Junking Weekend, December 27-28, 2008

Even over the holidays, there was junking involved! Can you believe it? Of course you can! 

THE IN-LAWS

Our celebrations started at the in-laws. This stuff was all free from them. Their property used to be part of a shooting preserve. The sign below had been located on the barbed wire fence at one time. I spied it sitting in their garage. While I was in the garage, I heard the Procter & Gamble Ivory box calling my name from a super high shelf. And the jars...they gave me 15-20 of these large mason jars to "see what I can do with them." No pressure!

PAOLI

The holiday weekend brought us south through a town called Paoli, WI. There are lots of great galleries and shops in this small town. Here's a review from Best of the Best Dining in Chicago.

We stopped at the Paoli Mill Shops, located on what used to be part of an old mill on the Sugar River.

Located in the small stone building in front is the Paoli Cheese Cottage. It's been there for as long as I can remember. You can buy all kinds of local cheeses and/or order great cheese boxes to send as gifts. They have a great website, so check them out! They are a best kept secret!

Up the walkway to the large mill building is a new shop called The Cottage Goddess. They have all kinds of vintage and crafted items.

When I walked inside, I looked at the person working and asked, "Tammy?" It turned out to be one of my high school classmates. What a surprise! She is a vendor there and she made each of the items below. That beaded ornament takes about 10-15 hours to make due to the intricacy of the work. The reindeer ornament is a light bulb that she hand-painted. What a clever use for old light bulbs, right?

And I couldn't pass up this vintage deli paper dispenser.

It has been adopted as a prominent part of my wrapping station. It currently holds only twine, but I'm sure some other ribbon or material will be joining it soon.

I hope your holiday junking was as fun as mine!