Crafts,  decorating,  junk

What Should I Do With This Junky Treasure?

If you’ve been following along on this blog – and thank you for doing that – you’ll remember I talked about our sidewalks being torn up and the amazing memento I now have from the tree that was cut down during the process.

I’m not sure if I mentioned it, but our driveway apron was torn up too.

A few weeks after the new concrete was poured, I cleaned out the flowerbeds next to the driveway.

Yes, I occasionally do tend to my flowerbeds. I swear!

Do you know what I found when I was weeding that day?

A glorious junky treasure!

Talk about chippy perfection!

It’s a piece of gate hardware that was embedded in the concrete at the base of our driveway. Part of a latch, I think. We no longer have a gate, so it was not a necessary embellishment.

The city workers tore it out when they removed the old concrete and tossed it aside in my flowerbed. Bless them.

I cleaned it up and for that last 3 months have been moving it around my house trying to figure out what to do with it. I KNOW I can do something fun with it. I just haven’t figure out what – yet.

Perhaps you have some ideas?

I measured the hardware for you. It’s roughly 4.5 inches by 4.5 inches.

(As a total side note: Does anyone from the Pacific Northwest remember the Sprouse-Reitz stores? The last ones closed in 1994. That ruler in the above picture has a Sprouse sticker on the back! No joke! So, of all the things I’ve lost or discarded over the years, somehow I’ve managed to keep a ruler from when I was a kid? It’s got to be 25 – 30 years old! )

At first I thought the hardware could be a stand for a book or a 4×6 photograph, but it’s so deep I think it looks a little weird. It’s also not quite tall enough to be a cookbook holder.

I also thought it could be an industrial letter J.

But! The hardware is top heavy, so I’d need to weigh it down to make it stay in the J shape.

It’s heavy enough to function in a hook or stocking holder-type capacity if I had something lightweight to hang off of it. Maybe necklaces? Or a placard of some sort?

I also need to seal it so that the chippy, rusty goodness doesn’t keep creating a mess.

Now, let’s just all assume I’m not crazy for thinking this thing has potential.

I need some ideas on what to do with this junky treasure. What am I missing? Send me your ideas! Please!

Thank you and happy brainstorming!

 

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3 Comments

  • Chris Schwab

    Cool piece! I’m sure you’ll find something to do with it. When our Sprouse Reitz store closed here in Silverton. They had a big sale and it was just sad. We miss it. ????

  • Jeannie Gerhardt

    Hmmmm, I was thinking book end too but what about one of those boot cleaner things that you scrape your feet on when entering the house after being in the garden? Or maybe an rustic apron hook for the kitchen? I could make you a rustic apron to match….complete with burlap and all, I’m not being sarcastic either, I made a burlap Christmas stocking last year and it was super cute:)

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