Turning old videotapes into decorative doorstops
Remember those good old days of videotapes? We were all fond of them once, but when the manufacturers stopped making video players, we are left with a whole collection of useless tapes. So what can we do with them besides chucking them in the bin and sending them off to landfill?
I refused to just throw my small collection away and insisted on keeping them in the drawers, gathering dust for years. I do that a lot with most of my stuff: used envelops, boxes, bubblewrap, extra cloth material; you name it. But until I come across a useful task for them, they remain a clutter in the the corner. However, we recently moved into our windy new place on the hill, and I realised that we need some doorstops due to the strong wind.
The previous tenant has left behind one rubber doorstop but it only fits under one door, because every single door in the house has a different gap from the floor. That means it is quite impossible to find any doorstop in the shops that fit them all. Then I saw a sandbag doorstop in a shop which gave me an idea!
I ran back to my mum's and dug out all my old videotapes, just take about 5 to 8 of them and wrap them up in some used bubblewrap. I then cut an unused bolster case (because we don't have a bolster but the case came with the bedlinen set anyway; it's common in Asia) and made it into 3 bags to contain the tape bundles. And voilá - new doorstops!
I have not only avoided spending unnecessary money on new doorstops (by the way that sandbag doorstop costs RM75 which is about £14, imagine buying 3 of them!), but have also cleared up some clutter by making full use of the unwanted videotapes, unwanted bolster case, and old bubblewrap. These pretty little numbers are also easy to maintain because the bags are 100% removable and washable.
It was a great therapeutic eco-exercise, which I will definitely do again if I ever need more doorstops. But of course, all the material used will have to be pre-existing and not newly bought.
Listen: the doors stopped slamming :)
I refused to just throw my small collection away and insisted on keeping them in the drawers, gathering dust for years. I do that a lot with most of my stuff: used envelops, boxes, bubblewrap, extra cloth material; you name it. But until I come across a useful task for them, they remain a clutter in the the corner. However, we recently moved into our windy new place on the hill, and I realised that we need some doorstops due to the strong wind.
The previous tenant has left behind one rubber doorstop but it only fits under one door, because every single door in the house has a different gap from the floor. That means it is quite impossible to find any doorstop in the shops that fit them all. Then I saw a sandbag doorstop in a shop which gave me an idea!
I ran back to my mum's and dug out all my old videotapes, just take about 5 to 8 of them and wrap them up in some used bubblewrap. I then cut an unused bolster case (because we don't have a bolster but the case came with the bedlinen set anyway; it's common in Asia) and made it into 3 bags to contain the tape bundles. And voilá - new doorstops!
I have not only avoided spending unnecessary money on new doorstops (by the way that sandbag doorstop costs RM75 which is about £14, imagine buying 3 of them!), but have also cleared up some clutter by making full use of the unwanted videotapes, unwanted bolster case, and old bubblewrap. These pretty little numbers are also easy to maintain because the bags are 100% removable and washable.
It was a great therapeutic eco-exercise, which I will definitely do again if I ever need more doorstops. But of course, all the material used will have to be pre-existing and not newly bought.
Listen: the doors stopped slamming :)
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