Fun Find

I had the week off between Christmas and New Years and I always have high expectations that I will accomplish things I could never hope to accomplish in only a weekend; my house would be spotless, all the laundry would be washed and put away, closets and drawers cleaned out and de-culttered. About the only thing I did accomplish this week was the laundry- and that was on my final day. What I did with the other ten days, I'm not entirely certain, but they seemed to go by too quickly.

On one day I had lunch with a friend in Iowa City, and then we went to two eclectic shops around the corner- Artifacts and Modela. They're full of things, not quite antiques and some kitch-y, anything from lamps to fur coats to really odd knick-knacks to obscure books and prints. In one of the small rooms (more of an alcove, really) I found a milk box. These were aluminum insulated boxes kept on porches that the milk-man would leave fresh bottles of milk in on his morning route. I have always wanted one and apparently people know this and price them much higher than I am willing to pay. I found this one at the great price of $15. The label was worn or peeled off, but I could still see the outline of the original name- Home Town Dairy Food. I imagine it was so cheap because there was no label, but in a burst of crafty creativity, I first stenciled the original label outline in marker, then painted in the letters with black paint.

It turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. Once the paint dries I will use a razor blade to clean up some of the rough edges. Art asked me what I planned on doing with it (he suggested using it as a trash bin to which I didn't say anything, I just gave him a look) and I haven't decided yet. I'm thinking of putting all of our plastic grocery bags in it instead of in a drawer which, when it gets too full, always fall behind the drawer into a mouse-turd-abyss.