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I have 2 old metal swing sets. One is a bean trellis in the garden. The other is in the chicken run, supports a truss roof system for the flock's winter sunroom.

I extend the length of trellis in the garden by poking a piece of 10' electrical conduit into the hole at the top of the A on one end. The conduit then stays parallel to the ground, at same height as top of the A. The other end of the conduit passes through (2) 2 x 4's which are drilled at the top for the conduit to pass through. The bottom ends are buried in the soil. This gives me about 18' of trellis, and could easily be extended from other end as well.
 
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My chicken facility, such as it is. The coop in the left rear was purchased, ('cause I needed a coop quick & didn't have time to design & build one myself) for way too much money considering it's imported junk, but most everything else in the picture I either made myself or re-purposed. The "table" the coop sits on was made from cutoff lengths of P.T. 4x4s & a partial sheet of exterior plywood, all of which had been laying around here for years. The perimeter of the area under the coop is enclosed in 1/4" hwc (which I also had laying around from an earlier project), on three sides. The ramp is a length of old 2x8 & scrap 1x stock for cleats. The 4x16x6 run was originally one of seven dog kennels. I had to buy a roll each of 1x2 welded wire and hardware cloth for around the bottom...I was out of both...but the welded wire top was from a section of fence I'd taken down, and the tarp over it was salvaged from a portable garage that the wind had torn up years before (still have some of it left, actually). The welded wire fence around the attached chicken yard came, I believe, from the roll I'd bought for the bottom of the run; the chicken wire above it I bought new. The T-posts are some I had for years that have held up other fences, tomato plants, and stacks of firewood. It doesn't show, but there's a brand-new poultry net over the chicken yard, which I just bought. To the extreme right is another coop just like the first one. That's because I used the first as a pattern for the second, with a couple changes and upgraded material. It's in its own run, made of more reclaimed wire & T-posts, and used for young or injured stock, or extra roosters.
I've never tried to figure out how much I saved by re-purposing material I already had, but it was considerable, and I learned a lot so I won't make the same mistakes if I ever have to build more. It ain't pretty, but I've never heard a chicken complain.
 
NorthTexasWink said:
View attachment 1062343 View attachment 1062344 View attachment 1062345 On an appropriately patriotic note, here are some folk art flag decor pieces I made from yet more scrap wood and left over paints. Again, no set measurements, but proportion is important for these to look right. I've also used small star wood cutouts and numbers that you find at craft stores to make house number plaques, but all sold or given away. You can see another iteration in my profile pic.

The second photo shows the reuse of old cedar fencing that was being thrown out by folks in town when they were installing chain link. My kids and I actually made that particular piece the weekend after 9/11. We gave it to my dad for his birthday the following June and we all signed and dated it. He had it above his mantel for years and loved to brag about his grandkids making it. When my dad passed, I put it on my wall as a very special keepsake that my kids can squabble over when I'm gone.

ETA: its also important to start and end the stripes with RED! Otherwise, even in an inaccurate folk art piece they look wrong.
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LOVE this!!! I have one in my livingroom!! and we decided to salvage a 30 year old pool and I painted on that too! it makes sense for outback, every party in the summer is basically related to flags and our nation!
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