Wire Basket Rack Remake

Once upon a time there was a woman (you remember her from the tale about the mirror found here) who was out yard saleing with her friend, D, when they happened upon a sale in a slightly scary area of town.  As they approached the sale, their typical conversation began:

     "Should we stop?  Does anything look good?"

     "Well, it looks like they have lots of tools, I think we 
     should stop."

     "Is it too scary?"

     "Nah, everything is in the yard and there are lots of 
     other lookers.  I think we'll be fine."

So, the two parked the pick-up and headed into the yard. The woman, who wasn't very interested in the tools, because she has decided to let Edward buy his own tools at yard sales since she never seems to get the right ones went to see if there might be any tables with some cute home dec items.  As she turned to enter the yard through the chain link gate....... something caught her eye.

Now when you yard sale, there is usually an I hope list in the back of your mind.  Things you're always hoping you might find, but know you're not likely to.

For the woman, however, this was her lucky day -  for right in front of her was one of those "I hope" things.  A three tiered basket rack!  Oh, how she had admired them in pictures and secretly wished for one, but had never really thought she would be fortunate enough to find one at a yard sale.

With excitement tingling in her fingers, she tipped the rack this way and that, all the while looking for a price.

     "Oh, please don't be too much," said the woman under 
     her breath.  "I would really love to take you home."

Shoot!  There was no price on it.  The woman now saw she would have to leave the rack exposed and go ask the owner on the front porch for a price.

Glancing from side to side, the woman happily realized no one else seemed to be interested in her treasure.   Not wanting to risk losing it, however, she decided she had better act fast.  With incredible speed, then, she hurdled the gate, a table full of tools, and appeared almost magically before the owner.

     "Umm, Sir, you have a rack over there with a missing leg 
     that does not have a price.  Do you know how much 
     you'd like for it?"

I certainly hope he can't smell how excited I am about this rack.  (You know, like how dogs can smell fear.)

     "You mean that brown thing against the fence?"


      "Yes, sir."


     "Well, I don't even know why that is out here."

Oh, no!  They didn't plan on selling it!

     "I thought we were throwin' that thing away.  You can 
     just have it."

Get Out!  Did that man seriously just say free?  Yep, sistas - fuh-ree!

It was all the woman could do not to break out into her own little flash mob!  

Instead, however, she calmly whispered the word "free" to her friend, who advised her to quickly grab the rack and throw it in the back of the pick-up before someone else nabbed it, or before the woman volunteered to go out with the guy on Saturday night!

  This is why you should always go yard saleing with a friend.    

*******************************

Well.......this really is my crazy, but true, story on how I acquired this amazing rack.  Want to see what I did with it?

First, I cut two lengths of rod that fit perfectly into the hollow tubes of the rack to create new legs for the back of the rack.  They had a nice fit, but I glued them for extra stability.  They do not look the same as the front legs, but they don't look out of place.  A plus is that they allow the rack to fit closer to the wall, so I like them better.


Next, I washed it thoroughly and completely spray painted it with a cheap white paint.  I, then, lightly sprayed a satin ivory over the white.  I like how the white brightens up the ivory some, but also gives it an aged look as if the ivory has oxidized here and there.  When it was dry, I took a chain and hit the rack in several places to knock off some of the paint.  Oh, Edward is going to love this, not.

Isn't it pretty?  Dear, sweet Mr. Yard Sale man, you sure made a little Lavender Tub lady extremely happy!  And if you're not busy Saturday night.......

Thanks for stopping by,


Ellie