the ReFab Diaries

Time to send Making Garbage Great to a new home! As always, I used a randomizer to pick the winner and it chose entry #406 - that's Samm K. 

Samm, congrats! Expect an email from me later today to get your shipping details. Thanks to everyone who entered for your interest and thanks to Terracycle for the great giveaway!

Here's to wasting less :) 

A few months ago, the Evanston Rebuilding Warehouse posted the pic below on Facebook. The message: everything you see here is free! Great for artists - come and take it! 

A few days ago I was contacted by Holly from Chairish, inviting me to participate in a style challenge. I'm no designer. But I'm usually game for things like this and I do love Chairish, so I accepted. 

Once upon a time ... a friend and I ran a little business called Rebooked. It involved a LOT of work for very little return, but we were unemployed... we had nothing but time. And we learned a lot about upcycling old books! So much, in fact, that I've enjoyed working with them ever since. When we set out to make book clocks (2004), there were no online tutorials to be found. So there was a lot of trial and error (and swearing) involved. The first ones were so much work, I still have one on the wall (above) as a reminder. Today, it's pretty easy to find really good instructions from lots of talented people. Keep reading for my instructions, and a list of my favorite tutorials. 

If you're a regular reader (thank you!), then you know I moved in February this year. It was a significant move, from a one-bedroom basement space to a two-bedroom apartments for rent in alexandria va on the third floor. So, I acquired a LOT more space overnight. Including a room for Ms R, when she stays over. It's taking me a long time to make all this new space feel like home. In part because I don't have the money to "just furnish" it all. And, more to the point, that's not how I function. 

Ms R's room has taken an especially long time to come together because I knew what she wanted, but it took time to find it. It's now complete thanks to a $12 sheet from the 1970s! 

Confession: the whole pallet fad left me cold. In part because pallet wood (when you can get it) is mostly terrible wood. I mean TERRIBLE. So I avoided that particular bandwagon. Until I found this one, left in my alley (the provider of all things). This pallet was almost brand new. And made of solid, beautiful, mostly smooth pine. So this pallet came inside with me ... and the movers got to move it for me. And then I went to work and turned it into a workbench organizer.