There are no limits to what people will use to decorate their homes, use for art, or wear on their bodies.  We are in a time and culture where thinking outside the box is not only celebrated, it’s expected of the individuals who are going to rise above the rest.  That’s what our JIMT {Junk In My Trunk} Ideas are all about ~ showcasing visionary ideas for common objects.  We talk about the ideas with the Junk Mafia on the Junk In My Trunk Radio Show every Thursday morning at 10am CST ~ you should listen in sometime.

Happy Trails from Vintage Sculpture

This week we’re talking CARS.  Using old car parts, hankering for a trip to the junk yard, imagining big things for cast offs from the local mechanic, these are whimsical uses for could-be boring objects. 

Take a look at each item, are there any you can’t live without??  Anything that inspires you to salvage your own car parts??  What kind of project would you create??

 
Rat Rod Lamp Light from ETSY

Cadillac Necklace from Hi Octane Jewelry

 

2 Girls Stuff at Marburger Farm, Fall 2009
This was my very favorite vendor at Round Top Antique Week last fall & I’ve been looking for a hood like this one ever since…

Vintage 1950′s Mercedes Benz Hubcap Clock from Steven Shaver Designs

Reclaimed Car Hood Coffee Table from The Weld House

‘Pontiac Face’ Art Sculpture from Rhett Johnson

Hawk Earrings made from Recycled Car Parts by Emily Baker of Emily Baker Sustainable Jewelry/Sword + Fern

Re-Cycle * Re-Purpose * Re-LOVE

This idea will be featured this morning on the Junk in my Trunk Radio Show {JIMT} which airs every Monday, Thursday & Saturday from 10am till 11am on Kansas City’s 1140am KCXL & 1160am KCTO. You can also LISTEN LIVE on the Internet… visit JunkMafia.com and click on the Little Red Radio at the bottom of the page.

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Yesterday I had a meeting with the Junk Mafia about some upcoming projects and we started talking about STEAMPUNK. What is it?? How did it get started??  What are the key ingredients to make something register as steampunk??  And finally… how does the Steampunk idea fit into the world of Re-Cycle * Re-Purpose * Re-LOVE??

I most often see the word ‘Steampunk’ when looking through hand crafted jewelry ~ especially on ETSY.  I’ve wondered what it is but have never taken the time to research it until tonight.

 
Steampunk Tripod Floor Lamp + Sam Van Olffens’ Art from Art via Art Donovan. Steampunk Art.

STEAMPUNK defines an entire culture that is often associated with Science Ficton or fantasy.  From fashion and music, to applications of technology, Steampunk is usually set in a historical setting resembling the Victorian era.  While the Steampunk genre is set in the past, or a world resembling the past, it is the concept that modern technological developments occurred earlier in history, but were accomplished via the technology already present in that time period. For example, airships, submarines, typing tools and others objects were reimagined as mechanical devices that were powered by steam.

 
Steampunk Bracelet from EDM Designs on ETSY

Steampunk originated in the late 1980′s as an answer to society’s obsession with the rapid pace of new invention and technology, it’s a trend that pays homage to the early days of the Industrial Revolution, steam and spring powered technology.

How do you know that something fits into the category of STEAMPUNK?? 

According to MTV Steampunk MUSIC you will often feature orchestral characteristics, or possibly a Tom Waits-esque metallic, gritty sound. A lot of steampunk bands offer a merging of different tones and instruments.

Steampunk Style at Home via The Steampunk Home

Regarding FASHION MTV describes the Steampunk trend as a look that reflects the Victorian and early Edwardian eras (roughly 1801-1910). Corsets, gowns, frock coats and top hats are accompanied by goggles, ancillary wings, compasses and DIY accessories. Much like the extraordinary world of literature, steampunkers accept that everyday items can perform unconventional tasks. For example, a pocket watch would double as a time machine, or a compass could navigate you through the stars.”

Steampunk Threads

I think that the STEAMPUNK concept is best summed up byThe Steampunk Home Blog… “It’s finding a way to combine the past and the future in an aesthetic pleasing yet still punkish way. It’s living a life that looks old-fashioned, yet speaks to the future. It’s taking the detritus of our modern technological society and remaking it into useful things.”

So it’s taking old things and repurposing them to be something new that looks even older… I guess that’s Re-Cycle * Re-Purpose * Re-LOVE

This idea will be featured this morning on the Junk in my Trunk Radio Show {JIMT} which airs every Monday, Thursday & Saturday from 10am till 11am on Kansas City’s 1140am KCXL & 1160am KCTO. You can also LISTEN LIVE on the Internet… visit JunkMafia.com and click on the Little Red Radio at the bottom of the page.

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Every week we look at a different item that you can save from the trash pile ~ find in a junk drawer or antique store ~ and then transform into something useful or fun for your home or closet or jewelry box.  This week is bullets.  YEP, bullets. 

My Grandpa Summers re~loads his own bullets for target shooting and he always has empty shells available.  Those empty shells are perfect for Junk Jobs big and small… mostly jewelry to which there seems to be no limit of ideas.  Here are a few that we found from some the very best re-purposing folks in the marketplace.

Bullet Cuff from Western Vintage Revival
This is just one of  the stunning new pieces from the Chris Morrison collection over at Western Vintage Revival.  Fantastic!!

 
Bullet Bracelet from Astali

Repurposed Bullet Casing ~ Twin Serif Necklace
~ from Found Made New on ETSY

Brass Bullet Casing Necklace from Rebecca Ward Jewellry
This one is called ‘Shot to the Heart’.

Shotgun Shell Belt Buckle from A Well Dressed Bullet
This website has an extensive selection of BULLET jewelry & other items ~ perfect gifts when you’re shopping for Dad!!  

Bullet Cufflinks from Cuffwear
… and this website has an amazing selection of Cufflinks.  You know I love a man who can pull off blue jeans and pearl snaps everyday, but when he does get all dressed up then cufflinks are required.  My favorites on this site were the Level Cufflinks ~ perfect for a handyman when he’s out on the town!!

Soooo…. want to Do-It-Yourself??  You can learn how to make your own BULLET EARRINGS or NECKLACE right HERE.

 Re-purpose * Re-Cycle * Re-LOVE

gal·va·nize (glv-nz) - To coat (iron or steel) with rust-resistant zinc.

Galvanized buckets are used for everything from containing our trash, to serving cold drinks, to being used as a garden pail.  BUT there are even more ideas out there that seeming to keep popping up. 

 
Recycled Barrel Chairs from Great Green Goods

Image from Garden Vintage Antqs from Judy Hill Designs
Galvanized Metal Culvert ~ recycled into the perfect bar top table.

Image from Apartment Therapy
Trash can lid re~used as a buffet service dish… perfect for serving wings, ribs or nacho chips before the big game!!

Galvanized exhaust fan re-used as an INDUSTRIAL CHANDELIER at Marburger Farm.

Image from Tacky Tiffany on Flickr
Hello, brilliant little galvanized sink.  How great would this be out at the farm?? Ahh, love it!!  I also ran across the bathtub below ~ not sure how practical the bathtub application is but it’s rustic charm is definitely undeniable.

Image from Apartment Therapy

Image from Apartment Therapy
This patio is from the same house that featured the Cow Kitchen that I posted earlier this week ~ this gal’s style is so charming!!  The upside down horse trough re~used as an outdoor coffee table is spot on.  Another one below… Love it!!

Image from Better Homes and Gardens

Galvanized Herb Garden from ~ ALSO from Apartment Therapy

Image from Better Homes and Gardens
Galvanized Buckets serve as great storage ~ we use them all over the Cactus Creek STORE for displaying goods.

Galvanized Buckets, Trash Cans, Metal castoffs can be found everywhere, especially farm auctions!!  Have fun out there diggin’ and pickin’ and finding your treasure, and remember not to pass up the galvanized goods!!! 
Re-purpose * Re-Cycle * Re-LOVE

** Click HERE for more MUST HAVES **
on our Flea Market Shopping List

Do you have more ideas for GALVANIZED METAL GOODS?? …be sure to leave a Comment & LINK with your ideas!!

This idea will be featured this morning on the Junk in my Trunk Radio Show {JIMT} which airs every Monday, Thursday & Saturday from 10am till 11am on Kansas City’s 1140am KCXL & 1160am KCTO. You can also LISTEN LIVE on the Internet… visit JunkMafia.com and click on the Little Red Radio at the bottom of the page.

** Click HERE for more **
Junk in my Trunk IDEAS!!

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About six months ago I was visiting with the Junk Mafia when we got the BIG IDEA that I start a new segment on their Junk in my Trunk {JIMT}Radio Show.  The idea for the segment was to take “junk” and talk about ways to re-use it in ways that are charming, functional, and unexpected, and thereby keep the dumpsters a little more empty, and the world a little more GREEN.

It has been a blast to watch the JIMT Segments take off, transform, and effectively work when it comes to thinking outside the box.  Not only are the ideas ENDLESS, but the sources that we are working with ~ from time-tested magazines to stay-at-home-mom-bloggers ~ are BRILLIANT and completely inspiring.

Today is all about BIRDCAGES. They are everywhere you go when you’re out junking, flea marketing, or shopping antique malls. Some are simple while others are more ornate, rustic and full of character. What to do with the BIRD CAGE?? Why oh why are they all the RAGE?? Here are a few ideas to inspire you and ensure that you never again pass up a bird cage when you’re out and about.

Chandelier on a BIRD CAGE STAND from Poetic Home
If you find a bird cage stand ~ anywhere, anytime ~ purchase it immediately. Do not pass it up, do not be a cheapskate, do not question your actions.  BUY IT.  Then you can use for hanging a fancy chandelier as seen above, hang a rustic lantern in your fishing cabin, hang wind chimes, hanging plant, or even a piece of art!!!

 
Birdcage Designs from AmourAmour.com via West Aussie Weddings

Birdcage Firewood Holder from Freshly Found

Birdcage Centerpiece from Boston Home

Birdcage Centerpiece from Good Housekeeping

Birdcage Centerpiece from Country Living

Soooo… DON’T leave behind the BIRDCAGES!!! 

For more items on our Flea Market Shopping List go HERE.

Do you have more ideas for Birdcages ~ be sure to leave a Comment & LINK with your ideas!!

This idea will be featured this morning on the Junk in my Trunk Radio Show {JIMT} which airs every Monday, Thursday & Saturday from 10am till 11am on Kansas City’s 1140am KCXL & 1160am KCTO. You can also LISTEN LIVE on the Internet… visit JunkMafia.com and click on the Little Red Radio at the bottom of the page.

** Click HERE for more **
Junk in my Trunk IDEAS!!

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The other day I was flipping through a book with Ideas for Kids Rooms & came upon the image below…  H-E-L-L-O-O-O, I love it!!  It got me to thinking about all of the things you can do with old tires.

New Kidspace Idea Book (Taunton Home Idea Books)

THEN, last weekend at a Yard Sale, I came across these old tractor tires for sale & thought, hot diggity, it would very clever and fun to just pile these up, add a little round glass top, and use them as a end table.

Sooo, here we are with another item that shouldn’t be passed up ~ TIRES.  Now, I don’t know how easy it is to find these CHEAP ~ at the Yard Sale the tractor tires were only $50 for the pile, which is a fair price.  But you know we all love a deal & tires might be available from some places for free ~ I know that people are always trying to figure out where to dump them. 

Here are more useful products on the market made from recycled tires ~ some of these ideas would be easy to recreate.  Some, not so much.

Car Tyre Stools & Table from Kitsch-U-Like
{I guess that’s how they spell tire in the UK}

Recycled Tire Plant Pot from David Smith & Co.

Recycled Tire Planters
Another way to reuse an old tire as a planter or pot ~ this link includes instructions but beware, the site clearly states that this project is “Not for Lazy People”

Bicycle Tire Belt from julienjaborska on ETSY

Recycled Tire Tube Bag
This recycled Tire Tube Bag is from the Animal Rescue Site where everything you purchase benefits abandoned animals… they have a HUGE SELECTION OF RECYLCED TIRE BAGS & WALLETS

Bicycle Wheel End Table from A Portfolio Recycled

 
Moose Tire Swing from Porch Swings & Benches
My boys have these out at the farm and it’s one of their favorite ways to spend an afternoon!!!

SOURCE: ThriftyFun.com

 ** Click HERE for more from our **
FLEA MARKET SHOPPING LIST 

** I’m sure there are TONS of other ideas for old tires ~ feel free to leave a comment ~ and a LINK ~ if you want to share!!! **

This idea will be featured this morning on the Junk in my Trunk Radio Show {JIMT} which airs every Monday, Thursday & Saturday from 10am till 11am on Kansas City’s 1140am KCXL & 1160am KCTO. You can also LISTEN LIVE on the Internet… visit JunkMafia.com and click on the Little Red Radio at the bottom of the page.

** Click HERE for more **
Junk in my Trunk IDEAS!!

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I hardly ever pass up an umbrella at an estate sale.  Last fall we went on a road trip & wandered into a store that just blew my mind ~ the selection, merchandising, the whole thing was phenomenal {I have no idea the name of the store, I have the one image BELOW but lost their card, shame on me.} Anyway, they had UMBRELLAS hanging from the ceiling and I thought it was very clever and colorful.   Thus began my collection of umbrellas ~ for someday when we were ready to reproduce the idea in our own Cactus Creek way.

Fast forward to last weekend when a gal bought one of our umbrellas at the Cactus Creek STORE & told me all about this DARLING umbrella she had seen decorated for spring in some magazine. That was all she knew ~ it was in a magazine and it was cute. Well I’ll be gosh-darned if I didn’t stumble on said cutie-patootie umbrella in the April 2010 issue of Midwest Living last weekend.  Check it out BELOW…

Produced by the brilliant Matthew Mead, Photographed by Jay Wilde ~ who I’m sure is equally brilliant.

So what other inspiration can we capture from UMBRELLAS?? Ideas for keeping them OUT of landfills, and instead filling our worlds with colorful whimsy?? Here are a few images to get you thinking out of the box…

Images ABOVE & BELOW from It’s a Jaime Thing from Amorology Weddings

Umbrella Chandelier by Shelly Sabel from Yanko Design

Umbrella Art Installation from Found Shit

Umbrellas as art & light… Flying Robert from Ali Siavoshi

SOURCES: Make UMBRELLA into a Bag * Recycle Umbrella IDEAS

** Click HERE for more from our **
FLEA MARKET SHOPPING LIST

This idea will be featured this morning on the Junk in my Trunk Radio Show {JIMT} which airs every Monday, Thursday & Saturday from 10am till 11am on Kansas City’s 1140am KCXL & 1160am KCTO. You can also LISTEN LIVE on the Internet… visit JunkMafia.com and click on the Little Red Radio at the bottom of the page.

** Click HERE for more **
Junk in my Trunk IDEAS!!

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Before you read this go to your nearest junk drawer, glove compartment or garage bin and grab all of the old keys that you can find. 

“No, you don’t know what they go to. No, you’ll never figure it out. No, no one else cares enough to try and go through every one of your keys and see if one them happens to open the door to your storage shed and steal your lawn mower.” 

They’re old keys and they’re cool ~ release them from captivity and get creative.

This lamp is about as creative as it gets.  Image is from Ready Made Magazine.  Click HERE for the DIY instructions.

Enamel Flower Statement Necklace available from Bionic Unicorn on ETSY.

There is A LOT of jewelry out there using keys… I thought that this necklace {which also uses vintage enamel pins} was one of the prettiest that I came across.  I also like the simplicity of the necklace below… give someone the key to your heart.

Brown Skeleton Key Necklace from RedVelvetArt.com

 
Key Frame from Mirror Mirror on ETSY
How cute would this be for a new driver or maybe for Father’s Day??

Framed Key from Restoration Hardware, $199
At the Cactus Creek Store we sell brass skeleton keys like this one for $2.50.  {Call me at 816.878.2278 & I can mail them to you!!}
Hobby Lobby sells frames like this for $20 to $60.  You do the math.

Donate keys to Keys for Hope, a non-profit organization dedicated to imporving the lives of others and reducing the impact of poverty.

** Click HERE for more from our **
FLEA MARKET SHOPPING LIST

** Click HERE for more **
Flea Market IDEAS!!

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The Flea-Market Shopping List is a list of items that could be thrown into the trash heap but INSTEAD we want you to take that would-be junk, flex your green muscle, and make them into treasure.  Normally we take on one item that you could find in your closet or garage, at a flea market or local sale, in an antique mall or at the 2nd Hand Store down the road, & post several options of creative uses for the item.  Here we’ve listed these items & put them into one POST that you can print off & take with you when you go on your next junkin’ trip…  ENJOY!!

37. Trophies

36. Duck Decoys

35. Buckets

34. Chalk Board Paint

33. Upcycled Garden Planters

32. Upcycled Lamps

31. Door Knobs

30. Sweaters

29. Doors

28. Picture Frames

27. Plastic Grocery Bags

26. Burlap

25. Ladders

24. Glass Jars

23. Globes

22. Car Parts

21. Bullets & Casings

20. Galvanized Buckets + more

19. Bird Cages

18. Tires

17. Umbrellas

16. Keys

15. Blankets {even if they’re holey} & Fabric Scraps you love

14. Window Panes

13. Suitcases

12. CHIPPED Dishes & glassware

11. Rulers & Yardsticks

10. Drums

9. Wooden Crates

8. Picture Books & Postcards

7. Maps

6. Tractor Seats and other Barn & Farm Castoffs.

5. Bottle Caps.

4. License Plates.

3. Horn Ash Tray ~ any kind of Tobacciana relics.

2. Auto Creeper.

1. Random, rusty crusty recycled chairs.

** Click HERE to see ALL **
of our Flea Market Ideas

Recycle * Repurpose * RE~LOVE

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A couple of weeks ago I was junkin’ with the Junk Mafia boys and I stumbled upon some vintage windows ~ they were rusty, crusty, dirty and in need of some tender lovin’ care.  I had no idea what they would be used for, but I figured that somebody could come up with something.

{Through Rose Colored… Windows Fine Art Print ~ available on Etsy from Marie’s Cottage ~ this print would be a lovely gift for a fellow junker!!}

The windows are clean now and sitting in the Cactus Creek Store ready for someone to take them home.  I wrote on the tags “Vintage Window Panes = Blank Canvas”.  The options are limitless, therefore they are perfect for featuring this morning on the Junk in my Trunk Radio Show…

{Vintage Window Table ~ available on Etsy from Sylvia Horter Studio ~ or if you are very handy make your own ~ directions are HERE.}

{Made with an old window & barnwood ~ a cute shelf/cabinet. Perfect for a bathroom, or for spices in the kitchen!!  Image from RoboJunker}

{Window Bed Canopy ABOVE & BELOW ~ I was not surprised that this came from J Hill’s Home Show ~ she is better than the best!!  Image from RoboJunker.  More about J Hill HERE.}

 
{Window Pane Pot Rack ~ available on ETSY from Sylvia Shorter Studio}

{Vintage Window = Blank Canvas. Source unknown.}

{Greenhouse from old windows. Image from Instructables.}

{I LOVE this idea from Sue Whitney’s Junk Market Style!!  Put a sheer fabric in a vintage window and hang it in your existing window for privacy.}

…and for the grand finale, a whole house made from discarded windows.  I’m guessing these folks don’t have a stone collection. Image from Colchu.

This idea will be featured this morning on the Junk in my Trunk Radio Show {JIMT} which airs every Monday, Thursday & Saturday from 10am till 11am on Kansas City’s 1140am KCXL & 1160am KCTO. You can also LISTEN LIVE on the Internet… visit JunkMafia.com and click on the Little Red Radio at the bottom of the page.

** Click HERE for more **
Junk in my Trunk IDEAS!!

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