One of the things I love most about Purple Monkey Manor and the antique/flea market world is giving new life to things that would otherwise end up in the landfill.
I met my friend, Laura, as her parents were downsizing. They purchased their smaller home almost a year before I met them. But, they didn’t start culling their possessions until their family home was sold. With the closing date looming over their heads, they planned multiple yard sales and rented a dumpster to park in the front yard.
I met Laura at the first garage sale and our friendship grew over the course of the other two sales. Her father was a pharmacist in the Korean war and had some amazing pharmaceutical treasures. I identified some of the more valuable pieces and encouraged them to try other avenues to sell them for signifigantly more.
At the last sale, just a week from their close date, Laura invited me into the house. She showed me four boxes of beautiful, vintage Reader’s Digest condensed books that were headed to the dumpster. I brought them home and prepared them to be repurposed. It did take quite a bit of restraint on my part to not climb into the dumpster and see what other treasure it might hold.
I sold a few of the books as decor pieces, but was still left with more books than I knew what to do with. So I planned the “Vintage Books Repurposed” contest and issued a challenge on Facebook to turn the books into something amazing. The voting took place on Facebook and there was a $100 first place winner and $25 went to second place. Each winner was invited to shop at my house in the “barn.”
I’m thankful for the local creators and their gorgeous projects! Three people completed projects, all of them amazing and creative. The wreath took first place. See the pictures below.
Vintage Books Repurposed Lessons learned:
- Take time to make friends along the way.
- Don’t plan an event that involves time consuming creations during the November and December holiday season.
- Go ahead and climb into the dumpster.
