What is a monkeybox?

When I was a little girl, we had a pet monkey named Amanda. My Dad worked in the produce business, so each night he brought home that days culls in a big box - spotty cucumbers, pithy apples, limp celery, moldy oranges and the like. We called it a monkeybox. It was really just trash, but my Mom would take each piece of fruit and trim it, pare it and cut it up to make a beautiful fruit platter for Amanda. Even though it was deemed trash by one, it still had life left in it and was good for the purpose we needed it. That's how I live my life - thrifting, yard saling, looking for another's trash to be my treasure.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Some Finds, A Gift & A Project

Is anyone else in a digging mood? I am so ready to go to a big sale and dig in the boxes and find a treasure. I don't need much, just a couple goodies. I've been boxing up things and clearing things out and trying to get organized. But, I still have the urge to dig in some junk. Come on Yard Sale Season! As I write this the temperature is falling and falling outside to an expected 9 by the end of the week. There will be no digging in junk in my near future. Except my own junk!
A quick run to the thrift last week only netted three paltry items, but I am happy with what I did find.

Find #1: Donvier Ice Cream Maker - $1.00. A good deal, right?

Okay, so it only makes one half pint of ice cream. It's a little one serving maker, and oh so cute. We have the larger variety and rarely, okay, never use it. I thought this would be fun to play around with and make a little treat now and then. We like to take a Kool-Aid single packet, add half the amount of water and give it a spin in the Donvier. It makes a tasty slush in a couple of minutes.

Find #2: What the ?????

This is a hand blown antique laying egg. The farmers would place them under the chicken to entice them to lay more eggs. I have an old metal holder with three blown glass chicken eggs in it. This egg is a lot bigger so I am assuming it must be for a turkey. I found it in the sewing section mixed in with the thread. Even more reason to look everywhere when you thrift! (I think someone might have thought it was a darning egg. It is not a darning egg.)
Find #3: Vintage Tablecloth


At this particular thrift, they have these huge bins where they dump clothes and everything is 50¢ an item or 3/$1.00. I never look in the bins because people are always crowded around them digging and I don't really go looking for clothes anyway. But, recently I have been buying wool sweaters for felting, so I have been digging in the bin looking for sweaters. Last week I reached into the bin and pulled out a vintage tablecloth! A tablecloth in the clothes bin. Oh, No! How many have I missed not knowing this. (Tell me none, tell me none!) I gave it a good soaking and the stains came right out, including what appeared to be big cranberry sauce stain right in the center. Love the horses and covered bridges on the sides (not pictured).

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Last week I had a Royal Gift bequeathed to me. Chris at Yardsalequeen saw these vintage-y rusty old ornaments and immediately thought of me. I love them! Thank you Queen. (There will come a day when I will not want people to think old and rusty and then Shara.)

And now a project. I mentioned last week that I had found a nice big shadow box at the thrift for $3.50. I had an idea for it when I bought it, but I had an idea I liked even better this morning. I had all these random things of the Baby Bean's kicking around in the house. Loose tiny socks, his pacifier, a pair of booties, etc.

I put everything in the shadow box, working from the back so everything was flat on the glass. I added in his two teething rings (that we found in the depths of the now defunct freezer last week), booties, a photo in his infant carrier, one teeny striped sock, the shirt he wore in the hospital, his teeny sunglasses (he always loved his sunglasses, and he still does), a pair of socks, pacifier, Identification bracelet and his name badge from his hospital bassinet (Hmmm, the Bean has a real name...). The jungle print background is the sunshade from his infant seat. To stuff it from the back I placed a pair of pajamas, a receiving blanket, a personalized t-shirt and other miscellaneous items so it is really a time capsule and not just a shadowbox. I call it The Bean Box. The Breadman said, "The Bean has been immortalized!"

Have you been digging for junk or creating anything lately?

10 comments:

  1. I have not been to the "bluehanger" bin store since August. I know, right? I haven't purged anything, but haven't brought more junk in, so that is a good thing.

    Thanks for the tip on the Donvier ice cream/slush maker thingy. I will be looking for one of those for Dyl to make his slushies.

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  2. I find it hilarious that you had teething rings in the freezer still! LOLOL

    I find some diaper creme in a purse recently. Cause ya know, I might need that. Even though we have not used that stuff in something like 2 years!

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  3. Hey, we have one of those little icecream makers. I bought it at a garage sale several years ago. My boys have fun with it.

    I was wondering what you use to soak your vintage linens. I have a few things that I need to get stains out of. Do you use some sort of "miracle powder"? LOL!

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  4. I am having serious withdrawel symptoms, if yard sale season doesn't get here I might just drive everyone around me insane!
    I'm in the middle of redecorating my kitchen with a vintage theme, although I'm calling it antique. I'm looking for old utensils, slightly rusty and unusual especially. I've found a few, but until yard sales start up again I don't think I'll find much. I'm also looking for vintage table cloths, but you seem to have the magic touch!

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  5. My Brother was born at the same hospital in 1990! Great memory box, Shara!

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  6. Love the Bean box...great use of a shadow box frame, and now you can see all the treasures you've been saving! Pacifiers in the freezer??!!????...and the Bean is how old? LOL! *elaine*

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  7. What a great idea! You are such a creative wonder! : )

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  8. Anonymous8:03 PM

    Love the old hand blown egg; is it milk glass? Also, love the vintage tablecloth! I haven't ever seen an old tablecloth with houses like that on it; it would have come home with ME if I found it!

    I've been going through 'some' withdrawal too, although you know I brought home a pretty cool shoe rack the other week! Now, I get to fill it up with vintage finds!

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  9. Anonymous9:22 AM

    I love the shadowbox! Great job!

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  10. Anonymous2:38 PM

    I have the same little ice cream maker, and mine only cost a dime. --Mary

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