Making do and mending

 

Find out more about the campaign here

In January I pledged (along with my daughter) to reuse and make do as much as we can. In the past nine years I renovated a couple of Victorian houses and I have done a lot of work myself, including soft furnishings and revamping junk shop furniture. 

I have written a few articles about this, they are not glamorous makeovers, more budget ones where I did a lot of the work myself, only employing builders and other trades when necessary. 

Here are a few photos of my earliest projects - more recent crafty solutions are in the pipeline, so watch this space. In the meantime, have a look at the below and leave a comment if you wish!

1980s MDF chest of drawers with plastic handles before I transformed it. See the final result and read how I have done it by clicking here.

Avocado bathroom suite and fake-wood panelling, see the transformation by clicking here.

A leanto conservatory I had built bespoke using wood and breeze blocks. I finished off the shell with the help of Mark. Click here to see the final result.

Victorian cast-iron fireplace before I restored it, the article is looking for a home - will post the link as soon as I have found a place to publish it.

Baglady pledge: toys out of trash

Since Michela discovered how versatile empty toilet rolls are I'm not allowed to throw any way. I know they are handy for planting seedlings on a tray, but Michela tells me they make great binoculars! This is how they looked before the binoculars got a coat of paint...

Inspired by preschool crafting, we have also made collages out of pictures from junk mail and old catalogues, built a 'home' kite out of a magazine cover...

We even built a telescope with a long kitchen roll tube! Galileo, eat your heart out! Join the baglady campaign... find out more here.