Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Retro Simple Life

It's getting hot around here now. While much of the country is just thawing out and inching toward Spring temperatures, the mercury is rising high here in South Florida. We need ice tea and AC.

Meanwhile, as I lamented the last of the coolish air, the search was on last week for something or other, I don't even remember what now, but this assortment of goodies ended up coming home with me. Most were 10¢ each. The big slotted spoon was 89¢, the tongs and the mold were 39¢. Some of these are for the assembled project for which I'm accumulating all the proper parts.



This handpainted spoon was a huge bargain and is quite pretty.
 It has the name, "Wright" hand painted in gold on the back.

 These were a bargain too and heavy duty.

Last Thursday was trash day and I gave the neighborhood a quick look-see and came home with some planks of wood, three black metal poles with twirly things on top, like springs, but I have no idea what they are, two drop leaves for a wood table and a broken desk chair on casters. You gotta wonder why I felt the need to bring these things home sometimes, don't ya? My kids too. Yeah, and me too even.

The casters and the style of the chair called to me and trumped my better judgement about the amount of work it would be to fix, but I couldn't leave it there in the trash without giving it a try.
 
The chair turned out to be really wonky.



 It was harder to fix than I thought.
Getting the broken pieces to fit back together and then bracing it up took me quite a while, but once underway, there was no turning back. The seat was secured from underneath using 4 flat metal brackets and four corner brackets. Now it just needs new casters because each wheel has a dead spot which makes rolling difficult.
Tomorrow it should get sanded, and finished right up. It was once a cool chair. Hopefully it will be again. It's heavy duty.

These made me think of tiki torches or some sort of fruit picker. Any ideas about what they are for?



This is my junkin' photography style:
 Hold the camera up and click without looking while I drive. I rarely get what I want entirely in the shot. This hutch top was made up of numerous glass panels and was too heavy to get, but the handle was worth stopping for.

It'll make a nice accent or handle for something.


On Saturday morning before I headed over to meet my friends for a birthday celebration, 
this galvanized cooler caught my eye. 

The paint has to come off. It's brittle and practically falls off if you even just look at it.
It's got an insulated insert inside. Quite a gem.

My friends and I celebrated the day by going thrifting at rummage sales, thrift stores and yard sales. This little angel flew home with me for a project...

...where I stripped her of her dress and halo. She is destined for another life now. For the moment, she lies among the hodgepodge of things I discovered while I was out. The Florida teabag holder was a sweet little find. Got it for a song. Old Florida stuff is one of my loves.

House numbers in ceramic, metal and wood, hardware salvaged off curbside finds and tins that will become part of a new creation I hope to make are all part of the latest mess migrating through the house. Numbers are always good to have on hand. You never know when you might need 'em.

We walked into a rummage sale that looked to be a bust, but there was this lone little goodie awaiting me.

With a little bit of polish and some elbow grease, it's looking spiffy again and serving as a magazine rack.

On the way to work Monday morning, the cabinet someone had trashed, which was made of today's worthless laminate and pressed board, did at least have some hardware on it that will be put to use later.
I pulled my screwdriver out of the glove compartment and pried off the decorative stuff and threw the drawers in the car to remove the handles as time allowed. I still made it to work on time. Barely. On the dot.

Time allowed me to pull one of the handles off while sitting at a long traffic light. The rest came off in a jiffy when I got home. Then the drawers went into my own trashcan.


The cabinet door will make a nice little message center.


Finally, this retro cool Ice-O-Matic ice crusher caught my eye and has come to live in my retro kitchen, just in time for warmer weather.
We don't have an ice maker. I TOLD YOU ours was a retro kitchen. Normally I buy bagged ice, but this week we were out and I had no time for the store and no desire to spend a dime on ice anyway, so we broke out the ice cube trays. Haven't done that in years!

But I'm partial to crushed ice, so this bad boy was commissioned for the job. Through the marvels of "modern" mechanics, I got crushed ice and it was so easy, it was Ice-O-Matic!

Back in the day when I was a kid we would have had a heyday cranking out the crushed ice with this little gadget. Of course now people who live in today's modern times just stick their glass in the fridge door and out comes their crushed ice. Bah! Sissy stuff. Nope, not here, not in this house. In this house if it's not store bought, it's gonna be Ice-O-Matic! And you thought living in the past was just a state of mind for me.

In some ways, perhaps, but in a number of ways (sometimes for better, and sometimes for worse), it really is a hands-on, retro-simple life here. Now if they would just bring back FIZZIES, then I'd really be living the dream.

Hope you have a great week and check out these fun parties:

 
Thursday Favorite ThingsFunky Junk's Saturday Nite Special
Furniture Feature FridaysFrench Country CottagePhotobucketLavender Garden Cottage


 
Adorned From Above

mop it up mondays
Ivy and Elephants

25 comments:

  1. We had one of those ice crushers when I was a kid! When I saw that I had to visit! That brought back a long forgotten memory!

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  2. I can't believe the cool stuff you find on the curbside for free or dirt cheap. I never find drawer pulls and house numbers. The wine rack turned magazine rack is very cool. I can't wait tomsee how the chair turns out. We don't even have warm enough weather for garage sales.

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  3. I love the cooler and the Ice-O-Matic - frosty! I always pick up those office chairs. If you can't salvage the top, the base makes an excellent rolling table. I wish you would stop teasing about the doll part project.

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  4. Hi Liz, my beauty friend!
    I love this chair and the pretty doll!!!!
    Have a nice day!!!!!!!Kisses!!!!!!!!!!

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  5. Wow! You got some great things, Liz! That chair is going to look great. What a haul that hutch would have been. I am always looking on garbage day to see if any neighbors are throwing out anything I could save.

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  6. Wow Liz you find the coolest stuff. I can't wait to see the chair and that ice crusher is so much fun.
    Kris

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  7. What a haul! That large slotted spoon in the first picture, you know, the one that has my name on it, wink wink, is, I believe, a tomato server and I am in need of one! Lucky you!I always enjoy seeing your loot!

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  8. How do you find all this amazing stuff???????????
    My son gave me a galvanized bucket - reminds me of the cooler !
    AND just be quiet about the hot temperature, ok?
    I don't want to hear about it -
    ( they're calling for possible snow tomorrow in Montreal - when does it end? )
    XOXOXOXOXOXOX

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  9. I STAND AMAZED...can I look you up for a house tour when we go to Florida to see my brother? [serious] that galvanized water cooler was never meant to be painted red, much as I love red. You always motivate me. I am gonna round up all my really old, some rusty utensils and find a way to shw em off. and that magazine rack will hold rolled up towels in style if you decide to move it...ppl like us need 2 or 3 houses don't we??

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  10. Great finds, like them all. It was warm here in NJ for a day or two and now it will rain and is going to cool down.

    Cynthia

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  11. I always love your junk finds, and am very curious about your project...
    I sorta like the weathered gray finish on that chair. Could it work just clear-coated?
    -Revi

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  12. LOVE the Ice-O-Matic -- would love it more if I wasn't looking at XL Ice-O-Matic courtesy of Mother Nature outside. ;) Great finds and love the angles of your photos! That first shot is a real eye-catcher! Have fun with your new toys! :)

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  13. You find cool stuff. I'd type a better comment but my mojo is off as I hear two people puking in the other room. Guess the flu bug is here.

    Bliss

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  14. Hello Liz,
    WOW...what a load you have here. Luv that chair and old cooler.

    Blessings,
    Linda

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  15. Loving your finds and your blog! I'm a Florida girl too - born, raised, and never leaving! I'm currently in SW Florida. I'm on blog break right now but hope to be back soon. I'm a new follower :)
    Martha ~ http://seasidesimplicity.blogspot.com

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  16. What an amazing collection of stuff. Anxious to see how you use it all and where will you store it in the meantime. I'm at the point of running out of space, so what I bring home is very limited these days.
    Cindy

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  17. Once again....I am envious of your awesome finds! I can;t believe the things people throw away! That beautiful hutch....wow! You found some great things as usual! That ice machine is too cool...:) Enjoy!

    Blessings, Vicky
    Life On Willie Mae Lane

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  18. I am just amazed at the amount and variety of stuff you find for free!! I always get so excited to see what you racked up!!

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  19. i honed in on the fizzies! those were the days!

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  20. Another successful trash day:-) I have a few things I'd like to put out on the curb, maybe you could swing by? Love all the hardware and what you did with the wine rack. The chair will be fabulous, so happy you saw the potential.

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  21. Fun, fun, and more fun!
    Great salvages. Love the ice-o-matic. :)

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  22. Wow - you go girl! That red cooler is fabulous and I can't believe you pryed the handle off of that piece of furniture!!
    Kelly

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  23. Wowzers! That is some cool junk! Lots of good stuff! Thanks for sharing it at Monday Funday!

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