C-clamps, Gears and an Antique Scale

Last weekend, I attended a baby shower hosted by my cousin, and while we were chatting before the shower started, her roommate commented to me that she had a box full of old cast iron things sitting outside for me.  I love it when people know what kinds of things float my boat (although I guess cast iron would sink it!), so I was thrilled.  My oldest son likes road trips (it was a 3-hour drive), so he came along as my driver, and my youngest son came as well, so he could hang out with his cousins, so I asked them to load the box into my Jeep, so I had no idea what was in the box.  I love old cast iron anything, so I knew I’d love whatever was in it.  We got home late that night, so it wasn’t until the next morning that I saw what treasures were inside.

There were 2 rusty old gears.  I’m not sure what they came off of, but they are a little over 4-1/2″ in diameter.

They are the perfect size to hold pillar candles.

There were 4 rusty old C-clamps.

There was an antique stove lid lifter.

There were 3 sad irons, which make wonderful displays for wooden photo  blocks.

But my favorite treasure inside the box was this super rusty, cast iron balance scale.

Originally it would have had a pan that went inside the “cradle” on the left side, and weights would have been placed on the plate on the right side.  Since the pan was missing, I grabbed an antique bowl that fit inside the cradle, and dug up a clump of violas – grass and all, to put in the bowl.  It would make a unique candy dish holder too, but I didn’t have a bunch of candy to put in the bowl.  Normally I can’t see the violas, because they are growing on the side of our garage, so I’ll enjoy these in the house while they survive.

These pieces are all available in my Etsy shop (HERE).

Click HERE to find more creative ways to repurpose vintage pieces.