Trash to treasure

 

Our trash room is nothing to write home about. . . .or is it?  

Before Christmas I had seen photos of some beautiful light displays using crystal and glass candle holders to display vintage Christmas ornaments.  I loved the look but I'd sold all of my vintage ornaments last year and left all of my candles holders behind when we moved because we weren't allowed to have candles. . . .I regretted that decision seeing that beautiful display and discovering battery operated candles.

One day I walked into the trash room where a box was sitting on the floor that said, "FREE".  So I decided to look through the box and I saw these lovely Mikasa crystal candle holders (2).  The tea lights were a little big to set underneath so I set them on top with a glass Christmas tree.  I have thought a lot about how fortunate I was to find that.

Now, it is January---so cold and dry.  I bought a humidifier on Amazon but it couldn't keep up.  It was small and I was regretting that I'd left my big humidifier behind.  I put a kettle of water on the stove which helped with humidity but I was afraid I'd forget about it and burn my pot or start a fire.  Two days ago, I walked into the trash room and saw two boxes with this sign.   

I really only needed one so I left one behind.  It has worked out great in our living area---holding 6 liters of water.

Another thing I miss was all of my empty recycled containers.  I had glass jars and plastic tubs that food had been in which I used for storing things like bird seed.  But, I left them all behind because bird feeders were another banned object in our apartment building. When winter came and birds were huddled together on my patio which is L shaped and protected, I started wishing I had some bird seed.  I had suspected one of my upstairs neighbors was feeding the birds.  After a windy night, remnants of a ball of bird food  was scattered on the grass and on our patio. .. .

We enjoyed seeing the birds so much, I decided to be a rebel and buy some bird seed---waste free---so when the bird ate it, they wouldn't be leaving behind hulls.  Now, I began to wish I had some of those recycled tubs I used to store the seed in.  Look what I found in the trash room last night.

Now I do have some standards---I refuse to root through the trash bins.  But if an item is just sitting, there and I need it. .. . .I'm beginning to think there's something magical and mysterious about that trash room.  I'm also enough of a "Monkey's Paw" fan that I have to be careful what I wish for. . .