My Weekend of Upcycling and the G Project

Instead of cooking this weekend I did some upcycling.  My son Gus is the king of upcycling.  He is always digging in the recycling and creating ships, cars, missile's, you name it.  Here is one of  his three creations from just today:

Gus - king of recyclable building

My Grandma and Grandpa Lundberg had an awesome sun porch at their house on the farm.  They moved and didn't have a use for the furniture, so I somewhat inherited it (ok, I actually begged and pleaded).  My Grandma told me her parents had this furniture, so I'm guessing it's a good 100 years old .  She's 83 and still plays organ in church every Sunday, how awesome is that?   I digress.  I spray painted the furniture tan, but it still looks rustic.  I looked online for new cushions but they were $250....a piece!   My friend Debi and I picked up $26 worth of tablecloths, and she sewed cushion covers for me within 24 hours (now, that's a true friend).  Thanks Debi!  Doesn't it look great?

Upcycled Screened In Porch

It looks a little Christmass-y right now, so I'm going to add some different throw pillows, but I struck out in Hayward so I need to go shopping.  The table I found a thrift shop and I just repainted.  The kids helped me with the pine cone centerpiece. 

More of the porch

The table in the middle also came from a thrift shop.  It's o-l-d and it matches the wicker PERFECTLY.  My interior-designer-friend-extraordinare Angie placed it there and instructed me not to paint.  Great advice, because I'm really happy with it.  The glass decorative items are also old and also came from a thrift shop!

Upcycled Porch

Here I have an old shelf from a thrift shop, the chair from the Grandma and Grandpa Lundberg, and I found the retro chair on the side of the road marked free.  Oh, I just love it too!

Grandpa Johnson's Rocker

This chair I inherited from my Grandpa Johnson (need an updated cushion) and the bench I had the kids repaint this weekend (another thrift shop find).

Grandma Evelyn's Jelly Cupboard, Grandpa's Coat rack

This jelly jar cupboard I inherited from my Grandma Evelyn.  I so love it.   It's right by our front door, so I keep all the kids sports gear in there.  Baseball game, soccer, you name it and you'll find their stuff ready to go. 

Now for the outside, I added some tractor wheels (again from a thrift shop). 

Wagon Wheel and Gus with another project

The kids paint



The Upcycled Step Stool

This step stool I found in our woods (I know, right?) and I painted and added some decorative "stuff" to it and it ties in with our window boxes which are also full of pine boughs now too!

Chair outside garage

This chair was in my Grandma Johnson's basement.  We painted it red today and added some pines.  The chair ties together the space between the garage and the house.

G-PROJECT

I have an idea, and I'm calling it the G-Project.   The focus of the G-Project is to promote the use of cloth bags at the grocery store versus plastic bags.  Today at the grocery store I looked around and I was the only one with cloth bags.  No judgement here, because I honestly forget 50% of the time.  What would happen if we made plastic bags in the Town of Hayward illegal?  From there, Wisconsin could be the first state to go plastic-bag-free.  I believe this way of life is on our future, and since the idea popped in my head I feel that I need to move forward.  More on this on a future blog.  In the meantime, I hope you were able to enjoy the AWESOME fall weather.

Kristin :)