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.

Saturday, February 21, 2015

My Head is Spinning

You might remember that I was on the hunt for a revolving spinner rack from Harbor Freight.  They are all over the internet on blogs and on Instagram.  I love the good old hardware spinner racks, but I will NEVER find one in my price range, so sometimes new is okay as long as it looks vintage.


I went once and the shelf was empty.  Wah-wah-wah.  

One day a couple of weeks ago, I was looking for an excuse to get out of the house, so I called and TA-DA! - they were IN STOCK!  Zoom!  Zoom!  There was one on the shelf and I clutched it to my chest so no one would attempt to wrestle it away from me.  (No one tried).  When I went to pay, the nice girl at the register, said, "Oh, were you the one that called about this?"  I said "Yes!" and that I appreciated her telling me they were in stock.  She then said the loveliest thing EVER, "I had one under the counter for you so you would be sure to get it."  I asked if I could buy them BOTH and though surely she would laugh and say, "No!  Don't be so greedy! Save one for someone else!"  But she said, "Why of course!"  


I went home and between The Bean and I we managed to put it together.  It is simple enough to do, yet it seemed daunting when I opened the box.  There are twelve dividers that make six sections on two trays and six dividers that make three sections on two trays.  (WHUT?) Each section is held in place by three screws, nuts and washers for a grand total of 117 pieces of hardware including putting together the base.  The bag of screws is about as big as a bag of pinto beans.  But, it went together easily enough.  (My neighbors are pigs - ignore the mess).



A few days later we put together the second one while we watched "Ellen".  I save a lot of projects so I can do them while I watch "Ellen" and not feel guilty for watching TV in the middle of the day.  


I had intended to paint them.  And, I still might.  But, once I started filing it up with my DOODADS, I just couldn't stop.  One is for ME and my craft supplies.  One is to use for old keys, chandelier crystals, pocket telescopes, flash cards, card packs, Bingo cards and all that little stuff I like to sell at shows


Since I have so many things that I want to put in it and most of it is tiny, I decided to re-do the racks and make mine with all the six sections shelves and the one for shows has all the three section shelves.  I think that will work best for my needs. 


I am hoping that between this new rack and this old divided box I bought the other day, I can wrangle all my most coveted crafty things in one area and have it look good too.  At least that's the plan, Stan.

(Also, who am I kidding if I think that I will be able to leave that other rack just sitting in the garage for months at a time all empty and alone???????  I am picturing my cake topper. birthday candle collection in it already!  I could dump it out and still use it for shows.  Right?  RIGHT? BUELLER?) 

18 comments:

  1. We have a couple of harbor freights here...I should see if they are the rage here and flying off the shelf. i have been seeing them all over blogs and iG. Sounds like a crazy item to put together tho.

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  2. Since I live in the woods I have never been to a harbor freight. I love how organized they are.
    Cathy

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  3. OK you have convinced me i could put this together. I'll try to find one at my Harbor Freight next time i'm over that way! So much stuff you can use it for!!
    hugs,
    Linda

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  4. Two friends and I wanted one and could never find them in the store, so we ordered them online. We got free shipping and they even sent us an extra - probably because a couple of the boxes were banged up and they may have thought we could use the extra one in case parts were missing. All was fine, but it took the hubs forever to put all four of them together. I love the way you've used yours. Mine holds Stickles, Glimmer Mist and other crafty bits.

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  5. My very close relative that works there is off the next couple of days, so I have to go get one myself. I bought one for the hubby a few weeks back and I don't really have a place for one in my craft room, but I think I'm going to find a place and go get one! They are just too handy. I liked Harbor Freight anyway, we always shopped there before the relative got a job there but now we have even more excuses to go!

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  6. This is my husbands favorite store. Not sure I can stick him with another project but they are so cool. Love all your special treasures in your caddy's.

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  7. You know, that would be handy in the junk room to hold tags, markers, tape, etc, etc. Hmmm.... I think you should just give in, use the one in the garage and go buy a third one for the junk ranch!

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  8. Yay!! So happy you finally got it. Have fun!

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  9. Yep. Mine is still in my garage. In the box. After a year :-)

    Hey, my house is in disarray because of this stupid remodel that I insisted on, so it's hard for me to think about what in the heck I ma going to do with it. So in the meantime, I'm just waiting for inspiration to hit and tell me how to use the dang thing. But I am going to buy another because I guarantee that once I use it, I will love it and wish I had more!

    I am a hoarder. And greedy. Hopefully the girl at my Harbor Freight will understand.

    eric

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  10. I still haven't given into one... but may!!

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  11. We need a Harbor Freight! ;)

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  12. I'm going to give in and go get one this week. I can use it for sewing supplies and some of my small crafty items. Harbor Freight is a neat store anyway, and we spend entirely too much time and money there!

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  13. I'm going to give in and go get one this week. I can use it for sewing supplies and some of my small crafty items. Harbor Freight is a neat store anyway, and we spend entirely too much time and money there!

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  14. It does come with a poop-load of screws doesn't it! I figure if it would come put together they'd have to charge $99.99 for one :) They are awfully useful though!

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  15. I love my Harbor Freight spinny rack! I made my son help put all those screws in, wow it takes a ton, but sooo worth it!

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  16. I gave in and bought one today. It may be a while before I actually get it put together, but it was the last one they had in stock.

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    Replies
    1. Glad you got one. I got a card in the mail saying they were no longer available from the manufacturer. So, I think if we got them, we are lucky!

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    2. My close relative says that they have not heard anything about them not being available any longer. I'm glad I got mine anyway, just in case. It was an adventure putting it together. I have misc. stuff in the top try at the moment and my craft stuff is slowly migrating to it as well.

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