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.

Sunday, May 05, 2013

The Weekend in Junk: Cinco de JunkO

You might be surprised to see that title since only 48 hours ago I posted that it was cold and snowing.  But, then again, I think you do know me and you know that if there is a will, there is a way and I WILL find some  JUNK somewhere, somehow.  And, so I did.

Friday was a cold and snowy day and I helped my Mom on her first outing since she got home.  Since the weather was so yucky, she only made it to the doctor and to the Pharmacy then back home again.  But, we will try again soon on a warm and sunny day.  

Saturday was cold and raining so there weren't any yard sales.  I was jonseing for some junk, so I entered the deep dark recesses of my very own junk room and drug out a few tubs of things I had bought a long time ago.  Now that I finally have a feel for what I can sell in my booth, I am weeding out some rejects.  I took out three tubs and only returned a half of one tub back into my "office".  Most of it went to Goodwill and a few things got priced and sent to the booth.  I even culled out seven quilts from my baby quilt collection.  ***Patting myself on the back*****
In the junk, I found this fun old Chicken Lotto game with the cards.  How did I not remember this?  
It's a keeper.

Today was still cool, but bright and sunny so we ventured out to run errand in RETAIL land.  Ack!  Before we left, I checked Craigslist and found a sale right around the corner.  They had some nice things like a sweet vintage bassinette basket, but it was $25.00.  Her prices were more like I would sell things for in the booth, so I was only able to pick up a few things.  

A plain wooden frame which has already been painted a pale pink and is awaiting a chalkboard inside. $1.00

A big ball of twine that I thought would come in handy.  50¢.
A very old Hershey's Breakfast Cocoa tin.  I have an enormous collection of tins - probably close to 300 of them.  I need to cull them out too.  But,t hat didn't stop me from buying this one, now did it?  $1.00.

A very heavy sweet vintage pink pottery pitcher.  25¢
 It matches the two aqua ones in my pottery collection perfectly. 

On to Goodwill to drop of the things I culled out on Saturday, and, of course, for a quick look around.


The only thing I bought, and I'm not entirely sure why I actually did buy it, is this box that someone covered in keys from an old keyboard.  The Bean spotted it and thought it was "neat", so I bought it.  $2.00.


I saw this old garden hose for $6.00 and considered it for a project.  But, I decided not to buy it.  After we left Goodwill we went for our Buy One Get One Free "I ate the Bones" Boneless meal.  (Eh) It took forever to get our food, so I scrolled through Pinterest looking at Garden Hose wreaths and talked myself in going back to buy that Garden hose.

Vintage garden hose with age and patina.  $6.00. 
(Plus return trip gas $  Except you have to drive right past Goodwill to get back home, so never mind)


When I got home, I took that Garden hose, a pair of gardening gloves, some weird dried flowery stuff I salvaged off a Christmas Wreath in the garage and a vintage hand trowel from my collection and whipped up a wreath.  I tied it all together and made a makeshift bow out of that twine that I bought earlier today.  I knew it would come in handy!  It's different than the ones online, but I like it.  I'm not a flower or bow on a wreath kind of gal.  

Our last stop of the day was Lowe's where The Bean found these reproduction Ball jars.
 I had seen them on-line, but not in real life.  They are bright turquoise blue so the look different from the old ones.  But, they are lovely in their own right.  They have the 100th Anniversary written on each one.  
I set them in the cart, said, "Happy Mother's day to ME!" and went on my merry way.  

So, a little old junk, a little new to me junk and some new junk too.  Not a bad weekend's haul considering the cold and snow.  

What did you find this weekend?

7 comments:

  1. Other than the weather, how did your Mom do on her outing?I spent a little time when I could cleaning out a few boxes of junk and found some long-forgotten items as well.

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  2. I would have been so excited to have found that pink pitcher for a quarter! I love your pottery display. The pitcher fits right in.

    Have a great week,

    Erica

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  3. I think it's fun to junk in your own stuff. I have bins I need to go through and cull stuff out also. Maybe I'll find a forgotten treasure. Love the wreath, perfect and not to frufru! I might have to buy some of the bell jars myself.
    hugs,
    Linda

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  4. Your wreath makes me smile!

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  5. I found nothing!!

    But you found great things and got crafty, love the wreath!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wanted to invite you to link up with my blog party!

    http://sundayview.blogspot.com/p/vintage-view-sunday-blog-party.html

    Laura

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love that wreath! Wonder if my husband would notice if I stole his off the spigot?

    Hope you have a good yard sale Saturday tomorrow. I went to a few estate sales today and am totally depressed by all the dead people stuff I saw. Normally I try to imagine that they just went happily off to live in the nursing home, but at all three of these it was obvious that the people had "left suddenly". I did get some fun stuff though!

    ReplyDelete

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