Vintage Bucket Planters

Amazing what a little paint can do!

This ice cream maker could be mine from my own childhood, but it isn’t. I picked it up recently at a yard sale for $1. It doesn’t work, and with as much rust as it had on it, I wouldn’t want to put food in it anyway. That’s okay. My vision was to make it into a planter.

I also had this wobbly bucket in my stash of junk treasures. The tole painting may have been kinda cute at one time, but it didn’t really have the dated look I was looking for. I decided since I was going to make a planter from the ice cream bucket, I would do the same with this bucket.

Time to get them ready for transformation. I removed the motor and canister from the ice cream bucket. I was going to take the handles off, but the screws and bolts were so rusted, I gave up after about an hour. Using a little muscle, I removed the top part of the handles. These pieces held the motor in place. I decided the rest of the handles wasn’t to bad, so they stayed.

The other wooden bucket required a lot of wood glue to tighten it up. I also removed the worn out rope handles.

Both buckets received a fresh coat of paint.

I made stencils with my Cricut.

I chose the words to match the original life of each bucket.

Sanding gave them the age I was looking for. I added braided twine handles to the smaller bucket.

Tags: buckets, Cricut, ice cream bucket, junk finds, Painting, quick transformation, recycled, redo, restyled, stencil, stencils, trash to treasure, vintage, wooden bucket

Rustic Stenciled Signs

Another project from The House.

Since I couldn’t stand to see anything go to waste, I even salvaged siding pieces that were cracked and/or broken. In most instances there was a section large enough to cut several lengths for signs.

I made a variety of one-word stencils…

…then cut boards a couple inches longer for each stencil.

I dry brushed the fronts of each board with paint from my stash. When that was dry, I centered a stencil on top and painted the word.

Rusty baling wire was added for the hanger.

I might have gotten carried away, but I think they came out pretty good!

Tags: baling wire, craft show, crafts, Cricut, painted signs, quick craft, quick project, quick transformation, recycled wood, rustic, rustic signs, scrap wood, signs, stencils, trash to treasure

Stoppin’ and Smellin’ the Flowers

Some days you just have to stop and smell the flowers.

Today was “moving out of the dorm” day for my son, Casey. He couldn’t get everything home himself, so I went to help him. One way takes 1 1/2 hours. Not terrible, but I am exhausted after the 1 1/2 hour repeat trip back.

Wow, where do they get all the stuff! He definitely came home with more than he originally took. Also, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. He made this junking momma proud. A dorm neighbor didn’t have room to take his television and microwave home, so he gave it to Casey. Not really sure what he’s going to do with an extra television or microwave, but like me, he couldn’t stand to see it go in the trash.

He was also gifted with this cast-off! I have a friend (yes, Brad, I mean you), who I thought of when I saw it. I don’t think we’ll be able to get it away from the kid though.

Now for the “stopping and smelling the flowers” stuff. We enjoyed a lunch together, then before we left town, he took me to see a greenhouse that he loves. It was beautiful, and it is his dream. He is studying horticulture. Thank you, Hains Greenhouse in Coffeyville, Kansas for allowing me to take pictures of your business, and for taking the time to talk with us.

The outside is pretty awesome…

…but it doesn’t prepare you for what’s on the inside.

Far…

…and…

…wide.

We spent an hour just trolling through row after row of splendor.

The beauty just seemed to go on and on forever.

We discovered favorites…

More favorites…

And still more favorites…

We discovered unusual…

More unusual…

And still more unusual…

Fabulousness! Check out this tree(?) growing inside, in the middle of the greenhouse. From what I understand, it has been there for years.

I fell in love with this little well.

And this cute birdhouse.

The greenhouse is located in the country and the “stop and smell the flowers” beauty of the drive was not lost on us. I finally had to stop and snap these pics of a bridge.

I mean, come on…isn’t is too cool!?!

Lastly we stopped at the school’s greenhouse…

…that he helped build…

…along with the other horticulture students.

As kids grow, spending time with their parents usually takes a backseat to their other activities and interests. I do understand that, but I do miss the time when I was their first friend.

Thank you for spending the day with me, Casey.

Love ya!

Tags: cow skull, flowers, greenhouse, moving

Potpourri Jars

Another project from The House.

There were so many old canning jars, and I was itching to do something with some of them. I decided to mix up some fixins for potpourri jars. I know, not exactly a new idea, but they look and smell great, I like them, and my customers seem to like them.

For quite awhile, I have been hoarding saving flowers and bits of this and that to use as fixins. I filled an extra large resealable bag with all the dried flower bits that I had. I wasn’t choosey about the kinds of flowers that went into the mix. If I had it, I threw it in. You would not believe how this method cleaned up a rather messy area of my craft room. I added apple cinnamon oil to the flowers, closed it up and let it steep for quite a few days.

More fixins. I dug through my bucket of small wood thingies and picked out pieces to add to the mix.

Some of them I stained. Real stain would have added a bad smell to the potpourri, so I used acrylic craft paint. I applied it to the wood and wiped it off before it dried. The remaining pieces I picked out were left plain. I bagged them up and added apple cinnamon oil to steep.

I got out my supply of cinnamon sticks and broke them into small pieces.

I mixed everything together in a large plastic tub and filled my jars. A rusty heart, a bit of pip berries, home spun and raffia were used to decorate the jars. I ended with a tag to label the flavor.

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Tags: antique jars, canning jars, craft show, crafts, junk finds, potpourri, quick craft, quick project, recycled, recycled jar, restyled, trash to treasure

Door Panel Sign-Giddy Up

This sign was made from one of the salvaged doors from The House. The rails, stiles and mullions (the framing around the panel inserts) had come apart, leaving me with door pieces, rather than an actual door.

There was a crack that ran part way through the length, making the panel kind of unstable. I filled the crack with wood glue, and that seemed to do the trick.

I was originally going to stain the wood, but I wasn’t sure how well the stain would look in the areas that had been glued. I decided paint was probably a better option. Wow, could that old wood suck up the paint. I applied three coats for even coverage. The paint succeeded in making the panel even stronger, so it was a good decision.

The front surface and the edges were hand-sanded to make the newly painted panel look old again.

I used my Cricut to cut a stencil. I then stenciled “Giddy Up” on the raised (inner) portion of the panel.

I stained three wooden stars of differing sizes and attached them to the board with rusty baling wire.

I also used baling wire to make the handle.

Off to work on more…

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Tags: baling wire, crafts, Cricut, door panel, giddy up, junk finds, paint, quick project, recycled, recycled door, restyled, scrap wood, stars, stencil, trash to treasure