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Friday Favorite: Making Do

December 7th, 2012

There’s nothing I love more than finding a new use for an old item. When we were in Ohio last week, I harvested the remaining sage from my giant sage bush. I wanted to hang it above the wood stove so the warm dry heat would dry it quickly.

Just as I was about to head up the garage to find my hammer and a few nails to put in the beam above the stove, I noticed the old deer racks hanging there. These were left for us by the previous owners, admittedly they need a good dusting, which I hope to do this weekend.

They worked quite nicely to hang my herbs from. Instead of hanging lower from the beam, they’re now hanging up out of the way above the stove. In this climate they’ll dry quickly and be ready for seasoning delicious winter soups and stews! Lucky for me the lodge look is in, next thing you know they’ll be selling antler herb drying racks at Pottery Barn!

Have you found any great new uses for old items recently?

6 Comments to “Friday Favorite: Making Do”
  1. whit on December 7, 2012 at 10:31 am

    hat’s funny! I love it! I just did this with cayenne peppers we grew in our greenhouse. The former owner of our place had hooks in the mantel above the woodstove in the living room spaced for what looks like garlands. I just hung a bunch of peppers from them, which made me think of the Christmas decorations on my youth in AZ.

    With regard to making do, we’ve done that a lot with year, with two houses on the books. With all the cold days we’ve had, our wood rack by the back door wasn’t holding but a days worth of wood, which is our main source of heat. My Moose built a larger rack out of some old 2×4 and some fallen tree branches from our ice storms last year. Holds 4 days worth of wood, plus has rustic charm.

    Glad you all made it back safely! Happy holidays!

    Reply to whit's comment

  2. Donna B. on December 7, 2012 at 11:42 am

    Now I know what to get when I get a wood burning stove!!!
    Deer Antler Herb Drying Rack! :D
    I love repurposing items for the greater good… it definitely keeps items from just going straight into the landfill~ Wonderful! ♥

    Reply to Donna B.'s comment

  3. Maybelline on December 7, 2012 at 11:44 am

    Because it’s dusty where I live, I cover my drying items with paper bags.

    Reply to Maybelline's comment

  4. Yolanda on December 7, 2012 at 12:20 pm

    Brilliant!

    Reply to Yolanda's comment

  5. KimP on December 7, 2012 at 7:17 pm

    That’s hilarious! My girls washed an extra load of wash before the previous load had completely dried so I told them to find somewhere to hang the extra load – I was going to bed. The next morning I got up to find elk & deer horns in our front room had become the new drying racks! Ah well – at least we didn’t have company to show off our newly dried underclothes to! :D

    Reply to KimP's comment

  6. Five Monkeys and a Chick on December 7, 2012 at 8:46 pm

    MUST FIND ANTLERS! So clever!

    Reply to Five Monkeys and a Chick's comment

About

This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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