A Grease Monkey, Family Heirlooms, and Barb Kellogg Photography
The Grease Monkey is me…yes I shop at the St Louis County Mall (aka the dump) and yes, I grab greasy treasures! I have a little too much fun cleaning up these treasures…thank you Dawn dish soap, or as my husband puts it “If it’s good enough to clean ducks, it’s good enough for this”. (Obviously referring to the oil spills, the affected waterfowl, and the Dawn dish soap commercials.) I had GREAT fun cleaning up the pulley!
And yes, my husband thinks I’m nuts. Oh ye of little faith…but then he sees the finished product and says “Well, that’s cool!” 🙂
In the featured LOVE picture, the first two items were dump (oops Mall) finds. The V is a folding tape measure that was Tim’s Grandpa’s. And the two clamps I picked up at my friend’s garage sale…I needed an E…what can I say?
And here’s a collage of the rest of the wall! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!
It includes the wonderful family photos that my friend Barb Kellogg took – she needed practice dummies and of course I agreed…how could I resist? She’s highly talented and does nature and pet photography too! You can find her here: Barb Kellogg Photography. Barb, you said you wanted to see what I did with the photos!
The wood measuring stick is from an antique store, The red/orange piece of art is another beautiful creation of Sam’s…and don’t you love the holder? It’s a rusty little rack meant to be used in a peg board.
The next group of pics show my other junk wall (ok I got a little crazy here, but every piece is symbolic to me):
The framed ‘Bushel and a Peck’ sheet music is a reminder for my girls – it’s one of my favorite songs I used to sing to them when they were little. The small metal cross I purchased from a craft shop.
The padlocks…the small red/silver came out of my Mom’s sewing kit – not sure why it was there but I love it anyway…the heavy duty one is from Tim’s Grandpa Shepel – it’s inscribed USN for U.S. Navy…and the combination lock is my way of laughing at myself – one of my old nightmares was not being able to remember my combination in high school!
Of course there’s a faith picture. The old stopwatch represents how time flies. The level, which I can’t get to stay level…completely represents our life of chaos. The large rusted metal part is another find that I scrubbed up and poly’ed – love the deep rust color and the cross it makes.
I stole Sam’s sign from her room that talks about creativity, and then there’s the ‘doo’…yes I couldn’t resist – it’s made of junk and is my little touch of fun for the ‘doodle-oodle-oo-doo’ in the song. Junk, Junk, Junk, Junk…yes I love repurposing junk!
And did you see this fantastic antique radio? I thought about painting it with chalk paint, but I thought I’d enjoy its authentic look first!
OK…here’s a few more pics of the rest of the dining room just for fun:
The incredible artwork of the Last Supper was stitched by Tim’s Great Great Grandma and was brought over from Slovenia by his Great Grandma. The craftsmanship is beautiful and the way it came to our house is too: After Tim’s Grandpa passed away, Tim’s Mom had a dream that this family heirloom should be given to us (that and we were the only family with a wall big enough!).
If you take a peek at the chandelier you’ll see it too has been repurposed…I keep thinking I’ll spray paint it, but it has such a great authentic feel to it as is…we’ll see!
The table is an incredible handmade piece that I purchased from one of my earlier jobs. The original owner didn’t like how the one side tilts down (just a tad)…he got a new one (which wasn’t nearly as nice) and I bought his at a heck of a discount..by the time I sold my old set I only paid $400! And…I only paid $15 for each of the wonderful antique chairs – I walked into an antique store and asked for chairs that needed a little work (God I love having a crafty husband)…aren’t they gorgeous?
Take note of the vintage stereo/radio under the cross! I should have taken a picture of it opened up…the record player slides out! Way cool and great for a little dinner music – Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Big Band Music!
Sorry I got so long winded…I enjoy all my ‘stuff’ because it has a story! I’ve been accused of babbling on and on and on…I just don’t know where they’d get that idea!
Patty O
PS…yes, I know, I need to work on my lighting and photography skills! {sigh}
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A Thankfully Imperfect Woman 
If it were me, don’t paint the radio. Unless the finish is already in poor shape. (Just my 2 cents.) And thanks for sharing how you displayed the photos!!! I love seeing how people decide to include them in their home.
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Hi Barb! Glad you liked them…I’m not going to paint the radio just yet….or maybe ever!
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Very cool!! GREAT job!
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Thanks Jan! This was the kind of blog you wanted me to write, right? 🙂
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Very cool. Each item tells a story–that’s the way it should be. You have neat “stuff.” I like the radio ‘as is’ but you do such nice work it will look great painted, too. We used to have one from the old farm that the family used to sit around and listen to. I love the variety of things but the tapestry is wonderful. I tend to collect things to hang on the Christmas tree–cups, silverware, measuring spoons, baskets, stuffed animals…I like the level… 😀
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Thanks! I’m so glad you like it! And I LOVE your idea of collecting things to put on the Christmas tree!!!
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Please let me know if you’re looking for a article author for your blog.
You have some really good posts and I feel I would be
a good asset. If you ever want to take some of the load off, I’d love to
write some content for your blog in exchange for a link back to
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Thank you!
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I will definitely keep it in mind – thank you! I took a look at your blog and love it!
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