Junking in Colorado

After JunkFest '08, I was able to take a little trip to Colorado with my Mom and my sister to see some family in Denver. As with every roadtrip I've ever been on with those two, this trip was not without it's "Oh crap, now what?" moments! Driving through South Dakota we found a junker's heaven hot-spot that managed to put us behind schedule by almost 3 hours. We loaded my suburban to the brim with rust, cast iron, chippy old barnwood doors, windows and everything in between. I'm not exaggerating when I say I almost had to leave my two passengers there because I needed room for more junk!

Now for the "Oh crap" moment.....back on interstate and recounting every wonderful piece that I purchased, my junker's high is quickly deflated when my vehicle starts making a noise that I can only describe as something I don't ever want to hear again. Fortunately, we were near our exit where we would be driving through some of the most desolate, god-please-get-me-outta-here, get-outta-town-before-dark "communities" in the state. After stopping at the exit off ramp, my suburban no longer had the will to continue this journey (too much cast iron in the back? too many passengers?) As with any Murphy's Law situation it was closing time at all the local garages in town, but I managed to get to a gas station where the service station attendant was cousins or brothers or something to somebody over at the only car dealership in town. They were nice enough to wait for me as I tried to "drive" my vehicle to their shop. As LUCK would have it, they determined that my transmission went out and since they were a Buick dealership, and I drive a suburban...they couldn't help me. So....after calling roadside assistance, waiting 4 more hours for the tow truck, driving back to the nearest town with a Chevy dealership (100 miles!) and getting a room for the night, recalling my fabulous purchases of the day just didn't hold the same steam it had earlier!

Lucky for me, my travel companions kept their sense of humor, which really comes in handy for those "Oh crap!" moments. Day 2 had us renting a car since (of course, Murphy's law) parts needed to be ordered for the suburban and it was a FRIDAY.....you get where I'm going with this? Skip ahead a day or two and we've made it to Denver, where my brother offers to take us for a scenic drive through the mountains. We get to a little town called Morrison and I instantly spot this incredible looking junk place! Do we stop? You bet we do!!

Is it open? Of course it's not! Lights are on inside the rickety little house...every door locked (I checked every door and window!) but no sign of human activity anywhere. Disappointed, but undaunted...I did a little peering here and there to see just what I was missing out on...plenty!

I did have to remind myself of the finds I had waiting for me in my defunct vehicle....and of the finds yet to be had at my next destination....Littleton's A Paris Streetmarket! I happened upon this website while googling flea markets in Colorado and was thrilled to find the date of the next sale coincided with our trip! It was located in the parking lot of a shopping center...one day only...tons of vendors....and me in a rental car with just a little trunk space!

I decided against these "half-naked" manequins, since I was already so short on passenger room....so I let them go to some other lucky shopper.

I did manage to find a few goodies to stuff in the rental car and bring home. But, they're out in my junk building, which is blocked with snow....that's another post! The lesson in all of this is three-fold: You don't have to be Irish to be hit with a "Murphy's Law" kind of day, find your sense of humor in those "Oh crap!" moments, and if you need a rental, make it a van or a truck!

Belly up to the Piano Bar...

Have you ever been to a piano bar? Not like this one I bet. There's personality and charm in those old upright piano's, and a whole lot of repurpose possibility. Now, mind you, reinventing a piano is not for the weak. This piano, for instance, came from a basement with 1 single dim light bulb to work by. It weighed about three tons (maybe not quite), and thank goodness I had 100% support from Sweet Man-o-Mine and Middle Child(will work for food). Okay, I might be stretching the 100% part, but they were real troopers. We hooked up the trailer, and loaded every tool we thought we could possibly need. Screwdrivers, pliers, wire cutter, sledge hammer, and eventually had to break out the saws-all. (Did you know even a partial piano doesn't fit up basement stairs in an old house?) Once we got the 7,329 screws and bolts out, all the keys off, the harp out, hammered apart what we could and cut the rest....we started hauling the pieces out to the trailer, because we had to take it all, like it or not. It was a hot summer night and there were 8,642,238 mosquitos waiting outside the door so we worked as fast as we could. Anyway, gosh, I'm sweating just reliving the whole process... In the end I ended up totally dismantling all the pieces and then rebuilding what I like to refer to as the Piano Bar. By the way, it sold at our 2007 JunkFest and ironically, my niece and nephew bought it for my brother and sister-in-law...so once in a while we stop by to have a "belly-up-to-the-bar" visit.

I have another piano dismantled and awaiting inspiration to become my fireplace mantel. I ordered stack stone for the surround today and hope to come up with something fabulous with that wonderful old wood for the top. (that piano has a story all it's own too...oof!) I'm pretty sure I will have to do some pretty heavy bribing to convince my boys to unbuild another piano for me.

There was a piano bar project on HGTV a few months ago (sorry I don't have the link) that was awesome too, and it would be great for that case where the piano just can't be removed. They opened up the music rest panel added in a shelf and some lighting and walaa...instant bar.

Speaking of bar...does it sound like us junk girls have some issues? No, just priorities!! haha Here's a dresser I got last summer on a road trip to Oronoco Gold Rush Days. This dresser was actually found at a yard sale we stopped at both coming and going (didn't catch your names, but some of you were vendors at Sweet Salvage). The dresser is a nice antique piece but came with a nasty old, musty smell. Removed the drawers and dividers and problem solved. Added some shelves, made wine bottle sections out of ...PIANO KEYS! This one made it straight into my house and looks great in the "dead animal" room with a few bottles of wine, a grate, and some of my hubby's Grandmother's dishes. (would look nice with some of those silver trophies but I don't have any, hint, hint)

check out the linky...

Funky Junk Interiors

JUNKY MANTELS

Any true junker knows how much fun it is decorating with junk. But junk isn't REALLY junk, you know? It's the cool, quirky, vintage, rusty, aged, fun, antiqued, get your heart racing, great patina, unusual, old, can't-live-without fabulous stuff I'm talking about!

When I was introduced to this new phenomenon known as junk style a few years ago, I found it was even more fun then ever to decorate by incorporating junky items into the mix. A couple special places that get a lot of attention are the two mantels we have in our home. The dining room fireplace surround was built by me and a friend almost ten years ago and is just for "looks". The whole truth is it's been painted and repainted at least a dozen times. (Yes, a girl has every right to change her mind and her husband better just get over it - ha!) Thought I'd share some of my ideas so you can see how easy it is to throw in a great piece (or two) of junk...I can't name a favorite season anymore, nor my favorite piece of junk!

I was told this piece was from an old gate. All I know is it's cool and rusty, just how I like it! For some reason the only place it looks good is on the dining room mantel...

Here's an Autumn set-up on our family room mantel...and boy, notice how the rusty junk really looks great with all the fall colors!

Here's one of my favorite "winter" scenes - this year's...just plain and simple...hopefully it'll be time to take it down SOON!

So, there you have it...my version of junkin' it up with the good stuff! For me, it's an addiction I don't intend to cure!

To Junk or Not To Junk...

That is the question. Who am I kidding...that's really not a question at all! Of course TO JUNK is the only answer.

Unless we hurry and do as Cassie suggests in the previous post , problem is junking is a wee bit scant here in the heart of ND during this thing we call winter. (it's like constipation...nothing moves fast right now) We don't have tons and tons of shops around the corner like some of our lucky blog friends do. We're into rip-your-jeans, get-your-hands-dirty, spiders-in-your-hair, dig-reach-stoop-bend-push-pull, good-old-grimy, go-where-no-man-has-gone-before, then get-a-tetanus-shot type junking. To our dismay, that's all pretty much buried in snow right now. Heck, even our workshops our piled high with snowbanks. We'd have to be dropped in with a helicopter just to get to our stash.


So, what do we do to bide the time? Blog, of course. But for Cassie and myself one of the next best obsessions is quilting. Quilting kind of goes hand and hand with good junk....start with a pile and end up with something beautiful! This last weekend Cassie and I joined my sisters and a good friend for a weekend getaway quilting retreat. How could you go wrong with that! With meals prepared for us, a quilt shop set up in the corner, and chocolate a-plenty what more could a girl ask for? Duh, a massage therapist! We had that too. :)

It was great! We wore our slippers all day...stayed up late (yes, that's A.M. on the clock, and we really thought we should stay up a bit longer)





















The cold winter view was great from the warm side of the window!


But it's just not all fun and games here. Sometimes we have to think real hard (like my sis in the pic).





And we use some real dangerous tools, but thank goodness, because if we need assistance, Cassie can call out on her fancy "grid" phone!

The hard work, the laughter, the late nights, the chocolate, the massage therapy....it all pays off, because we all come home with some great quilts! They look great in our houses, make wonderful gifts, and of course, look fabulous draped on a marvelous piece of junk!

Junk Fever!

This is how I feel (and look!) right about this time every year. Here in North Dakota, winter seems to last for about 10 months, and the other two we battle mosquitos! You've heard of "cabin fever?" Well, I have "Junk Fever" and I need to get to a yard sale, auction sale, salvage yard, junk store....ANYPLACE where there's no snow and good rusty, chippy (and cheap!) junk!
Anyone with me?

Listen up people, this is some serious fun.

Isn't it true, really? That life should be all about having fun? We don't think so, we know so! Today's blog takes a peek back at some of our fun junkin' times. It's no secret we search high and low for junk. Fortunately for us, many people want to get rid of their old stuff. We are thrilled when they call and they are thrilled to have us haul it all away to junk heaven. In reality, it's simply just "search and rescue". This photo shows the smiling faces of Cassie, Missy and Andrea. (Lynette was snappin' the photo). The huge smile on Missy's face is because she drew "first choice" of junk that day and knew the cow was hers. Cassie is actually about to knock the cow out of Missy's hand with the lamp, cause she wanted it even more. We're not sure why Andrea's hairdo looks like 70's rocker, Peter Frampton, but perhaps it's because on this particular day it was over 90 degrees. This is tough work, people!

Thanks, Cassie. Andrea has always wanted a lampshade hat, especially one that matches her sweat stained shirt. Oh, and Lynette wants the lamp.Another day, another junk haul. Here we are in Missy's barn, dividing up the loot from a sweet farming couple. Thank you, God, for people like them. We are so glad their grown children thought it was all a bunch of...well, crap. Guess what? It wasn't!

Another photo opportunity...the four of us splitting up more junk out at Cassie's place. Pretty darn big smiles for such a chilly day, but a junk girl's gotta do, what a junk girl's gotta do!

Here we are in the back of Cassie's trailer...loaded to the max! We took a jaunt to Minnesota last fall and it was well worth the trip. Ever heard of male bonding? That's peanuts compared to junk girl bonding...it's a MUST DO.

Here's our loyal and faithful driver, Cassie. What would we do without her big city driving ability? She's the woman! And let's not forget her 500' trailer! No kidding, it's awesome too! We're pretty sure Lynette could handle driving in the big city also, but Missy and Andrea admit...they are major wimps!

Okay, people. We are having fun. Some serious fun.

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

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