Your examples of resourcefulness/improvisation
Me and others making some comments recently about wastefulness and being thrifty, and generally having a mindset for being resourceful, made me think of doing this thread.
Really I'd just be interested in reading examples of improvising and being resourceful from other folks.
I sometimes have to explain to others that I have a strong creative/artistic drive, but that it's not for a particular medium for it's own sake, but that it's more how I live life. So it's not just about being artistic, though it is often an excuse to sneak some artistry into it. And at any given time I'll have a drawer or two somewhere, or a big box, (if not a whole garage), dedicated for all those little odd things that others would normally throw away...and whenever I'm needing some little something but don't know yet what it is, I look here and often find something that does the trick instead of going out and buying a package of several something's for the job.
A fuzzy criteria (really fuzzy though) for what I'm after here is unconventionality. Meaning that just saving nuts and bolts for later isn't what I mean. For a better idea, these are some things I've done:
- Saw some wooden outdoor furniture on someone's curb being thrown away. Cape cod or Adirondack I believe (and white). Was obviously old, but not structurally bad. Put them in the trailer, took them home, added a wooden spool to the set for a table that I'd found somewhere else, painted them with some yellow paint I had, and set them way out in the middle of a long yard that I had at the time.
- Someone across the road replaced a couple of their privacy fence panels, and put the old ones on their curb. I carried one home, took it apart, cut the planks shorter and cut a point on one end of each, and using other boards from this panel made a foot-tall picket fence to close in a rectangular area next to the house and created a flowerbed there, and painted it green. Made another bed area with concrete bricks being thrown away by someone else as the border, half-buried into the ground on their side edge.
- Populated these flowerbeds with things other people removed and were throwing away, like a Yew shrub, a Forsythia shrub, etc, which absolutely flourished in their new home. Gave a neglected half-dead rose bush some love that was in the area, and it flourished as well. Found some kind of indoor decorative wire cage type of knick-knack and put it in a bed and placed an outdoor light in it.
- Didn't like the collars available at the store for my dog, so got some bit of chain (links about 1 inch wide) and made my own. Made him look as tough as he was.
- Found a resin frog figure meant for a table or garden (?) about 9 inches big, bright colors, with it's legs splayed out randomly. Affixed it to one side of my truck's hood facing backwards. Looking like he was holding on for dear life as I went down the road.
- A truck I got once, the cover on the steering wheel was coming apart. So I just tore it all off, exposing the metal ring. Then wound a rope of just the right diameter and grip texture round-and-round the ring, making my own steering wheel cover.
- Have had two vehicles the primer of which was coming off badly. Though in excellent shape, they were used and low-cost, so I didn't need a new paint job to cost as much as the vehicle nor to last 10 years. So I got some spray paint meant for an outdoor metal building, masked everything with tape and newspaper, and painted (only takes a few cans). In one case, while I was at it I decided to be 'different' - used a mottled copper penny look. It looked gorgeous. The other I made white...someone thought I'd got a new car.
- Seen some small ice plant type of succulent that puts out cool purple flowers growing somewhere as a weed. Dug it up and put it in a pot. Looks awesome.
- Make my own potting soil...for one component, I go to sites where they're building a new home or installing a swimming pool, and grab a chunk of that solid red clay stuff they dig up.
- When I first started a yardscaping business that I had once, instead of paying for advertising, I displaced a panhandler on a curb and danced around with a rake and straw hat and handed out colorful info pages I had printed out along with business cards.
- When I run across some bit of scrap pipe, I hacksaw it down and make windchimes.
- Found a floor lamp in a dumpster once. Was mostly in good shape. Cleaned and fixed it up, found just the right lampshade in a thrift store, and now I have a nice looking floor lamp mostly for free.
- Got about 5 little two-dollar thrift store clock radios, put them on the floor in various places about my place, stay set on the same station, and now I have real surround sound. Really, it's pretty good. Have fooled many people, talking about the quality of sound. You'd be surprised.
- Had to move once, had no furniture, no vehicle to transport any I'd buy, so I found a place close enough to work to just walk and learned how to use the city bus; Brought home select pieces of wood from pallets and 2x4's from work everyday that they always throw away, built various pieces of furniture at home, woodburned designs on them, sanded and oiled, and done. Made the place look awesome and one-of-a-kind. Even had offers to make a piece for a pretty high price tag.
- Warehouse cat at a job needed some attention and exercise, was so fat a customer thought it was a puppy. Made a swiss-army-knife cat toy out of a big cardboard box, spring from within a sprinkler head, pieces of pvc pipe, string, ping pong balls, a bell, mirror, holes in the sides of the box, one thing connected to the other so their movement affected each other, etc. Had several gadgets on it, a one-stop multi toy. He'd go crazy on it. And he was a hard nut to crack too, was hard to impress.
- Found one of those indoor square glass and metal light fixtures, put it outside on a pole and put a light in it for a yard lamp-post (with outside-safe cord).
- Once, for security where I was at the time, in the right doorway I hung 3 fishing lines with small fine fishhooks up and down each, for a burglar who wouldn't notice it until too late.
- Found myself living in an apartment (when I hate apartments). Craved that fireplace/chimney smell. So I made my own 'incense' contraption, fireplace/chimney flavor; Got a bag each of mesquite and hickory chips meant for grilling (works great on my grill too), a candle holder of the right size (height), bulk tea light candles, and one of those screen sink drain inserts. Place chips in the drain, drain on top of candle holder, trim tea light wick, and light. Smolders faint smoke lightly over a long time. Mmmm...
- Had a situation once where I needed to have several keys clipped to my person and ready. Some office telephone stuff was being thrown away somewhere. Got some of that spiral-springy phone cord, a ring on one end and clip on the other...works great.
- Had a recliner that fit me perfectly and did everything...rock, recline...but didn't swivel. A ratty chair on someone's curb being thrown away had a swivel on it, so I stopped and took the swivel off and took it home and put it on my recliner.
- A truck's heater broke, and until I could fix it I put de-icing in the washer fluid. Worked so good along with other strategies that I developed that I never fixed the heater, and went through 5 winters that way. Including one mountainous Kentucky winter. Believe it or not, Ripley.
Ok that's enough examples from me already. Just figured I'd get much of my stuff out there and out of the way in the beginning. So, whatch-y'all got?!
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Rick
Bookmarks