Anniversary Gift of Steel

My husband has been helping a friend of my Mom’s clean out her house and garage to sell.  Her house is a 1870s colonial that used to be home to her family’s cattle hauling business and it has been a treasure trove of wonderful and unique vintage items. For our anniversary in June my husband surprised me with this beautiful double galvanized tub wash stand.

I wanted to know a little bit about the “Wheeling” printed on the side so I, of course, consulted the internet. I found a little information on the WV encyclopedia website (who knew there was such a thing? Link here.) Turns out the Wheeling Steel Corporation was a mix of three separate steel companies- La Belle Iron Works, the Whitaker-Glessner Company, and the Wheeling Steel & Iron Works that combined on June 21, 1920.  Wheeling was close to resources that made it very profitable for iron mills and metal works.  Wheeling Steel became known for producing the industry’s first “black plate” for tinning in the 1920s (any thoughts on what “tinning” is? No? I’ll find out. Don’t worry.) as well as tin cans, lard pails, stoves, lunch pails steel plates and sheets. In 1968 Wheeling Steel merged with Pittsburgh Steel to form the Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corporation.  I’m guessing my double basin is from the 1940s-1950s era when that type of “everyday use” product would have been what Wheeling Steel was creating.


I love my wash stand and think it’s a wonderful anniversary gift for someone who so cherishes items from the past. Someday, it will sit in the bathroom of my old farmhouse that we will own and hopefully look something like this.

Source: HGTV.com via Pinterest

Chip and Joanna….are you reading? ;) (Bonus points to all y’all who just caught that Fixer Upper reference.)

P.S. “Tinning” is the “process of thinly coating sheets of wrought iron or steel with tin, and the resulting product is known as tinplate.”  Thanks Wikipedia!

$5 Twine and Clothespin Picture Holder

It’s hard to believe all of the rainy weekends we have had lately! While we’ve managed to visit a few indoor flea markets, we were finally able to get the full effect of a nice sunny Saturday morning visit to the outdoor flea market just this past weekend after weeks of rain. Nevertheless, rainy weekends do lend themselves to quick and easy projects you can do indoors, so here’s a DIY for you.  I hope the weather where you are has been much better recently!

I had seen several items like the one I created at various home décor stores, but they often came with a price tag that was a little bit larger than what I wanted to pay. (I always say I’m “cheap” until someone reminds me a better way to say that is “thrifty.” Ha!)  When I found this gorgeous vintage frame in my Mom’s basement I knew exactly what I wanted to make- a DIY clothespin and twine picture holder.

I could write you a step-by-step tutorial, but it was so simple to create that I’d be doing you an injustice.  Really, all you need is a picture frame of your choice (without the glass), some twine, and some teeny-tiny clothespins.  I bought these little clothespins at Hobby Lobby. First, decide which orientation you would like to hang your frame- I did mine landscape because I thought I could get at least three pictures on a row of twine that way. I got lucky because my frame already had some old nails still in the back.  If yours doesn’t, simply put two nails on each side of the back of the frame in the inner rim for each row of twine you would like to create.  These nails worked great because they were already at an angle- so if you have to insert nails into your frame I would suggest the angle idea.  Tie the ends of your twine around each nail and double knot it. Add your clothespins and voila!  Now all you have to do is hang your new picture holder, sit back, and enjoy the DIY you just created.  My total cost for this project: frame- free (found in Mom's basement), twine- already had in my craft collection, tiny clothespins- $3.99 but 40% off with coupon so $2.39 plus tax- everything for under $5.



Original materials: vintage frame, twine, teeny-tiny clothespins.





Double tie a knot around nail.



Finished DIY.



Voila!

There are so many variations you could do to personalize this project so look for a few old frames next time you visit a flea market or thrift store.   You could paint the frame or paint the clothespins to match any décor.  You could hang one in the kitchen to hold your recipe cards, by the door to hang your “to-do” or “honey-do” lists, or anywhere in your home where you’d like to change the photos frequently.  You could staple cork or chicken wire to the back of your frame to create even more ways to hang your items. I might do that with my next frame I find, so stay tuned if you’d like some tips on that. One tip I will add- if you do find a really old frame and you have little ones at home be sure you either a) test it for lead paint (you can buy cheap test kits one at a hardware store) or b) strip it and repaint it.  If you find a beautiful old frame and make your own DIY be sure to share your finished product with us!