It seems like months since I managed some backroads therapy......and with temps hitting almost 70 and the sun shining bright (and the need for fresh merchandise) there was no way to resist, so I headed southwest through Georgia and down to Montgomery.
(Pictured above is the beautiful Meriwether County Courthouse tower in Greenville, GA)
We did some good pickin' around Montgomery and headed north on Hgwy. 231 and found this cool place.
The owner, Mr. Jones, was really nice and let me take pictures--it was much bigger inside than you could imagine, and totally filled with endless treasures--- which were so well organized (unfortunately almost always an indicator of higher prices).
Mr. Jones told us he lost about a third of his inventory in a tornado a few years back and hasn't bought anything since, which makes it hard to imagine what he USED to have!
He has EVERYTHING....and lots of it!!
I think the movie set production people should check this place out!
I REALLY wanted this clock.......
In Tallassee, we took a detour just before crossing the Tallapoosa River and Thurlow Dam to see this interesting abandoned building--I'm not sure what it once was, but I'm guessing a mill of some sort by the riverfront location.
I would SO have to play here if I were a kid in this neighborhood!
I forgot to get a shot of the river, but it was really pretty and wide, with old abandoned mills and bridges along it---makes you wonder what was once made here, and where we get those goods now?
A little more roadside dereliction on the way to Auburn...... It was a quick trip, but we got lots of great pickins (mostly smalls) at great prices in the malls and little places along the way---although I'm agonizing over what we had to leave behind because of space limitations (mostly bigs)!! (hmm....wonder if I could just run back over there today with my truck and be home by night?)
Take one chippy old door panel......add a twisty wire tree......and you have a funky and functional jewelry holder for hanging on the wall.
I added a wire vine to wind around it for more interest, which provides little places to hang rings and bracelets.
With the addition of a wire vine hanger at the top--it's ready to hang and display all my jewels---of which I have very few. This is probably the sum total of my collection (except for the boxes of vintage bits and pieces I have collected over the years to "do something with someday")
**I will probably list it on my Etsy---that is if I can force myself spend another hour in front of this computer today! The ice is melting, and if I stick to the main roads, I think I can safely venture out today! I am SO ready after a week of cabin fever!!
This project was fun--no real plan--just a general idea of size, and I bent and twisted the wire until something emerged that sorta resembled a flower!
The goal was to find a different way to utilize this cool chunky corbel I found the other day. Of course, the end result has to be functional, so I doubled the wire so it could hold photos, and you can also hang all sorts of stuff from the wire.
(Hmm, a jewelry hanger would also be a cool use--maybe with a wire tree?? I bought 4 matching of these corbels, so I have 3 left to play with!)
I just can't seem to stop playing with wire! The more I work with it the more ideas I come up with. My manicure is ruined, so I might as well keep going......
WHEW! Getting my ETSY shop set up and first items listed took a lot longer than planned, and was quite a learning experience!
I decided to sell on-line after getting requests to purchase some of my creations, which have always done well for me at the shows, and I decided ETSY might be the best way to do that. So, after finally getting the holidays behind me it's full speed ahead......this is gonna be interesting!
But what work! Photos have to be re-sized, descriptions carefully thought over (trying to describe what I make, and find appropriate tags is a challenging task!), shipping charges figured out, and every detail disclosed--it still takes me about an hour to list one item!
Any tips from you pros out there in the bloggerhood would be ever so appreciated!
(I had to alter my name to SASSYTRASH ANTIQUES AND DESIGNS since awhile back--after I had been blogging about a year--someone used my name to set up shop on ETSY. Hopefully this was a coincidence, and makes me wonder if it would be smart to incorporate my name or something? would it ever matter? I'm clueless in that area)
This palm tree-hugging Florida girl~who has been known to complain just a wee bit about the cold and lack of sunshine around this time of year~was stopped dead in her tracks by the amazingly beautiful world of white the morning light revealed!
After such a blessed holiday, filled with wonderful times spent with family and friends, it was so very much like the icing on a magnificent cake.....the Birthday cake of our Savior to be exact....and rumor has it that this is the first time it has happened around here in over 100 years!
As I walked the paths of this scenic 900 acre park (where I do most of my cardio miles) I was amazed at how different everything looked in all that fluffy white splendor!
So beautiful.....it took my breath away! (Umm.....that might also be the result of extra calories consumed and significant lack of exercise over the last few weeks!)
I took a little break from making wire photo holders (for my- "hopefully up in a few days" -ETSY site), and made bunches of vines instead. I had a large vintage frame, so I ran some vertical and horizontal wire to suggest a window....
......and attached the vines in various places for stability. I visualized it as a display for photos or jewelry or...?
(I think it would be cool as a family tree display...using similar little photo frames, but I only had larger ones, so I just used some other stuff I had on hand for these pics)
It is quite large--about 38x32--and when we ever get a warm day, I'm going to get outside and distress it for a funkier look!
I don't show what I buy very often, because I mostly buy components to use in future projects....and they don't make much sense until I get them incorporated into something, but I thought I'd share a glimpse of my little haul this trip, anyway (I really need a bigger vehicle).
These three half-round baskets are my favorite purchase.....I broke my rules on these 'cuz I'm not exactly sure what I will do with them yet! I try to have a definite plan before I buy something, or it will just end up on the already too-tall heap of "what do I do with this?". I actually didn't buy much this trip, since I have a pretty strict criteria that I at least attempt to adhere to. Cost is the first consideration, and most of this stuff cost very little.I think the shadowbox and everything in it (including the exfoliating doll) was about 12.00.
The pocket watch casings were 5.00 each and the watch faces were 1.00 each.
This etched and decoratively framed old mirror cost about a third of what I can get for it in my market, which is better than I usually get.
I scored lots of great cardboard photos (some 3/1.00 and some 1.00 each) and various iron pieces....more components for projects.
I paid about average dealer price for this green bucket, but I loved it.....and I think it might just have to go on my front porch with a little fir tree in it!
This cool iron base was a few dollars, and I'm going to have trouble letting go of it too, at least for a little while (Iusually part with everything eventually).
I'm gathering lamps like crazy because I make my photoholders, etc. out of them and I'm getting very close to finally offering them on-line!
I also bought some tall, narrow, chippy blue vintage doors with glass panels (they are too filthy to photograph), but walked away from tons of stuff I was on the fence about----better to err on the side of restraint in these times, right?
Now, if I could just get all my projects transferred from mind to reality!!
~It's all about the thrill of the hunt and cruisin' backroads searching for rusty gold. Rummaging for cool pieces of antiquity is only part of the adventure. Next comes the challenge of re-purposing into new creations with updated functionality. Favorite finds are architectural iron, wood salvage, industrial, lighting fixtures, automobilia, farm salvage, and old hardware. But the real story, which always transcends the pickin', is about the interesting people and the unique places discovered along the way!~
It seems like months since I managed some backroads therapy......and with temps hitting almost 70 and the sun shining bright (and the need for fresh merchandise) there was no way to resist, so I headed southwest through Georgia and down to Montgomery. 
We did some good pickin' around Montgomery and headed north on Hgwy. 231 and found this cool place. 
The owner, Mr. Jones, was really nice and let me take pictures--it was much bigger inside than you could imagine, and totally filled with endless treasures--- which were so well organized (unfortunately almost always an indicator of higher prices).
Mr. Jones told us he lost about a third of his inventory in a tornado a few years back and hasn't bought anything since, which makes it hard to imagine what he USED to have!
He has EVERYTHING....and lots of it!!
I think the movie set production people should check this place out!
I REALLY wanted this clock.......
It was a quick trip, but we got lots of great pickins (mostly smalls) at great prices in the malls and little places along the way---although I'm agonizing over what we had to leave behind because of space limitations (mostly bigs)!! (hmm....wonder if I could just run back over there today with my truck and be home by night?)
