Give your Garbageman a Break!

Hold it! Don’t throw away that styrofoam coffee cup. If you save enough of them you can make a lamp that is nice to look at, cheap, and easy to dispose of when moving. What you need are 250 cups of the same size--they can be either the larger or smaller ones; however, the smaller cups are easier to collect. You also need Elmer’s glue and some clothespins.

Glue the cups together (as shown in diagram), using the clothespins to hold the parts together until they are dry. A sphere will evolve after you have glued together about 250 cups. With a plain hanging bulb in the center you have a simple but nice idea in lighting.

Hang onto your old mattresses, too. Especially if you need a new sofa or chair. It doesn’t matter what size the mattress is; however, if you want a sofa, use a double-size mattress or larger. Choose a fabric that you would like to have this sofa covered with and make a bag that fits the mattress. It would be a good idea to sew a zipper in one end to facilitate removal for washing.

Make two canvas panels, as illustrated. These must be as wide as your mattress is thick. Make two grommets on the one end and then sew the panels to the end of the bag that covers the mattress. Fold this end over to the middle of the mattress (this is the seat). Bring the other end of the mattress up at right angles to the seat, then fold it in half. To fasten this you’ll need to make a canvas sling that is as long as the mattress is wide and that corresponds in width to the panels you have made. Place two grommets on either end. Put a heavy-duty spiral keyring in each of the eight grommets. You’ll need four lengths of nylon cord or rope. With these attach the sling to the panels on both sides.

These ideas aren’t original with me but I thought they were worth passing on. They come from a book titled Nomadic Furniture, by James Hennessey and Victor Papanek (Pantheon Books, NY, 1973). It’s a good resource. We’re a nomadic people, this book contends, and who can dispute that? It proceeds to show furniture that you can buy or make that suits this lifestyle. These pieces of furniture are comfortable, functional, well- designed, while at the same time lightweight and easily disassembled.

Nightmares from our latest move make these ideas quite appealing to me.

Etta L. Worthington was on the editorial staff at the Post American when this article appeared.