Junkin' finds + Pinterest inspiration + some junkin' rules

It's truly a match made in heaven....you find some good junk then look it up on Pinterest to see what to do with it.  Or....you look up good junk on Pinterest and then go junkin' for it.  It's all good.  I'm going to share my most recent junkin' finds with you that I found with my sister + some Pinterest photos of similar items that inspire me.

First, let's talk about 2 rules when junkin'..... 

1.  When junkin' with your sister or friend or whoever, set some ground rules.  Our #1 main rule is very clear:  "If I see it first, it's mine." Then something like, "..and get your grimy paws off of it."  Then promptly take your junk to the counter and have the nice people hold it for you so your sister doesn't try to steal it.  You'll find that your sister and your friends develop the same taste as you sometimes.  That can get ugly to see you scrappin' on the floor over a good box of Christmas ornaments.  Set some rules, people.  

2. When you get your junk home, divide and conquer, people.  That's why the photos of my stuff are in terrible light with lots of shadows and bright spots.  I snapped the photos for you guys because I love you then I put the junk away.  Somewhere.  Anywhere.  You know that saying, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket"?  It's true and hence, rule #2: "Don't put all your crap in one spot".  This is not the time for show and tell to your husband and kids.  They don't like your junk.  They don't want to see that you bought more junk.  They don't want to clean out your junk when you die or need hoarder intervention. No, they can't visualize your great ideas.  So get your junk home and hide it.  Sprinkle the junk throughout your home gradually.  If your husband eventually asks, "Is that new?", you say, "What, that old thing?  I've had it forever and just moved it to that spot.  You never pay attention to me."  The end.  They shut up, you got your junk right where you want it.  Happy, happy, happy.

Okay, so who wants to see my junk?  My sister and I went to this awesome old building that has old wood floors and brick and stone walls with plaster showing everywhere.  I want a studio there.  I want to live there.  Here's a shot of this month's holiday display.  And the strings of lights.  I want some of those too.  I bought some at Target and they were junk(not good junk, bad junk).  I need some heavy duty, good lights so if you have any resources, please hook me up.  

This double decker serving cart display was fun.  It didn't come home with me but I have 3 of these carts, I think.  Somewhere.  I love them.  

This one below is mine and I use it as a portable shipping station.  I keep all my little kits and goodies to sell in my shop in the little units and then wheel it over to my desk with my computer when I do shop updates.  Maybe I'll do a blog post about it.  I've added some items and it's pretty darn cute.  Better than Ikea for me cuz it's all old and junky.

This is a Pinterest find.  How fun is this?  You could use a tiered cart for extra storage in the kitchen at Thanksgiving time...or how cute would this be outside for iced tea and watermelon and beer and stuff?The chipper and scuffed the better.  Love this soft industrial look on this one.

Link Here

And look at this simple beauty.  This would be great for that Iron Stone collection I want to start.  I want the old plank floors too.

Link Here

Okay, first up for my junkin' finds.  The bottom is a chippy, red painted drawer with white, chippy paint inside.  The middle piece is a crate for I thought Coke but I'm going to have to dig it out of hiding and read what it says again.  The top is a mint condition wool blanket in a beautiful plaid, woodsy print.    Rewind for just a minute....this Summer I got rid of a ton of holiday decor at my garage sale.  Plastic, wood crafty stuff that I didn't like anymore.  So my goal is to replenish some of that stuff with junkin' finds that can serve more than one purse.  Like the red boxes for Christmas, or July 4th or Valentine's, etc. 

I'm really loving the lumberjack feel these old wool blankets lend to the holiday season.  This table setting below with the wood stumps with candles on top is very cool.  I'm thinking some old plaid thermoses would be cool beside my wool blanket...all near the fireplace.  Or maybe outside by the front door to welcome winter guests.

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For the old crates, maybe some storage like this.  This would totally mean that I need more crates which would = more junkin' time.

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Or maybe a simple holiday box like this filled with the bottle brush Chistmas trees.  I love those too by the way and have a small collection of them started also.  Hey, don't judge okay? It's an illness. Inherited from my mother. And Nichol Harper because she has a great collection too.

Link Here

 This could be cute for my Craft Department.  Or how about a paper towel rolls on those dowels.  Cute.

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 I really, really do plan on using this Pinterest idea below.  Eric the lumberjack can easily cut me some small logs precisely to the measurements I give him.  (He'll smack me if he actually reads this, ha!) Then I can tuck them into a wooden box with Pine branches, lights and some big pine cones.  Totally want this by the front door.  With a sign that reads, "It's cold in here, please bring in some wood".  Maybe not on the sign.  I could totally see me getting this all arranged perfectly and then here comes the reds with an armful of nicely cut logs.  All because it was cold outside and it was the closest wood near the house.

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 Here I could add one of my many galvanized buckets to the Coke box or whatever kind of box it is.  How cute would this be?  I would probably add pine cones to the tree and a string of lights.

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 Here's a way I could display all my canned goods.  But that would be way too much dusting, I think.  Cute idea though.

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These galvanized pieces made their way home with me too.  My sister said she had her hands on both of them.  But I didn't see it and she didn't call "mine" so they were fair game.  The small one is a minnow bucket or something to do with fish, I forget what my sister told me.  She has one already anyway so she was happy to share.  The big galvanized thing is who knows what?  We were thinking that maybe you tipped it and something could drain out of the hole on the right?  It was just cool and unique and I love galvanized stuff so I bought it. Eric ran over my last big bucket with the wood truck anyway so I needed a new one.  He probably saw it laying in the yard and purposely ran over it.  Again. And again.  So this is a redemption bucket.

I would love to gather some galvanized pieces like this on the front porch for a winter scene.  I could hear Eric now though.  "Hey, if you're just gonna leave those apples out there to rot, I'm gonna take them to my deer feeder." Plus they would attract raccoons so maybe not a good plan.

Link Here

This could be cool though for Summer time.  My sister and her husband just bought a very cool lake house nearby.  I could totally see the deck having some fun units like these for drinks, towels, and boating stuff.  

Link Here

Then I got this metal file drawer unit.  It will fit right in with my vintage industrial office supplies.  I've been seeing some pins with these used for fabric fat quarter storage.  Cute idea.

Okay, do not even think about laughing at me because I bought regular looking clothespins at the junk shop.  These babies are treasures.  If you hang out clothes and vintage blankets, etc then you know that today's clothespins are junk.  The bad kind.  They don't stay clipped and 3 hours later your clean vintage sheets that you just washed are strung out all over the yard.  And Charlie's dragging your panties up the driveway. These old time clothespins are built to last.  Like mousetraps, I tell ya.  Seek them out, friends. They are good.  Your unmentionables will stay put. On the line in the back yard where they belong.

Okay, hands off of these bad boys.  Vintage paper doilies, people.  Come to mama.  Oh my, how I love these.  I've used them already in my upcoming Project December pages and they are treasures.  Love. Love, LOVE these.

And lastly, another vintage Spring Daisy Pyrex dish with lid.  I hadn't seen this shape yet so it had to come live with me.  I use my Pyrex all the time.  I rarely use my Tupperware anymore unless it's to freeze something.  Plastic is gross to me now.

Since I make my family hand wash my Pyrex bowls so that the print doesn't come off in the dishwasher, they would just love it if I got a whole cabinet full of Pyrex like this below.  Is that all not just too cute for words?  One last little story and then my junkin' day ends.....I was at one of the volleyball girls' mom's house because we were hosting the team dinner one night.  I was helping dry dishes and put them away and I opened her cabinet.  It was filled with my same Spring Daisy green Pyrex dishes.  Lots and lots of them.  My eyes popped out of my head.  I gushed and told her I loved them.  She laughed and said her Pyrex dishes were a wedding present and that her family hated them because they were old and outdated.  Ha.  I guess it's all in the eyes of the beholder, yes?  Don't ever anyone tell you your junk is ugly.  I caught so much grief about my painted lockers this summer that I kind of got miffed about it.  But then I finally told everyone to shut their sweet pie holes and move on.  I love my stuff.  It's old, it's junk and it's totally me.  Old and junky, yep that's me!  

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 So that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.  Thanks for joining me today.  Please join in and let me know what your best junkin' finds have been lately. Does your family give you a hard time?   I'd love to hear...

Stay tuned because I'll be back tomorrow with a fun tutorial to make everything in life glittery and blingy + a card to boot.  And I'll have the winner of my October Afternoon prize drawing.  :)