My Canton Find

Last weekend, while my parents were visiting, we loaded the kids, the little red wagon, a stroller, and some snacks in the car and headed to Canton, Texas for Trade Days. If you've never heard of it, it's touted as the "World's Largest Flea Market." Most of the other patrons ogled us as if we were nuts for bringing the babies, but Neely was a big hit anyway. She happily rode in the wagon, checking out the sights. There was much people watching to be done.

None of us actually bought much, but for a grand total of $8, I did find two old soda crates. What do I need soda crates for? I'm glad you asked. I've seen them used as shadowboxes. A friend of mine has one hanging in the kitchen that houses seashells in summer and...well, shoot. I can't remember what she puts in it the rest of the year. But the seashells look wonderful. And they gave me my inspiration.

First, I had to clean them up. They were very, very, very, very, very, very dirty. One cleaned up nicely with a wet rag, but the other had to be taken outside and hosed off. Mud came out of it, literally.

Next, I attached picture hangers to the back. I bought the kind with those little sawtooth pegs on the back, so they just had to be tapped in to the back of the soda crates with a hammer.

Then, I hung them side by side on the wall and filled them with...embroidery thread! Come on, you're not really all that surprised, are you? And before you tease me, yes, the thread is organized by number and color. I am not ashamed.

Even though not all of my thread fits, it's a much better solution than having them all lined up in a drawer and trying to keep them straight. I love them!