Wednesday 1 April 2015

Super-Useful Items

I'm currently reading one of the books my friend Lucy gave me for Christmas, a Reader's Digest book about multiple uses for things around the house. They have tagged several as 'Super Items' because there are 30 or more uses for each. I'll not bore you with all the uses (you could Google those) but just for interest, these are the items you might wish to make sure you have on hand:

Aluminium foil (this is the British spelling, where there is an extra syllable in there somewhere...)
Bicarbonate of soda
Cardboard boxes
Gaffer tape (AKA duct or duck tape)
Lemons
Nail varnish (AKA nail polish)
Paper bags (a vanishing breed!)
Petroleum jelly
Plastic bags
Plastic bottles
Salt
Freezer/sandwich bags
Tape
Tea
Tights (as in pantyhose)
Vinegar
WD-40

When I finish the book, I'll probably share some of the tips I made a note of. In the mean time, I'd already had a strange idea before I read the book. 

I probably own too many wool sweaters, but I won't apologize as they stand between me and the cold, damp weather here. Although I found a way to hang them, they took up way too much space in my wardrobe. Stacks of them never stayed up. What I needed were the missing drawers. Or, failing those, some boxes of just the right width. Given the vast number of cardboard boxes on hand after Christmas, I was sure I could manufacture something. And I did - twice.




I determined the sized boxes I wanted, cut pieces of cardboard to size, overlapping if necessary to get the length. I used packing tape initially, but found it didn't stay together well enough with the weight of the sweaters and being pulled in and out of the wardrobe. 





So I took it all apart and got out my hole puncher and a small ball of scrap yarn. I laced the bits together like I would some running shoes or the like and so far they have worked fine. I fully use the space and I have cardigans in one box and pullovers in the other. 

Sorted! 

4 comments:

Gam Kau said...

I've always been fond of a sturdy cardboard box so I find your crafted boxes particularly charming!

Jg. for FatScribe said...

this is such a helpful post ... I love reading those!

left you a response comment, btw, over at FatScribe, and wanted to introduce you to some blogger pals over in your "neighborhood"!

so, yes, when i want to affect an English brogue, i'll say "whilst" or will say "aluminium" with that extra vowel, and will also say crisps or biscuits or lift, etc., all inappropriately for us Yanks!

;)



Jg. for FatScribe said...

Hi, Shelley (again!) ... yes, Ms. Deb at Dumbwit Tellher is REALLY on her Instagram account (if you've not gotten on Instagram, do at least look her up over there ... LOTS of loverly photos of Scotland (Edinburgh?) and amazingly colorful front doors to be had as well.

Much like you've been known to do a walking tour or two or three (I believe I'm correct there if memory serves about your informative blog!), she'll drop the local style info on unsuspecting Instagram visitors, including her home improvement project!.

Take care, and when are you all visiting Oklahoma again?

Jg.

Shelley said...

Jg - I'm afraid Instagram is a step too far for me. I'm not inclined to have a Google plus account and I don't do 'apps'. Between email, blogging, FB and Pinterest, I kill more than my share of time online and that doesn't even count the procrastination activity that is Spider or Freecell... I'm sure her photos are fantastic, but I think for now I'll have to live without them. One day I'll cave in and get a smart phone - I can see the day when it's not possible to get by without one. Thanks for the suggestion anyhow!