Thrift Store Challenge!

 Hello and Welcome to...

The Rules:

• Upcycle an item(s) from a thrift store, resale store, or garage sale into a new piece of decor.
• There's no monthly theme.
• There's no budget to stick to.

Meet the Hosts

Angela | Simply Beautiful By Angela - Gail | Purple Hues and Me - Marci | Stone Cottage Adventures - Dru | Polka Dot Poplars - Beverly | Across the Blvd - Melynda | Scratch Made Food! & DIY Homemade Household

Our Thrift Store Upcycle group of bloggers is always looking to expand -- and we need your help! Why not consider joining in our thrift store upcycle challenge on the last Thursday of each month? Make some friends while having fun and share your love of DIY with the world. It’s a win-win! Sound like something you’d be interested in? Just leave a comment at the end of this post with your contact info and a link to your blog. Someone will get back to you right away. We can’t wait to meet you!

From Scratch Made Food! & DIY Homemade Household, 

From photographs to garlic...

At one time this little box was the centerpiece in someone's living room or den. Holding a collection of photographs that came from happy times. A tidy, safe spot where photos and memories were stored away safely, in protective plastic sleeves. 

It might have held the photos from a wedding or possibly a High School graduation. Or of group vacations taken together through the years. It is not mine to know why it was emptied and dropped off at our local thrift store, but that is where we found it...

It was a bit dinged up, a bit dirty and yet, it was exactly what I had hoped to find for my first Thrift Store Challenge! Because it represented what I love most about a DIY home, giving new life (and use!) to old pieces that are still full of integrity.

We did not want to have to buy anything extra for this project. Which meant that we used paint already on hand from previous upgrades or repairs. We even used free "clip-art" off the internet with a simple personalization completed with the black sharpie we keep handy to label and date food before it goes into the freezer!

These are the changes that we (and by "we" I mean the royal we where I have the ideas and my husband has the tools!) completed, to get the project finished and ready to use:

• removed and tossed out, the plastic sleeves
• glued the sleeve holders into the bottom of the box, for air circulation
• drill holes on each side of the box, to help with air circulation
• removed the glass from the top of the lid
• paint the outside, two coats
• printed a clip-art representing a head of garlic
• add personal updates to the graphic
• added the completed graphic
• cleaned and replaced the glass into the top of the lid

Nothing too difficult, a simple and fun project to complete together. 

The sleeve frames were glued to the inside bottom of the box, creating a built-in rack for the heads of garlic to sit on. There is some spacing between each piece allowing for air circulation so the garlic stays fresh and dry. 

To provide additional air circulation, three holes were drilled on each side of the box.  

Two coats of paint were applied to the outside (only) of the box, allowing time between coats for complete drying of the paint.   

We found and printed a (free clip-art) graphic of a head of garlic, adding a personal touch around the two sides. This graphic was cut to size and set into place. The piece of glass was cleaned and returned to the frame.  

The only thing left to do was to fill it with garlic!

And now we have our own Wooden Garlic Box for fresh garlic in our kitchen! 

Thanks for stopping by!

And now for more thrifty goodness!

Check out what my fellow upcyclers created below!

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