trunk full of goodies

Just when you think the tagging season can't get any better, you hop in the car, head to your nearest farming community with your tagging buddy, and you score all this.

barn sale!

hard at work

trunk full of goodies!

so many beautiful racquets and presses

game night

KIDDING!  This is a blog about repurposing!

bingo cards = coasters with bingo chip feet

sorry game board = [square] lazy Susan

thanks for the gorgeous tool box, NHJ

also, check out the cool pipe thingies 

that will morph into cake plate stands

the guy explained to me their original purpose -

in one ear and out the other

look at the casters on that dolly!

never can resist cool old box, esp.

with now-defunct Northampton company

nose to tail with croquet sets

It's been years since my croquet set addiction, errrrr, collection got started, and I have finally gone nose to tail and used every part.  

Those of you that have been following along will remember the first revelation, that croquet mallets could be sawed in half, drilled at the top, and turned into candlestick holders, like this:

Then, onto the balls.  These were easy, photo holders when paired with scraps of barnwood and gussied up with decoupage paper:

The sticks challenged me until this summer, when it finally hit me that a simple treatment with bolts and butterfly nuts were all they needed:  

And finally, the stands.  First I had to pull them out of the basement, where they had been gathering dust, just like they had been before I rescued them from various barns, flea markets and auctions.  Gus "helped" clean them:

I had the simple idea of turning them into side tables by securing a thick piece of glass to top and bottom.  A friend and fellow crafter upped the ante:  wine racks.  Because what could be better than wine and repurposing?  Certainly I drink wine while repurposing....  

And so it was:

room for glasses underneath!

tagging with my boys

Nothing better on a crisp, sunny, fall Saturday than tagging with my boys.  Check out this loot!

Kraft cheese box + 30 tiny glass jars = $5

tiny glass jars = candle holders for menorahs

American Exterminating Co.
Springfield, MA
1944

How the Animals Discovered Christmas
film reel container
[scored at Trading Post by friend and fellow crafter]

wooden pulley

film reel container + wooden pulley =
cake platter
(stay tuned for final creation)

actual film reel
[cake and a movie]

who doesn't need a powder blue
vintage rotary phone?

ditto for these vintage wooden skis
[soon to become shelves in the studio]

beautiful vintage slides =
unique nightlights

small boy on long skis

Reagan, Nixon and croquet sticks

A simple yet elegant upcycle of some beautiful croquet sticks.  

Starring a photogenic 6 year old, Presidents Nixon and Reagan. Naturally.  These beauties will be for sale at Loop.  Come check them out!

button earrings from vintage ties

Remember the ties we scored from Loot, the most wonderful source for all things vintage and reclaimed?

Here are the ties...

Male by Paul!

...and here are the earrings.  Simple, sweet and so '50s.  What Betty Draper wore the first season of Mad Men, when she was still in love with Don...