Don't wear a sundress to the Scrap Metal Yard....and other tales from the field

This morning was beautiful and sunny....and I am trying to milk everything left out of summer so I decided I would wear a sundress even though it's past Labour Day. 

After a lovely long walk on the boardwalk with the 3 dogs (we are looking after 2 of my sister's plus our own) and then supervising the drop off of pea gravel and stones for our new schoolyard project, I realized I needed to get some yeast so I could make some homemade pizza for dinner tonight.

I popped in the car since it had started raining and off I went.  But I couldn't stop thinking about that Beef Cuts Chart and how to mount it on the wall.  I wanted something that would be industrial and interesting and decided upon sheet metal as a backdrop.  I would then magnet the chart to it.

On my way to the grocery store there is a scrap metal yard that I often visit and thought they might have something for me.

Upon arriving there I quickly realized wearing a sundress to such a venue was a pretty bad idea.  I'm sure I looked the perfect part of ditzy, bored, soccer mom.  It's still raining and I just had my hair straightened and was trying to save it so I was huddled under an umbrella looking for someone who worked there.  I ended up being hassled by a customer dropping off a load of aluminum who assured me "I'll be thinking about you for the next couple of days that's for sure"....ewww!!  Reason #1 for not wearing such ridiculous attire to a scrap yard.

Finally found the guy who worked there and asked about some sheet metal...turns out they didn't have any.  About to leave, I spied a huge chunk of wood in a dumpster.  I asked if I could have it and he shrugged....apparently the strong, silent type.  Not so strong as it turns out because he couldn't lift it out of the dumpster for me.  Cut to me perched on dumpster, in sundress hauling out filthy wood.....nice huh?  Reason #2 for no dress at metal yard.

Hope you'll understand if I just don't have pictures of that! But here is the beam of wood in my trunk...perfect fit!

Next stop was a sheet metal fabricator just past the grocery store...I had been there before and had some luck so I drove there.

I got out of the car and was greeted by the welcome wagon.

Not too sure how valuable sheet metal might be but I guess it's better safe than sorry?

They had exactly what I needed there and cut me a piece.  Success!

Back home, I cleaned up the border of the sheet metal with my drill and wire brush attachement.  Then mounted it to the wall with screws, washers and nuts. 

Attach print with magnets and voila!

I think it sets off the print perfectly and with interest.  I also think this is a great idea you could put to use for a photo collage, memo board etc...I plan to make a few more of these.

Not sure what I am going to do with the old beam of wood but I'm sure I will come up with something.

To Market...To Market....

This past weekend was fantastic!  There were 2 great antique/flea markets happening and I was able to attend both....totally fun and decadent!

Saturday was the fall Christie Antique Show in Dundas, Ontario.  I had heard about it for years and finally was able to make it there this year.  My friend and I set out in a torrential downpour...which might have made us unhappy except we figured that the rain might keep people away and we'd be able to get some great bargains.  We were right!

This market is huge...I mean acres huge.  Rows and rows of stalls....antiques, collectibles and everything in between. You can bargain with the vendors for the price so you can really get some good value there.

I scored some great finds.  I have been looking for an old metal gym locker basket for a while now and managed to get one for a lot less than what I had seen them listed for elsewhere.

It sits on our counter and holds all our glass jars and bottles.

The next thing I came across was a metal letter "R"....I have always loved these metal letters and really what's a girl whose last name is Roberts to do but scoop that up?....looks great here I think!

 On our second go around (you really need to walk around it a few times to make sure you see everything once before buying) I spied another metal basket...I loved the shape of this one - perfect for holding all sorts of stuff at our front door....so yes I picked that up too!

Honestly the deals were just too great.....I could have bought so much more but that wouldn't have gone over so well at home I don't think.  My friend picked up a really great painted cabinet with a tin ceiling back....don't have a photo of it, but trust me it's beautiful. 

We left feeling totally happy with our purchases, secure in the knowledge we had acquired something special and at a great price.

This morning I woke up and while on Facebook saw a post from the Junction Flea www.http://junctionflea.blogspot.ca/p/dates.html that reminded me the market was on today....so I packed my youngest into the car and off we went.  He's quite the savvy shopper and it was a fun opportunity to do something neat together.

Upon arrival I sensed it was going to be a really good day again.  Tents set up with goodies....antiques, collectibles, edibles... just like the Brooklyn Flea we visited in July.

We started the go around (ever notice how you almost always start on the right and go counter clockwise?  I do anyway) and spied a really neat wooden bench.  It was an old washtub stand.  I loved it but wanted to wait and see what the rest of the market held.  Glad that I did because further along we spied another similar bench for 1/2 the price!!!  Yup...scooped it up!!

How perfect will this be in our new (but completely non-existent) Master Bathroom...time of arrival to be determined.

We kept walking and it was great to see all the memorabilia.  Luke was desperate for an old typewriter which made me laugh because it was just like the one I used to type up my high school essays on....way to make a gal feel old!  We passed on that one.

Something else we saw and really scooped up was an old ice-cream scoop.  I've always wanted to get one that was like those in the ice cream shops....so we brought it home.  Luke said it would look great on display as well as being practical...I've taught him well....

Then I noticed a vendor selling prints....on our way to the market I had told Luke that I wanted to see if we could find a "beef cuts chart".  I thought it would be great on the wall by our fridge.  And sure enough they had them there.  We debated over the red or black one and both of us agreed the red was more interesting...love it!

Now I just need to figure out how to mount it on the wall...I have an idea to mount it to old barnboard then mount on the wall but want to see how that will look first.  Stay tuned!

Home again and please with our purchases I set about finally finishing the coat rack at the front door.  I needed to mount the old door knobs on it to hang coats from.  

Now it is all done and works so well to keep everything organized while looking great.

After I had all our purchases installed and the coat rack done I decided to harvest the basil we have been growing this summer and make some pesto.

I love homemade pesto because it is so simple to make and we can use it all the time.

Wait a second...somethings wrong with this picture.....

For those of you who know me, you will notice the lack of wine glass in the first photo...my husband soon remedied that issue and I was good to go!

I made 2 batches....one to use now and one to freeze for later (for the frozen batch I didn't add the cheese....will do that when we thaw and use since cheese won't freeze well).

All in all an amazing and fruitful weekend!  Hope yours was just as fun!