It is hard for me to spring now!

Sorry about not updating for a while.  My dear hubby lost his battle with lung cancer and passed away from congestive heart failure on May 5, 2012, and it kind of knocked me for a loop.  I am really missing him and all his help and encouragements with these rusty old springs.  

I recently had to go up on what I charge for my springs.

I am finding springs everywhere, but getting them home is a problem since I don't own a truck, and even if I had a truck I would not be able to lift it up into the truck by myself so I am now paying one of my nephews a finders fee to locate mattresses for me.  And after the mattress frames have time to rust, I pay him again to take the springs out of the frames for me.

Maybe someday soon I will find time to work on some new nodder patterns.  Right now I am really struggling to just keep up with my bill payments.  I promise to write again soon.

Something different because making these dolls with their big smiling faces just always lift my spirits.  

Some Springs Take Forever to Rust!

The last time we were out my sister Marna helped me get a good haul of rusty springs that will last a good while. We have more then 200 springs taken out of the frames so far, and we have four more mattress to  go.

We even got another antique box springs in this last haul. The only problem with these are that they are very slow to rust.  I think that they were coated with some type of silver paint so I may be waiting for them to rust a little while longer then usual.

I Struck it Rich Today!

My sister Marna called me on December 25th to tell me that there was a mattress store on Craiglist that was giving away some used mattresses and boxsprings.

My hubby and I did not have a truck to go after them, but Marna told me that she would take us to go pick them up on her day off which was on Sunday.

The next day the ad was gone so I was not sure that someone had not picked them all up so today which was Sunday I drove over there to talk to the man that was giving them away, and after I told him what I was doing with them he went with me to the rear of his store to show me which ones that I could have for that purpose since he wanted to keep the better ones to give to someone who needed a mattress to sleep on.

When we reached the mattresses the first thing that I noticed was that one of them was an antique box springs with a metal frame around the edges, and I was so excited when he told me that this was one of the ones that I could have along with two of the mattresses.

I quickly called Marna to tell her that they were still there, and to tell her to get over here as fast as she could before someone else saw my antique box springs and hauled them off.

It was dark by the time Marna got here to take hubby and me to go pick them, but when we got there my antique springs were sitting right there waiting for us to load them up, and they were just perfect. The springs were about 6" tall, and looked like they had about a 2 1/2" wide top and a 5" wide bottom.

We loaded them all quickly and brought these three finds home. Then Marna wanted to take us to an apartment house where she had seen another box springs and mattress sitting beside the dumpster so off we went again.

This time we found one full size box springs which was not an antique, but the springs inside had what looked like an 1 1/2" top and a 5" bottom so they were still a very good find, and we also got one full size mattress and one king size mattress.

In all we got two box springs and four mattresses which will be enough springs to keep us in business for most of this year, and my payment to Marna for going after all these springs for us is just the promise for me to hem six dresses for her.

Not a bad haul for one Sunday afternoon!

Some other rusty things you will find in my store.

Just Look at What I Found!

I found one of the really old box springs where there was no cover on the springs. You know the ones that I am talking about...The ones that made the interesting noises when you moved around in the bed. 

Anyway these springs are about 8" tall which is about 2" taller then the newer type of box springs which are just about 6" tall.

My hubby is taking these out for me a few at a time since he has been tiring out quickly and coughing a lot after his treatments for lung cancer ended last month, and the springs still have to rust so it will be a little while yet before they are ready to sell, but I just had to tell everyone about what I had found.

It is getting hard to find good springs!

I still have two box springs to take the springs out of, and these springs will sell okay since they have the 1 1/2" top, but they will not sell as good as the other box springs do since they are the type with a V in the bottom.

My sister took me to look at two box springs on different sides of town last night that she had spotted while driving the city bus, but both of them did not have a type of springs in them that we could use.

I am working on some new nodder patterns for my springs that I think will be really cute, but I don't have a lot of time to play around with them since I am trying to get ready for an upcoming craft show at Dollywood in October.

This is one of my nodder patterns:





To order Springs on my website.

I Got Some New Springs In!

We picked up three box springs last week so I want to continue my series on how to take out the springs. The box springs are a little harder to take out then the mattress springs, but they are not nearly as messy, and if you use the tricks that I am about to show you to take the springs out then the city trash will haul the empty box springs away for you.
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Tools needed are:
A good set of wire cutters
A large screw driver
One set of old box springs

First you need someone who drives around the city a lot to keep an eye out for box springs for you like my sister Marna who drives a KAT bus for Knoxville. She has found most of my springs for me. 

 Then you need to check inside the box springs because there is nothing worse then bringing a box springs home in anticipation of getting some good springs out of it to discover that there is either the square springs in your find or just an empty box without any springs at all in it. 

This has happened to me many times. So again I want to say this because it is very important. Open your springs up so that you can see just what is inside before you bother loading them up in your truck to take them home with you. 

Next turn your springs up so that the cheese cloth like covering is on the top, and tear it completely off, and throw this piece in the trash. 

Now take your big screw driver and insert it between the top of your springs and the board that it is stapled to, and pull back towards you to loosen the staples that is holding the springs to the wood. When you get tired of doing that you can bang on the top of the springs with the hammer. They will come loose using both methods.

The amount of springs that you get from a box springs varies. 

These are the types of springs that you might find inside a good set of box springs.  

My Crow on a Sunflower Nodder

I had a good time making these rusty old spring nodders yesterday! I thought that they turned out really well too.