She be a trash pickin’ again!

Ok, so you know how I love junk? Yeah, well I can’t pass up a pile of it without at least a look. Once I was driving down our  alley when I spied a mannequin upside down in a trash can. We’ll call her Judy. I was selling Premier Designs Jewelry then and because I was just starting out, I didn’t want to spend the money for a display mannequin, so when I spotted the naked beauty in the alley,

I jumped on the chance. Well, not really jumped on her just jumped at the chance to grab it. Well..erm, not grab it..oh heck..you know what I mean!
Anyways, I was carrying the top half of Judy back to my garage and got to thinking about the legs. “What if I should go back for them just in case? They may not be there later and then what would I do if I need some legs? !”, I told myself. I agreed with myself after all, I do know best (like when to stop using italics). So, I go back and get the legs. As I am walking back to the garage, I tripped on my open back sneaker and watched myself fall in slow motion. I saw ground move closer and closer and if Judy’s naughty bits could have, they would have smacked me in the face. Her lower half ricocheted around the driveway before settling somewhere in the grass. After I rolled around trying not to pass out from the pain, I got up and went into the house. I think I left Judy outside. My knee immediately swelled up to the size of a grapefruit and I was sure I broke my knee. Seriously broke my knee. Can one break their knee? I thought I did. I called Jon and told him what I did. He tried not to laugh at me, told me to calm down, and then call the doctor. My doctor told me to go in for X-rays and so I did. $100 dollars later, I found out I didn’t break my knee cap, but hurt it real bad. The whole point of this long long winded story is this: I love to turn trash to treasure and instead of saving a buck, it cost me waaay more than I intended.

So, I was driving down the alley and I spied a big ‘ol pile of junk that this pack-rat couple was getting rid of and I spied this:
Well, not this exact one, but same cabinet only different finish. It’s a sewing cabinet from Sears and Roebuck from a while ago. I have no idea how old it is, but the outside is in good condition and the sewing machine is missing of course. I love finding stuff like this. I have passed up so many things in the alley before, I could have furnished our whole house, but Jon stopped me before I could. I plan on painting it and putting it somewhere in the house. It’s finish is in good condition, so it shouldn’t be too hard to sand it and put a new coat of paint on it. I’m thinking distressed black. I need a little more black in the living room.

Here is a list of what I have found for free that graced our home at one time or is still here:

• large set of green shutters, now on my mantle. Originally slated for the sides of my kitchen window. I don’t even think I cleaned them off, I just carried them in all old and rotting…they look cool. I think I will eventually paint them..red? white? I dunno.
• deacons bench that is in my front entry under the hooks for our coats
• a desk I got through free cycle, it’s now in our garage until I can find a place for it, but it was free!
• this sewing table, I think I am going to turn it into a side table for the living room
• a dining room table that was once in our playroom and then our garage, we gave it away because I have a propensity for dining room tables and we didn’t need 5 in our garage. We have 3 now. ::grin::
• Skip, a friend of ours, knows I love junking and he told me about a rolling cart from the doctors offices near our church. It’s design seems to work well as a TV/Game cart in our playroom. A little paint (someday) and she is good as new. I love free!
• I almost forgot the ottoman we (Jon helped, but it was my idea) made out of an old bathroom cabinet and some left over bead board wainscoting. I padded it and it’s now a footrest with storage. It’s been back and forth between the play room and the living room. I can’t seem to get rid of it… I love it! I made it myself…not exactly free, total cost for materials was probably 150 bucks, but we made something out of an otherwise useless bathroom cabinet. I also took down the same type of cabinet in our master bath and used it on the floor as a towel armoire. I have it now up on our vanity in place of a vanity cabinet, but it takes up a lot of room and is kind of awkward.
• They weren’t for free, but I got them for really cheap: another huge desk, now in my craft area; a lingerie chest that holds junk and my TV in our bedroom; 2 dressers, an antique bed w/trundle, a desk, and dining room table. They are all long gone now, but at one time, I made it a mission in my life to furnish my house for next to nothing! I’ve since graduated to IKEA. ::grin::

I’ll be posting pictures sometime in the future of how it turns out. I think I might sneak another peek of the junk pile tomorrow on my way to work. I think I saw some narrow shelves sitting there, but I could only carry one thing at a time!