Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Junk to Jewel Transformation

So I don't readily admit this but I have a small "dump" on my property. Yes, the previous owners from 10 years ago left me my own little junkyard. I didn't even realize it was there until about 2 years ago as the woods and brush had kept it concealed so well. I've been slowly cleaning it out, recycling metals and disposing of other items in a safe manner. Despite the pains of clean-up, I am a bit thankful to have such interesting raw materials to utilize for many of my creations. It's funny that I often pull elements from nature, right outside my door to use in decor and I can still say to a degree that I'm pulling materials from nature, outside my door (digging things up out of the earth!)

Enter the wire mattress spring. I love rusty things as many of you are now aware. Finding an old metal object always sparks ideas on how to repurpose it. It took awhile but I came up with something awesome.





My spring tea-light candle holder!

It took awhile to find a "vessel" in which to place the candle.  Nothing seemed to work quite right and the ability to shape the spring is somewhat limiting.  Despite its rusted patina, it's very rigid and durable and didn't want to budge much to my manipulations.  I found an old jar I had been saving and it cradled perfectly within the spring.  I cut another spring in half and wrapped a portion of it around the glass jar to provide a more decorative element and to tie everything together.  Since the jar has a somewhat curve in its inner base, the tea-light wanted to slide off to the sides.  To remedy this, I placed decorative stones around the jar's circumference to keep the tea-light centered within.  I feel more of these ideas will be "springing up" shortly!


Sharing this at:
The Thrifty Home - Penny Pinching Party
Restore Interiors - Restored It Wednesday
Very Merry Vintage Style - Share the Love #45
Coastal Charm - Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Someday Crafts - Whatever Goes Wednesday
The Shabby Creek Cottage
No Minimalist Here
The Brambleberry Cottage - Time Travel Thursday
Happy Hour Projects - Freestyle Friday
A Little Knick Knack
The Crafty Nest - Do Something Crafty Friday

8 comments:

  1. I like what you are doing with the "junk". Those wrenches are pretty fab too. I had to read through your bottle breaking tute as well as I have a craving to "cut" some bottles for crafts. I always seem to have a spare bottle hanging around ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. @Sherry

    Hi Sherry. I found those cool old wrenches at a local flea market a few months back. I'll be checking with that vendor again to see if she has more which I will snatch up!

    Be careful if ya do the bottle thing. I tried to do a beer bottle 3x's and the thing won't break. Thicker glass? I have no idea.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Old springs repurposed as candle holder's.. twisted/coiled rusted metals so appealing..love your creative idea's. Its always a surprise to follow your blog & see all the new "reused" idea's that you come up with & share. Keep it coming Frugal!

    :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love these! I have been using bed springs for "creations" stop back over and check them out!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Very cool. Love the whole rusty vintage look! Thanks for linking up to Share the Love Wednesday. Hope you'll be back this week--
    Mary

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great take on the whole bedspring and candle idea, John! Love the pebbles in the jar, too. Necessity IS the mother of invention. ;)

    Thanks for linking up to Time Travel Thursday. Hope to see you each week. Be sure to stop by tonight, and see yourself featured.

    Blessings,
    Liz @ The Brambleberry Cottage

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Tiki. I'm so happy you found me thanks to Brambleberry. If you love old rusty, vintage things then we'll get along just fine. LOL. I'm a bit jealous of your shed "full of antique tools and gadgets! I'd love to dig around in there for sure! Have fun with your creations and hope to see some of them!

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is so neat! I am going to be on the lookout for old springs now!

    ReplyDelete

Show me some love! I always enjoy your feedback and read each and every message!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...