trash to treasure

The best part about rummage sales? Finding something you didn't know that you needed, and turning it into something really useful.

Case in point:

Last Friday, I picked up this item for one measly dollar. I wasn't entirely sure what it was, or what I would use it for, but hey, it was only a buck!

Please excuse the glare. I am not a photographer. And I used our little point and shoot camera. And I have no idea what I am doing. But you get the general idea of what I am working with here. So I cleaned it up, real good. ( I have been reading too much Pioneer Woman).

Then, I went into our library of digital pictures (we use Picassa, which we LOVE, so if you are looking for a great way to store and organize those digital photos, we highly recommend it. And best of all-it's FREE! Google rocks). And since Mike bought me an awesome printer for Mother's Day a few years ago, I was able to print out some of my favorites from our trip to New Mexico in 2007. ( again, please excuse the glare...)

That was the hard part, as we had well over a thousand photos that we had taken over nine days. I wanted to show a mix of all of the things we did, and really give a flavor of the place and the trip. And then of course they needed to fit in the spaces.

I added some fun tags and attached them with copper paper fasteners, and labeled the pictures. I had picked up some twill ribbon imprinted with barb wire (much safer than using the real thing...) and my creation was complete. I didn't need to go to the store, this was all made from stuff I already had in all of my bins, boxes, and jars of supplies. So for not a lot of money, or even time, I now have a fun new memory box to hang on the wall. Now where the heck am I going to find a blank wall in my house to hang it ? ? ?