Recycled VHS Tape Project

I had considered writing an short paragraph explaining the reasons why I haven't kept this site updated. In truth - life just keeps getting in the way...which is kind of why I'm writing this now.

We become so caught up with our day to day dealings that we miss out on simple solutions to growing problems. In the words of Tyler Durden "Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need"...

...and as always, we are throwing away stuff we could 100% reuse.

Case in point. 
Myself and my wife popped a message on Facebook recently, asking if anyone wanted some kids shows that we had on VHS. Yes..we still have a VHS player (amongst a growing variety of other formats and machines that are slowly invading our house....see above T.Durden quote!) but our son has outgrown all of these shows, and they could easily go off to a new home but sadly, not a single person had any interest. "Why not give them to a charity shop?" some said...well guess what? We tried and even they didn't want them.

So, what do we do? Bring them to the recycling centre? 
They are just bits of plastic after all. Aren't they? It's not like we should imagine a kind of bond with them solely based on the fact that our son learnt about the 4 Seasons from Barney or about Friendship and Honesty from Thomas the Tank Engine or how to count with 'The Count' from Sesame Street. They are just tapes aren't they?

(Damn you Toy Story...you have a lot to answer for when it comes to anthropomorphizing inanimate objects!)

So what alternatives are there? Surprisingly...loads.

How about.....

                                                     An Umbrella Stand

                                                        A Pencil Case

                                                   Gift Decorations

                                                           Shelves

                                                        Photo Frames

                                 For the DIY enthusiast there's a Foosball Table

                               but most of us just want somewhere to hang our keys.

Look...the list is endless. Don't believe me? Have a look here

I'm not saying that you should keep everything and have a cluttered house. We all need to do a Spring Clean and check what we have and what we need but just because it's not useful to us - doesn't mean it's not useful to someone else.

In that spirit, I'll do my best to keep this site going. I might have outgrown it myself - but that's no reason to throw it away!

Cable Storage Project

Image: Our Thrifty Ideas

People who set goals for the new year are no way happier than people who don't set goals for the new year. In fact, I'd go as far to say that they are probably less happier than the people who don't set any goals at all.

Lets look at it this way.

Most people who make new years resolutions are looking to either lose weight, exercise more, sort out their financial debt, have a more rewarding job, eat more healthy foods, smoke less cigarettes (or possibly quit), stop procrastinating, be more active, get things done, stress less about smaller things or simply...make more time for themselves to enjoy those smaller (and possibly do bigger) things.

At least 50% of us will fail and in a way, we set ourselves up to fail. The first time we break the resolution we feel weak and therefore feel like a failure. The trick is to fail but not give up entirely.

Ikea Rast Cabinet Hack Project

Image: Patent Pending Projects

Most of us know that IKEA is a great place for furniture that is easy to assemble, it's affordable and it can fit a lot of shapes and spaces but there is a community of people who take it one step further.  IKEA hackers use incredibly simple ideas to modify, repurpose and customize IKEA furniture and give it a personal twist to turn a mass produced item into something that's one of a kind.

Upcycled Door Project

Image: Babble

When one door closes, another one opens.
Or you can just open the closed door... that's how doors tend to work.

Or is it?

Superhero Project

Image: IGN

The world is full of superheroes.

Well, superhero movies.

Hollywood has spent the best part of three decades perfecting the 'Superhero Franchise' and with successful movies like X-Men, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Avengers and the soon to be released The Dark Knight Rises, Amazing Spiderman and rebooted Superman, (along with sequels to all those aforementioned movies) there seems to be no hint of slowing down.

They've hit on a successful formula, which simply put, is this. The good guy always wins.

In that case, if you can't beat them - join them.