My Salvaged Treasures: March 2011

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Recycled Nozzles and a Chippy Old Drawer

This vintage drawer with its chippy green paint and glass knob was an antique store find from a few months ago. Yep, it sat around longer than it should have, but these things take time. At least this was too big to get lost in the back of my garage cabinets. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it, and then decided on making a shelf......

First, it needed something to freshen up the back. I got out my good ol' Mod Podge and attached the pages from some vintage sheet music.

I added a shelf just a little above center. I cut a piece of glass to fit, and then cut and stained a 1/4 round dowel piece to hold up the shelf. That little thingy on the shelf is one of the old rosettes I bought a few months ago. I glued a vintage rhinestone button in the center and put a little hook on back.

I attached some heavy duty hooks to each side of the back because it's a little heavy.

I just threw it in for display, but the picture on the shelf is me with my Christmas Kewpie doll. It's hard to see in the picture, but the stocking hanging on the mantel was made by my mom for my first Christmas. I still hang it from my chimney with care every year.

This is a mother of pearl button bouquet I made a few years ago; the little vase is a sterling salt shaker.

These old brass hose nozzles were a quick and easy repurposing project. I wrapped some wire (think it was 18g) around a 5/8" dowel two times to get the double circle for holding the picture. I removed the dowel, held the circle in place on top of the nozzle, bent the wire down on the nozzle, and wrapped it three more times around the top of the nozzle. Of course, I had to bling them out with some rhinestones. The old black and white pictures are from a flea market. No, that's not me in the diaper.

I'm linking up my repurposed projects with:

Brambleberry Cottage for Time Travel Thursday,

Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday,

French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday,

My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday,

My Repurposed Life for Catch as Catch Can

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Visions of Spring Repurposed Jewelry

We've been getting soaked with rain for weeks now, but it finally looks like we might get some sunshine and warmer temperatures for the next several days. Usually by late March or early April, I've made several trips to the nursery and color is popping up everywhere. I do have a couple of geraniums that are still hanging in there, but they're getting more water logged by the day. Unfortunately, there's not a hint of spring in my yard right now. So, I went picking through my jewelry stash for a spring fix and put these together....

Yes! Signs of spring direct from my jewelry stash. I'll take it anywhere I can find it, and at least these won't die.

Lots of springy pink. I added vintage pink earrings to the pocket watch and key.

The base on this necklace is a vintage belt buckle I found in an antique store a few weeks ago. It's blooming with vintage buttons and rhinestones.

brooches made with vintage jewels and keys

I'm pretending the blue earring is a little Forget-me-not. I wanted to try something different with the jeweled keys, so I used a pin with an attached bail. This way it can be worn as a necklace or pin.

Until we dry out long enough for the flowers to bloom, these pictures from last spring can remind me of what it should look like around here....

I hope your garden is blooming. Happy Spring.

I'm linking up with:

A Re-Purposed Life for Studio Sunday,

Pink Postcard for Transformations and Treasures,

Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays,

Type A Decorating for Anything Goes Party, and

Elements Interiors for Whassup Wednesday

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Repurposed Yardsticks

A few of the gazillion things I always have on my "focus list" when I'm out junking are vintage yardsticks, rulers, and old hooks. I usually wait until I have enough yardsticks to put together at least four of these boards, but I felt a surge of inspiration after reading the latest issue of Flea Market Style.

I used inexpensive 3 1/2 wide lumber as a base, rounded off the cut edges with some coarse sandpaper, and applied a light stain to take away the stark new look of the lumber. The smaller end pieces were cut first, then the larger pieces to fit in between. I applied wood glue to the board and set all the pieces in place. A few small finishing nails on the larger pieces was all it took to hold everything together.

I gave these old hooks several coats of matte acrylic sealer before attaching them to the boards. After drilling the holes and adding the hooks, I attached two sawtooth hangers to the back of each board.

I had about one minute to get these pictures before the sky opened up and soaked everything. I wanted to hang them inside, but it was just too dark. It was a shoot and run afternoon.

Remember Woolworth's? Whittier Hardware carried hardware, glass, plumbing, heating, and all kinds of utensils for the housewife. How convenient and thoughtful. But, you could "Save more at your Rasco store."

You can click here to see more of my yardstick hook boards from an earlier post.

I'm linking up my repurposed yardsticks with:

Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays,

Elements Interiors for Whassup Wednesday,

Brambleberry Cottage for Time Travel Thursday, and

My Repurposed Life for Catch as Catch Can

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Decorated Junking Finds

I've been going through my garage trying to sort out what needs to be decorated or repurposed, and what just needs to be priced. 'Tis the season for the street fairs to come out of hibernation, so I'm trying to catch up with all the ~~junk~~ treasures I've been hoarding. Most everything just needs a little cleaning or some glue here and there, but other things need a fresh new look....

First on my list was this old mailbox. I decorated it with some vintage lace, burlap, rhinestone bow, and a rhinestone button on top. The old key slides out to open up the inner box. No bills allowed!

Next project was to freshen up these old sign holders I picked up a few years ago in New York. I've actually been using them as signs in my booth. The original purpose, imagine that!

I gathered some scraps of sheet metal, gloves, tin snips, and cut two pieces to fit down inside the frames.

I thought they needed a little something else, so I sprayed the sheet metal with chalkboard paint. I glued on some simple decorations and added magnets to the vintage buttons.

These are some of the jars I picked up over the last couple of months. I bought the big clear jar in January for half price and it was full of vintage Christmas balls. I'm still thinking about what to fill it with.

I added a rhinestone button to the top of the little pink jar and filled it with pink and white buttons. The others are decorated with labels from The Graphics Fairy. I could spend hours going through all of Karen's gorgeous images.

I'm linking up my decorated junking find with:

Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday,

My Repurposed Life for Catch as Catch Can, and

The Answer is Chocolate for March Open House Link Party

Sunday, March 13, 2011

From Junk to Jewelry

I had jewelry in mind when I found these little beauties at an antique show last month. I'm using the keys in other projects, so I concentrated on the doorknob rosettes. I gave them all a good scrubbing and attacked them with several coats of matte acrylic sealer.

I think they look much happier all decked out in beads and rhinestones.

I used an old watch face in the center of this one and surrounded it with some rhinestones from an old necklace. You can see the no. 7035 stamped on the front.

I went through every piece of old jewelry I had trying to figure out what to put in the center (where the doorknob used to go). Nothing looked right until I tried the typewriter keys; they were a perfect fit.

What the heck are these?

I don't remember where or when I bought these handle thingies. They were victims of my "buy and stash" habit and ended up in that dark corner of a garage cabinet. I'm working on a better system to keep all these little things in sight until I figure out what to do with them. I am, really I am.

After removing the handles, I added the round black piece that was left over from a camera repurposing project. I surrounded it with rhinestones and then topped it off with an old button. The pin on the back has a bail attached so it can also be worn as a necklace.

I'm linking up my repurposed jewelry with:

Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday,

The T-shirt Diaries for Upcycled Awesome,

Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays,

Brambleberry Cottage for Time Travel Thursday, and

Elements Interiors for Whassup Wednesday

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Rhinestones and Rusty Treasures

Shiny and bright to rusty and crusty, I feel like I'm all over the place with my treasures this week. I went to three yard sales here in town and two antique shops about thirty minutes away. Not a huge junking weekend, but I'm happy.

I love the pretty and shiny stuff: postcards, rhinestones, lace, chain, buckle, cute little pink jar, a silver fabric rose. The rhinestones are from a yard sale and everything else is from an antique store.

I also love the very serious patina going on with these two trays from one of the yard sales. They've been well used and maybe a little abused, but they sure have character.

Then there's this beauty......

I'm going to go through my keys to see if I can find one that might work.

Look at all that ~~rust~~ patina. I'm seeing a strange face in this handle.

This is the antique tool box (trunk) I bought at an estate sale several weeks ago. It was in their garage buried under a pile of cardboard boxes; I didn't waste any time digging it out. I had left it at my mom's house, so when she brought it back to me it was like discovering it all over again.

It's full of little compartments and has a removable box that sits on top. I think of the hands that constructed it, the old tools it once stored, and all the places it's probably been. I washed it all down to get rid of the dirt and a few droppings from little visitors, but other than that I'm going to leave it alone. So much character.

I'm linking up my treasures with:

Brambleberry Cottage for Time Travel Thursday,

Colorado Lady for Vintage Thingie Thursday,

A La Carte for Junkin Finds Friday, and

Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday

Monday, March 7, 2011

Giveaway Winners

I want to show off this adorable necklace I won from Stefanie's giveaway at Rose Petals and Rust. You'll have to stop by her beautiful blog and also visit her Etsy shops. She just opened up a new shop, Buttercream Sparkles, where she sells her faux pastries that look good enough to eat. Stefanie had three of these sweet reversible necklaces she was giving away, and I was the lucky winner of this one...

I love it! Thank you Stefanie.

A big THANK YOU to everyone for taking the time to stop by and enter my giveaway. I was amazed at the response and truly appreciate all your wonderful comments.

The winner is: Wanda at Pumpkin the Scrapper. Wanda's blog is still under construction. Her interests are: scrapping, beading, crafting, interior design, and baking.

Chosen by the handy-dandy True Random Number Generator:

Congratulations Wanda

Thursday, March 3, 2011

1954 Work from Home Projects

I bought a tin full of sewing notions at our city wide yard sale last October, then put it away without even looking through it. A few days ago I was searching for something in a garage cabinet and was so surprised to rediscover the box. Out of sight, out of mind. I'm always putting little things away because I don't like clutter all over, but I need a better system. I wonder what else is lost in the darkness of those cabinets.

I sure got a kick out of this magazine from August, 1954. The WORKBASKET, Home and Needlecraft for Pleasure and Profit. Most of the advertising is for different ways to make some extra money working from home. A few extra dollars each week could make a huge difference in 1954. All these ads seem so funny, but it's really only the merchandise, not the idea of generating a little extra income.

She looks so proud of her new collar.

Who has a waist this size?

This made me think of the refrigerator/freezer in my first apartment. I finally defrosted the freezer when I couldn't dig out the ice cube tray. Where was the Presto-Matic Defroster sales team?

Pre-Beanie Babies? I hope this crafty lady made a fortune selling her

"Stuffies" idea.

Sell a few "exquisitely designed" cards under this "astonishing" plan, and

your new scale or percolator shows up at your door.

This one is my favorite. Mrs. Miles was so far ahead of her time with this innovative repurposing project. There's a big gross factor to this one, but I'm still impressed with her creative thinking.