Trash night is the best night.
Paul was away for work last week. A rare occurrence that affords me the opportunity to eat peanut butter for dinner and contemplate the prevalence of ax murderers.
Have you noticed how there are at least 12 times more ax murderers outside your house when your husband is away?
Before Paul left, he said – please do not put anything in the garage while I am gone.
So. Now all these pots are sitting in our driveway.
Prior to marrying Paul, it would not have occurred to me to get out of my car and sift through someone’s trash.
Paul is the one who taught me that trash is not trash… Trash is stuff that other people have been stupid enough to leave at the curb for you to steal.
Paul would bring home a corpse, if he thought he could salvage something useful from it. But he does not have the “collecting” gene.
Obviously I could not leave behind a crate of perfectly good Mason jars. Never mind that I do not make jam. Or can. Or preserve. And even if I did, there is no way I would put food in jars that may last have held cyanide.
But they will be perfect for some simple holiday decorations. OR, if you like your Christmas decorations more complicated… Stick around! I am going to make your wildest dreams come true.
(I have been spending way, way, way, way too much time on Pinterest. My IQ has plummeted to negative.)
Anyway. This was the best part of the trash.
It’s a Flexible Flyer baby sled, model 28. And the best part is that it is stamped on the bottom- made in Philadelphia.
I tried to get Elvis to model it for you. And you can see how that worked out.
This is now my second vintage item that is cat-appropriate. Which is exciting, because once you have two, it can become a collection.
The first was a vintage doll stroller that I bought specifically for her. Which is A – weird on my part. And B – not something she wanted to have anything to do with.
I am pretty excited about the sled as holiday decoration. I skipped Halloween. And Thanksgiving. If I do not do Christmas, they will take away my blogging license.
(Obviously I am kidding. There is no license. Any idiot can have a blog.)
However, it IS true that I am legally required to create fantastic and whimsical tablescapes. And what could be better than putting an ENTIRE sled on your dining room table?
I removed the handle and the wheels. I was afraid I’d have to get Paul to grind the bolts off because they’re rusty, but some oil loosened them up.
I have 57,000 other things to tell you, but I am having a totally disorganized week life.
My entire downstairs is an explosion of holiday crap… Exactly like last year when I wrote a post asking myself WHY DO I HAVE SO MUCH CHRISTMAS CRAP?
Followed immediately by me getting EVEN MORE Christmas crap in the form of a giant bin of disco balls.
This year I have really outdone myself… considering that today I am expecting a delivery of ONE POUND of German glass glitter AND 200 FEET of garland.
I am tired already.
I will love you EVEN MORE… if you share me with your friends.
November 21, 2013 @ 1:55 pm
See now we can’t be friends. Because this week on my Instagram I vented about my lack of a real sled for home decor on our front porch and found an imitation one at the store that is NOTHING as awesome as this. I am totally jealous. No really.
November 21, 2013 @ 2:05 pm
I enjoyed this post a lot….the same question I ask myself each year and swear I’m going to simplify….until I start unwrapping my Christmas things and it’s like visiting old friends and you would never throw away an old friend, right? Which led me to read your post about Christmas….and I have to say…..I LOVED the disco balls…..they are fabulous!!! I would so do this…..instead I have about 200 crystal chandelier drops on my tree and I just love anything sparkly and shiny….. so I can’t wait to see your Christmas decorating! I know it will be so fun! AND the sled is a killer find! I bought a white rabbit muff on Ebay last year that I plan to use with my white ice skates somehow this Christmas. When my husband saw it he said “uh why?”……as if people like you and I need a reason!
I so enjoy your posts!
November 21, 2013 @ 5:31 pm
I have chandelier drops on the return air vent in the guest room. Hey – they were magnetic. Wherever they will stick is fair game!
November 21, 2013 @ 2:08 pm
I learned from my mother to never hesitate to claim what others deem as trash…..thus I have a punch bowl left in an abandoned barn (the cows were having a party?) and a wicker chair rescued from the local dump that I have had in my home for almost 30 years!
November 21, 2013 @ 2:49 pm
Yes, I showed husband how I get lots and lots of hits off last year’s Christmas post, and this proves that we need a new tree so I can do a Christmas tree post. Blog stat manipulation for new tree worked…off we went to look for new tree..feel free to use this excuse to buy new Xmas things.
November 21, 2013 @ 2:58 pm
Those are fantastic finds! I have been known to host dance parties in dumpsters, actually. Well, they start as a salvage operation, and then turn into dance parties because there is something about standing in a dumpster with four friends looking for an oriental rug that you saw someone put in it that is inherently ridiculous.
Actually, though, I am simultaneously thrilled and terrified of the pound of glitter made from glass. What are your plans for it? It sounds vaguely dangerous – as if it would slice up your lungs if you inadvertently inhaled some, which, being glitter, is a distinct possibility. I am excited to see your holiday decor, ma’am.
November 21, 2013 @ 6:28 pm
Somehow the vision of you garbage picking cracked me up!!! What awesome finds though! I have open shelving in my kitchen and actually transfer a lot of dry goods to mason jars. Everything looks so gourmet in glass jars!! I can’t wait to see pictures of your house for Christmas…
I bet I spend more time on Pinterest than you!!! I’m just sayin’
November 21, 2013 @ 6:28 pm
Do you know that I adore you? I am just so happy that someone else is not above taking other people’s trash! Because some of my very best Treasures were found on trash night. In fact there is a solid brass chandelier awaiting Pinspiration, sitting in my side porch entry….because if I put it in the garage or basement, I will forget it!
November 21, 2013 @ 9:43 pm
I’m a great trash picker. The first week in June is big trash week in Narberth and it’s a trash pickers paradise. I’ve gotten a chandelier, floor lamps, a bar stool and a cool wooden bureau. So much fun!
November 21, 2013 @ 9:49 pm
I am totally jealous and in love with your baby sled! In California we have to put all of our trash in giant bins with lids. No one leaves anything on the curb for me to find and rescue. Sob……
November 22, 2013 @ 1:42 am
Man, you have way better trash then we get in WA. I can’t believe the sled…what a score!! If you need to hide your treasures so you don’t get in trouble, ship them here! I promise to keep them safe for you 🙂
November 22, 2013 @ 6:50 am
I love trash night too! What I find ironic is that I used to totally embarrass my teenagers by doing this…and I found some pretty cool things. Fast forward a few years to my daughter embracing the life of being a poor student….and now she is picking up trash too!
November 22, 2013 @ 7:12 am
Just have to jot a quickie…finding you on line has been a treasure for me. I laugh more than out loud at your witty comments and can picture you rummaging through the trash by the roadside. Love what you found and am chuckling already at what your husband’s comment will be when he returns.
November 22, 2013 @ 11:33 am
Glitter (aka: Sparkle) is the staple of every princesses’ existence. If we love it, especially at Christmas, we glitter it. If my husband would stand still long enough… Yup!… I’d glitter him up too. Trash to treasure. I do pretty well finding most of my treasures at yard sales, but I bow to your skills going curbside… but then, I don’t have a garage. Next house will have a garage, and then my skills will increase. Until then, pass the glitter!
Btw… Those SEALs are on stand-by in case you run up on any ax murderers.
November 22, 2013 @ 6:35 pm
I’m just a “little” bit safer than you when my husband is out of town. The murderers outside our house have knives instead of axes. A little bit smaller blade. My husband is out of town right now, and I’m pretty sure they’re out there. Afraid to look though because what if I really do see a blade shining in the house lights out there?! It’s better to never look.
LOVE the idea of an entire sleigh on the dining table! I need to do that, but need a bigger dining table now! You are a really good influence.
November 22, 2013 @ 9:21 pm
Has anyone else noticed that many VEB fans and commenters are very witty and clever also? Me, I just enjoy all of them. Maybe it’s a case of birds of a feather flocking together? I’m very suspicious of anyone who doesn’t find VEB the cleverest, wittiest writer. Something missing. It’s like people who never really “got” Seinfeld. Not sure we can be friends. Actually, I don’t know that I have friends who don’t love VEB. Surely not.
November 23, 2013 @ 2:00 am
Hey, I love German glass glitter, but i case you didn’t know, it tarnishes if you don’t seal it with a solvent-based sealer. I use Deft gloss in a spray can. Of course you can let it tarnish, some of my silver has tarnished to a soft gold, but a friend put away a Christmas ornament that had German glass glitter and the next year when she took it out it was nearly black. Just sayin’
November 26, 2013 @ 11:37 am
My sister-in-law found a Flexible Flyer sled, or possibly a vintage wooden child’s wagon of a different brand, at a local garage sale for $10. That sucker turned out to be worth an easy $800; the antiques dealer she took it to tried to buy it out of her hands. She uses it as a giant holder for her million point five decorating magazines. (I can’t say anything about that because she gives me her castoff magazines, which is great because I’m too broke, er, cheap to spend money on such things.)
December 3, 2013 @ 11:25 pm
We have annual collections where I live (called ‘hard waste collection’, ha ha!) where people throw their stuff on the lawn. Technically you’re not allowed to take stuff but that doesn’t stop the procession of vans and cars with trailers driving around. Anyway, my brother in law and I share this fondness for going through other people’s crap, except we call it trinketeering. He’s REALLY good at it. We found some old iron gates that he and my sister put in their garden to be used as a trellis. And he’s found awesome furniture, I can’t believe people throw stuff like this away (forgive the blog link!) http://veganopoulous.wordpress.com/2013/04/10/a-few-days-in-apollo-bay/
March 18, 2015 @ 11:24 am
That baby sled is an incredible find. And the stamp on it? Color me envious. My husband would DIE over that…and guess what? He’s worse about hoarding awesome stuff we must have than I am. I use “hoarder” the way you mean “hoarding,” not the way that ends you on TV in an hour-long reality show that people watch so they can judge you and feel better about themselves.
Where was I? Ohhh..the sled. Awesome. But, in another odd, “this woman and I must be soul mates” coincidence, I too have so many Christmas decorations that we could fill a shed (not a small one) with them. And only them. Not sure why, though, because we only decorate two rooms.
Alas…it’s almost Don Draper time (April 5 is coming too soon!). I need to get back to my marathon so I feel totally prepared for the final episodes. That makes me sad. 🙁
March 18, 2015 @ 10:40 pm
Were we separated at birth?