MOTHERS DAY GIFT UNDER $2.00

With Mother's Day around the corner it's time for me to think of a handmade gift for my mom.  Last year when my daughter gave me magnets made from clip-on earring -- I was thrilled.  So happy in fact, that we made more and gave them to my mother (her grandmother).  And since you can't have enough magnets, guess what we are making this year... You Guessed It!  If you don't have your own earring to use, find a pair or two at a thrift shop and the magnets at any craft store.  Just take off the clip on the back with pliers and hot glue the magnet on the back.  A beautiful and affordable mother's day gift!  Happy Mothers Day to You.
My Best, Joanne

Gabrielle's Gift to Me: Salvaged Earring Magnets

SMALL CHANGES FIRST!

As you look to make changes in your home and wonder how you can add salvaged items into your home remember you can always start small. Maybe as small as a piece of furniture. I've had a country looking table next to my couch for years, mostly because I couldn't find the right table. Then recently I walked into Home Goods for a client and Voila -- there was a salvaged wood table. It was beautiful and it had just arrived--so I swooped down like a vulture and bought it. If you see a salvaged piece at a store that is of good quality and soundly made (not stapled together or wobbly) then it won't stay there long,  so don't hesitate to buy (you can always return it if it doesn't fit in your home). Here it is in my living room!

P.S. Remember, Supply and Demand from high school:  Keeping asking for and buying salvaged pieces from larger box stores and they will start offering more.
My best, Joanne

The Before Picture of My Country Table

My Salvaged Wood and Metal Piece!

Love the Salvaged Wood Pieces!

MY CONTEST ENTRY!

My Entry! Wish Me Luck!

I'm going to enter into the Urban Outfitters, This to That Contest, which ends soon (see previous blog entry for details). My entry is a Bella Buckle made out of a cowboy boot (that had a hole in it), a recycled buckle and a couple of pieces of costume jewelry. Hope it does well. Don't forget to enter your favorite, This to That!
My best, Joanne

SUGARING IN VERMONT

Vermont is famous for a lot of things including Maple Syrup! This year I went to a friend's house to help collect and boil sap the old-fashion way using metal buckets, a wood burning boiler made from a steel drum and a wool strainer for sediment. It was a great day and reminded me how important traditions are...and how much I like maple syrup in my coffee. So when I look at the salvaged metal maple bucket in my house (I use as a trash can) I appreciate the salvage bucket as well as the history it represents.  My best, Joanne

One of their tapped trees!

Here I am collecting sap from the "Mother Lode" tree!

After hours of boiling we finally have Maple Syrup. Yummy!

AFFORDABLE DESIGN IDEA: PRINTER BLOCKS

As I flip through magazines and websites and see the beautiful bold designs, I wonder how I create a space that has a wow factor that is affordable. That is when I stopped by one of my favorite antique shops, Champlain Valley Antiques (which happens to be only two miles from my house). They had a whole bin of salvaged vintage blocks from old printing presses.  I grabbed a few, different sizes and fonts, and decided to make a wall of words. How bold, and affordable is a wall of words in the entry, welcoming guests, or a headboard made with just words of love. The words, colors and looks can vary. The great thing is paint can be changed (albiet, black is a bit more difficult to cover). Use the same word over and over, or a variety of words, such as hello in a variety of language along an entry wall with a large colorful mirror to make the wall pop. I tested my own wall with the word hello!  My best, Joanne

The printing press letters I picked up at the anitque shop.

My BOLD wall of the word HELLO!  Totally feels like a design you would see at the ACE HOTELS, doesn't it?

This Etsy decal gives one example of what words on a wall look like. Don't feel like creating your own wall of words or a little afraid of painting it? Then you purchase a decal on the ETSY SHOP.

POWERFUL WORDS ON A WALL

SALVAGED BRICK

How can I be from Vermont and not love brick?

I was just visiting Mason Brothers Architectural Salvage and saw the bricks they had just reclaimed from an old building. I love bricks! They are so versatile -- you can use them in a country cabin for flooring, or a modern home as a wall in an industrial kitchen. How the brick is used and sealed totally depends on the brick (no two bricks are alike). Someday I would love to build a small cottage (somewhere warm) out of all salvaged material, including salvaged brick for the floor. Am I asking too much?  My best, Joanne

Picture from Kitchenbuilding.com

INHABITAT: Green Design Will Save The World

BEDSIDE MANNER!

Photo by Susan Teare

This bedroom located at South Village in Vermont, is an oasis of salvaged, natural and organic materials. This cozy room has a lamp made with an old wooden table leg, the table has a burlap cover, the mirror above the bed is a vintage piece, and the curtains are a finely woven organic wool. (You could almost pull them off and use them as a blanket.) It is worth the search to find just the right pieces for the most comfortable room in your home. Don't you just want to crawl in and take a nap!
My Best, Joanne

CHICKEN INSPIRED SALVAGED LIGHTING!

Gabrielle and her dad working on the chicken coop!

Gabrielle, our daughter, and her friends on the street want to raise chickens. So after a winter of planning, the coop is finally being built. (Mostly made from salvaged plywood and lumber given to the kids by one of their baseball coaches -- thank you!) Backyard chickens are becoming very popular. But if you don't raise chickens you can have the next best thing...a very cool light fixture made from a vintage chicken feeder. Hudson Goods is one of my favorite shops and blog. You have to check out the stuff they make from vintage and salvaged goodies!  Another fabulous place to find amazing lights is Conant Metal and Light. Have fun searching for interesting light fixtures.  My best, Joanne

Chicken Feeder Light from Hudson Goods

THIS TO THAT CONTEST

How exciting Urban Outfitters is having a THIS TO THAT CONTEST and you can win $1000! So think of something fun you have upcycled with clothes or furniture that you can enter. I think I'll enter as well.  Not sure if I'm going to do something like this...

 to that...

or this...

  Let me know what you are entering too! 

My best, Joanne