Making it Do

I missed posting this yesterday on Frugal Friday because I was busy sewing my Valentine's Day skirt. It's almost done and looking very nice. Then last night TopDad took me out to dinner and a movie for my Valentine's gift. We had a great time.

Here are three examples from my home of "making it do":

First, my new skirt; I took the Seamless Pledge so I didn't want to purchase anything; when I got to the zipper I checked my stash and found that this was the closest I could get to "match" in the right size. I put it in and you can see that the color isn't an issue from the right side, so I was able to make do.

Second and third are in my kitchen, the place where I have to do the most "making do."

This is the extent of counter space in the entire kitchen, all 19 3/4 inches to the right of the sink.

By adding a piece of 1/4" plywood, I create a temporary counter over the sink so I have more room to prepare food.

On the other side of the kitchen I use two methods to improve efficiency.

I use our chest freezer as a counter, not only for extra appliances (they are stored elsewhere), but as a prep counter when cooking at the stove. There are only three electrical outlets in the kitchen, one for the stove, one for the fridge, and one by the sink. I use an extension cord from behind the stove, looped over the oven handle for my extra appliances, such as fry pan, griddle, crock pot, and popcorn popper.

The lid to my electric frypan got knocked off a counter resulting in a broken handle; I asked Eagle Scout  Elder PW, to make me a new one. This is the result of his effort, which has worked great for the past four years. All that whittling at scout camp paid off and he shaped this fabulous handle for me.

The old saying "Necessity is the mother of invention" can be seen all over our home. We just don't have money available to buy new, replace old, and remodel to suit, at the time we think we need or want it. Making do is a way to postpone a purchase until something is well and truly used up, non-functioning, or otherwise unavailable.

What clever "make do's" do you have in your home?