Making Things Last Forever -- The Non-Consumer Way
I have a problem with concept of planned obsolescence. Because unlike a traditional manufacturer, I expect everything I own to last forever. Unfortunately, the stuff I use does eventually wear out. Luckily, I have a multitude of tricks up my sleeve to squeeze every last drip, drop and morsel from every single item that enters my world.
And when I can find a new use for an old item? Be still my heart!
From the squeezing every smidge from the lowly tube of toothpaste:
Cutting it open:
And unearthing a few extra days of bonus toothpaste:
To patching my favorite shorts using a worn out napkin:
The napkin:
The patch from the inside:
The patch from the outside. (BTW, the next time that I'm about to sew a blood red patch on the crotch of my pants, could someone please suggest a different color? Luckily, these are not the jean shorts that I wear to the opera.)
Note: This patch is not visible unless I'm sitting on the floor with my legs apart. However, I'm still going to add blue stitching to the patch.
To deciding that a corner of my kitchen needs a bit more color, and creating a hanging tray from one of my vintage trays:
Tray, before:
Hot-gluing a knotted piece of twine onto the back of the tray. Note that it's my last glue stick, so I'm using the back of a paint brush to push the glue through the hot glue gun:
And now this corner of the kitchen has a little more color:
If my possessions break or tear, I will fix or mend them. And when I want a new look, I'll always shop first from the stuff I already own.
It's just the non-consumer way.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
Good job, Katy!
Until you can stitch over the patch thread, you could use a blue magic marker to color it. I've used magic markers on canvas items and leather before to cover stains or scuffs.
I do the same as you with toothpaste. They make toothpaste "keys" that fit on the bottom and they squeeze out a LOT of extra paste. The one I had was plastic and it broke last year, but I loved that thing. A binder clip would work great, thanks for the tip!
Good idea, although I still think I'll stitch extra blue as it will strengthen it a bit more.
I love the tips you give. I was recently inspired by you and pulled a pair of my husband jeans out of the garbage and patched them, doesn't look great, but they are dog walking pants... the dog doesn't care! And right now i am prepping the slow cooker with leftover ham bone and meat to have white bean ham soup for tomorrow. I am really working on cutting down food waste.
Thanks
Sounds like a delicious way to minimize food waste. And I love that your husband will wear "dog walking pants!" (I guess you're not British, where "pants" means "underpants." 😉 )
I LOVE LOVE LOVE that patch! Well done, Katy!
THANK, THANK, THANK, you!
Thanks for the reminder about patching. So easy and fashionable as well.
Wow. I am not quite that committed to the toothpaste, although I did do that to my conditioner recently. However, last night as I was making our bed, I decided we need a new sheets, as the elastic is completely shot in the fitted sheet. However, I realized that there is nothing wrong with the top sheet, so I only need a new fitted sheet and I will make cloth napkins out of the old one. Win-win, since we are in need of more cloth napkins anyway.
I've been trying to figure out how to hang a tray for a while now. How did I not think of this?! So simple, yet effective. You're a frugal genius.
The tray fell off the wall last night, so maybe my method is still in the planning stage. Oops.
I love shopping my own closet or house for new fashion and decorating ideas. Once or twice a year, when the urge hits, I rearrange my closet or bedroom or living room and box away rarely worn clothes or small decorative items/pictures/fabric/etc. Six months or a year later, I'll dig those items out of a box and think "Hey! I know what to do with this now!" If the item still doesn't thrill me, it's sent off to the thrift shop. I get the fun of playing with something "new" without the cost.
I love it!
Planned obsolescence drives me crazy!! My mom has a flip phone that needs a new charger and she hasn't been able to find one because most chargers are for the newer smart phones. We finally found her one but had to buy 5 different modifiers to go with it. Guess what she did with those? Threw them away. I have a smart phone (which was forced on me, I mean, was a gift) that is sooo outdated that it's getting hard to keep it. Most people just want me to turn it in for a new phone rather than have to search out 5 year old parts.
I hate planned obsolescence, too. I want my stuff to last FOREVER, just like you do, Katy, and it drives me crazy when they don't. I tend to wear mostly "classic" styles, which means they aren't really stylish, but aren't jarringly out of style, either, and I expect those babies to last a decade at least. I used my same harvest gold wedding-gift hand mixer for 30 years, even though it was less powerful than the new ones, and I was so glad to see it die so I could get one of the modern souped up models. I wasn't going to spring for a new one until it did, though.
For the tray, you might try painting a piece of scrap wood, even a piece of an old picture frame and screwing it to the wall, making a ledge for your tray. You could still hot glue twine to the tray to tie it off to your original hanger, so it won't topple off its ledge.
I thank you. And my pants thank you. I'm so used to doing all my sewing on the machine that tricky patch jobs have been going by the wayside. I used a three inch embroidery hoop that I already own and patched the heck out of my jeans where there was a big old hole in the inner thigh. Blue thread.
I do not have a "thigh gap", so needless to say, my jeans all wear out between my thighs. I have found that patching them makes them last years longer. And, you cannot see the blue material patch unless I am sitting on the floor. I hate getting rid of comfy jeans, so it is a great fix.