Lack of posts

Lately I have had a serious lack of posts on this blog. It's not because I'm bored of blogging or that I'm spending too much time getting my weightloss blog up and running ;), it's simply because I have not finished one single project lately to put on here.
The garden is the culprit! It's that time of year when I have to get busy out there or the whole thing just romps away and then I have no chance of catching up with it.
As much as I'd love to indulge you with photos of my doings I'm pretty sure that no one is going to be interested in a slab I've laid or the Horse tail weed I am constantly pulling out or even the tightening of the plastic to the polytunnel. Of course I could be wrong but somehow I doubt it!

So I was going to feature some rather trendy blogs I've started following but TBH right now I simply do not have the time to do them justice - yes, the garden calls again!
So for now I am going to feature one of my older projects and then tonight I am going to spend some time writing a post on the fabulous goodies y'all have been posting lately.
Then hopefully - all pinkies and toes crossed - I will have one of my projects finished so I can show it off on here. I'm hoping to spend time on the picnic bench or the Adirondack chair - all made from scrap wood - but we've just decided that we're going to lay a crazing paving patio as we have heaps of flat stone from when we demolished the stone house and if it comes to a choice between building a picnic bench and playing on a mini digger I know which will win!

With gardening in mind, here's my repost

I'm hiding indoors at the moment because the wind sounds awful outside. I placated the guilty feeling by convincing myself that I would use the indoor time to make my mums birthday card (it's her birthday in about 6 days) but I made the huge mistake of putting Create & Craft on the TV.  Just while I check my emails mind!

Yeah right!

I then logged in to my blog  to reply to some emails and comments but we all know what happens then don't we?  yup, I'm too engrossed in reading other blogs  that heading through to the cold craft room has just lost its appeal.

I could go outside and potter in the poytunnel BUT I figured instead of that I could just blog about a project I completed a couple of years ago before I had the polytunnel and needed some space saving ideas for the greenhouse - those rows of pots with seedling veg and flowers in em were just taking up too much room because I had to put them on just the one layer of staging.

Brainwave people!
I created this space saver (though excuse the dirty holders)

The best bit is that it was easy enough to make with no technical tools needed if you don't have them AND it's all scrap wood AND it recycles those plastic milk containers.

OK so how to make it!

First gather your tools ( I have a habit of looking for what I need when I need it - not a good idea).

You'll need:

Wood - I used roof batten, small scrap bit of plywood, some scrap beading and some scrap pieces of  2"x 2". You can use any size you have though.
Screws (I literally use anything I can find. I used black plasterboard screws for this)
Nails if you don't want to use screws.
Tape measure.
Hammer.
Screwdriver.
Saw (unless you use a cutter as I do)
Pencil.
Milk cartons (I used 30 but you can make the frame and add them as you get them)
Scissors.

I made a basic 4 sided frame using scrap roofing batten and  nails or screws or whatever you have, and made corner supports for the top only.

Next I made 2 bottom plates to support the whole thing. I just used whatever cuts of wood we had for this as long as the bottom plate used is wider wood than the  top plate.

Screw the two bottom base blocks together then screw the actual square frame to the blocks - remembering to keep the corner supports to the top.

Then I cut some pieces of plywood into a rectangle shape and cut out 2 grooves to each one to hold the cross supports that the bottles attach to.

Those rectangle pieces were then attached to the frame with screws as shown above.

Next I cut some small beading to use as supports for the Milk cartons, making sure the cuts I made in the rectangles kept the supports supported but not so tightly that they were awkward to lift out.

Finally grab some milk cartons (I used either 4 pint or six pint ones) and cut around the carton just about where the label starts. You don't need deep holders if they are for seedling pots.

*TIP - put the lid on the carton before you cut it. This keeps the air in and makes it rigid for that first incision with the scissors - try to pierce it without the cap and it will just collapse*.

Once you have them cut just slot them onto the frame through the milk carton handle. Leave the lid on if you want but you can take the lid off to aid drainage too.

Now you're left with a load of bottoms to milk cartons so lets use em to make plant labels.
Cut down the middle of the leftover bases to the next mark that goes all the way round the container (would have been the bottom of the label) then turn and cut all the way round the circumference of the container so you end up with a large rectangle of plastic.
Finally cut slices off that plastic as wide as you require your labels to be and then cut points on one end od each and voila! Plastic plant labels for free.

I use these labels all the time and because they're free to make I don't worry about cleaning them when they're really bad, I just throw them away and make some more. You can stick them in a container of bleach though as they are easy enough to clean that way.

p.s. Once you've cut the side off the container to make your labels you are left with small pots made from the very bottom, I use these holding the labels or collecting seed etc. So even the bases can be used!







 



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