Supa Dupa Bargain Buy

A few weeks ago we were driving through the country roads of Loomis where I spotted a small garage sale out of the corner of my eye.  Yep, I don't have the nickname "Eagle Eyes" for nothin'.  By the garage sale sign, there was an additional sign that said "Everything $1.00." Um, bonus!  Everything $1.00?  I quickly jerked turned the steering wheel to the right, and carefully stepped on my brakes so to not lose control on the dirt road.  Mark and Nolan happened to be with me.  They willingly pulled out some lawn chairs under a shade tree and told me to take my time (Seriously, what good sports.)   Because it was late morning, the garage sale was pretty picked over.  I made a couple of laps around the place and spotted these fellas:

 

 They are made of tin and very light.  And at a buck a piece I couldn't pass them by.

 I had to take a close-up of the original price tag because I about choked when I saw the original price of $25.00.  Really?  Who would have purchased these for full price?  They aren't that great.  It also looks like they were once being sold for $2.00 and under that a $5.00 sticker.  I really got a good deal, didn't I?  I wasn't sure how or where I'd use them, but they would certainly work in our house, I just knew it.

And come in handy, one did.  After making the shelf below I was on a hunt to find things around my house to put on it.  Immediately, these tin squares came to mind.   I would use one on the shelf and save the other for another day and another project.

I wasn't really a fan of the original yellowish-orangish color of the tin...sorta 70's.  I didn't know how I'd treat it, color wise, due to the tin.  I did know that I didn't want it one solid color.  After thinking about it for a while I decided on spray painting it first and then wiping a stain over it.  I had some yellow paint in the cabinet from another project and applied a couple of coats.  After letting it dry I added a bit of stain using an old t-shirt.  It was very tacky and I didn't have a lot of time to apply and move the stain around before it became settled and too hard/sticky to spread.  I'm happy with the results and it seems to be a nice addition to the shelf.