Made, Found & Reimagined
You can never have to many crates in my opinion! They have so many uses! Stack ’em up and make a cubby shelf. Hang ’em on a wall for a unique storage shadow box. Use them to store unsightly stacks of papers and dog toys. Turn them upside down and use them as a coffee table or on the side to use as an end table. I have done all of the above in my house.
I love collecting bits and pieces that I can turn into wearable art. Whether it’s salvaged furniture hardware or discarded pieces leftover from other projects – I just put them in a box and save them until I’m inspired to make some jewelry. I find vintage keys and clock parts at flea markets and salvage yards. I also keep broken pieces of dated costume jewelry and throw them into the box as well. I consider my junk jewelry wearable pieces of art! Each one is a one-of-a-kind conversation piece!
Collecting vintage items is fun, but here is your friendly reminder to actually use the items you love so much. Use the fancy china for breakfast. Wear the vintage outfit that’s been stuffed in your closet. Everyday is a special occasion y’all! Just live with what you love and get rid of the rest (but let me go through it first lol)! Happy thrifting!
Old tins are something I will always scoop up at a flea market! I just love how they look with the fun colors and graphics. I like showing them off with dried flowers or using them to corral wooden spoons in the kitchen. Give an unexpected whimsical touch to a potted plant or a bouquet of flowers – the ideas are endless!
I had made one of these before and it’s not as easy as it looks because you have to remove the old rusty bolts that hold the wheels on. Once I was finally able to remove those, I cleaned it up and sprayed a sealer over the entire wagon. Then I cut two pieces of wood to fit snug within the frame. I love thinking of ways a forgotten piece can live on as something else. This would look so cute in a child’s room holding special treasures! This one sold, but I am always looking for more rusty wagons to transform.
This antique bed was beautiful, but had an old orangey finish to it. I was going to sand it all down, but that would have been quite the project. I had heard of using Easy Off oven cleaner to strip furniture down to the naked wood so I decided to give it a try. I sprayed it on the bed, let it sit for awhile, used a hose to rinse it off and then let it dry off in the sun. It was so easy! Pun intended! I think the natural wood is so beautiful and has a bohemian look to it. Needless to say, I will always have a bottle of Easy Off on hand! You guys should give it a try- it certainly saves a lot of elbow grease.
I don’t have any kids, but I had seen this Cozy Coupe makeover idea on Pinterest and when I spotted one at the flea market for a couple of bucks I thought I would give it a try! I took it apart, spray painted it to look like a VW bus and even made a little surfboard for it. So much better than the original red and yellow version don’t you think? A sweet little girl fell in love with it at The Chippy Hippie Market so now it has a new home.
This poor antique wardrobe had been discarded on the side of the road. The doors were broken off, the veneer was a mess and the shelf was missing. At first I was just going to snag the old casters off of it, but I flipped it right side up and after inspecting it for a couple of minutes I decided to shove it into my car and take it home. I scrapped the peeling veneer off, sanded it down, cleaned it all up and added a shelf and a burlap curtain. I have to be honest, this ended up being one of my favorite upcycle projects ever and it was a hard one to part with! I tried to put it in my own home, but just didn’t have the room for it. This project proves that you really can’t judge a book by it’s cover and I am so glad I decided to save it!
This vintage vanity had been sitting in a shed for many years before I rescued it. I knew the second I saw it that it was going to live as two end tables in its second life. I mean who actually uses a vanity these days? Plus this was an oddly designed one, in my opinion, as the counter area was really low to the ground. So I cut that part out, removed the veneer, patched areas with wood filler, sanded and cleaned before I used the Easy Off method on the drawers and then painted the top and outside with a sage green color. I love how it turned out and they sold almost immediately! Now I need to find another vanity to deconstruct!