The Repurposed Fish Bowl

So, numerous years ago I acquired some glass retro fish bowls at a yard sale for super cheap. I've always had aquariums and figured they may come in handy for back-up, water changes, disciplining naughty fish . . .

Somewhere along the way, one has been misplaced. Perhaps it broke. I can't recall. The other has been sitting quietly in my basement for years in plain view, yet I never really paid it much mind . . . until recently.

A few months ago I wrote a post about simple and stylish, plain glass being used in home decor. I had purchased some cool, vintage, glass gallon jugs which prompted that post. A big trend I'm sure you've seen is repurposing those vintage jugs into table lamps or hanging pendant lights among other creative uses.

Since I was focused on clear glass, that plain fish bowl sitting in my dark basement suddenly seemed a whole lot more appealing. I figured I could use it in a new way. Albeit quite simple, if you have a spare fish bowl laying around, you have a great container for displaying items such as these natural accents - some bought, some made.

A nice mix of decorative spheres made from natural elements such as various vine, grasses and jute rope.

Thanks to Pier 1 for this excellent coffee table.  I bought it many years ago but have yet to grow tired of it.

A vintage vise (foreground) makes an excellent table accent.

Great earthy colors from both the coffee table top and the displayed accents.

Keep your eyes peeled for vintage fish bowls at yard sales.
I know I'll be looking for more now! 

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Tuesday
Coastal Charm - Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
At Home With K - Terrific Under Ten Tuesday
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia - Tuesday's Treasures
Sassy Sites - Trash 2 Treasure Tuesday

Wednesday
Someday Crafts - Whatever Goes Wednesday
The Thrifty Home - Penny Pinching Party
Savvy Southern Style - Wow Us Wednesdays

Thursday
The Brambleberry Cottage - Time Travel Thursday
The Shabby Creek Cottage - Transformation Thursday

Free Outdoor Decor

I love cool and trendy outdoor decor as much as the next person and will be sharing some of my prior purchases and finds in an upcoming post. However, yard and garden decor can get a bit pricey and too much of it can make your property go from classy to trashy (O.K. that's harsh but it rhymes!)

Try to go frugal and introduce some free "decor" to your yard. Old, rusty elements of some sort make unique, sculptural displays. They also tend to coordinate seamlessly with natural surroundings. See what items people are throwing away. You may be able to repurpose them.

Shapely branches, limbs, tree roots and tree bark add a nice, organic touch to your landscaping. A grouping of rocks also adds interest and demands attention among any store bought elements you may elect to add. Creating vignettes outdoors isn't much different than indoors. You just have a bit more space to play with. Thoughtful groupings of elements will create a bigger impact than spacing things separately here and there. So, grab a neat branch or two, a few rocks and place them as a back drop or accompaniment to that mosaic snail or turtle sculpture.

Reclaimed Rusty Objects Become Outdoor Decor

Old rusty metal hoops (at right) along with a paint can make a unique statement.
Random sections of old stove pipe are grouped together (left).

The stove pipe collar collection.  Industrial-organic chic?

Numerous sized paint and coffee cans create a tower of rusty coolness.

A large barrel will later become a great base for a large potted plant or perhaps a bar height table.

A unified look of common elements.

Old hollowed and dried branches group nicely.  A repurposed stair rail post is topped with a
carved dragonfly from a craft show I attended numerous years ago.

A lot of free elements from trees are seen here.
Bark, branches, root and log sections  provide form and function.

Bark adds interest and helps keep mulch in place on steep landscaped areas.

An interesting, inverted tree root is joined by a couple of varying-style rocks to create this focal point.

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Monday
Sumo's Sweet Stuff - Market Yourself Monday
Keeping It Simple - Motivate Me Monday

Tuesday
Coastal Charm - Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Tree Bark Bowl

While out and about the property yesterday I happened upon a large tree in the woods that is sadly dying. It has been shedding large sections of bark for awhile and many thick pieces lay strewn at its base. Although sad to see a tree in this state, I couldn't help but be immediately drawn to the organic beauty and texture of the bark and knew I had to "save" the memory of the tree (  now I want to listen to Enya) the only way I knew how . . . to incorporate a piece of it into my home.

I have used large random sections of bark before in my landscaping. It is a great addition placed on top of mulch located on steeper hillsides as it minimizes mulch "erosion" and also adds interest to the landscape.

Once I carried the large piece (measuring over 3 1/2 feet) up to the house, I immediately knew what I wanted to do with it. Although the bark's texture is incredible to look at, I realized that the backside (inside) was just as interesting. When placed bark-down, the piece naturally has a slight concave shape, making it a fitting "bowl" or tray of sorts.

Although I've been in love with my "level-headed" tea-light display, it was time for a change. So, my new bark bowl has replaced the level and it looks great. A few moss balls which I made a week ago seemed like a highly appropriate accompaniment to the bark.   What do you think?

Another use of "trees" added to my arsenal. 

  "En Garde Pottery Barn!"

Sharing this at:
The Shabby Nest - Frugal Friday
At The Picket Fence - Inspiration Friday
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating - Flaunt it Friday
Simply Designing - Simply Link Party
Happy Hour Projects - Freestyle Friday
A Little Knick Knack Link Party
Redoux - Friday Link Up Party
The Charm of Home - Home Sweet Home
Be Different, Act Normal - Show and Tell Saturday

Vintage Bottle With Industrial Swagger

I found a tall, vintage amber glass bottle at an antique shop last weekend.  While at the register paying, an elderly man behind me said, "I used to drink from those when I was a your age."  I said, "They are cool looking bottles but they charge extra for alcohol." (LOL)  I could just imagine this guy in his youth, holding this giant bottle with a bunch of his buddies back in the day, most likely sharing it among the group.  Little did he know there would be a day when folks like myself would be collecting his castaways.

The foot tall bottle makes a cool statement on its own accord but I couldn't help but embellish it a bit to give it some extra character.

A vintage, flat wrench with lots of wear, age and character looked like a super accompaniment.  I attached it with a piece of rusted, metal spring that I saved from some of my other projects.

Another piece of spring was added to the bottle's neck to "tie" the look together.

A neat combination of reclaimed materials.  Now I want to find another bottle like this.  I feel the need to adorn more of them in various ways!



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My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia - Tuesday's Treasures
Coastal Charm - Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
At Home With K: Terrific Under Ten Tuesday
Kammy's Korner - Trash 2 Treasure Tuesday
The Thrifty Home - Penny Pinching Party
Someday Crafts - Whatever Goes Wednesday
The Shabby Creek Cottage - Transformation Thursday

More Upcycled Springs!

Seeing as I've found a few, unique springs of various styles, I've been continuing my manipulation of them into upcycled tea-light holders. Yes, I'm into this whole candle thing lately which is fine. I'm not getting bored of it yet so I'll just keep plugging onward with the ideas.

This particular spring (of which I have many) is very rigid and a bit more difficult to work with than my first junk to jewel transformation tea light holder attempt.

Finding the perfect, glass tea light holders to fit the springs properly has been problematic. The one shown here actually had a long stem. I scored a cut around the stem with my Dremel, lightly tapped the stem against a brick and "Voila", it popped right off. I then buffed the edge down at the break with a sanding drill bit to remove any sharpness.

It sure was interesting getting it seated properly within the confines of the spring. After numerous attempts and a few different locations, I ended up favoring this set-up.

Hmmm . . . what kind of tea light shall I create today? LOL! Stay-tuned.

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The Brambleberry Cottage - Time Travel Thursday
The Shabby Creek Cottage - Transformation Thursday
Somewhat Simple - Strut Your Stuff Thursday

"Gettin' TWIGGY With It"

So I'm on this candle holder kick lately (see my upcycled spring candle holder).  I really like coming up with unique ways to display candles and tea lights. Since I'm a lover of "au natural" elements, I decided to dress up a plain, glass votive with a ring of twigs.

I used jute twine to knot various length twigs together to make a simple, rustic, organic statement with this second-hand votive holder. The twig "fence" merely slides over top of the votive's shape and naturally angles to support itself.  I like the "casual" angle of the twigs rather than forcing them to stand vertically.

A consistent knotting was eventually developed to create the finished look.

I'm planning on creating more along these lines but perhaps a bit more intricate in layout and design.

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The Shabby Nest - Frugal Friday
Chic On A Shoestring Decorating - Flaunt It Friday
Simply Designing - Simply Link Party

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!

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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

GO GREEN in 2012

Do you resolve to go green in 2012? Make your home a green home. Learn to conserve energy and use less water. Recycle products and repurpose old items as decorative solutions around your home. And of course introduce some GREEN into your color scheme this year through the use of wall paint or accents.  It's a soothing color that I can't live without.

Please visit the Frugal Interior Design Website to browse some of the featured "Green" topics

. . . and a HAPPY NEW YEAR to you!