Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Re-using items Part 2

Today I will stay in the outdoor lines again.  I have several items that I have used in my garden for new purposes.  Many things have also been made from scrap leftover from other projects.  I will show a few today.
I HOPE you will all give your new uses for items as well.


I have 4 different chairs that have been repurposed into planters in the yard.  All were FREE to us.  I just love using different things as yard art.  I also have a red metal old timey headboard that is the center piece of my large flowerbed.

Here in the cucumber area of the yard, I have a pallet leaned against the fence for the cukes to climb on.  There are also a couple of old trellises in there for climbing.  The raised bed was made from leftover wood from another project.  Everything in the back gets flooded with real heavy rains, so they need to be raised.  The barrel is setting up on a piece of wood from a tree we cut down a couple years ago.
I also keep any really long big limbs that might come down from the trees in wind storms, to use for climbing.

I don't think it is visible in the picture, but there is a chain going from tree to tree to hold the bird feeders.  You'll notice 3 long feeders hanging above the height of the clothes line.  In the middle of those is a small bird cage that I use as a feeder as well (right above hanging plant).  It was free from the trash.  The little birds love it.  I made sure to wire the door open so they can't get trapped in there.

The corn feeder on the back tree was made from scrap cedar from another project.  The jar feeder on the front tree, was made from the same, and a recycled gallon pickle jar.  The squirrels get sunflowers seeds and sometimes nuts in that one.


Lastly is our tall bird feeder.  (Sorry it looks crooked!)  It stands on a metal pole, and the squirrels were still getting to it, those little rascals.  I tried greasing the pole, but that was just messy.  You will notice a baffle under the bird feeder - that my friends is an old hubcap!  It works perfectly and keeps the squirrels out of the bird seed.

See, there are so many things you can use from around the house for totally different purposes in your yard.  All the items above were FREE for me.  That is my favorite 4 letter F word!!!!!!
I hope this gives you some ideas for your yard.

PLEASE let us know your repurposing tricks.  We all love to learn new things!

8 comments:

  1. Wow, Cheryl! what a beautiful backyard! I think it is great that not only do you have all those kitty cat fur babies, but that you also supply food and protection for the birds, bees, and squirrels.

    My husband uses an old wooden trellis to support shade cloth for the transplants to harden up under, and now also with a cloth for protection against the birds that like to eat the flowers off the pepper plants.

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    1. Thank you so much. I just love ALL animals, and do what I can to provide.
      Yes Freecycle is a wonderful group, and you can get quite a variety of treasures there.

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  2. I wanted to let readers of this blog know to look up their local Freecycle organization. Bartering is a no no on Freecycle, so things posted are truly free, either Wanted or Offered.

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  3. I was poking around last night and saw a new term on being frugal....Voluntary Simplicity...part of being frugal is learning to do more with less...I think there was someone on another blog that decided their frugal for the month was to use Half of what they were using: half as much toothpaste, half as much shampoo, .... it works!

    And so, Cheryl! I am so reminded of the mantra Reduce Reuse Recycle which is exactly what you are doing in your backyard!

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    1. Volunteer simplicity is definitely my life! People just need to realize that it doesn't mean it's easy - it is often work. But getting by with less has become a way of life to me.
      Everyone should try to do the 3 R's!!!

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  5. I don't have anything that cute to re purpose in my yard. We are working on de cluttering and my son who is moving in at the end of the month is also bringing plants so I'm running out of planting space! Re thinking where I have my Iris planted.

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  6. Ooo Laurie, new plants?! Do you know what they will be yet?

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