Boomerang Bags

Posted on December 4, 2017 Posted in UpcycleTagged bags, boomerang, recycle, reusable, reuse1 Comment

Boomerang bags: Reusable bags, all made from upcycled/repurposed fabric, available free or for a donation.
I have been sewing a few bags for the new boomerang bags group here in Cambridge, we launched them at the farmers market this morning, they were all gone by 10.30am! (over 100 bags!) We will keep sewing and keep offering them as an alternative to plastic in the hope it changes peoples thinking.

The stall holders are all on board and suggested people use their own bags before using plastic.

Talking to people and seeing them realise how important this is truly made me feel that finally, maybe I am making a small difference.

Watching ‘A plastic Ocean’ won’t make me feel so guilty now.

It’s a start in the right direction, we have a long way to go.

Want to be a part of this?

Any fabric donations you might have would be much appreciated, also, if you want to help, you don’t have to be able to sew, you can help in many other ways.

Refuse plastic, think of the ocean.

Lara x

Zero Waste is Simple

Posted on October 30, 2017October 30, 2017 Posted in minimalism, Op shopping, Uncategorized, UpcycleTagged reuse, wastefree, zerowaste3 Comments

Zero waste is simple if you can be a bit organised. Keep things in your car/bag so you won’t be caught without what you need. Don’t be nervous to take a container into the bakery or sushi shop, they will be grateful you did. What’s missing here is my keep cup, currently in the dishwasher. Once you start swapping disposable for reusable you’ll start to see the change in how slow you fill you bin compared to before. ✅

ps. Green bag and floral bulk bin bag both made by me, so simple if you have access to a machine.

Building the Chook house

Posted on July 29, 2017July 30, 2017 Posted in ChickensTagged Chickens, chookhouse, chooks, reuse1 Comment

Here is the overdue story of how we made our chook house.

First I sourced some unwanted pallets, that was probably the easiest part of the whole process.

I spend hours spread over a few days/weekends pulling them apart, I separated 6 pallets, well, 5, then hubby did the last one. He powered through it twice the speed that I could.

A lot of the panels split due to being dry so you need to take your time and try pry them off evenly.

Once I had a lovely stack of panels I looked at them for about 3 weeks, wondering how I was going to make them resemble a chook house.

Easter weekend, when my brother was staying with us (egg hunt anyone?) he said, ‘Well let’s have a look at those plans of yours….’ and that’s when construction began.

Frame work done, time to cut those panels to size and make a floor.

As the panels went down, I could slowly see the image in my head coming to life.

I wasn’t great with the saw or tape measure but I was in there with the hammer and had a few goes with the nail gun. (Side note: I’m really really good at standing and holding things while they are getting cut/measured/fixed in place……yup.)

Sides were on, now to decide how to get the roof to sit and be functional as a lid/access point…..I’ll go make you guys a coffee yeah? Our son was right into it, handed us nails, hinges and was generally cute and entertaining.

Next big job was to move it to it’s home before the roof went on and made it a whole lot heavier. This part I could definitely help with as my brother had a sore back at the time, pump class paid off at this very moment. Once moved, the roof went on, I made a nesting box with some scraps of wood, a ramp to the door and started to plan how we would attach a gate.

Not pictured, there is a branch cut to size, from our cut down peach tree, to make a roost. The roof is made from corrugated iron which we found under a friend’s deck, score! The hinges were in our garage amongst the many other finds my husband has from second hand shopping.

The gate is made from part of a pallet that wasn’t taken apart which seemed to just be made for that spot.

Our daughter made a sign for the house, the sun started to set as the job was almost done, everyone had worked hard all day in different ways, we enjoyed a well deserved hot drink and takeaways.