Make Do and Mend

[LizzieMaine]

Have you tried white vinegar? Baking soda? Lemon juice? Sunshine? Peroxide?

Fels Naptha soap for washing and bluing in the rinse.

 

[Hondo]

I already have water meter, grass is hard to kill, doesn't need a lot to grow, let it dry up if the weather gets too hot, it will all grow back.

I used to buy the latest tech items, and donate old equipments like TV’s computers, printers, scanners, and then… it hit me what a waste.
Now if TV goes on the blink I call mobile repair person, I TRY to keep things until its too expensive to fix, I have microwave that’s so old and beat up yet it still cooks things, maybe not so quickly but it works! Budgeting calls for extreme measures, strong will power

 

[WideBrimm]

Computer print outs with just a bit of printing on them (in spite of previewing) I turn over and re-use.

Paper cutter and small clip board (from the thrift store) turns lots of used computer paper into note pads.

Brown paper bags from the supermarket (turned inside out) make great wrapping paper for mailing packages!

To this day I still mend small holes in socks - by hand. Just insert an old light bulb in the sock, then sew!

 

[Paisley]

Indeed this is true.

I scored a loveseat today off Freecycle. And in a bonus, I got there and they had a dark blue slipcover for it! (the actual sofa is peach and blue plaid!)

This means I now have actual livingroom seating, since I moved here in December without anything but a small chair for the livingroom. But I knew that the right furniture would happen at the right time, if i just waited...and voila...here it is...

I just got on Freecycle in hopes of getting rid of some clutter. Someone already took my trellis.

Thanks for the info.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Made a dump run this past weekend and returned home with a 1939 Westfield Crescent bicycle -- a lovely balloon-tired girls model. It's pretty beat up, but I think it can be easily restored with a bit of elbow grease, some fresh paint, and some new tires. Right now it's dismantled in my garage, and I spent some time this morning sanding off the surface rust. Pics will follow once it's finished!

 

[dhermann1]

I visited Newberryport Mass in 1977 with a friend, and on the somewhere in central Mass we stooped at his friend's bike nad skateboard shop. Don't recall what town. Anyway, he had just retrieved from the dump a 1918 vintage Pierce-Arrow bike. Heavyweight wheels (of course), a very interesting system of springs on the front fork, and shaft driven, like a BMW motorcycle. It was in fine shape.
You just NEVER KNOW what treasures you'll find at the dump.

 

[Flivver]

Made a dump run this past weekend and returned home with a 1939 Westfield Crescent bicycle -- a lovely balloon-tired girls model. It's pretty beat up, but I think it can be easily restored with a bit of elbow grease, some fresh paint, and some new tires. Right now it's dismantled in my garage, and I spent some time this morning sanding off the surface rust. Pics will follow once it's finished!

What a great find! I haven't had a dump find that good in ages! Can't wait to see the pictures of the finished product.

I'm sure you know this, but most of the parts on your Westfield Crescent interchange with Columbia parts of the same vintage since they were all made by the Westfield Manufacturing Company. Several balloon tired Columbias were reproduced over the last 10 years, so spare parts should be relatively easy to find.

 

[Sweet Leilani]

Great find Lizzie! I picked up a vintage baby stroller (the kind with the wire wheels and white tires) that way. It cleaned up beautifully- I use it as an outdoor highchair for my son when we eat on the patio. The best part is, when we're done eating I can just roll it into the shed!

I also found some really cool twisted wire fence out for the trash that I've stapled to my garage for climbing roses.

The best re-use hint I have is from my mother: when you have a pair of stockings you can no longer wear, cut the foot off & fill it up with the left-over chips of soap from your bath bar. Then tie the stocking around your utility sink spigot and use it to scrub hands & clothes. The nylon works as a mild abrasive and you can get rid of all those teensy bits of soap that aren't big enough to hold.

 

[Ellie]

I live with my dad, who is a huge spendthrift.

He hasn't bought a Christmas tree in years. A few years ago, he bought a dwarf lemon tree at a local nursery and decorated it with ornaments. When Christmas was over, he planted it in our backyard. The following year, he bought a rosemary bush which is similar in appearance to a pine tree and smells wonderful. We have also planted the rosemary bush, which has grown more than 4 times its original size. Since then, we use large cuttings from the rosemary bush and put them in a vase. Those cuttings have now been our Christmas tree for the past few years.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I've just taken my first ride on the Crescent bicycle I salvaged from the local dump about three weeks ago -- when I found it, the original paint was completley gone, the seat was rotted, the wheels and fenders were encrusted with rust, one pedal was shattered, and a spoke was broken. After three weeks of elbow grease, a new set of balloon tires, and a fresh paint job, it looks like this...

According to the serial number it's a 1946 model (not a '39 as originally thought), but the design and most of the parts are of prewar type -- it must've been one of the early ones off the line after reconversion. It was built by the Westfield Manufacturing Company of Westfield, Mass, and is still a very very comfortable ride!

And somebody pulled it out from under their porch and threw it away. Go figure.

 

[Flivver]

Lizzie...the bike looks fabulous!

How did you accomplish such an authentic looking paint job? Did you use templates or was it all done by eye?

 

[LizzieMaine]

There was just enough of the original paint pattern left to figure out what was where, so I traced it before sanding and stripping, and then used the tracings as patterns for cutting masking tape to replicate the design. If you see it up close, it's not perfect -- a spray can job never is -- but I wasn't shooting for a museum-quality restoration, just something to ride around town.

The original colors were blue and cream, but my Schwinn Hollywood is blue, and I didn't need another blue bike. So I went with the green instead.

The interesting thing about this bike is that much of the frame is made of machined solid brass -- it weighs a ton, but nothing short of an explosion could bend it!

 

[Paisley]

I bet the weight will provide good momentum and balance.

 

[ShooShooBaby]

i am here squealing over your bike! what a great job you did, and i'm impressed with how fast you got to it. i think a lot of people would have left it sitting in their garage saying, "i really should do something with that bike" for 3 years.

 

[Sweet Leilani]

:eusa_clap nice job on the bike Lizzie. When I first saw the photo I thought it was new. It's uncanny how much that looks like my bike, which is a vintage repro:

 

[Lady Day]

Lizzie,

That bike looks fantastic! I LOVE seeing stuff that people think is lost get a new lease on life. WOW you are awesome!!

LD

 

[Polka Dot]

Great bike, Lizzie!

I second ShooShooBaby's observation. Most people (including myself) would have tucked the bike away as a rainy day project, but you got right on it and now have a fabulous bike to ride this summer. :eusa_clap

 

[LizzieMaine]

Thanks, all! I've been riding it regularly for the past few days, and it's actually a smoother ride than my '62 Schwinn, which surprised me. All I need now is to find a proper vintage headlight for it so I can ride it to work nights, and I'll be all set.

Moral of the story is -- never give up on even the most beat-up basket-case piece of junk. Vintage stuff tends to be so solidly made that with enough effort, just about anything is salvageable.

 

[Lauren]

That looks wonderful, Lizzie!

I'm a scrounger. About 99% of my clothing is either bought at thrift stores or handmade. Most of my home decorations and furniture have come from estate sales, thrift stores, or flea markets. I really don't like buying things new, but I will if there's no other way around it. I have been buying antiques or "vintage" items ever since I can remember and they stand up well! And when you buy used items you don't have to worry about becoming dependant on larger corporations. I may be an idealist, but I want to get to the point where I can be completely self-sufficient devoid of surroundings. I just have to work on my gardening skills and learn more day-to-day home repair and building, and I want to learn how to do basic repairs on my car. Ah well, someday I'll reach my goal...

 

[Laraquan]

Make do and mend? Most of what I have needs to be gotten rid of! I just need to remember to take it to the appropriate second hand store. It's so very frustrating living in a first floor 2-bedroom flat. There's no room for anything! Still, it's handy to think of a few bits and pieces that might be able to be re-used.