posted on March 17, 2004 10:23:15 AM new
I have a large number of old pottery planters that were my grandmother's. They come in various colors, shapes and characters. Since they've been sitting around collecting dust, my boyfriend has been begging me to get rid of them.
We had some people over for dinner last night and since my Johnson Bros Snow White Regency set is so bland, I decided to spice it up a bit. I scrubbed those planters sparking clean and used them as serving dishes. I got loads of compliments and some laughs out of the character ones! Sure did brighten the table. Now, my boyfriend is not so anxious for me to get rid of them! The long planters are great for celery and the like. Even though I have a gravy boat for the Johnson Bros., I used a swan planter that I have. It has a great handle and the end of it is like a spout!
Anyone else come up with creative things to do with their "stuff"?
posted on March 17, 2004 06:34:30 PM new
cheryl, I love it!! I bet it was fabulous - I too wish you would have gotten a photo!!
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"I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to the people who sleep under the very blanket of freedom I provide, and then question the manner in which I provide it." - A Few Good Men
The pieces I used are fully glazed with no chips or cracks. If I worried about lead in the glaze, I suppose I'd have to worry about my dinnerware set which is just as old (if not older) than some of the planters. The dinnerware set is from the 1940's. Most of the planters are from the 1950's. Also, I would never re-heat anything in them. As my boyfriend always says, ". . .a pound of dirt before you die" while he's sticking his hand in a public barrel of peanuts and eating them shells and all. Yuk!
Actually, it was a great experiment in determining what color(s) I want to go with this white dinnerware. At first I wanted to use just black accessories. Now, I think the pastel shades are best. My dining room is awfully dark. There is one small window that's near the ceiling (house was built in 1905) and sometime in the 1970's some fool paneled the whole room in dark paneling and dropped the ceiling. Someday I'm going to rip that paneling off the walls and re-do the ceiling. One wall will stay paneled as it is wormy chestnut. From what I understand, it's a rare wood.
At least the bf knows that there's a use for everything - even all my eBay stuff!
posted on March 18, 2004 09:14:52 AM new
According to the do-it-yourself tv shows this is called re-purposing. We were getting ready to junk our old beatup computer desk, when my smarter half said maybe she would just paint it. Instead of being the dog-doo brown of cheap furniture the desk is now lavender. The result of 3 different left over cans of paint being re-purposed.
posted on March 18, 2004 10:07:18 AM new
Cheryl - when you get ready to yank that paneling you should contact a few custom furniture makers and interior designers to see if they would be interested in purchasing it.
Many moons ago my step father was superintendant on a construction site. Part of clearing the plot included emptying and bringing down and old abandoned barn/shorage shed. Inside he found a pile of 2 x 6 planks each several feet long of some incredibly dense dark wood. Rather than trash it he loaded into the truck and brought it home. Upon having it examined he discovered it was long since embargoed brazillian rosewood. He ended up selling it off to a few custom craftsmen for enough to make a few mortgage payments on our new house. It was gorgeous wood when polished, a rich dark burgandy, and I still wish he had kept some of it. I took a small piece to school to try to make a jewelry box in shop class but it was so incredibly dense I killed at least 4 saw blades before my teacher convinced me to give up.
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
[ edited by Fenix03 on Mar 18, 2004 10:07 AM ]
posted on March 19, 2004 10:34:39 AM new
Nah. Fenix would have to practice being nasty to her neighbors and running over baby chicks with her car before she could even dream of stepping into Martha's Manolo Blahniks.
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"When I eventually met Mr. Right I had no idea that his first name was Always." -- Rita Rudner
posted on March 19, 2004 11:31:22 AM new
LOL - Fliff - I thought you already new that I am Queen B*itch of my domain
I don't run over baby chicks but my ccat has now taken out its second bird in week. Came home to the scene of a of a voodoo ritual gone bad - feathers everywhere....... I figure a few more months and my menace will have supplied me with the makings of a nice new down pillow
As for a Martha replacement though... I just don't have the patience to cook. There is a reason I live downtown and within walking distance of of the GasLamp districts 90 restaraunts.
Just as well, I'm not Monolo kinda gal. I like walking and although I enjoy pain as much as the next gal (wink wink). not in my feet.
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If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
