The Dirty Tool Box

THINKING INSIDE THE BOX

Dirty Old Tool Box

This is a story of a woman who bought a dirty wooden toolbox.  This woman buys so much junk from so many places that she couldn't remember where she bought it from.  As this isn't really important for the story, we'll move on.  So, upon bringing the toolbox home, the woman looked at it and thought ...

Woman happy cause her basements full of junk! Celebrating with Feather boas!!

"Hmmm...can I put it in my kitchen? My family room? My washroom?  No way, its way to dirty (no bugs or anything, just tool box dirty)!  I know, I'll put it in my basement, until I get around to cleaning it.  Maybe by then I'll have a brainiac moment!"

SOURCE

"Maybe all those creative blogs I read will inspire me to do something mindblastingly brilliant with it!  Then I can blog about it!  Oh yeah, and if I put it in the basement my husband won't see it!"

So she found a space on the floor in her basement and placed it there.  Over time, things more things were placed on top of it.  More and more things found their home on top of the dirty wooden toolbox, until it couldn't even be seen!  

One day, the woman realized her basement was probably a fire hazard!  She went downstairs with the best of intentions, to clean it up.  She grabbed a couple of garbage bags - one for goodwill donations,and one for real garbage (stuff goodwill wouldn't even want).  All of a sudden she got to her toolbox!

"Oh dear me!  Toolbox I haven't seen you in at least three years!" Said the lady!  "Now I can be diverted from the real task of basement cleaning and focus on my toolbox" She proclaimed with glee and jubilation!  She danced and danced with happiness!

Up came the toolbox and got a good scrubbing!  Even with an old toothbrush, the woman couldn't get some of the gook out of the corners.  Scrub, brush, wipe, no matter what she did, she wasn't satisfied that this old toolbox was clean enough.  "Man, do I hate gook :( " said the lady.  

She remembered that over the past three years, she was supposed to come up with a brilliant transformation project for the box.  Sadly, she had had no such revelation (in all honesty, she forgot all about it!).  

"Well, I've still got lots of old book pages from the wire heart wreath I made last month."  And she always had tons of white glue, because she forgets she buys bottles and bottles (and bottles) of it every August for back to school (even though the kids use glue sticks). So she thought she would decoupage the inside with the book pages..."Great! I likes decoupage! I like old book pages!  Old FRENCH book pages are even better!!! And once you coat everything in layers and layers of paper and glue and more glue, its pretty clean, right????"

So she gathered her supplies, and off she went, decoupaging her heart out(her favourite verb)!

Oooh...French!  With authentic water stains!!  Oooh La La!

She finished all the gluing and looked at her finished product, and she thought it looked pretty good!  BUUUUUT it didn't really look good enough!

"It looks fine!  Better than fine!  It looks great!" said Mr. Woman 

She didn't believe him! The woman knew that her husband would say anything for her to drop the foam brush and cook him some dinner! 

So out came the white glue again...and this time she brought out the vintage stamps she had bought from Eb*y!  She had a bag of gorgeous vintage stamps!!

Some of my Favourites

"No way!" she thought! "I'm not using my good British stamps! No way no how! I know...I'm using my stamps from India and Pakistan!"

But after more decoupage (its a dirty word around here, Ladies!) it still wasn't enough!  Then the woman got all deep and philosophical..."Why is it never enough? What exactly is 'enough', what is the square root of Pi???" So she went to her craft drawer and pulled out...rubber stamps!!!

TADA!!!

French paper, vintage stamps, rubber stamps, more varnish!!!!  "YES!!!" Screamed the Woman. "Now its 'enough' and its clean and ready to go!"  And the Woman lived happily ever after, with her basement full of junk!

The End.

Sharing:

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Adorned From Above- Wednesdays Blog Party

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Shabby Nest - Frugal Friday

A REAL Vintage Judy

I love seeing all the vintage dress forms on blogs and at antiques shops.  Not only are they extremely in vogue now, but they have a real sentimental connection for me.  

I especially love Wolf dress forms.  My mother bought this one used in 1979, and it was old back then.  She didn't buy it for a home decor accessory, but to use for her pattern and sample making.

When she came to Canada back in 1968, she started working as a pattern maker at Hudson Sportswear, a Toronto based womens clothing manufacturer.  However my mothers love for clothing began when she was about 10 years old. She got a job as an apprentice at a local dressmaking shop back home, just so she could learn dressmaking.  She had a burning love for it.  When she was 12 years old she started making her own and her siblings clothes.  Not only would she sew, she would knit as well.  

She left Hudson Sportswear when her boss was murdered on a friday afternoon.  He used to pay his staff in cash (it was the '60s), and he was robbed and killed for the money.  

SOURCE

In the early 1970's she went to work for Style Rite, which manufactured 'housecoats'.  Can you believe women wore 'Housecoats'? The photo above is just from the internet, but this is what I mean! You'd wear it when company came! Oh the 70s,scarred me for life!

In 1976 my brother was born, and my mom took maternity leave.  During this time, she came to the conclusion that she needed more.  She had to do something more creative, so she bought her judy, and she bought sample yardage, and she made a small collection of clothes.  She took her samples to a select group of Toronto boutiques and collected small orders.  That was it!  She was hooked.  My teenage summers were spent carrying 10 yard rolls of 'sample yardage' from fabric distributors on Spadina Avenue to her sublet factory on King street.   I used to watch her pinning samples onto this judy.  Then changing and tweaking her patterns. Eventually she got tired of it, and moved into retail.  She opened up one...then four more stores.  But, poor judy didn't get to retire.

She started her private label of suits, and even though she had a freelance pattern maker, my mom still tweaked...

This judy was probably a bikini judy originally.  Either swimwear or lingerie.  Big bosoms (had to change my original word...getting strange referring URLs) and legs. She caused my mom loads of grief! The boob area was always big in her suits.  

Last year I bought a new (used) judy for her with smaller bosom and no legs, on the condition that she give me My Judy!  It was a win win situation!  Two very happy women! 

Although her new judy doesn't get used much, its my moms security blanket!  Her old judy is very happy in her new home.  She's proudly on display, truly loved, for all she represents. My kids (and Mom)think I'm crazy, but I see the judy, and I see my mothers hands. This is why I love Vintage.


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Common Grounds- Be Inspired Fridays

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Let me tell your fortune

Hello...welcome to my parlour...

Sit down, and let Gypsy Teresa pour you a cup of tea...

I will read your tea leaves with my handy dandy tea leaf reading cup and saucer!!  Cool, huh??? Its a vintage (1930s) J & G Meakin tea leaf reading set. I found it at my favourite Value Village, for a LOT less than the ₤50 I've seen it on Ebay for!  

You see where the leaves land in your cup,then look at the saucer to use the legend.  See what the tea leaves can predict...

You better hope your tea leaves aim for the hearts! The King of hearts is a real catch! He's a 'Straight' dark friendly man!  I'm glad they're distinguishing the difference.
  
For all the single ladies, the Jack of hearts is reliable and ambitious!  

Spades are pretty good too!  Except the 7 and 8.

Eek!  The diamonds are a real dud! Sickness, sorrow, 'Evil Living', failure, separation!  

Clubs are a mixed bag. You have marriage offers and jewellery, but you also have family quarrels and 'amorous affections ignored'! 

Although there's a small crack at the rim, its perfect enough for me!  Am totally in LOVE with it! THIS IS WHY I'M TOTALLY IN LOVE WITH VINTAGE! 

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