The barn and Amazon - what a combo

Morris has his bench at the farm where he can see out the window and watch the birds . He keeps trying  to look out the window at the new house so one of my objectives today was to find something I could  put a cushion on  so he could see out the window in the new house.

I had to go out to the barn anyway to look for wood and I found this old trunk   in pretty bad shape. It is quite large and very heavy.  I had to pry the lock to even get in into it.  It was lined with paper that was a little yucky but under the paper the wood was fine. It is made of wood covered with metal that was quite rusty in spots. So with some steel wool, elbow grease, and bleach I should be able to make a perch for Morris with it. I believe it is an old metal military foot locker... probably from WWII.  I have no idea how long it has been in the barn or how it got there. But I really need it about 4 in higher so I went on Amazon and found some wooden legs for it.    It will fill the bill until we actually move in February and it's free.....free is good.

 

  And I liked the look of this piece on Pinterest  that had iron work on it  and filed it away.  I do have a piece of old wrought iron fencing that I could use but if you put the iron in the front you can't have a shelf and if you put the iron in the back you can't see it. Since this has to have storage value I have to have the shelf.  So I thought if I could find some decorative iron metal legs and some decorative metal shelf supports  I think I can come close to that look.  I love the old boards on top but I love my tiled board more.  So I once again went searching on Amazon.

 

The nice thing about Amazon is that they show you what other people bought or things that are similar and I always find things just about the same  but cheaper which appeals to my thrifty nature.  First I had just looked at one shelf support for $30 t and then I found four for the same price and then four for $15. I spent a little more than $30 for four legs and four supports and I think it's going to work.

I'm still cleaning the tiled board and I found some old boards for the ends and the shelf.  I may even be able to work in a shutter or two.  When it is all done it will definitely be a OOAK entry piece...

 

Knitted lace and new cabinet

My big box of knitted lace arrived yesterday from Laurel Farm...... It is all vintage and most were edging on pillow cases at one time...  In addition to lots of knitted laces, there were several unique pieces of tatting, several wide crocheted edgings and the happy unexpected was two sections shown at the bottom.... crocheted  ric rack  edging...  But it was the knitted lace that I specifically had been seeking and delighted with the amount that was included.

And when I had all the drawers filled in my "small drawer units" filled, I found this super rolling unit yesterday at a thrift store and besides that. I had a 30% off coupon which made it only $10..... so it came right home with me. Only one drawer was missing.... found some great silk stash also...

Finally a bag system which will work for me!

How could we manage to CQ without ziplock bags but I had never found a way to keep them sorted AND handy and I've tried umpteen ways...I did it in tubes,boxes, baskets and drawers. The latest was to label a bag (ex. gallon) and put all like-size bags in that bag... But it just wasn't handy and I just didn't do it.  So having reached the final frustration level I went online...  I ran across  methods of storing them upright.   I liked that because the height instantly indicated the size.  I knew the tubes wouldn't work for me because I had too many bags but the other idea used a divided carton which I adapted.

 I just used a beverage carton.  I roll them up individually and easily slip them in and take them out.

I have it sitting on a tall (but small) plant stand  by the door to my storage room. The leftover used bags are still in the pantry when I need them.

If in my thrift store forays I found something like this to which I could add dividers  and hang on the end of the bookcase it would even be better.  I'll have to keep an eye out..

In my search I ran across this clever "instant drying setup"
She kept a quart jar of aquarium gravel under her kitchen sink and when she needed to dry something she stuck in a bunch of BBQ skewers.  Clever and cheap!!

Update:  I still love my stacking boxes for each project and just found another one cheap on e-bay..  With a tray each for my beads, kreinik threads, and ribbons and by thread ring hanging from my lamp I have everything at hand. Since I am mostly beading right now I can put that tray on top.
Equally it is all put important easily put away... Unfortunately since I work on the dining table I do occasionally have to clear it for company.  I will start putting doodads into the new stack of boxes for the hanky quilt which will probably be after the holidays...

Treasures from the barn...... again

I have a passion for shallow drawers and it doesn't get better than these.. I used these for years to store pressed flowers and they were perfect.  But I don't press flowers any more and they were just sitting in the barn..

They are vintage steel flat files for cards.... probably circa 1940s... I acquired them when the city library converted everything to computers and had a huge equipment sale..   Besides these I bought  another blueprint-size flat file... also steel and vintage...and I use it for beads now.

I moved these into the house yesterday and cleaned them up... The bottom one is 11" wide by 18" long and the upper is about 9"x 18".  The drawers are only about 1 1/2" deep. Being steel they are VERY heavy.

They are going to be my main storage for my favorite buttons so I can easily sort and choose..  I have made some temporary labels which will likely  change.  Now I have buttons in cabinets, bins, jars, and plastic bags in 4 different rooms and in the barn..

The nice thing about the drawers is that they fully extend so everything in them is accessible...

I thought about spray painting them but when I did a little research I discovered these cabinets are very collectible and quite expensive so I will keep them in their original condition.  You all know how I love finding YET another life for something languishing in the barn!!!

(I know my friend Connie K is drooling on her keyboard)