Tuesday, August 23, 2011

YOUR TRASH, MY TREASURE

I will admit I am not much of a trash digger.  I am secretly one inside.  I wish I had the nerve to just pull up to the side of the road and grab your discarded junk treasure.  I will pass stuff by and think, 'wow I could use that', but I'm too shy, nervous, scared, whatever to get out of my stinking car and grab it.  What if you see me?  What if it won't fit in my car?  What will the neighbors think?  
The nerve is slowly creeping up inside of me though and this post is living proof of that.  

My neighbors discarded a desk onto the side of the road during trash week.  I admired that thing from a far for a few days.  It was a little trashed but it had lovely lines.  I wanted it for my entry way. I already envisioned it for my entry way.  Yet, there it sat.  And then it rained.  IT RAINED!!!!  I was kicking myself.  I was mad at myself for not being braver.  I must have finally gotten mad enough because I strolled down there in the cover of darkness, a true ninja skill acquired from 
being a mother of boys, and picked it up brought it home.  
My youngest thought I had lost my mind.  
It was in worse shape then I had thought.  I was determined to not be discouraged.  With my years of crafting skills surely I could 
make it special again.  I mean why else would God have given me these skills. Right?

So enjoy this post of my first ever dumpster diving, trash picking, curb stealing adventure. 

So, as you can see it's a little beat up. No drawer, it was broken off.  It had a metal thing on the top, that was maybe at one point a light?  Great lines though right!!!


This is a better shot of the top. YUCK!!!


How does one remedy this?  The first challenge for me was to find something to replace the drawer with.  I just needed a faux drawer.  Something to cover the hole.  We had all sizes of scrap wood laying around, but nothing really fit.  Then I remembered I had some chip wood that my father in law gave me.  It was worth a shot.

Ya, it didn't fit either.  It wasn't wide enough.  So I sawed, yes I said sawed, the bottoms of where the drawer would normally be and it made the desk the perfect size for the chip wood.  If you look at my before you can tell what parts I sawed off.  I used tack nails to nail it into place.  Can't you see it taking shape?  I was giddy by this point!!!
Now for some PAINT!!!
 It's getting there. 


And drum roll please....
Remember how I said I wanted this for my entryway.  Well... my dear friend's daughter who recently got her first teaching job fresh out of college needed something by her classroom door to place info for the kids.  I knew right then and there this desk was meant for her.  Black and red are the school colors.  Perfect!!!!



Sooooo pretty, right!!!!


I hot glued a wooden drawer pull on that I painted red.  Just a little extra zip ya know to show true school spirit. ;)


Here is it's final resting place.  I love the quote she picked out. 
Thank you for indulging me as I shared with you my first time curb stealing shopping. The best thing about this project...desk{free!}, paint{already had}, knob{already had}.  Yep, it was basically a free brand new desk by the time I was done making it pretty again.

Good luck Megan on your first year of teaching.  May you never loose the spark that made you want to venture into the very hard but rewarding job of teaching.



{  Kelly }









making friends over at
Todays Creative Blog

Tip Junkie handmade projects 








5 comments:

Janine said...

That was a beautiful journey through trash/treasure crafting! What a beautiful gift that new teacher was given, she's very lucky to have someone so crafty who was generous enough to share the fruit of her labor. (not to mention the mad Ninja skills used in the treasure attainment!) ;)

Megan said...

You have no idea how blessed I feel to have you in my life Mrs. Kelly! This was such a wonderful present and looks amazing in my room! I can't tell you how many compliments I have gotten from students, parents, and other teachers at the amazing decorations I have in my room thanks to your hard work! If I had a teaspoon of the talent you have, I would be a happy camper!

Turnedgypsy said...

I love to see old furniture redo....great job..

Hope you visit my blog. I do monthly giveaways and several are going on now and others starting soon.

I get so much inspiration by visiting these blogs. Ladies you all have Talent.
Thanks

Chris
http://turnedgypsy.blogspot.com

Under Her Wings said...

Good job, Kelly. And I'm so proud of you for giving that sweet table to your friend Megan. That will be a real treasure for her.

Charity said...

Cute...and thoughtful of you. I love curbside finds...dumpster diving is in my blood. My grandmother was the queen of it :)