of the same fabric for the whole bag, so I combined two colours. I think they compliment each other very well. Although the blue looks like denim, it isn't. The panel on the front should have been something else, but I think the flower works very well. Simple but effective. 

I put a gusset in it due to the amount of stuff that will be carried in it. 

I added my own name to the bottom, because the space at the front is taken up by the recipients name.

I'm well pleased with that, the effort was worth it. I am often asked if I can make a certain style of bag. Yes, I probably could make just about any bag if I put my mind to it, but it has to be something I want to do, born from an idea in my mind. I mostly make a bag not knowing where it will end up. I hang on to it for a while, then decide who to give it to, or occasionally sell it, waiting for the right moment. I sold the patchwork bag for £5 at the Christmas fair, it was worth a lot more, but I don't do it to make money. I'm just pleased that someone is going to get it for a present.

Must go, racing against time again. Dog to go out. Catch you soon. Toodle pip

Bestest shopping bags ever ;o)

Hello. We've had better weather today, no rain  :o) The kids are playing a game of musical beds, all change places. Bugsy has gone from the office chair, to Rocky's cushion, and now he is in Rocky's bed. Rocky Boyo is dead miffed now he can't sleep in his favourite place. I've put another cushion down for him. Mayze can be found on the landing upstairs, she comes down when I get my camp bed out and wants to sleep on my legs but there isn't enough room, so she buries herself in the duvet hanging over the side. Heidi decided she likes to lie on the pile of shopping bags I've made which are on the dining table chair. I've had to remove them and give her a basket with a towel to lie in. Poor Heidi has to go back to see Marian, the nice vet lady, tomorrow, she is tired, not eating much and it looks like her anaemia is back :o(

I've been sewing today, made four shopping bags with some lovely fabric I got at the Scrapstore. This makes a total of 18 to sell at the Christmas fair on Saturday. Aren't they pretty. 

I had a pack of fine green beans which needed eating, yellow sticker 20p, so I added an onion and made some soup. 

Some veg gravy granules and garlic powder, zapped with the stick blender, with a smattering of grated mature cheddar cheese stirred in. It was bloomin lovely. Two portions, one for lunch and one mid afternoon.

Our new Post Office opened today which is good news. It is a pop up one, where the counter clerk comes with a box and sets up shop in the vestry at the church. It's three mornings a week, which I suppose is better than no Post Office at all.

I had a phone call today from them at the BBC, have I got any ideas for another short film they could make about food. I've had a good think about it and nothing springs to mind. I thought I would ask you clever people if you can think of a topic. It could be to do with eating out, buying food, preparing food, growing food, any grumbles about what you buy, where you shop, poor customer service, getting value for money, fast food outlets, inedible food, awful junk food, why you won't go back to a food or eating place again, food on the go. Anything about food. I don't think they would run to filming in America, so the UK only. I think most of it has been covered in the programmes already out there, but you never know there might be a topic that no one has thought of.

Right, I'm off out for a fast walk around the village. Rocky has already had his walk, he did well, went a bit further than usual, now he has crashed out. I'll sneak out for half an hour while he isn't looking.

Catch up with you soon. Toodle pip.
PS, someone asked what Toodle pip means. Cheerio, goodbye, see ya, tatty byes = Toodle pip.