I love Pinterest. I love it for a few reasons. The first of course being it both challenges and inspires me to recreate amazing pieces using only thrifted items. The second because it completely and utterly humbles me. Crafting does not come naturally to me. Figuring out how to recreate something is something I can do in my head in seconds. However, actually turning that vision into a reality can sometimes require a lot of do-overs and a healthy pour of a good cabernet. Onto this week’s projects - turning a few vintage pieces into some thrifty cool storage pieces.

#1. Vintage rake turned jewelry rack. This project required no cabernet at all (however, I have seen where instead of hanging jewelry from the rake, they hang wine glasses!). Simply find an old, beautifully rusted rake, and hang your jewelry from it. Easy. Tip…to avoid getting rust on your wall or jewelry pieces, spray a clear coat of paint on it before hanging. Sidenote; all jewelry shown came directly from Thrift Town!

#2. Vintage tea cup rack. Since I appear to be measuring DIY difficulty by glasses of wine, this was a one glasser. In theory this is very simple. Attach two tea cups - complete with saucers onto a piece of rustic looking wood, adorn them with an S-hook each, and hang either kitchen utensils, or jewelry from the hooks. The difficult part was finding something strong enough to bond first the tea cups to the saucers, and then the cemented pair onto the piece of wood. I threw everything at this one; hot glue, liquid cement, bonding glue, you name it. The best solution would be the liquid household cement. Cost of project less than $10, kitchen utensils included.

#3. Vintage chair turned bathroom towel rack. This was a two glasser, but only after I used my power tools! Here’s the before shot:

I used my power hand saw to cut off the legs and seat of the chair, essentially leaving only the back. I sanded the rough edges with my electric sanding mouse, and I then spray painted it “wildflower blue.”

Once dry, I did my best to shabby chic it, sanding down corners, and beating it with the hammer and screwdriver until I achieved the look I was going for. I tied a hand towel to the bottom rung and a new bathroom rack it is.

I think it’s pretty cool to upcycle a vintage piece and ultimately giving it a new life. One other transformation I made that I do not have photos of, but did show live on Good Day Sacramento, was taking an old wooden vintage toolbox, literally turning it upside down, attaching it to a wall, and creating another towel rack option. To see what that looks like, in addition to getting more information on the above projects, view this video clip:

Thrifty Thursday Upcycled Vintage Storage Racks

Happy thrifting!

Gina Doglione-Nielsen is featured every week on Good Day Sacramento’s Thrifty Thursdays, and owns GNJ Consulting which handles Public, Social, and Media Relations for Thrift Town Stores. Gina lives in Northern California with her amazing husband Josh, and is constantly on the go with three “very active” and “strong personality” bambinos; aka Team Nielsen, and loves every minute of it.