The whole world in his hands...

I have come across many wonderful little finds throughout my travels. I love putting things together in a new way. Repurposing.

Sometimes it takes a while to figure out what to do with something or how to use it in a new way. But when it happens, to me, it feels like magic.

When thrifting, picking or going to garage sales, certain things just catch my eye. Many of the items are vintage and remind me of my childhood. Some things are just unique and make me smile.

One item I cannot resist, is a black vintage globe. I have a few of them now. All, but this one, will become merchandise for the bus. I found the globe below a few years back. Recently I found the set of hands. They might have started out as a pair of bookends - but when you put the two things together...it's art. I love the scale. The way they fit together. The meaning the piece gives to me and I love the way the grouping looks sitting on my bookshelf.

So go forth! Find things that you love. Create art.

Pickin' and a Grinnin'...

Looking for hidden treasure is definitely one of my favorite things to do. This was a very good week for that. I found some really cool things. My friends and family are great at giving me tips on where to go to find things. My friend Jenny helped me find this stuff.

The big dairy here in Des Moines is Anderson Erickson (AE). The house I bought a few years ago, was actually built for one of the original Erickson's of the dairy. The house was built in 1941 and I am the second owner.

On a previous treasure hunt, I came across the AE milk box. I fell in love. I wanted it. I could almost see it sitting on my front porch. It just seemed fitting, that it should end up there. I remember the days when the Dairy used to actually deliver milk around my neighborhood and deposit it in the milk boxes. The owner of the milk box, however, was not very eager to part with it. On that day, I settled for a galvanized milk box without any graphics.

Good things come to those who wait. I received a call earlier this week to let me know that they guy had reconsidered and would sell me this treasure. As a matter of fact, he was ready to part with a lot more this go around. Found some really great things...a ring of skeleton keys, a couple of old breadboxes, a great cast iron frog sprinkler, a beautiful 20 lb. fan, a couple of glass cloches and so much more. Most of this stuff will end up on the bus or on Etsy...the AE milk box however, will end up on my front porch. It makes me smile.

The inside story...

Really excited and ready to start revamping the bus. The weather, however, is not being very cooperative. Several states in the Midwest, including Iowa, are being hit with, what our local news referred to as,  a "Heat Event". Heat advisories, 110 degree heat index and outrageous humidity, have made it nearly impossible to get much work done on the bus.

There were some lovely weeks of weather prior to the heat wave though - where I was able to open up the bus and give it it's initial cleaning.

As I had mentioned in an earlier post - the bus seats had been removed by her previous owner and in their place he had begun to install food service equipment and a toilet.

After tossing the garbage and wiping down the equipment - it almost seemed sad to me to tear out the installs. It really was very close to becoming a mobile BBQ concession. But tear them out I must. I took some photos of the equipment and will be listing the lot on craigslist. I have no idea of its value but I am hoping to get enough out of it all to at least get a solid color painted on the exterior of the bus.

A couple of assistants and a little elbow grease, had the inside shining like a new penny. A few of my favorite features so far are:  the beautiful control panel...so many switches, buttons and lights! Oh yeah...there's a strobe light on the top. The working wheelchair lift will come in very handy for loading and unloading the heavy stuff. Last but not least, the cute little bus driver, who insists that I will be driving her to school on the bus when she goes...in about 3 years :)

Phase two will be the removal of the restaurant equipment - this phase will commence as soon as it cools down a bit.