Tool Time Tuesday...French Drain Organization

The word French sounds romantic...then the word drain, not so much. Just ruins it, but that's what they're called. What are they really used for? Well, they keep water away from the foundation of your home. A trench is dug, filled with gravel and the perforated pipe (French drain) is placed to carry water away from the area.

Hey, maybe I should put a French drain around my sewing room. Some of you already know my 86 year old, forgetful dad lives with us and has flooded the house 5 times and the last time was my whole sewing room...that's why my new sewing room is where it is now, out of harms way. I think. LOL Maybe I should also put up a fire wall around it too...the lady's voice from our smoke alarm system is all too familiar. I think he needs to stick to cooking in the microwave.

I digress...back to french drains.

This bookcase is in my sewing room. These canning jars are full of buttons. The shelves in the bookcase are permanent and can't be adjusted, so just look at all that wasted space above the jars.




Well, not any more...French Drain Storage at it's best!



This is a French drain pipe. 10 feet long and 4 inches in diameter. $5.41 each at Home Depot. (That store really should give me a gift card to the store so I can have a give away with it for all of you...seriously, how many times do I mention their name! I think I might contact them)

Here are the perforations for the water to enter the pipe. For me, they were the spots where I started to saw the pipe into sections.

Don't worry about 10 feet of pipe fitting in your car. The first piece went into my van no problem. Then we went back for another piece and it coiled up nicely in my husband's Jeep Liberty.

The first step is to measure the depth of your shelf. Mine was 11 1/2".

I cut the pipe a 1/2" shorter than the depth of the shelf...so 11 inches. Adjust to fit your shelf.

This is the perforated spot where you will start to saw.

It's a very soft plastic and cuts like butter or should I say buttah!!

The edges can be a little jagged, just use little wire snips to trim evenly.

Now just stack them up inside you bookcase or shelf. Hmmm...what to fill it with?

How about all your yarn that you have stored away in bags or baskets?

It's the perfect size for each skein.

They can also hold all your needles, except the ones you are carrying in your pvc knitting needle holders you made from last week's Tool Time. Click here if you haven't seen that project.

How about all your spray paint cans that we use in our crafting projects. All stored neatly away and easy to see the color on the cap. I also stored all the bottles of different glues that I uses.

Now, for my original reason to make more room...all those canning jars of buttons. This is a picture of all the canning jars that were on the shelf in the beginning. Look how much more room I have left over.

I've started to glue one of the buttons on the cap of the jar. Shows what's inside each jar.

Each pipe holds one large canning jar...just slides right into the pipe. Oh, wait...French drain, that sounds fancier!

Also holds 2 small canning jars. See that one way in the back of the pipe? That's the space saving part.

So, what will you put in your French drains?

• great for a pantry...stores all your cans of veggies or soups. All the same kind in one pipe. Just mark the top of the can with a marker, so you know what's in there.
• in a work shop for extension cords, wood supplies like long dowels.
• in the garage or basement to store sports equipment, like bats even plastic play bats.
• wine bottle storage
• the possibilities are endless...

Have fun with your French drains. Not the ones for the "outside" of your house...the ones for "inside" your house. Although if you have a dad like mine, you'll need them for "inside" your house, LOL!
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Have a wonderful Tuesday. Don't forget to join in on the Sew Darn Crafty Blog Party. There are so many wonderful projects from beginning to end. You can add as many projects as you'd like.

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~Karen~

Tool Time Tuesday...Knitting Needle Holder

Welcome to another edition of TTT...where we always think outside the box! This week's idea comes from the hardware store again! Where else, right? I think I'm in the hardware store more than the fabric or craft store.

I've used PVC pipe in the past for several other projects...quilt design frames, games and dog gates. Today's idea came to me when my youngest daughter Kelsie started knitting over her Christmas break from college. She taught herself how to knit one night while we were both on our laptops together. I was on the computer writing a blog post and she was on her computer watching a YouTube instructional video on how to knit. She was knitting away by the end of the night.

Once family knew she was knitting, the supplies started rolling in. So where to store all the knitting needles?...PVC pipe of course! The picture below shows the pipe needle holder and the black scarf that she started. Isn't her scarf so cute...her first one.



I used 3/4 inch pipe and 2 end caps. A 10 foot piece of pipe is $1.62 and end caps are only 32 cents each. The pipe cuts easily with a saw, but you can always ask the men at the hardware store, they'll cut any thing for you.

I cut my pipe about 18 inches long to fit the needles she has, so the pipe and the 2 end caps total about 98 cents!

The end caps just go onto the ends very easily.

Just fill the pipe with your needles...maybe all one size in one tube and label the outside.

Squeeze on the other cap and you're good to go...knitting that is!

Stores easily in your knitting basket without any chance of getting poked.

They do sell wider pipe if you want to store all your needles in one tube.

No matter what size pipe you use, this is a quick and easy project and cheap too.

Now if we can convince the pvc company to manufacture the pipe in fashion colors. Wait...if we do that, they'll raise the price, especially if they knew we were using it for something fun. Maybe we can just spray paint it.

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What does PVC actually stand for...poly vinyl chloride. Boring! Well, for me it means...pretty valuable crafts! Click here for the other pvc projects.

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Happy Tuesday and see you in the aisles of the hardware store,

~Karen~

Tool Time Tuesday...Washer Toss Game

or for this post how about Tool Time Tosser!
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Welcome to another edition of Tool Time Tuesday...where we always think outside the box and we usually do our thinking in the hardware store!! Thought I would switch it up a little for all the sewing projects I've posted lately.
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You all know I love my pvc pipes from past projects, but when I saw this game is the stores for $30.00 - $60.00, I almost fainted. I found this picture below online. It's a picture of a Washer Toss game. Oh my gosh, pvc pipe and washers in one...right up my alley. Love my washers too!






Here's how I made our Washer Toss game for about $6.00. (less if you don't buy as many washers as I did) You will need 2 pvc parts that already come in this size and you will need metal washers found in the hardware section. I wasn't sure how many washers each team needed, so I just bought 6 for each team. I spray painted 6 washers red and left the other 6 metal. These washers are about 30 cents a piece.

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You can find this section of the pvc pipe in the plumbing section. I think it was $1.30 each. You need 2. They are about 4 inches high...

and 5 inches across the diameter.

Now you will need two containers. The real game has 2 wooden boxes which you can make, or you can just find two of the same things around your house.

How about 2 Rubbermaid containers, like the ones I used below. The object of the game, as I've read online, is to have the containers 21 feet apart. Each team or player gets a set of washers. They each take turns throwing the washers into the box. If you get a washer in the box, it's one point. If you get it in the pvc cylinder, it's 3 points. The first team or player to reach 21 points wins. There maybe different rules for the game, so it's easy to check it out online under washer toss game rules.

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If you want it to be a permanent game, you can glue the pvc tube to the container with Gorilla Glue. Hot glue seemed to pop off this plastic container.

You can also use 2 cute wicker baskets. I think this is just adorable for family picnics.

When the game is over, you can store all the parts in the basket.

You can also use sturdy gift boxes.

This set would be great for the 4th of July!! Great colors.

Hope you get a chance to make a Washer Toss Game Set for yourself. It's great family fun for all ages. Wow, that sounded like an info-mercial. Sorry about that!

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Don't forget the Accuquilt Go Fabric Cutter give away I'm having!!! Read the details here!

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Have a fantastic Tuesday,

~Karen~

Tool Time Tuesday...PVC Dog Gate and Stair Baskets Too

This TTT isn't for everyone...but you could maybe configure it to fit your life in some way. There is also a bonus idea at the end that everyone can use!!
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This is Annie...our 10 year old yellow lab. She is a sweetheart and we love her to pieces.

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Tool Time Tuesday...Flexible Tubing

Happy Tuesday! It was very busy here last week. I thought I was going to post sooner about different things, but Tuesday pops up before you know it.
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I'm so happy to share this week's TTT with you though.
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See this package of plastic tubing below...well, I've had this in my Tool Time idea box forever. I found it in Home Depot (where else, right?) It was super cheap. I think $2.00 for this package of 7 feet. It is split flexible tubing found in the electrical section. It's used to bundle wires to keep them neat. That's the reason why I bought it, because this stuff is so expensive in Staples...$12.00-$15.00 for 6 feet.
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Here's a close up of the label. It's already split the length of the tubing and it's very easy to cut the desired length you need with regular scissors.
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This one is 1/2" diameter, but they do come in different sizes.
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and it's very easy to open up the split.
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Here's what I use it for...bundling all those crazy wires behind the computer.
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You can also slip it over the handle of shopping bags to keep the bags closed and it also makes it easier to carry without the handles digging into the palm of your hand...you know with the weight of all your purchases in there!
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Also works if you have 2-3 bags. Just slip all the handles in the tubing and all the bags stay together...

even when you put them down.

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These are the only 2 ideas I could think of for this tubing. It would still be in my idea box if it weren't for my new blogging friend Diana from Didiblog. Diana is from Spain and she emailed me a few days ago wanting to share her idea for bobbins that I think is just FABULOUS. It uses this plastic tubing, so she wanted to share it with me for Tool Time Tuesday. Isn't she so sweet for thinking of me. When I saw this idea all I could say was I LOVE IT!! I emailed her and she gave me permission to use all the pictures below from her blog.
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Look at this idea...it's the best. Just open up the slit in the tubing and slide the bobbins in. Keeps them from unraveling and they don't fall out...it's great for traveling to a class or to a retreat too.

Such a great way to keep them all together and organized.

Look how cute this box is!!

and look at this...It's a bobbin donut!

Her blog is in Spanish, but if I understood it correctly, these are CD's they covered to make this adorable holder. (Oh my gosh, I hope that's right) Love it so much!

Thank you very much Diana for letting me share this wonderful idea with everyone. This is just another reason why I love blogging!
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Please go visit Diana's blog Didiblog. Even though you may not understand Spanish, her blog is fantastic and the pictures are explanation enough. Such inspiration!

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Have a great Tuesday,

~Karen~