Of course you need to play with them a bit. MAN DOWN!

Now we need to remove their pedestals. Don’t be tempted to just snap them off, you will take their poor little toes with it. I used a pair of wire cutters, then filed down any points.

Next heat up a needle and stab him in the head with it.

Not only are you making something cool but you get to relive your tortured toy youth. Ah memories. . . Fun!!

Don’t allow the needle to cool off in there too much, you will have a hard time getting it out. Next you will need a piece of wire, folding it to create a hook to hang the army man from. This too will need to be heated up before torturing your toy. Shove the wire into his head and allow it to cool.

You can stop here and add leather or chain. But I just happened to have a can of Aluminum spray enamel

*insert evil laugh here*

Spray one side of your army man, dry, flip and repeat. Be sure to get his crotch and the top of his head.

They make great ornaments as well.

Be sure not to seal it until after you have gotten a temp reading. And remember that eggs need oxygen to hatch.

Katie from Matsutake

I have everything but the lamp and will be going to the thrift store tomorrow to search for one. Can’t wait to transform my own lamp. Am thinking of trying this on a table lamp too. The link to read the step by step and check out the rest of Katie’s blog is: http://go.tipjunkie.com/dc/1199/matsutakeblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/its-done-glampsformation.html

Here is Cody’s winning submission on trashiness! Some great ideas here!

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My trashiest moment required a little bit of ingenuity. I was touring with a comedic troupe doing small towns and colleges back in the fall of 2002. We were living hand to mouth. The tour would end just before Christmas. I’m from a family of 6, with our in-laws and extended family, that puts us around 13 people to buy for Christmas (we’ve since moved on to choosing names). I knew I wouldn’t be able to get a lot for my family for Christmas, but I did the best that I could that year. Suffice to say, people got some of the weirdest gifts from me that year. My oldest sister got a used bowling pin. We had a show in a bowling alley, and the dressing room was behind the alley and pins, so I took a pin with the owner’s permission. Another sister got a great garage sale find while we were in New Mexico. It was a sculpture of a foot that had a music box in it. She says it’s the best door stop she’s ever had. My brother got an ash tray that John Waters had ashed in, (he has no idea who John Waters is shamefully).

Everyone wanted postcards too. I couldn’t afford them, so I took the local attraction flyers at the hotel and collaged postcards for everyone. Everyone still has them to this day.

So those are some of my trashier moments. I think they were rather ingenious. Please enter me for your Back to Basics giveaway.

thanks,
Cody
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We built our chicken house about a year and a half ago.  We had to buy some new plywood and framing material, but most of it was built from leftover wood we had around and we used the neighbors old thrown away metal roofing.

We also used an old window that we took out of the pile we had fro the green house and the door off of our old manufactured home.

The inside we furnished with a rack of nest boxes made of plastic milk crates.  They are great.  The open bottoms allow the old hay to sift down and fall on the ground to be swept up, instead of keeping the poop and dust in with the eggs.

We also made the roosts out of fallen tree branches.  They are round, which allows the chickens to comfortably roost at night and we didn’t have to worry chemicals in the wood, etc.  Yes, they might rot faster than treated wood, but a walk up our mountain will give us a brand new supply.

You don’t have to build or buy fancy stuff for your chickens to use.   You can be a bit “trashy” and save some money

This picture does not do the mounds of grass justice.  Imagine this magnified 1000′x.

So, as I was raking, I’m thinking “What do I do with this?” I can’t feed it to the mini-horse (grass cuttings (cut small) are not good for her), but the chickens would like some.

Then, I’ll add some to the composter…

There is still tons left, and I don’t want to throw it over the bank, so… Remember the new beds I showed up, made with discarded bricks.  The weeds were starting to grow up through the center.  I had an idea!

I filled each hole as full as I could with the cut grass.  This will effectively kill the weeds and as it breaks down, I’ll fill the holes with composted manure and I can plant them next year.

The young fruit trees had been taken over by the grass and weeds growing around the base of them.  So, after weeding and cutting it back, I used the grass as a mulch.

Notice the dog in the background, that’s Bella, she’s a camera-hog!

Then, I started gathering up the grass to mulch along the fence rows, hopefully killing the grass growing through the fence, making it easier for hubby to mow and weed-eat.

I’ve done most of this over the last few days and still have probably 15 wheelbarrows or more of grass clippings to rake up.  Our next mower is gonna have  bag on it!

The sprayer got the wheel put back on and is working great. The shepherd hooks got the bent parts straightened out and are in use. The incubator we could find nothing wrong with. We left it plugged up overnight and the temp and humidity is where it should be so we are going to try placing eggs in and see what happens. The horse fly mask had a small tear in it. The sprinkler needed adjusting, the spray nozzle for the hose needed a gasket, the wash tub had a dent in it, the ladder had a dent that William fixed and the fence charger had been hooked up wrong and now works fine. The other stuff we haven’t checked out yet but will this evening. One Store’s trash makes this girl go trashy happy!

So, I walked around my house and opened doors trying to find something frugal and trashy to share with you.  I opened the glass cupboard and voila’ there it was in front of me.

A few weeks ago I had a couple munchkins here wanting to drink some juice. All I had was regular ceramic coffee cups or my Mexican Glass drinking glasses, which are heavy and hard to hold for little hands.  A few years ago, it was almost the opposite.  If someone wanted a grown-up beverage (like a glass of wine or a mixed drink), chances are I served it in a Tom and Jerry plastic glass or a sippy cup.  Gradually, as my kids grew up and moved past the “dropping” stage, I got rid of those.  So, I had nothing light-weight and manageable for the kids to drink out of.

I thought about going and buying some plastic glasses, but we don’t have a dollar store close by and reality is, I really didn’t want to spend the money. I am not working and I have to pay more attention to where my spare change goes.  I was mixing the calf milk when a light bulb went off over my head.  I am a saver of sorts.  I’m not a hoarder by any means, as a matter of fact, I’ve made it a goal to toss things out that I don’t need.  But, I had saved a couple of scoops from the lamb and calf milk replacers and they were out in the feed shed.

The kids seem to like the pictures on them and I don’t have to spend the money to buy safe drinking containers for little hands.  Of course, I did laugh when I noticed Lyndsey (who is 15 years old) drinking her iced tea out of one the other day! She wouldn’t let me get a picture, darn it!

To win, email a photo and brief description of your most inspired trashy moment to Girls gone Trashy.

It can be anything, from fencing to gifts.

All photos remain property of the original owner. However by sending them to us you give us permission to post them here on Girls gone Trashy.

If you have a blog, please send the link as well.

This contest will remain open until Friday June 3rd 2010