One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure

There is a saying that one man's trash is another man's treasure. Well I have seen that come true many times over. When we go out to an estate sale it brakes my heart that the family didn't want their families' things or we go to an auction and the stuff goes for pennies on the dollar, or just go out to the scrap yard and see all the stuff people throw away. But with our little business it is helping us repurpose, reduce and reuse. You know that saying they tell you in school about recycling.

With junk there is a lot of different ways you can use one piece. I will start with one of my favorite up cycles to date.

The story behind this piece is like most that we have in our world. My husband was out picking up some scrape metal. The owners said there is the pile take it all!!! Hubby pulls the iron, metal, dirt out of the pile and puts it on the trailer. He hauls it to our home in Cordell and tells me to come out to the trailer and see what is on it. So I get some shoes on (REAL SHOES!!! LOL) and go look at the goodies. I see a basket, a bike tire, a thing and a that. Then I see it, the cart!!!! I told the hubby to get it out of the trailer. I was sooo excited!!! He pulls it out and puts it on the ground for me to inspect it. I look to see if it is all there, every screw and bolt, look to see if it has any chips or dings, where the rust is and if it has her wheels on her. We stick her in the trailer for our next show. (I call the fun pieces a her because of the women who might of bought her new.) The next show was the Vintage CountrE Market at the LazyE Area in June (2016). When we got to the show and I pulled her out I couldn't wait to put her on display. The next day a young lady came up and asked how much for the cart. I had it priced for $25.00 then I remembered that this young lady just a few weeks back bought from us at the Junk Hippy Show in El Reno. So like we do for most of our recurring customers I told her $20.00 for the cart. Sure enough she bought it and took it home. She then sprayed it with a beautiful blue spray paint and dressed her to the nine. When she sent me a picture after she was done I couldn't believe it was the same cart.

With just a little time, a vision, a little elbow grease, the little rusty cart became a beautiful cart.

If you all could see where and what condition some of these items come to us in you would run in the opposite direction as fast as possible. But every so often something grabs even my eye. There is the next project on this trash to treasure tour.

This is a grain scoop. They come in all different shapes and sizes. The scoops were used to take the grain out of the elevators to the trucks to go tot the farms to be planted. This scoop came from another scrap pile. If I remember this stories the owner was using it to hold bolts in his garage. After pulling it out of the trailer full of junk I cleaned it up. I used a wire brush to get the dirt off of it. A little soap and water doesn't hurt either. Next I used clear spray paint to help hold the rust so it doesn't get on anything or continues to rust. The clear spray paint we use is AVE brand because it is the only store near us. I normally put 2 to 3 coats on it just because of were it is going. In this case it was going on my wall so I didn't want rust on the wall. The next this is these scoops already have holes in the back due to being on a belt that helps them move the scoop with the grain in them. So because I didn't need to put holes in them I hammered 2 nails in the wall and put the scoop on like a picture you would hang. Now for the fun part. I mean it is all fun but my inter JoAnn comes out now. Decorating!!! I went to hobby Lobby and found a fern to put inside the scoop. I wanted something that would hang off the side. Then I found the tobacco basket at hobby lobby and knew it was the prefect size to go under the scoop. Then for Christmas last year we was a t a show and I kept looking across the way at a booth with these awesome signs. I feel in love with "Lets stay Home" because we are always gone and when we are home we don't go anywhere. My hubby talked to the over of the booth and at the ended of the show he bought it for my Christmas present. So now with all the items I needed this is how it turned out.

With every piece of junk you have there was a story behind it and something you can do with it. Not every piece has an awesome story but it came from somewhere. It doesn't have to e used the way it was intended to be used either. Mason jars as lights or wagon wheels as yard art. There is always a way to make something old into something new. One man's trash is another man's treasure.

Happy Pickin'
Sarah