JUNK IN MY TRUNK

I HAVE JUNK IN MY TRUNK!  I WENT TO A FEW LOCAL GARAGE SALES THIS PAST WEEKEND & SCORED A FEW SWEET ITEMS.

IT WAS, POSSIBLY, MY MOST EXCITING PURCHASE TO DATE.  I CAME HOME WITH AN OLIVER #3 TYPEWRITER!  I MAY HAVE SPLURGES, BUT DID TALK THE OWNER DOWN FROM $50 TO $30.  CONSIDERING THAT I PAID $12.50 FOR MY ROYAL, THIS SEEMED LIKE A FAIR PRICE. 

I FOUND SOME USEFUL INFORMATION ON THE WEB, CLAIMING 150,00 OF THE #3'S WERE PRODUCED.  AROUND 300,000 OF THE #5/6 WERE MADE. 

WIKI

THERE IS A WEALTH OF INFORMATION AT THIS SITE:

TYPEWRITER MUSEUM

MY NEW-OLD TYPEWRITER FOUND A HOME, FAR OUT OF THE TODDLER'S REACH. 

COMPARING THE TWO, THE ROYAL ALMOST LOOKS MODERN!  I AM LOVE WITH OLIVER & THINK HE'S A SYMBOL OF SOPHISTICATION! NOW, THAT'S A GREAT WAY TO BREAK INTO THE GARAGE SALE SEASON!  

Wind chimes

I am in LOVE with old wind chimes. Bells of rust & whimsical shapes create yard decor from a different era. 

(forgive me for posting a picture with snow in the background!)

This rainbow one was found at a garage sale for only a few dollars.  It has the most lovely sound.  And it's sturdy enough for my 2 year old to reach & bang on!  The different shape & sized bells make for various tones.

This one is more elaborate & artistic.  It's kept in a porch, which makes for a nice corner accent. 

This resembles a shell.  It's the cutest thing, hanging on an old pump house.

Last year I obtained this heart for $7 at Antiques America (info).  It resides in my kitchen.  When a breeze comes through the window, it gently chimes.

Sensual Touch

Before you freak out at the title, settle down.  It's the name of my tulips!!!  I bet you checked my blog, just to see if I posted something risque!



I've been enjoying my tulips for weeks now.  I grow them in an ugly chicken wire fenced area to protect them from hungry deer & rabbits.  I refuse to risk any loses!

This purpose of this post is to encourage multiple vase displays.  These frilly tulips might look too "busy" in a vase all nestled together.  My goal lately has been to feature some old brown glass that was found in an old dump this spring.

There is such a contrast in feminine & frilly verses rustic & dark.  I'm especially fond of the old root beer barrels.  They fit well in the old muffin tin, which is multi functional!

Thanks for looking.  I hope this will help you get more creative in your flower displays!

RETRO BLUE

RESCUED-JUST IN TIME!!!  I HEARD THE SCRAP METAL MAN WAS COMING, BUT WAS ABLE TO RESCUE THE CUTEST OLD BIKE FROM A JUNK PILE.   OUR FRIENDS WERE KIND ENOUGH TO LET ME PULL THE OLD "BUTE" FROM A TANGLED MESS & PUT IT TO GOOD USE. 

                                        CAN YOU SPOT IT?

IT MIGHT LOOK LIKE AN EASY GRAB, BUT THE HANDLE WAS WEDGED BETWEEN HEAVY JUNK.  IT TOOK SOME DOING, BUT I WEASELED HER OUT OF THERE.

SINCE ONE WHEEL WAS UNBOLTED, I HAD TO CARRY IT!

                        
                       HERE IS A PICTURE OF MY GARDEN, BEFORE.

                                        THIS SHOT IS THE AFTER.

TOO CUTE, IN IT'S RETRO BLUE.  THE GRANNY STYLE FENDERS ...

                                      ...AND THE CHAIN GUARD

BUT WHAT TO DO WITH THE SEAT???  I HAVE TO THINK ON THAT ONE. HMMM.

MY NEXT TASK IS TO TRY & ACQUIRE THE WICKER BIKE BASKET I SOLD IN MY GARAGE SALE LAST YEAR!  STUPID STUPID STUPID.  I KNOW WHO HAS IT, AND SHE MIGHT BE WILLING TO RESELL.  OTHERWISE, I'LL BE SEEKING A WIRE BASKET TO PLANT IN.  YOU CAN EXPECT UPDATED PHOTOS IN THE FUTURE!

YOU CAN VIEW THIS POST & OTHER GREAT IDEAS ON SHOW & TELL FRIDAY AT MY ROMANTIC HOME

Rusty Alphabet

I had a good time this spring scavenging some old numbers & letters from our gravel pit. Our pit is what you'd call a "mini pit".  A few years ago, large amounts of scrap metal & junk were removed.  But they missed a few things, and now I'm depressed to even think of what they took.  This was before I took junking very seriously!

It's not a complete set, so using it for names & crafts will be limited.  These were hard to find in the dirt, since they are mostly brown.  But when I found the ones that were readable, it was like Christmas!  My two year old thought it was like a treasure hunt!

A few have temporarily found a home in my old muffin tin.  I just think odds & ends of junk looks too cool. 

COLOR SHOCK

Are you sick of my tulip posts yet???  If nothing else, this post will wake you up with COLOR SHOCK!

Black Parrot, Salvo, Lucky Strike, Kingsblood, White Triumphator, Estella Rynveld, Ballade, King's orange and more!

The old chippy chair was a MEGA score at a garage sale.  I felt so bad taking it for fifty cents, that I gave them a dollar!  Isn't it grand?  It has cute little claw style feet too.

The old coffee pot was from a dig, which I should be known for by now.  I'm a junker, with dirt in my fingernails & an up to date tetanus shot!

This pot of tulips is great, but my hubby sent 12 red roses to my work training location recently. It was our 12 year anniversary.  He brought me to tears!

I can't get over how GORGEOUS they are!  They even survived being carted around & the car ride home.

Fun: With A Freebie

Are you a freebie box digger???  Sometimes you see an item that speaks to you, or you feel sorry for.  At my mother-in-law's garage sale, I took things out of her GARBAGE that she didn't even deem worth of the FREE box!  Yikes, talk about two different perspectives! 

Here we have a somewhat tacky, glossy red basket.  But when a heap of pure white pansies are added, it becomes pleasant...likable...or downright cute!

I love pansies, and they can handle Minnesota's cool springs. They seem to grow great in containers & the garden alike.  But when the summer heat kicks in, they suffer.  Often the fall cool down will revive them.

I love to repurposed things.  You have nothing or very little invested.  If a project goes all wrong, you're out nothing but time!  I recently made good use of an old enamelware pail that was dug out of the woods.  I'm pretty sure it was meant to have snapdragons in it!

With both the basket & old bucket, I cut & added an appropriate sized piece of  landscape fabric for a liner.  That bucket has numerous rust holes underneath.  The soil would just wash right out of that basket, so lining your creative planters can be KEY!

Since we're talking cute old gardening stuff, let me throw this at you.  So far, in my opinion it's been the junker genious winner this year.  (in the garden category)

How cute is that????!!!!!  It was an International truck at a local garden center.  Unfortunately, I can't recall the business's name.  I think it was a hardware store that set up at various locations, this one being Pine City. 

Here is a planter that I did last year in a BIG flat old pail.  I got it at a garage sale for a few dollars.  Then I loaded it up with  Cuphea, Million Bells & Heliotrope for a patriotic scheme.

I have an old ladder that slowly is being swallowed by a Niobe Clematis.  It was loaded with blooms last year.

I hope you're inspired to get out and repurpose things for your garden.  You'll get compliments on being clever & best of all, impress yourself!

*This post is shared on Friend Friday at Trash to Treasure

Repurposed moss planter

I've been trying to utilize my Iowa junk discoveries from last month.  This project is hard to describe, because I'm not sure what it originally was!  I'm guessing a hay feeder, but please post a comment if I'm wrong! 

The first step was to line the inside with some old white wire garden fencing.  I think it softens the look of the chunky old metal.  It will also hold in the moss & dirt better!

At the local greenhouse, I bought a 3 foot x 3 foot piece of moss basket liner.  It cost about $6.50, so I was careful to make a template out of plastic.  I didn't want to cut it wrong & have to buy more!

Then it was put in, trimmed, filled with good potting soil.  I planted an Asparagus Fern, Red Spike & Wandering Jew. It's a heavy old piece, so it will have to be a ground planter. 

Thanks for looking.  I hope I've inspired you to "get junky" in your garden!  This post is listed on a Friend Friday link, please check out the other entries at . . .Trash to Treasure Decorating

TULIPS-finally

I'VE BEEN WAITING *FOR-EV-ER* FOR MY TULIPS TO BLOOM.  IT WAS THE LONGEST WINTER & SPRING HAS BEEN TAKING IT'S SWEET OLD TIME COMING!  SO NOW, I CAN QUIT WISHING MY HUSBAND WOULD BUY ME FLOWERS (LIKE THAT'D EVER HAPPEN!) & CUT SOME MYSELF!!

THESE ARE CALLED "QUEBEC" & THEY ARE ALWAYS THE FIRST TO OPEN IN MY TULIP BED.  THEY ARE LONG LIVED IN THE GARDEN, SO THEY ARE VERY PERENNIAL.

I HUNG AN OLD KEY (FAKE) FROM MY WIRED EDGE CORDUROY RIBBON.  I LOVE A GOOD CHUNKY BOW.  THE MINI PITCHER, A SMALLER VERSION OF WHAT MY GRANDMA HELEN HAD, MADE THE IDEAL VASE!  IT HAS A STAR ON THE VERY BOTTOM. 

YOU CAN EXPECT TO SEE MORE TULIPS POSTS IN THE FUTURE, BUT I'LL TRY AND BREAK THEM UP A BIT.  ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND.

DECORATIVE EGGS

I JUST LOVE THE EGGS ON THIS BLOGS HEADER.
http://myeverydaythings.blogspot.com/

THEY ARE SO BEAUTIFUL.  QUAIL EGGS?  THEY LOOK REAL, ONE HAS A CRACK.  MY NEW MISSION WAS TO MAKE SOME EGGS THAT WERE SIMILAR.  I'VE HAD 3 WOODEN ONES THAT I PURCHASED A FEW MONTHS AGO. 

I STARTED BY MIXING ACRYLIC PAINT UNTIL THE DESIRED NEUTRAL BROWNISH GREEN EVOLVED.

I HAD TO PAINT THEM, LET A SIDE DRY, PAINT MORE, LET IT DRY.  IT WAS A BIT OF A PAIN. 
THEY NEXT STEP WAS SOOOO MESSY!  I WAS A FOOL NOT TO DO IT OUTSIDE- RIGHT AWAY!  I GOT PAINT ON MY FLOOR, SHIRT, COUNTER TOP.  WHAT I DID WAS FLICK THE PAINT BRUSH DOWN AT THE EGGS IN A BROWN BAG.

I WAS PLEASED WITH THE RESULTS, BUT WISH THERE WAS MORE SPECKLE & LESS SPLATTER.  YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN?

THE RESULTS:

THEY WERE PLACED ON SOME FLORAL MOSS.  IF I WERE TO DO IT AGAIN, I'D SEEK OUT SMALLER EGGS.  I'M SURE YOU CAN BUY CUTE LITTLE EGGS SOMEWHERE, BUT FOR ME IT'S WAY MORE FUN TO GET CRAFTY.