Rusty and Dirty!

I let my Etsy shop for The Retro Ranch kind of slide over the last year, but lately I've been trying to restock it and physically get my stuff all gathered together and organized in my storage area (shhh..it's my basement).  Upon moving the inventory from one spot to another to another, I've rediscovered some finds and am excited to share them with the world!  Here are just a few of my newest listings, in all their farm fresh glory...

Way old bottle!

Stop those radiator leaks with chemicals!

String it up.

Instant collection.

The texture of the handles makes me crazy--I love the wear and tear.

Found It: Cans!

As a farmer, Grandpa was quite scrappy: waste not, want not.  He loved to organize his nails, bolts, tacks, and all other small things in old coffee cans, because, why buy an organizer that's basically the same thing?  Usually, he would then immediately forget about them and start again with more cans, filling them with whatever weird little doo-dads he ended up purchasing at an auction.  I get a wild hair about me, too, and organize ALL THE THINGS, then forget where I put them, and entropy reigns until I feel I need to dig around again for that thing I just KNOW that I have SOMEWHERE AROUND HERE.

Anyway, I found some cans on my excursion to the farm months ago and finally have a break in art-making to sort through it all, shoot some pictures, and list them in The Retro Ranch's Etsy shop.

Behold!


I love the blue and orange on this one!

 


Wish I had the lid for this, but who needs lids on a farm?
Pansies, that's who!

 


Large Mobiloil can...fancy gold for your fancy garage.

 


Fleming's was a Kansas City based coffee!
I hear it was rich in flavor.

 



The 1970s loved to put the real thing in the ads.
I find it unnecessary.

Hopefully I can send these out to folks who want to reuse some old cans for planters, pencil holders (I have one on my work desk for this purpose--bonus: it's magnetic), or their own nail/washer/bolt organizers just like Grandpa Bill.

See the whole collection here.

Found It: LaVada TV Tray

While picking through the dirty, webby, animal-trodden, wasp-infested sheds, a person can come along a really awesome find occasionally.  For years I looked at the shed (stay tuned for those images in a week or two) and only ever ventured into the first few feet.  I knew there was an opening in the back that held old windows.  Well, it held windows, and then some...

Look at this freaking tray!  I LOVE IT.  I found three, with two stands and another stand that held the whole set.  It's in great shape, especially if you consider its 30+ years just hanging out in an open-air shed in the crazy climate that is Kansas.  A little corrosion makes it legit.  Check it out on Etsy.  I'm a little worried about the shipping, as I'm going to have to make a box and wrap the hell out of it, but if someone really wants it they'll shell out the dough, right?

I'm going to keep one, because, well, this job has to have some perks.  The great W glasses on top are a gift from my sister from way back when I first lived on my own.  There are eight of those glasses, so this perfect entertaining set is coming together, slowly, over the course of years.