Making Do Monday- One Person's Creations

I know what you are thinking.

What does a screened house have to do with making do with what you have?

Ok, it was hot, the sun was blaring down upon us all, and I just couldn't take it anymore. I told the kids that I would set up the tent. You know what they did? They ran off to the park without me. Thankfully, I am pretty skilled at putting this little tent up and down quickly (thank you impending thunderstorms in the past). Eventually, I ran off to the park too to catch up with my kids. Remember the park? That's where we met Willie Bacon.

I still haven't gotten to the point have I? If you haven't figured it out, this tent is placed strategically near the garden and right beside our storage container. The storage container is a story for another day- you just don't want to know. Let's just say that it will involve a massive yard sale in the future.

Anyway, I deviate again. The whole point of the story is that my brother is the "king" of making do with what he has. He can rig up pretty much anything and it will work.

So what does Uncle Bubba do with a pile of wood and some old tin roofing that was discarded by someone he knows?

He builds a corn crib. What's a corn crib you say? It is a building built off of the ground with slats on the sides to allow air to circulate inside. After harvesting, corn is placed inside for storage. Read this article to find out more about corn cribs if I have totally confused you. My younger kids think this is their playhouse. Right now, the corn crib houses some ex-play props (two camels and a donkey) so I guess the younger kids think that it's a barn too.

Another building that was built by making do with materials that Uncle Bubba had lying around

We ended up taking the screened house down and using this little building for our "make shift" kitchen for the day. We had a nice little meal there of ham sandwiches and pretzels.

Do you see the extreme humor in this photo?

While making do with what he had, my brother built his cat a house. She was constantly having to contend with wild dogs, raccoons, and coyotes. They couldn't get inside this elevated kitty cottage. The funny part is that when his kitty disappeared, he repaired an old bird house and stuck it on top of the cat's cottage. If you think about it, it looks like a person would be trying to feed the cat automatically wouldn't it?

Once again, the moral of the story is, look around you. You may have some old wood or broken objects just lying around. Stand back and look at that pile of "junk" and get a new perspective on it. That pile of junk might can be turned into something very useful.