It’s really easy, can be very budget friendly, and it’s always great to recycle or upcycle vintage items as planters or containers for your flowers. Look in the garage, attic, basement and shed. You may well find something you already own to use as an interesting planter.

Virtually anything will work — just needs to be able to hold some potting soil and have holes for drainage (you can drill or poke a few holes in whatever you choose. You don’t want root rot!)

Vintage Container Ideas

The list is really almost endless. I looked at some of the stuff from the booth and found a lot of items that could be used as planters. Here are a few:

• enameled wash basins
• buckets and barrels
• crates and crocks
• old milk box (metal with hinged lid)
• cast iron or copper pots
• large colander (they already have holes!)
• Urns of all shapes,  sizes and out of different materials (concrete, pottery, plastic, etc…)
• tin cans
• galvanized wash tubs
• wagons
• watering cans
• birdcages
• old paint cans (cleaned very well)
• tool boxes or tackle boxes
• and more…

So, before you head off to that big box or home improvement store, take a look around the house — at a vintage or antique mall, yard sales, auctions and online auctions or vintage stores like eBay or Etsy. Here are some ideas from Vintage With A Twist:

Repurposing vintage items to use as planters will add character, interest, whimsy and just plain fun to your yard!

Featured Image: © Andrew Haddon | Dreamstime.com

Budget Friendly Vintage Container Gardens – Planters originally appeared on Vintage With A Twist on May 28, 2013.

Because mom is crazy for the breed, a few years ago, my sister’s family gave her an old figurine of that breed of dog. She loved it! Since, she has added to her collection of dachshund figurines and has quite a few she showcases in a niche built into her fireplace as well as on top of a vintage washstand situated just below.

Displaying Collections

With collections, it’s fun to display them — let others enjoy them too. Here are a few tips for displaying collections:

• Find a place that will allow them to be a focal point. You love your collection and it should have it’s own center stage.
• A library, sofa, or occasional table is a great opportunity to display a vignette of your collection.
• Add a couple of items that don’t necessarily go with the collection for variety. For instance, stack a couple of old books and place some of your collection on top of the books as well as around it.
• If your collection of items are all close to the same height, add a tall piece like a vase or candle holder so the eye will travel up and down as well as across.
• If your collection is HUGE, consider rotating it. For example, I had a large collection of Precious Moments figurines. I didn’t want to just throw them all in a curio cabinet, willy-nilly. Instead, for each season and/or holiday, I chose about a dozen to display on my sofa table. It was fun going through and choosing which ones I would display when.

Do you collect something you would love to show off in a grouping? It can really add to the character of your home and decor! I say do it!

Note: My favorite dog is the cast iron one in the middle of the washstand. He’s just so cute and do you know what he is intended for? A boot scraper! So cool!

Collecting Dachshund Figurines – Displaying Collections originally appeared on Vintage With A Twist on May 24, 2013.

Obviously, we all have display pieces that are larger and harder to move or make them look fresh and different (from a customer’s viewpoint). We have a large display case with glass shelves that acts as a wall on one side of our booth. We have used rope light to highlight the different pieces displayed in there but are trying to figure out a way to make it look fresh for the upcoming Spring and Summer.

See? Spring cleaning affects more than just your house and it especially affects retail businesses! Mom and I are planning to load up some empty boxes and totes to take on our next trip to the booth. We are both ready to clear out items that have been around too long. Once we make some room and see what’s left, we’ll have a better idea of what to replace those items with.

Yup, spring cleaning the booth and presenting a beautiful space for the warmer seasons is at the top of the list right now! Can’t wait to share some photos once we get finished!

Spring Cleaning at the Vintage Mall originally appeared on Vintage With A Twist on April 10, 2013.

I have a plan when I go looking usually. It’s easy to get caught up in all the items you find for sale at auctions and yard sales. However, with a plan I can stay more focused to the immediate goals I am trying to achieve. (That’s not to say, I won’t jump on something unexpected for future use!)

My short list consists of  re-doing furniture, add some home decor touches as well as a few items for the garden and patio areas.

My problem is sorting through all my ideas and getting them into priority order. There just isn’t enough time in the day to do everything! So, this spring, I am going to concentrate on the patio first. I want to find some used items I can upcycle into something new or recycle to get more use out of.

I love old, wooden boxes in all shapes and sizes, with and without advertising on them.

• Tool boxes
• milk crates
• wood crates
• wheel barrows
• wash tubs
• mail boxes, etc…

I want to find some to accent the patio area as planters, end tables and maybe even wall shelves. I have been looking around on eBay and found a few I like. Once spring really hits, I plan to hit auctions and yard sales as well.

Do you have any ideas for me? How can I use old, wooden boxes to decorate my patio area?

Update: here’s one washtub we planted with flowers in the side yard. We placed it on top of an old stump that was just clamoring for something! I even like that you can see where the sticker used to be — adds character.

(Don’t forget to drill a few holes in the bottom so that water can drain out. Otherwise you’ll end up with plant rot from too much water!)

Image: Under License Agreement © Yuriy Afonkin | Dreamstime.com

Spring is Coming! Auction & Yard Sale Season originally appeared on Vintage With A Twist on March 30, 2013.

We got a call from the mall owners that we needed to move things around and make a space in the corner of our booth. Seems they are adding a new central heating unit (much needed in the old building). So, mom and I showed up to rearrange the booth and were shocked to see almost everyone of the Coke items I had added were sold! Apparently, a customer bought a lot of them as basket items for a Christmas present.

The reason I had so many Coke items to begin with is because I had a Coca-Cola kitchen and dining room for a lot of years. I love the intage diner look and Coke merchandise just went right along with it.

Apparently, I am not alone! The diner look for a kitchen is quite popular. You can add small decor touches and some retro style stools and a dining set and you have that diner feel. I am going to go digging through our storage unit again this week to see what other Coke stuff I might still have that I can put in the booth. Seems to be popular at Christmas time!

Coca-Cola for Mom, Dad and Any Collector originally appeared on Vintage With A Twist on November 22, 2012.

from Presence of the Past, JW Riley Emporium

from Presence of the Past, JW Riley Emporium

from dealer at JW Riley Emporium

from dealer, JW Riley Emporium

They are all getting ready for the holiday shopping season! I feel like we are behind. I’d better get to it!

There are so many items you could use to fill a holiday gift basket as well as unique containers at a vintage mall or booth. Just take a look around with a new sense of purpose. Gotta a relative that collects a certain brand of advertising, books, dishes, tools or whatever? Take the time to put together a truly unique gift basket for them and they will be very appreciative.

It’s eco-friendly to re-use and/or recycle items from the past for a new life. Keep this in mind when you head to the pajama department at the store in the mall. Do you really want to give pajamas again this year? ;D

Look at all the possibilities:

Holiday Gift Season at Vintage With A Twist originally appeared on Vintage With A Twist on November 8, 2012.

I recently wrote an article about making holiday gift baskets with vintage gifts for the upcoming holiday season. Yes, by the way, Christmas is only two months from today or 61 days away. It’s coming up quicker than you think!

A confession:

I am actually addicted to making holiday gift baskets as gifts for my family and friends. I don’t make them for everyone, every year but I do have a blast pick out a few recipients each year and putting thought and elbow grease into creating unique and different holiday gift baskets.

I think it started years ago when I bought a piece of Fostoria (American pattern) for my mother-in-law and a piece of Jewel Tea (Autumn pattern) for my mother one Christmas. Their thrilled and delighted reactions coupled with the fact that I was being eco friendly in my gift giving was exciting to me. It started a new tradition in my gift giving — vintage gifts.

Vintage Gifts are Fun to Give

Today, I pick a few off my list and brainstorm about their collections, hobbies, careers and personalities. I come up with a list of items — too many to purchase but enough so I don’t run out of ideas if I can’t find an item or two. My favorite thing to do is find something vintage to use as the container. Baskets are fine but I always want something more unique.

Advertising boxes, holiday tins, sewing drawers, enamel pans, basins, suitcases, bowls or dishes, crates, crocks and more are just a few ideas of items you can use as containers.

If I find a container that works in with their collection or hobby or whatever, then I pick up a couple of more vintage gifts to include. If I can’t find a vintage container I think will work, I still try to find a new one that will have a purpose long after the holiday is over. I’ll fill it with a few more vintage gifts and mix in some candy and baubles to fill it up.

Shop online at eBay or other vintage sites, visit antique malls, flea markets and even yard sales and auctions. It can be a lot of fun!

You can make holiday gift baskets for almost any budget and with some careful hunting, you’ll end up with a gift the recipient will treasure because of the time, effort and personalization you put into picking out the gift. Now, start shopping!

For more gift basket ideas, visit these articles:

Gift Baskets for Kids (& Kids at Heart)

Baskets for Teen Girls

Golfers Gift Basket Ideas

How to Assemble a Gift Basket

Containter Ideas for Vintage Gift Baskets

Walking around the JW Riley Emporium, here are a few items I have found that would make awesome gift basket containers:

Coke Wagon for the Coca-Cola Collector or Lover

Old Crates are great as holiday gift basket containers

A vintage basket made of bark

Glass coffee table swan — an original container!

Collectible Beer BBQ could be filled with great stuff!

Holiday Punch Bowl complete with hanging mugs

Look around your nearest vintage or antique mall. I bet you find a lot of possibilities for vintage holiday gift basket containers!

Vintage Gifts – Holiday Gift Baskets originally appeared on Vintage With A Twist on October 25, 2012.

We are due for a new wreath or swag celebrating the fall season this year. We don’t hang in on the door, rather on the stone in the front entry. We don’t really have a porch in the traditional sense. More of a entry area.

Anyway, I wanted to find something a bit out of the ordinary to make this year. So, I started perusing the internet to find my inspiration. I thought i’d share my finds and hope someone else gets inspired too!

Rake Wreath from Better Homes and Gardens

Frame Autumn Wreath from Better Homes and Gardens

Silver Tray Autumn Wreath from Better Homes and Gardens

Container Autumn/Fall Door Decoration from Better Homes and Gardens

I love all of these — the uniqueness of them. I think I could walk through the booths now and find several ideas for making a fall door decoration.

Are you making a new Fall/Autumn wreath or door decoration this year?

Using Vintage Items for Wreaths and Swags originally appeared on Vintage With A Twist on October 11, 2012.

Usually, by Tuesday of festival week, you can’t get close enough to J.W. Riley Emporium (where the Vintage With a Twist booth is located) to unload. The city of Greenfield has the downtown area closed to traffic to allow the street vendors time for set up. The street booths are actually set up just off the curb in the areas cars use for on-street parking. Hauling merchandise into the emporium is just not an option.

So, we loaded in quite a bit of stuff, moved things around and got an idea of how much more we need to bring in before the festival. Below are a few photos but I dare say, it will look different again once we make the trip and move things around this coming weekend! We might even have sold some stuff. I’ll post more pictures after we get it all ready to go this weekend.

Victrola Dog on old wooden stool

Old trunk, re-done tables and silver plate service

Chippy old door and old shutters

Chippy old school desk (2 pcs)

Wood cabinet with Vintage Animal Decanters

Gearing Up for the Riley Festival originally appeared on Vintage With A Twist on September 27, 2012.

Before:

All wood, step style end tables with one drawer and a marble inset. Not bad shape for their age (late 1960′s early 70′s).

I decided I wanted a drastic change in them. The wood had some bad spots — a dog had chewed one leg, the top step on one table had some water damage and there were assorted nicks and cuts. But, the lines were good, so I bought them anyway.

So, gathering my supplies, I started. Here’s the supplies:

• Denatured Alcohol
• Zinsser Deglosser
• Zinsser White Oil Based Spray Primer (love this stuff!)
• Paint - Pittsburgh Paints Ultra in Clear Yellow (it’s really an off white hue)
• Sand paper (assorted grit from 150 to 220)
• MinWax Stain – Provincial #211
• MinWax  Paste Finishing Wax
• Saw Horses
• Staining Sponge
• Assorted rags and soft cloths

First thing I did was wipe down the very dusty surfaces. They have been in the garage so long, I could write my name in the dust. After I got the layer of dust off, I used the Denatured Alcohol on a rag to make sure all residue was gone. I took the drawers out and the hardware off. Not sure yet if I will use new or the original hardware.

Then, I put them, one at a time, up on saw horses so I could get to all the areas. I used Zinsser’s Deglosser to get rid of the remaining shiny, top coat. This stuff is AWESOME! No need to sand to get the surface ready for primer. I hadn’t used it before so I am definitely a convert!

It so easy to use and works fast. You rub it all over the finish on the piece in a circular motion (with proper gloves and eye wear of course) using a soft rag or cheese cloth. It evaporates leaving the finish dull. If there is a white film apparent in certain areas, you still have some finish or wax that needs to come off. Repeat until there are no filmy white areas.

Now, you brush on a medium coat of the deglosser. I used a sponge brush and it worked well. You leave it for 30 minutes. During that time I got my spray primer, spray can gun adapter and anything else I needed ready. You need to start your base coat of paint within 1 hour of the medium coat of  deglosser. Not sure why but I am a rule follwer, so that’s what I did.

I used Zinsser’s oil based primer with the gold/brown label. Again, I love this stuff. It coats well, blocks out stains, seals the wood, dries quick (20 minutes between re-coats) and readies the item for paint. The paint finish is so much nicer with a good primer! Here’s what it looked like with the primer:

I finished two coats of primer on both tables and let them dry overnight. The next day, I put two coats of paint on them and then let them cure over night again.

The third day, I distressed them. I used sand paper in 150 and 220 grit in areas that would have normal wear like legs, the top, edges and such. I didn’t over do on the edges and legs but I did do a decent amount of distressing to the top of the step surface. I didn’t want it to look perfect but used, old. I put some scratches in the finish and a couple of very worn areas.

Next was another good wiping down to get rid of any of the paint I had sanded off. I, personally, don’t like tack cloths. They can leave a residue on the furniture so I use a damp, soft cloth instead and then follow it with a dry cloth.

Now comes the stain. I used the MinWax stain and wiped it on with a staining sponge and then off with a rag. I work in small areas because the stain starts to dry pretty quickly. I sponge on the stain in the chosen area, usually working from left to right. Then go right back and wipe it off. If it’s not dark enough, I repeat. Some of the areas of the tables where too intricate for the sponge so I used a small art paint brush with stain on it and then wiped it off with the rag.

Here is the back of one of the tables as I stained it:

before stain

sponged on stain

stain wiped off

You can see the difference in the color from the stained area to the legs and bottom part of the end table that was still off white.

I finished both end tables in about an hour and a half. One trick I have learned is if your stain starts to dry to quickly — before you wipe it off — add more stain and then wipe quickly. This will pick up the stain that was too dark.

While these were drying, I stained the drawers, being careful to get stain in the arches and designs of the wood with my art brush. Then, I let them cure overnight. Looking pretty good!

I have the finishing wax, attaching the hardware and inserting the marble slabs and I’ll be finished.

I am using the MinWax finishing wax. It’s a great alternative to polyacrylic or polyurethane. You apply it (to a dust free surface) with a clean, soft rag or cheesecloth — not heavy, just a thin coat. Wait fifteen minutes and buff it with a cloth, electric buffer or polisher. It leaves a hard, dry, oil-less polish to the surface — perfect for nightstands or end tables.

Anymore, the only time I use polyacrylic is it the item will be in the bathroom or kitchen. And, you could use the wax anyway and just do 2 coats before you buff. It is a bit shiny, not too much though.

I used the original hardware as it was. I was going to clean it since it’s brass but the patina looked better with the distressed finish than a bright shiny brass would have.

After:

So, there you have it! These are going straight to the booth space and will be for sale for $42.99 each or $79.99 for the pair. Now, we just have to make room for them and stage them well!

One more time — Before and After:

The next project is a corner (triangle shaped) cabinet mom has had forever. It’s time to clear out the garage and get ready for the Riley Festival!

Redo Step End Tables | Ugly to Gorgeous! originally appeared on Vintage With A Twist on September 23, 2012.