Old Crate and Candle Wall Sconce

I found many great items at yard sales on Saturday, but this vintage crate is my favorite!  I found it at the last yard sale of the day and it was only $2.  The man I bought it from said that his family told him to just throw it away, but he thought someone would want it.  Well, I am glad he saved it and glad I found it!

There are so many uses for these lovely, old crates. I think I will use this one under my coffee table to hold some books and magazines. Click here to see the other large crate that I made into a side table.

The really unique thing about this old crate is that it folds up!

I love the weathered wood, rusty hinges and worn, stamped lettering.

 I also found this vintage, brass wall sconce with a French bow on top.

I primered it first and then painted it at the same time as the chalkboard frames.  I painted it aqua, applied a glaze, and finished it with my favorite accent, Gold Rub 'N Buff.

I love painting old, brass candle holders and lamps because it changes the look so much.

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Plant Stand + Pizza Stone = Cute Side Table

I was outside looking through my own pile of rubbish the other day when I suddenly got an idea.  I saw my old pizza stone and a plant stand and I thought they would make a perfect little table if I attached the stone to the top of the plant stand.  

Pizza Stone

Plant Stand

After painting them both a pale green, I attached the pizza stone to the top of the plant stand with E6000 glue.  Then, I traced the top of the table onto a pretty piece of paper from the art supply store.

I cut out the paper and decoupaged it onto the top with Mod Podge.  When it dried, I gave it two more coats of Mod Podge to seal and protect the surface.

I painted the entire thing with a coat of light brown glaze and rubbed it off with a rag to give it an aged look.

I love the birds, fancy scripts and stamps on this pretty paper.

This was such an inexpensive, easy project and I am happy that I was able to reuse two things I did not want anymore to make it.

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Yard Sale Treasures

I love yard sales!  I have to admit that I was a late bloomer when it came to appreciating them.  My dad used to go every weekend, when I was in high school and I rarely went with him.  I thought it was embarrassing to dig through other people's crap while they stood around and watched.  Well, as an adult, I caught yard sale fever and there is nothing I would rather do on weekends than scour through piles of other people's crap!  I never know what treasures await!  Besides, where else can you pay no sales tax and buy something for a quarter nowadays?

On Saturday, Mr. Rubbish and I headed out to enjoy the sunny morning yard saling with a budget of $20.  I am a pretty cheap date!

I found these exquisite tags and cards - a whole pack for $1! 

Won't they make darling price tags for my more expensive items in the shop?

This heavy metal urn was also only $1!

My beautiful, heavy cherub knocker with a broken arm 

(hopefully fixable with a little gorilla glue) - also $1!

My favorite find of the weekend: a vintage (almost antique) office chair from 1923 for only $8!  Do you remember  this office chair I painted and sold at the shop a while back? This chair is similar, but smaller, older and armless.  This is a really bad photo, but the original finish is actually in great condition with a nice patina.  I may just leave it as is and keep it for our home!  Mr Rubbish calls this one "his" chair because he loves it and he spotted it first.

The metal base says 1923.

My other favorite find of the weekend is this vintage, wire, laundry basket that we picked up for $3!  I am really excited about working on this one!  I want to paint it creamy white and make a grain sack-esque liner for it that ties on the sides.  Can you picture it?

(I also got the petite cream and sugar set in the picture for 50 cents apiece).

On Sunday, my five dollars was burning a hole in my pocket, so I went out by myself and picked up a few more small treasures.

I found this old, rusty lantern for my collection.  I am collecting different, little, industrial style lanterns to use for eclectic lighting on my deck this summer.  This one fits in perfectly!  I bought the pretty blue bottle on Saturday for a quarter.

Last, but not least, is this gorgeous crewel fabric in the loveliest shade of pale aqua with white embroidery!  Look at the beautiful bird!  This fabric will make some very pretty pillows.

Stenciled Galvanized Bucket

I had a couple of old, galvanized buckets lying around and I have been wanting to make them over for a while.  My house number is five and I put this bucket on my front porch.  I originally had planned to stencil this one and put a mini pine tree in it to add some decoration to my porch for Christmas.  Unfortunately, I just never got to it in time for Christmas.

I started by cleaning up this old, galvanized metal bucket.

   

I love these little boxwood, topiary trees and their little pots, but they were badly root bound and in need of a transplant.  I transplanted one of them into a large plastic liner and put it inside the galvanized bucket.  I covered the top with moss to hide the liner.  

I already had the wreath stencil that I made for this project.  I just cut out a new stencil for the No. 5. 

The tree might be a little small for this bucket, but it will grow and I can always switch it out because it is not planted directly in the bucket.

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Paris Junk Box

I found a sturdy, large box, about double the size of a shoe box, at an estate sale for 50 cents.  I am always looking for additional creative storage solutions for my tiny house and this box is a perfect addition.

I printed tons of black and white clipart from The Graphics Fairy and got ready to decoupage! There are so many amazing graphics to choose from on this site, but I settled on all black and white because I do not own a color printer.  I printed old, French postcards, scripts and embellishments on creamy card stock and vintage book pages.

This is what I started with - an ugly, but sturdy Christmas box.

I printed some of the labels on my vintage book pages.

I painted the backside of all the pages with Modge Podge and then pressed them onto the box to make a collage.  I finished by painting a thin coat of Modge Podge over the entire surface to protect it.

 

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