We had a foot of snow in Northern Wisconsin today. The problem with that is that it's May 2nd. What's up with that? Here's how I turned that trash to treasure: Built a Snowman
Poor snowgal. She lost an eye before I snapped the picture. It was snowing so hard, I couldn't keep the snowflakes off the lens. I took artsy photos of the snow.
My poor T2T yard decorations! I shoveled.
When you see treasure in the flea market trash, you start looking for treasures in the "life" trash too. The good news...it's supposed to get in the 70s in a few days and this will all be gone. For today, it provided a snow day for the kids, some artistic beauty, and some fun in the snow. That's the T2T life!
Normally, I feature What Would You Do with This? questions on Wednesdays. But this time, it's a friend emergency. My friend's thoughtful mother-in-law got her a lamp to replace one that she has been wanting to change out. I really do mean thoughtful, and not sarcastically. Her MIL found it at a thrift sale. I think it has a lot of charm, but it doesn't quite fit my friend's style. So, to honor her sweet MIL, my friend really wants to make this work in her home. She isn't sure yet what she would change about it, but she wants something changed. I will give you a whole bunch of shots of different angles of this hanging lamp, and maybe you can help me come up with something do with it. She's given me permission to do whatever it takes.
So, what would you do? Leaving it white is not an option. And the paint is built up to the point where I think I will have to strip it with a water-based stripper. Where there are chips in the paint, I can see some shiny silver-colored metal. It's pretty heavy, so I'm thinking maybe it's stainless steel? There is a close-up of the chain below. I think I will need to paint it or something, as the gold isn't very attractive. I could remove the power cord, but only if I have my husband unwire it from the lamp and I pull it out of the chain links.
There you go. Have at it! I can't wait to hear your ideas. And this isn't some hypothetical thing either. I'm going to be choosing an idea and carrying out the makeover.
Where I live in Northern Wisconsin, we haven't had a day where the temperatures have climbed to the 50s since sometime last year. Our winters can be long, and I leave snowman stuff out from November to the end of April. Yep. We get our use out of our winter decorations! My mom recently made me another snowman for my collection. She's inspired by the plethora of ideas on Pinterest. And, being a school cook she has access to a lot of empty tin cans. So, she created this snowman for me.
His arms are a little long, and they went off my photo, and I might shorten them just a little to make it easier to store him away...granted our snow does stop and summer arrives here up 'nort'. Here's the scoop on how she made him. She spray painted the cans with white. I suggest a rust-preventing type, especially if you store your decorations in a place where they encounter a little moisture. She glued them together. You can use hot glue, or if you plan to put it outside, try something like Gorilla glue, E-6000, or Liquid Nails.
She used buttons and hot glue for decoration and made a scarf and hat from scraps of felt. You could sew a hat, or if you have an aversion to needles flying across fabric too close to your fingers, you can make it from felt. The top of the hat is a circle glued to a tube of felt, with another Frisbee-like piece for the brim. You could also make a stocking hat by using an old wool sock tied at the top with a tassle added. Or, if you're even more into Trash to Treasure, cut off the arm of an old sweater, tie one end for the top of the hat, and you have a knit stocking hat. I didn't make a sample because, my husband wouldn't consent to having a sweater in his closet with only one arm.
If you don't have felt for the scarf, try a scrap of flannel and cut fringes on the ends. My dad got into the project by drilling holes for Mom in the sides where she wanted to glue stick arms. If you want to be able to store your snowman away during the summer, you could skip the glue and just "stick" [oh, I'm punny today] the arms into the holes. Then, you can remove them for storage. And if necessary, your snowman can get an arm transplant next winter if these arms don't work out. Now, there's a bonus. Now, you're probably wondering where you can get a nose. For the snowman, that is. I don't know a thing about human nose suppliers. My mom made the nose from Model Magic clay. You know, the stuff that's really light weight and dries quick? You'll find it usually with the kids craft supplies. She used paint to make the rosy cheeks.
For someone who doesn't consider herself all that crafty, don't you think Mom did a good job? And, thanks to our snowy weather, I don't feel compelled to put him away for spring yet.
Flea Market and Garage Sale season is coming. In fact, it has already arrived in many areas. I'm still buried in many inches of snow in the northwoods, and it will be a while before we get into sale season. No matter when your season begins, it's never too early to plan ahead. House of Harvest has a great post with tips for successful flea market and yard sale shopping. From planning ahead, to what to bring, to how to shop and bargain, this post has it all. Here's a photo of blog owner Lindsea on her blog. Can you see her in the flea market version of a Where's Waldo photo? Hint: she's that adorable thing right in the middle of the photo.
Where have you been Michelle? Why don't you post very much on your blog lately? Are you still around?
I'm about to answer the burning questions. Or the questions you never had. I had my first book come out recently and I've been working like crazy to get my website updated, some blog tours set up, and some marketing work done. The to-do list is so crazy and I'm at the computer all day. My crafty and decorating project ideas sit untapped on my Pinterest page. I do have some new project ideas that I will be sharing here soon. In the meantime, I'd like to introduce you to the object of my time-consumption: The Repurposed and Upcycled Life: When God Turns Trash to Treasure
Book Trailer
All of my trash to treasure decorating gave me the idea for the book. I'm a speaker for women's events, and I often use objects from everyday life for lessons. It occurred to me that decorating with repurposed objects and flea
market finds is more than an art—it also teaches valuable lessons about turning
unpleasant life experiences into character-building opportunities. I realized how we value
shabby chic decorations—flaws and all—so much more than we value ourselves and
our friends despite our imperfections.
There is so much emotional junk surrounding many of the women I meet, and I have a passion for helping them see that some of it just needs some upcyling and repurposing. See what I mean by those terms on my website where I have a guest post available for bloggers on my virtual tour.I've discovered that some of my most frustrating experiences have turned out to be all part of making me a stronger, more empathetic woman.
I'm still looking for a few bloggers to read my book and review it on their blogs and on Amazon. Interested? Send me an email requesting information on how to be part of the tour.
More information about the book and about my speaking is available at michellerayburn.com.
A T2T reader named Barb asks, "I snatched this wicker headboard from a trash pile...other than the obvious, does anyone have an idea what wonderfully clever thing I could do with this?"
What do you think? For WWYD Wednesday, let's address Barb's question.
A long time ago on What Would You Do Wednesday, I asked what you would do with the decanter jar I have. See the original post
I really wanted to get a Beta fish, but then wasn't sure if I could remember to feed it. But, wouldn't that have been cool on my dining table? The dear friend who gave me the jar gave me some flower sprigs at Christmas this year, and I knew it was time to do something with the jar.
I assembled my materials. I didn't have any regular or floral clay, but I had some old paper clay that need using, so I got that out. I decided to put an arrangement inside the jar so it would be easy to clean. The clay would help me get the flowers to stick. The paper clay wasn't ideal, since it didn't want to stay put int he bottom as I worked, but I flexed with what I had on hand.
Next, I pulled the stems apart. Gasp. I know, it seems like ruining it, but each type of material in a bunch is taped together at the base into one cluster. I pulled the cluster apart.
I used a kitchen spoon handle to push some clay in the bottom. Um, you can see the clutter on my table. Please excuse the mail.
I carefully inserted one cluster at a time, until they were all in there. I had to use a wooden spoon handle and some skewers to get everything poked where it looked best.
Then, I added some clear marbles that I also had on hand. These covered the clay. I know, you can't see much here. The picture doesn't do it justice at all.
Marbles. Some days, I'm losing mine, but this time, I think I came up with a pretty nice table arrangement.
Tried getting a good picture, but when you create something late at night, the lighting doesn't cooperate. You get the idea. Perhaps this angle is a better picture.
