All posts filed under “collect”

March 22, 2012
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Upcycling – Gran’s candle stick and plate become Heidi’s cupcake stand

If you play around on Pinterest (especially in the the DIY and crafty areas) you would most certainly have stumbled across the use of old plates or pie tins and candle sticks to make a cupcake stand.

Let’s face it, we all have old plates and candle sticks ‘floating’ around the house, that we NEVER use! And if you are lucky enough not to, take yourself down to your local thrift shop and you can probably pick some up for under $5 (or knock on your neighbours door and ask them to donate some of their ‘floaters’ to you!)

Ingenious was my first impression. You’ve probably noticed I get over-the-top-excited about a old upcycling project… So much so that I wanted to give it a go myself.

The two things I love about upcycling…

November 7, 2011
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From garbage to gorgeous – transforming a three panel screen

I stumbled across this rattan screen about 4 years ago. It was 7.30am, I was driving to work… my attention was drawn to a skip sitting outside a house in our street. Sticking out the top of the skip was a small portion of this rattan screen/room divider – It looked promising! So much so, if stopping to check it out meant I was late to work, it was a risk I was willing to take.

With years of experience under my belt, I would call myself a seasoned collector of junk from the footpath or skips. Even with that label clearly tattooed to my forehead it doesn’t make me feel any more comfortable about fossicking through other people’s junk. This morning was particularly awkward with a spectator sitting on the front porch of the house next door… monitoring my swift stop, reverse, park, inspect, grab and squeeze!

February 25, 2011
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Robin Red Breast (seed pod) Mobile

I was at mum’s the other day, and on the book shelf were these little, coloured birds placed in an ornamental tree – on closer inspection I realised that these little birds were made from seed pods! Bernice then took over, and began demanding answers – who made those birds? Where did the seed pods come from? How did you know how to make them? What tree/vine are the seed pods from?

…I was really impressed!

I don’t mean to sound surprised by mum’s artistic talents… but she always says she doesn’t know where mine come from (and insists it is from her mother!), and continues to say that she isn’t creative at all – I don’t agree with her, mum shows her creativity in different ways to me, but I don’t bother to argue the point.

Sanded chair restore trash to treasure vintage paint outdoor furniture
March 29, 2010
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My Footpath find – trash to treasure (chair transformation)

My husband and I were driving home after a lazy Sunday breakfast when he was hit with ‘Stop, reverse the car’.

I had spotted 2 potential outdoor chairs (which we needed to complete our new deck). These chairs were sitting on the footpath (hard rubbish for anyone who is game), about 30m down a side street we were driving past at 60km an hour…. I have a finely tuned sense of judgement when it comes to assessing junk placed on the footpath. I can usually determined at any speed if it is worth stopping and going back… and these were worth going back for!

They were not in very good condition, weather damaged, stain/varnish wearing off, screws falling out – but the potential was there, I could see it (lucky for me, so could my husband… because I was about to ask him to open the boot of his car so we could squeeze them in the back to take home).

March 23, 2010
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The Junk Company… where you can find a hidden treasure

I only stumbled across The Junk Company recently, and have now placed it on my (long) list of places I must visit frequently to check for any new items. Visit their website here.

I can’t explain the feeling I get as I approach an antique shop, or any kind of junk/vintage style shop. It is excitement, anticipation (the feeling you would get the night before Christmas as a child)… I feeling like I am on the verge of a major discovery – quite sad really!

It’s the mystery of the unknown, you never know what is sitting inside the store, and more often than not there is only one of them in there, so you are thrilled when you discover it.