Vintage Enamelware Uses

Ahhhh my beloved enamelware.  It's true... enamel pieces and I have had a long going love affair for years upon years.  To this day I cannot get enough of the stuff.  I usually find pieces at yard sales and antique shops and I have had to say no from time to time if an item is priced too high though believe me when I say I didn't want to.  I have bowls hanging on walls, ones I use in the kitchen all the time and some that I plant in.  Even the coffee pots get some use housing feathers and flowers in different areas of our home.  I have bigger pieces that I use when canning green beans and pickles for rinsing and soaking purposes.  The list of uses for the old enamelware just go on and on.  I decided to pick five fun uses of enamelware pieces that I have used lately to share with you!  I hope you fall in love and find lovely pieces of enamelware for yourself... or for me! 

 

 

A beer bucket from an old chamber pot.  Keeps 'em cold!

Hens & Chickens planted in and old pee pot. 

Quite the conversation piece.



Lemon Balm given to me by a friend will have plenty of room to fill this large bowl with rust holes in the bottom.

I have taken to using cheaper laundry powder and this old cooking pot with lid serves as the perfect holder instead of some ugly box sitting around.

An old colander works great for an evening ice bucket.  As the ice melts the water falls into the beautiful bowl underneath.

Do you have a "thing" for enamelware?  If so I'd love to hear about your uses for the stuff.  And if you need to get rid of some... well you know I'll take it off your hands.

Pretty Pots to Plant In

I just cannot be normal.  I refuse to purchase normal pots from WalMart to put my summer beauties in.  Well, unless they are on serious clearance and big enough to repot an inside plant in.  Instead I am like a scavenger when thrifting and at yard sales trying to find items large enough to put plants in. 

At my Thrift Store, I call it mine because it's the one I frequent, two weeks ago I looked up to the top of a long clothing rack where they display kitchen glassware at one and and pots and pans at the other, and spotted a big pot.  I darted, and I mean darted, towards it, picked it up and immediately admired it's size, age, nice wooden handle and it's price wasn't bad either at six dollars.  Six dollars is a tad high but it is a good sized pot that a lovely summer geranium would soon call home.

This spring and summer I ask you to venture out.  To break out and find something unusual to plant something wonderful in.  Take the kitchen outside, take the laundry room outside, take the bathroom outside (ok not like that!)  I am going to show you how to take an old stock pot and turn it in to a planter and also give you more ideas of things you can look for to plant in from the last couple of years. 

First select the pot to plant in. 

If it has no possible way to drain water you're going to have to make this happen.

If the pot is thin enough, or has rust holes already, simply use a hammer and nail to make the hole.  Sometimes you have to use a drill and drill bit. 

Line the bottom of your pot with gravel or rocks then top it with potting soil.

It helps to insert the pot your plant comes in into the dirt to get the correct size hole.  Then easily remove the plant, dirt and all, from the pot and insert it into the hole that you made. 

Fill all around the plant with potting soil and top with mini chunk mulch to help keep the soil moist. 

Give your new plant in it's new pot a good drink of water and a smooch of good luck!

Here are some other items I have found are fun to plant in.

Old chip can.  Used the lid on a bird feeder.

Large, enamel bowl.  It already had thin rusty spots so it was easy to knock holes in.  The chair... came with no seat.  I did spray it pink.  When you're single you can paint anything island pink.  Shaun doesn't go for pink so much :)

Yes, it's a hospital pee pot.  And I did clean it first :) (enamel pot planted in in the background)

This lovely Pyrex nesting bowl I bought at a yard sale and luckily it already had a hole in the bottom.  Who the heck would get rid of this?

This, I thought, was a good idea.  I did have a bit of trouble cutting the matting  to line it with but it finally worked and did great all summer.  Not bad for a twenty five cent old kitchen basket at a garage sale!

Good luck and send me picks of things that you find to plant in!  I'd love to see the great ideas!