Wait a minute, Mr. Postman!

While on a leisurely stroll with my mother one summer day, something caught my eye as we were walking past a garbage pit....gingerly dodging freshly "planted" cow pies! Did I mention this walk was in my parents' pasture behind their farm? Anywho...we changed direction and headed over to said pit to check out the potential treasure just ahead. What I found was the base of an old cast iron mailbox, with the perfect amount of rust on its once white patina. It took me a minute to realize what it was, and several more minutes to muscle it out of the pile! Well worth the effort, don't you think?

Once I decided I had to have this baby, I had to walk back to my vehicle (10 miles, uphill both ways) and drive to the nearest gate....then came the "hoisting" magic trick my mom and I concocted to get it in my car. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating just a bit...but it is heavy.

Once home and cleaned up (you can't imagine what I found inside....remember, we're in a pasture!) I added a layer of rubber cement to the top rim and put some scrapbooking paper on top of that. With a purchased glass piece from a hobby store, it makes the perfect accent table in my bedroom, where it prominently displays a pic of my mom and me!

Where's WALDO...err...ummm...BAXTER!!

Sharing an older post for a special reason.  Donna over at Funky Junk is having a Pet Party in honor of her Teddy kitty that she lost this week.  Linking HERE. 

 

This post is about Baxter.  We lost him to an unexpected sudden illness recently, and we still find ourselves remembering his quirky personality...and missing him often. 

Look into those eyes. Could that be anything but pure LOVE. What sweetness, what innocence. How could you NOT trust a face like that. Meet Baxter. 4 year old bassett hound. We decided to give a little...no, a lot of trust to him and let him roam the house while we were all away at work and school. We've given him these chances before. He faultered a bit and we had no choice but to resort back to confining him while we were away. Although, when we would get home he was sooooo sad...those eyes, so sad. So, another chance. Some rules, a "don't you even think of being bad" and his wagging tail assured us that he would be on his best behavior.

Well today, he was at the door to greet us with that sweet look of innocence. Oh...Good Boy! Wait a minute. What's that? A nutrigrain box. No, that's an empty nutrigrain box! It was FULL this morning. The look of innocence is fading away as he realizes our discovery. He slowly and sneakily (is that a word) makes his way to hide under the coffee table. The Cat didn't see a thing. Rudy's not talking. This all leaves some unanswered questions. Where are all the nutrigrain bars???? We found them, but it was like an Easter Egg hunt. The box holds 8 bars, and they had been cleverly hidden in 8 different locations throughout the house...still in the wrappers, but a little crumbly.

Can you spot them???

But the poor thing, he felt sooo bad. And worked sooo hard to hide his treasures. Clever dog. I was so impressed by his determination......I scolded him....then gave him a treat. A NutriGrain Bar!!!!






And what does this post have to do with junk?


NOTHING! heehee

SweetMelissa

What do you get when you mix an old typewriter stand with a section of rusty springs??

A really cute wine cart, of course!! :)

Andrea and I joined this piece together a long time ago. We sold it at the Shady Hollow Flea Market in Detroit Lakes. A lady fell in love with it as soon as she saw it! We held it for her while she ran to get her husband...then, you guessed it, he tried to talk her out of buying it!

Well, we explained to him that it was inexpensive,unique and portable...it made his wife happy AND it held wine for gosh sakes. He wouldn't budge. SO, WE TOLD HIM THE TRUTH: ....that men really weren't allowed at our booth!! She smiled, paid us, and happily carried it away.

Men...they usually don't get the junk culture, but you gotta love em anyway! Lynette

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY...a junk event?

Since I live with a bunch of males in the house, there's no question Super Bowl Sunday falls under the title of a "holiday" in our home. It's a time for good food, good friends and good drinks. With junking in my blood, my family is used to me incorporating a junk quirk of some kind with any event we host. Whether it's the Christmas buffet dinner spread atop the antique sled on the kitchen island, or the summertime Mexican grilling party featuring a chippy pink door as the table and sombreros filled with chips and salsa, I happily admit: I love to entertain with JUNK!

So, here's a peek at some junk items I'll be using Sunday, but shhhh, don't tell my family, maybe they won't notice! Since I love scales, the large one shown will hold the enchilada casserole, and the small one will hold a family favorite...bacon wraps....yum, yum!

This trio will hold more food...my father-in-law tells me the thing on the left is off a corn planter (it'll hold plates OR dinner rolls on Sunday). Chips and dips will fit nicely on the disc spool/

blade (thanks, dad!), shown on the right, and another hot food item will sit on the hot plate (front). It's actually the base of a lamp and a grate off an old stove...cool, huh?

Normally the corn chopper piece (actually two of them) are the legs that hold an old rabbit cage in our family room. I thought they were perfect! Don't you?

At Christmas the disc spool/blade (shown below) held pretty crystal garland, along with silver and clear Christmas ornaments.... A little shiny plus a little rusty = junk pretty! Isn't your mind just spinning right now thinking of all the neat things you can do with this?! Filled with pumpkins for fall, soaps and towels in a bathroom, and of course, chips and dip! Yes, the possibilities are endless!

And last but not least, this unique plate holder is actually an old album holder for records (remember them?) It sits on my kitchen counter holding my favorite dinnerware. This wonderful find looks exactly how I found it...nice and rusty! The large rusty disc spool will hold all the silverware.

So throw that beer and soda in an old metal tub (filled with SNOW, of course!), sit back and enjoy the junk...oops...I mean the GAME!

SNS #127

Slideshow

Hey everybody...I think I finally got the slideshow posted! It's way down there....at the bottom of the page. Any techies out there that are interested in giving me a mini tutorial on the do's and don'ts of slideshows or anything else blog related....PLEASE email me! Junk is more my thing!! Check out the slideshow....you'll get a taste of what our sale is like (prior to the crowds!!) Enjoy!

Has old man winter got you craving some fun junk ideas....AND CARBS?? Well, let's EAT!!!

Hi All!

In case you've never experienced Junk Fest before, I wanted to wet your appetite with some fun junk creations we showed at a previous sale.

Dressers are such a wonderful blank canvas...I found this baby sitting by my neighbors garbage can, in the rain, with two drawers busted up....bet he never guessed it could turn out this pretty & be this useful again! You can't see it, but it is covered in a wallpaper that resembles tin ceiling tiles and then painted white...there were people who thought it really was covered in tin tiles! How cute in a baby girl's room with quilts or stuffed animals in the basket & necessities in the drawers!...or even a kitchen with the basket holding your most loved cookbooks...







....or if you really want to create a personality piece for a room, the sky is the limit! Apply words,a fun paint treatment, posters, or enlarge your own pictures...this one showcases a poster of the canals of Venice... But wouldn't it be adorable if you applied an enlarged photo of your son swinging a bat or your daughter in her tutu??

Then if you can re-think the use...yes, it can hold clothes, but who says you can't put a unique dresser in your entryway to hold the caps & mittens...maybe even shoes....or in a large bathroom to store the extra tp & towels!...or the dining room to hold linens and an extra platter or two...wouldn't this look fab in a french inspired dining room???...Ooh La La!!!





Speaking of appetites, this COLD winter is making me HUNGRY, how about you??

Give this yummy recipe a try...you'll feel like you are sitting right in the middle of the Food Court at your local Mall!
Ha Ha :)

BOURBON CHICKEN (very similar to what you get from the food court at the Mall)

2 lbs boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces

1 to 2 TBSP olive oil

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/4 tsp ginger

1/8 tsp ground red pepper (add more if you like it spicier)

1/4 cup apple juice

1/3 cup light brown sugar

2 TBSP ketchup

1 TBSP cider vinegar

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup soy sauce

Heat oil in a large skillet, add chicken pieces & cook till lightly browned. Remove chicken.

Add remaining ingredients to skillet, heating over medium heat till well mixed & dissolved.

(I liked my sauce thicker so I added 1 TBSP corn starch mixed with 1/4 cup cold water to

the skillet and boiled it all together for 1 minute stirring constantly) Now return the chicken

to the skillet and stir to cover with sauce. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Can serve over rice or make some garlic mashed potatoes to serve along side it.

GARLIC MASHED POTATOES

1/2 of a head of garlic

1 1/2 tsp olive oil

1 lb potatoes peeled & cut up for boiling

butter

milk

salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Cut an entire head of garlic in half...peel away the skin & pile the cloves on a piece of tinfoil.

Drizzle the garlic with the olive oil. Seal up the tinfoil and bake for 45 minutes. Boil your potatoes till soft. Mash with butter, milk and salt & pepper to taste. Remove garlic from oven, mash softened cloves with a fork & stir into potatoes.

Delicious!...... ALMOST as delicious as Junk Fest on a beautiful, sunny day!

STAY WARM. Lynette

I let "her" go...

I set her free. She was such a good friend, a confidant, a junk assistant. We spent so much time together, traveled together everywhere. Sometimes we'd listen to the radio and she didn't mind if I laughed out loud, and she didn't laugh when I sang out of tune. She listened to my every idea, she was with me when I needed to cry. She was mostly dependable...but a bit tempermental at times. Okay, I'll admit it, over the years she became a very "high need" friend. Well, "friend" might be a bit strong for our real relationship. My friend...ummm...my VAN. Well, the time had come. I had to bid my dear old van adieu. It went down the road this week. I have to admit I will miss the thing, it could haul alot of junk!



This is "middle child". (Will work for food)



Don't worry about me. I'm not giving up my junking habits. VAN has been replaced with SUV, and 4 wheel drive to boot! Now, it was a bit interesting cleaning out a vehicle that's been around awhile. Doodles and writings of the children, $4.64 in change (that includes 79 pennies). An array of fast-food-high-quality-toys. Maybe they're worth money now! One sock, three fingernail clippers, and a single rose petal from my brother's funeral (has been with me every trip since... superstitious-no; sentimental-absolutely!). I'm looking forward to seeing how jamb packed I can get this vehicle...and now a hitch for the trailer...hmmm. This is going to be fun!