Everybody say hi to Anzfer Farms out of San Francisco. We love their line of butch-craft-style reclaimed wood furnishings, both for their rustic, masculine lines and the eco-friendly principles behind them. You could win the gorgeous Spalted Fragment Light and Vase, made by owners/artisans Jonathan Anzalone and Joseph Ferriso.
The bases of both lamp and vase are made from fragments gathered on the Northern California shoreline. To win the set, just answer this week’s question before 12/11c, Monday, Oct. 4. Be sure to include a valid email address so we can contact you.
This week’s question: What kind of treasures have you created from another person’s trash?
i made a comforter for my daughter from her old comforter and a curtain panel and we love it!
I made a coat rack from old barn siding and porcelain doorknobs.
my most recent craft is a polymer lid for my glass talc box
I took a small dresser sitting by a dumpster and refinished it. It turned out so beautiful, people asked me where I bought it!
We found a great old wooden extension ladder and used it as a trelis
i made a bar, out of an old kitchen cat by putting a top of a coffee table to make it longer, so i can put a stool under it and allow for more food for entertaining, also i made a big outdoor tomatoe holder and for my plants with scrap wood.
Several picture frames made out of barn siding from my family farm.
My mother-in-law replaced her basement windows & gave me her old ones. I made a picture frame from one, using 4 8×10's of my grandkids – beautiful! I've used others to make faux windows hanging on window-less walls – one above my kitchen sink. I also have a tree stump I made into a table – I've been lugging it around for almost 33 years! We moved from Ohio to New Mexico, then back to Ohio & my tree goes with us!
Yes, I have made lots of stuff, picture frames out of old doors and a desk from an old door.
Old bookcase found on side of road is in my bathroom to hold baskets of colognes, lotions. Baby changing table found on side of road – straps removed, repainted & used on patio to hold potted plants, placemats, ashtrays (no smoking inside house), etc.! Going to refinish an old chest of drawers and use in our bedroom for extra storage (never can have enough!) & for the TV since it's higher than current TV stand.
I took an old metal planter and turned it into a wine rack.
I made Halloween and other holiday decorations.
I have refinished many pieces of furniture, some that looked like they should be thrown away, but made beautiful again with stripping, sanding and staining. My favorite wood to work with is oak. I try to make use of any wood that I find.
We took the old pool decking and made 8 anorodeck (spelling) chairs and two tables
My husband and I made our own version of a leg lamp,like the one in A Christmas Story:-)
I picked up an old work bench from the side of the road. I cut down the legs, sanded the top, and added casters. I had a large coffee/game table for the family room
I was given an old rattan chair and footrest from someone who was going to throw it out. It was ugly, but a coat of fresh paint, new pillows and pretty fabric turned it into something beautiful! It is such a treasure now.
Oh my goodness! So many! I even have a little business called Let Nothing Be Wasted! Candlestands from the bedposts of a 4-poster bed….
I made a mosaic tile for the garden from some colorful dishes that had broke.
I made decorative trees out of extra copper wire from electrical work.
I remember when I was a kid in Primary School, our class had been divided into groups of three – our group had used an old wooden baseball bat, and used nails to hammer in 100 various donated bottle tops from the local public house (bar), to make a really cool instrument. We all had a hand in it, and surprisingly, we won the assignment. It made a sound very similar to that of a tambourine and was used for years as one of the school band's instruments – might even be there still!
I love to make new things from old. I always repurpose things and the last thing I made a lamp from an old vase. Awesome!
Competition would be much more exciting if there were photographs accompanying the statements. We all could vote on the projects. Maybe next time?
This week I helped make a huge chain link chandelier out of recycled wall paper strips, for a Childrens museum. It looks great with all different colors, textures, and design!
Stained an antique table turquoise, Then did a southwestern glass mosiac tile top. Stained an old storage chest turquoise to match the table, cut out a plywood top and recovered it for one side of seating at the table. Sanded and painted 3 old iron chairs turquoise and used them for the rest of the seating around the table. It made the patio much nicer. Fun project.
I use old wooden school desks as side tables.
i save everything to make something else
totally organized my craft room with items I got at yard sales, It has a wonderful and useful look now.
I made a book shelf out of an old wooden table, a wooden bench, wooden crates,and an old wooden tool chest – all stacked up together and its ADORABLE!!!
Usually you'll see someone take an object and turn it into a lamp. Well, I took an old lamp and turned it into a large vase. A little creativity and wahlaa….
I make glass sunflowers out of scrap art glass…pillows out of napkins and hankies…pillows out of sweaters…love to redesign and reuse..Best art supply house is local thrift stores and junk sales!
Frames out of reclaimed barns
used old wooden picket fence pieces on a wall for a mural sort of scene.
We took some OLD fence boards, some old branches from a park, and created a BEAUTIFUL rustic coffee table for our front room! The branches have the insect trails all over them, and look very ornate as table legs!
I made a great display cabinet for our crystalware. Know what I used? A beautiful vintage danish table from a thrift store and 2 small glass display cabinets. Removed the legs from the table, built a frame out of the scrap wood under the table top (which is fairly light), disassembled the glass pieces and removed them from the tarnished brass frame, slid the glass into the frames and used the rest as shelving. Ran a light through the back and now we have one piece we can use by recylcing/repurposing 3 unsuable pieces. We also saved on storage space by taking them out of the garage.
We just finished a gorgeous table & chair set, purchased for $100 at a yard sale – sanded down, painted & recovered. Looks like a thousand dollar table now!
lots of stuff – one of my favorites is a side table from an old trunk with gallon glass jars for legs (filled with stuff of course for added fun)
I would love to win the lamp.
I am making candle holders out of old glass insulators off of electrical poles. Clear and green glass with old wire!
I like to make quilt pieces from old shirts and skirts They work out great.
in high school my sis found a ottoman on the street and i took it school and redid it over and won the mi state award that year.
I rescued a chair from the dump and had it reupholstered in a Waverly fabric I got for next to nothing. The upholstery was done in a school where I worked.
I used OLD door knobs, with the plates still on the back of them, put one on each side of the window for a long window "scarf" to hang on…I get a lot of positive comments about this window treatment:)
My neighbor 'kicked her husband to the curb'; so I went out, picked him up, cleaned him off, got him a job and married him. . .! He's now MY wage-earning honeybunch! Hey, one (wo)man's trash 'can be' another one's treasure – hah! …and I am Unanimous in that. . .!
Got some old school chairs for $1 each, spray painted them and then used foam and oil cloth to make new padded seats and backs for kitchen chairs.
I've always been big on recycling things including rescuing sad looking plants at nurseries. I collect seashells and add with some sand in unique glass containers, make my own bath salts and add to unique glass jars (often times found at thrift stores). Free river rock when someone advertises they want to change their landscape, becomes recycled treasure for another person. Old picture frames decorated in different colors and fabrics makes an interesting collage. Jars, glass containers, and even tin cans decorated make beautiful and interesting candle holders. Old pieces of furniture sanded and re-stained have become treasures. The list can go on and on, so it is all in perspective and taking the risk to see beyond the old, worn look. Of course, nature has an endless supply of natural materials to work into a creative treasure.
I made old shoe trees into coat hooks for our mudroom
I made a lamp out of a toilet flushometer for a retired plumber.
only things left by the dumpster that I could use (I got my kitchen set that way.. it was real wood!) As far as being crafty and changing the function I leave that for others