Trash to Treasure

Every spring our city has a program called Curbside Clean Up, or as we like to call it: Put out your junk day! It goes for five weekends and covers a section of the city each weekend. We were in full junking mode looking for treasure in the discarded items on the curbside. One afternoon we came upon this dresser that had been discarded. Some other junker had taken the drawers already, but we saw possibility. So we loaded it up and took it home.

After a trip to Home Depot to get some Hardboard for the shelves I was ready to begin.
Due to the badly damaged corner, I decided to trim off the top lip of the the dresser completely with a circular saw. I then added a bit of wood filler to smooth out the rough area.

The shelves were cut to fit and glued in. (thanks to the Home Depot guy who cut the larger pieces down for me with the panel saw at the store)

I mixed up my own color of chalkpaint using calcium carbonate, and some blue, gray and green paint.
I applied two coats of paint and then applied some wax. Sanded a little to distress it and then waxed again. Finally I added some white paint in the grooves above and below the shelves to make the details stand out. It turned out amazing! (If I do say so myself)

Tada! Curbside Trash to Household Treasure.

Happy Junking :)
Jenni

The Letters are Home!

The Love letters that we wrote about last week are now back with their family. We received an email from Julie (the daughter of the letter writers) and she is thrilled to have them back. Here is part of her email to us:

"Dear Jenni and Ben,

I want to express my gratitude for your thoughtfulness. I received the letters today and have started reading them. Of course, Mom and Dad shared some of their courtship stories, but the written history is more intimate. Dad has been gone 30 years and Mom 9.

Thank you again, Julie"

We are so happy we were able to reunite the family with their letters. Family history is near and dear to our hearts as well.

XOXO
Jenni & Ben

Reunited...and it feels so good.

You guys...we just had the coolest thing happen. 

At The Olde Depot Junktion sale (that we did over Memorial Day in Brainerd) 

we met a History teacher named Beth Z. 

She was very interested in the box of WWII love letters that we had. 

We chatted about them for awhile and she bought a few of them to share with her classes. 

A few days later we got an email from her saying that through some internet research, she had found Julie B. , the daughter of the couple in the letters! Beth forwarded the email response from Julie:

"That is indeed my mother and father, who are both deceased. My Dad was always writing home (St. Paul) to my mother. He was stationed in London and was a pilot in WWII. I believe he was also in Stevens Point, WI and other parts of the U.S. Of a family of six there are only my brother and myself left"

After hearing this we knew the right thing to do. So we gathered up all the letters and are going to be mailing them out today (5/30/14) to Julie B. What a wonderful surprise that will be for her and her brother. We're just happy that they are finding their way back to the family!

We will keep you posted about their journey!

Have a wonderful weekend!

XOXO,

Jenni & Ben

a Vintage Parcel

What can I make with that?

We have a lot of cool things for sale (we think so at least)
 but so many times people ask- 

what can I make with that? Pinterest to the rescue! 

We have made boards on Pinterest showcasing what you can make 

with some of the popular items we sell. Check it out.

Valve Handles

We literally have tons of valve/faucet handles
both on Etsy and at our local shop called Junket.

So what can you make from them?
Here are some ideas we've put together on Pinterest

Check out our idea board on Pinterest.

Glass Insulators

What is a glass insulator? They were used on telephone/utility poles
to support and separate electrical conductors.  
What can you make from them?

 Here are some ideas:

Check it out on Pinterest

Buy them on Esty

Industrial Baking Pans

 We recently won an auction lot of industrial baking pans 

from a bakery that went out of business. 

We had them cleaned and glazed and they are amazing. 

Perfect for storage of little bits and pieces!

For sale on Etsy Soon!

Check it out on Pinterest

Old Wooden Ladders

So cool! But what can you use them for besides the obvious? 

Check out what we found on pinterest!

Cheers!

Jenni

Where we're headed...

Hello Junk-Lovers !
It has been a surprisingly short while since we burst onto the scene, peddling our decidedly different mix of interesting and vintage supplies, parts and pieces. We have come a long way from our beginnings, learned a lot (we are quick learners), and it is now time to share the future trajectory of a Vintage Parcel with those most important to us, our customers!

If you have perused our ETSY store, visited our little corner of Junket Tossed and Found, or seen us at Junk Bonanza you have probably noticed something different about us.  While others have “smalls” intermixed among larger pieces we have “smalls” on a whole other level as far as quantity and diversity packed into a tiny little space.  We have heard time and time again that it is this QUANTITY and DIVERSITY that people are craving.  Being able to pick through the hundreds to find “the one” is what people want.  

We aim to be a sort of an “idea center” for you, offering an exceptional selection of reclaimed and vintage supplies for the creative at heart.  Come in with an idea, or looking for an idea, and leave with the supplies to make it happen.  We will have you covered.
Don’t fret if you’re not the “crafty” sort, we will still continue to offer unique pieces fashioned from the very supplies we offer ;-)  After all, we have to admit, we didn’t just collect all this cool stuff just for you,  we love it too!!
We have already stepped up our efforts to hunt down those unique collections of items and those who shop with us in the next couple of months will notice a serious shift towards organization of our inventory and decidedly MORE of everything!

Oh and we should mention that we are teaming up with like-minded Junket Tossed and Found in this endeavor to be an alternative source for unique supplies and materials.  Because even if we tried we couldn’t collect all things for everyone, we are dividing and conquering!  It pays to have good friends in this business!

Cheers,
Jenni & Ben Mueller
A Vintage Parcel


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Do you have Junk Withdrawal ?

Now that Spring Junk Bonanza has ended, are you going through Junk Withdrawal? No worries we have some solutions for you! You can access our cool junk 24-7-365, through our Etsy Store! We even have a deal for you use code: Junk Bonanza for 10% off your entire Etsy purchase.

ETSY

click here to shop Avintageparcel.etsy.com

Use coupon code: JunkBonanza for 10% off

(offer valid until 4-30-14)

 

Junket

Are you local to the Twin Cities? We have another option as well. Almost all of the items you saw in our booth at JB have a permanent home at: 

Junket: Tossed & Found 4047 & 4049 Minnehaha Ave in South Minneapolis

Junket is open the first and third weekends of each month!

Here is a sneak preview of our space:

Also be sure to follow us on:

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You can also find us at these upcoming shows:

The Old Depot Junktion in Brainerd, MN

Memorial Day Weekend May 24th & 25th, 2014

Junk Bonanza -  Fall

Canterbury Park, Shakopee, MN 

September 25th-27th, 2014

Thanks to all our followers and customers. We couldn't do this without you!

XOXO,

Jenni & Ben

Another Junk Bonanza in the books

We had a wonderful, crazy, busy Bonanza week! It started with set up on Wednesday and then we were in full speed junking mode early Thursday morning. 

One of our favorite additions to our booth this year is our green parts spinner. We picked it up from a farmer guy in the middle of Wisconsin and it was well worth the drive. We had our letters and numbers all sorted out and it worked great!

Another awesome item we had in our booth is a WWII trunk that is thought to be painted by a Disney Artist. How cool is that!!?! $750 and it's yours 

We had a great time talking junk with everyone, meeting new friends and reconnecting with old junking buddies. Thanks for making this our best Junk Bonanza ever! 

Cheers!

Ben & Jenni

Gearing up for Spring Junk Bonanza!

It's almost that time of year again: JUNK BONANZA! We are starting to gear up for it and with a few JB's under our belt we have a better handle on what it takes to be a successful vendor. Though we are by no means experts, but we wanted to share what we've learned with other Vendors and soon-to-be Vendors. So we have compiled a checklist of: things to remember to bring, things you may not need, and general how-to's about booth set up.

First a little back story...I started selling at craft shows a few years back. Mostly crafty items with a few upcycled items sprinkled in. Then with the encouragement of my sister and another crafter I started on Etsy. Long story short, I found that vintage was selling WAY better than crafty items. So I recruited my husband to join me in this venture and a Vintage Parcel was born! We decided to apply for Junk Bonanza Spring 2013 and were put on the waiting list. TWO WEEKS before the show they emailed us saying that a spot had opened up and we were in! HOLY COW! We had to move into high gear and come up with a booth idea, gather more product and PRICE it all!

So here is what we learned and wanted to share it with you!

DIY Tabletop Faux Finish

While browsing Pinterest a few weeks ago I came across a DIY paper bag flooring technique. We have hardwood floors and they don't need refinishing. However I thought it would make a great finish for a tabletop. So I started hunting for the prefect table to try this technique on. I found this perfect old round school table at one of my favorite stores: Empty the Nest.

I brought it home and got started with the project. First I ran to Home Depot and got my supplies:

1 Quart of Stain ( any color you wish )

1 Quart Clear Polyurethane ( I went with water based )

1 Roll of Brown Builders Paper

1 Gallon of Elmers Glue* (you don't need this much for 1 table, but I plan to do more)

*Couldn't find the Gallon of Elmers Glue at HD. Went to Joann's Craft store and found it there.

 That's a lot of glue!

 Step 1: Mix your glue with water. I went with 1 Part glue to 2 parts water. Since it was a relatively small project I went with 1cup glue : 2 cups water. I mixed it in a shallow square plastic bowl.

 Step 2: Tear up pieces of paper and crumple them. I tried to keep them all about the same size.

 Step 3: Dip each piece of paper in the glue mixture, let the excess run off and flatten it down on your surface. I wore a pair of gloves and it worked great.

 Step 4: Overlap the pieces since they do shrink up a bit after they dry. I let the table dry over night.

 Step 5: Time to Stain!  I used a lambs wool stain applicator and poured some stain in the same kind of bowl I used for the glue. I just spread out the stain and let it sit for a few minutes. I then wiped it off using an old towel.

 Step 6: Let it dry overnight. It still felt slightly tacky in the morning but I was ready to Poly!

 Step 6: Apply the Polyurethane in thin coats. I used a paint brush to apply it. I waited a few hours between coats and applied 5 coats over two days.

It turned out so great! It's nice and shiny and it looks like leather. I can't wait to do another table.

Thanks for checking out my post! And thanks to Ashley at Domestic Imperfection for the idea.

Have a great day :)

Top 5 Creepy Estate Sale finds

We frequent a lot of Estate Sales, Garage Sales and our Favorite place to visit is Empty the Nest ( a company that cleans out estates and sell the items in their store)
So it should not surprise you that we've come across some crazy things. We usually buy these crazy items because what we've learned is: People love crazy things!


Here are our top five things that we have found. Some of them are for sale and I'll include a link in case you HAVE to own it!

Number 5: Used Parachute Rip Cords

We bought a whole box full of these used parachute rip cords (about 20 or so). All of them were mounted on plaques and included the name of the person that the rip cord either SAVED or DID NOT SAVE. Some of them had happy endings like the one above. Others were not so lucky and perished in the fall. This is the last one we have of the lot and are going to be keeping it. (sorry)

 Number 4: Molar in a Jar

This tooth with roots intact came in this cute little jar. The tooth appears to be in fairly good shape. Not sure why it was pulled, but apparently it gave someone some trouble and it was yanked.
This guy is not yet for sale, but it will be. Interested? shoot us a message on Etsy.

Number 3: Creepy Dolls

Oh man these dolls are CREEPY! One is just a head, but she's watching you! The largest one has some mildew on her face that takes on a ghost-like appearance. We keep these creepers in the garage so they can't get us at night. Want them to come live with you? You're in luck:

Little Creepy Doll

Large Ghost- Face Doll

Doll Head

Number 2: Articulated Dental Model

Nom, nom, nom. This set of chompers help dental students practice filling, tooth extraction and other "fun" procedures that we've all endured. It completely flips open so you can see all the teeth at once.
This beauty is not listed for sale yet, but it will be shortly. Favorite us on Etsy to be alerted to all our new items for sale.

The Number 1 Creepiest Thing we've bought:

Dreadlocks!

Seriously, so creepy. Someone was done with the Rastafarian look and shaved 'em off and put them in a box. Ben came across them at our favorite store Empty the Nest and had to have them.

Lucky you- they are available to purchase! 

Check them out here:

Dreadlocks

So there you have it. Our creepiest finds.

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