December 11, 2017

Holiday Upcycling

This post was sponsored by Goodwill Industries. I was compensated for the cost of supplies and materials. As always, this review is based strictly on my opinion. Others may have a different opinion or experience with the products listed in this post, and I provided my honest opinion. #ShopGoodwill

Holiday Upcycling. Y’all I have been going to The Goodwill since before it was cool. I am a picker, I love to find old things and make them new again for my home. I hate the idea of throwing something out, especially if I can think of a way to reuse it. So, when The Goodwill reached out and asked me to participate in a challenge, you KNOW I was in!I ran to the closest Goodwill store, we have bout 4 in our area, and I wandered the aisles, putting stuff into my cart, taking things out of my cart…thinking about what I was going to create, and how I would do it….Eventually, I decided on a small cabinet (see how I used it for a party here), a very country sled, a small wooden crate, and some brand new ornaments. I am saving the small crate and ornaments for our New Year’s Ever party. I love love love vintage wooden sleds, but living in Florida, they are very hard to come by. My husband and I built one a few years ago, but I wanted a smaller table top one, and I wasn’t all that excited about making a small one. So, I was very excited to find a small on at the Goodwill Store. I spent less than $20 for all of my goodies, so I was very happy! But, I was also excited because Goodwill provides job preparation, skills training, education assistance and support services to millions of people each year who are facing challenges to finding employment. In fact, every 23 seconds, someone gets a job through the help of Goodwill. They create 25 jobs per brick-and-mortar store, generating essential revenue for mission services, and providing a direct solution for donors and communities to the issue of sustainability regarding unwanted goods. Goodwill is an entrepreneurial leader, environmental pioneer and social innovator of the “reduce, reuse, repurpose” practice. Through its entrepreneurial business model of collecting and selling donated goods, Goodwill helps communities extend the life of usable items in environmentally sound ways. So, truly, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. The first thing I did was dismantle the sled, and sand all of the paint off of it. I asked my hubby to make a few quick cuts with the jigsaw to make it more my style, and then I sanded it one more time with a fine grit sand paper. I cleaned the surface with a damp cloth to remove all of the saw dust, and painted each section with DecoArt paints. The top of the sled was painted bright red, while the bottoms were painted a mixture of metallic silver and black.

Once the paint dried, I quickly sanded the edges and top a little to remove some of the gloss and sheen. Then, I reassembled the sled, minus the cross bar in the front. I may add some jute rope to it, I haven’t decided yet. Now it was ready for the house. I grabbed a few of the ornaments I bought at Goodwill and some felt trees I made earlier and placed them on top of my new to me sled. I love it so so much! It is perfect for my hall table. What is your favorite Goodwill find?