Bed Springs to Spring Vases

I just came across another fun blogging party and will link it to "Transformation Tuesdays", as this was definitley what I call re purposing, and this new blog party calls "transformation".   Thank you Gina at the Shabby Chic Cottage for yet another wonderful blogging party to join.

Thank you Linda from Coastal Charm for hosting this fun new event each Tuesday.  I am starting this blog party with a very thrifty idea that I came up with last Fall.  Let the fun begin.

Example #1 is:  A natural rusty bed spring (sprayed with poly) combined with a re purposed glass as a vase with fresh Spring violets.

Example #2:  Silver spray painted bed spring w/a glass flued vase and fresh cedar.  Think Holidays.

Example #4: is a bed spring with vase that I added vintage pale pink rayon bias tape with vintage crystal to it for Valentine's Day theme at the French Flea shop I sell in and then I had fresh flowers in them.

This is another style of springs you may come across that are cool re purposed with fun little bird nests.

You may be wondering, so how is this post about thriftiness anyways.  It all started with this box spring mattress that we needed to get rid of.  It had been my Grandma's and it needed to be gone...  It would cost us to get it recycled, so I came up with the brilliant idea to recycle it ourselves and use the bed springs in various projects. lol

I enlisted help from my husband, Jon, and we took it out on our back deck last Fall.  We had to remove all of the coverings on it and the batting.  Jon took care of removing the wood surrounding form of the box spring for me.

With the use of heavy duty pliers, a bolt cutter, hammer and other various tools we were able to get the coiled springs loose from the frame.  Using a painters mask, it surely helped keep down the dust mite issues. Quite old, so a smart thing to do.  Good to be safe now, than sorry later on.  This mattress had been incased in a heavy duty plastic cover for years, but its 1960's origins made it very old by now.

Tah dah!  42 springs available for re purposing projects.

Some have been spray  painted black, some have been painted ivory, some were painted platinum, some were painted silver, and yet some have been left with their original metal patina.  A variety for each persons taste.  I've been selling these re purposed projects for $9.00 each at the shop I sell at, and also gave 6 away to my siblings as keepsakes of our Grandma at Christmas time.  I've sold about 25 of them at the shop, so its turned this "Nifty Thrifty" project into a money making project as well as a recycling one. 25 x $9 = $175.00 in sold springs vs. $25 fee to have it hauled away. 

Some have been left rusty.

What is fun, is that with a few little twists here and there, one can easily change the look of this for any season or holiday.  A vintage small skeleton key, a crystal prism, or any little doo dad, just gives it the embellishment that makes it turn from trash to a treasure.  If you liked this idea, than you might like a sight I'm a contributor on called, Junk Market Style.  You can see a whole community of cool projects at this website here.  See you on the Junk pile.

Thanks again, Linda for hosting this fabulous new blogging party.  To see more of Linda's blog as well as her Nifty Thrifty Tuesday Party Participants, check out her site here.

Update:  3/4/2010  I'm so excited to share that Linda, the hostess from Coastal Charm, has shared this post as one of her 4 top favorites to share for a follow-up to her Nifty Thrifty Tuesday blogger party this week.  I got in by the seat of my pants at about 10:30 on Tuesday evening, so many of you may not of even had the chance to see my post.  I guess better late than never, but next time I'll be more timely. I was out of town for the day, and hadn't had time to prepare ahead of the party.  Thanks Linda for this wonderful opportunity!  To see Linda's feature of 4 party participants check it out here.