I've always loved creating things from other people's trash.

Not necessarily trash such as milk jugs and packing peanuts, although that has happened - But more like items that people are planning to take to the Goodwill or broken pieces that people are trying to offload in their yard sales for $1. Growing up, my dad and granddad were always into thrifting/bargain hunting/picking, so naturally, I became rather fond of it all and begin doing it on my own as a sort of hobby. 

Today's piece is one of my favorite pieces that I've made thus far. I stumbled across this beautiful 120mm missile crate at a giant junk sale. There were mounds upon mounds of junk in this guy's front yard, but way back in the corner I spotted this crate, you guessed it, full of junk. Since it was fully functional and in great shape, I asked the guy what he wanted for it and his almost instant response was, "$20 with everything in it". I wasn't interested in the crap inside, nor was I willing to pay $20, so I thanked him and started to walk away. Suddenly he spoke up, "well how much were you hoping to spend? Let's dance!". After taking a moment to think, I told him I was hoping more in the $5 range - after all, it's just an old crate. He wasn't willing at that price, so he responded with, "how about we meet at $10?". I was a bit stunned that he was willing to drop it $10 in that instance, but I could also tell that he wanted it gone - So being the obnoxious bargainer I am, I told him I would do $7 and he could keep the stuff inside...He fumbled around in the crate for a minute, pulled out a couple of hand saws and said, "fine, $7 it is, but you can keep all the other junk!".

Fine by me!;

Needless to say, I was a happy shopper that day.

Crates in this size and conditions with the markings visible can be sold to the right person for $25 or more, but of course, I had bigger plans. This needed to be more usable in every day life.

Later on, I came across those random pieces of steel in a free box and snatched them up to use as legs. I also happened to have a spare piece of glass at the house that turned out to be perfect for this piece.

Upon arriving back home, I got to work!

This was the simplest project ever - All I did was a bit of surface prep such as cleaning and light sanding, being careful to leave the words in tact. I then brushed on a coat of BLO (boiled linseed oil). Once dry, I waxed the entire outer surface, screwed on the legs and set the glass atop the crate. That's it! Super simple.

Amount invested: ~$9

Amount sold for: $200

BOOM! Easy money!

Be sure to check out the previous parts to this series - Part 1, 2

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Alright guys, I hope you all enjoyed this original content! If you did, please feel free to upvote and follow! And as always, if you have questions or advice for me, please leave them in the comments.

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