PB Moss Basket "Rescue and Rehab"

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You've probably figured out by now that I'm a bargain hunter...and a that I love to rehab things that should have probably been thrown away other people may not have the same vision for.



Oh...and that I love  all things nature related...and that I'm willful....you know all of this, right?

Because if  you know these things about me, it probably won't surprise you to know that, in typical "Midwest girl who hasn't seen sunshine or anything green in over five months" fashion, last year when I saw this  in the Pottery Barn spring catalog, I was smitten...with an inanimate object. (This is not a rare occurrence for me. It happens over drop leaf tables sitting in the rain on the side of the road, bits of vintage lace in a basket under a table at an Estate sale, White ironstone pottery no matter where it is...You get the picture).


I wanted this basket fiercely....but not at the $89 price tag in the catalog....so I decided to wait. The catalog got buried on my desk I promptly got busy doing other things and forgot about the basket until some time last May.  Of course, by then, it was too late.  The beautiful moss covered basket had been marked down, reduced, closed out and was no longer available on the PB website.

You'd think that I'd give up and move on to something else, wouldn't you?  Uh...yeah...no.


I called the PB order center, armed with the number from the catalog, I asked them to check stores in the US that might still have one hanging around and guess what? They found one in a store in Texas that had been reduced to $8.90!


Seriously?! Eight dollars and Ninety cents!? Shut the front door!  I called the store immediately and, after ten minutes on hold, a nice sales associate came back on the line to tell me that they did, indeed, have the basket in the store...(my heart was pounding, I was on the verge of doing the happy dance right there in my kitchen, on a Tuesday afternoon).

Then came that long, painful,  pause in conversation...you know the one...the pause that precedes the word "but..."?   The word "but" has taken tried, on more occasions that I can count, to take the joy out of my life. Attempting to rob me of the glee at finding the basket that I wanted at an unbelievable price...three little letters.


They had the basket, it was marked down to $8.90 and it was in the stock room...in a box...on a shelf...BUT it was heading to the dumpster because it was "unsaleable".


The sweet sales girl told me not less than a half dozen times about how awful it looked. She carefully pointed out that the handle was broken and that part of the moss was missing....and that it was brown and not at all like the beautiful basket that I'd seen in the catalog. She wanted to make sure that I completely understood the condition of the basket.  Was I dissuaded by her honesty? Did I decide to let go of the image of a beautiful moss basket of spring flowers gracing my Easter table in the spring of 2013?  You guessed it...No.



That lovely sales girl from several states away didn't know me...she had no way of knowing that I'm a die-hard junker who loves a good challenge. She kept telling didn't want me to be disappointed and she certainly didn't want me to pay for a basket that no one else wanted.  After all, no one  wanted this basket...NO ONE...
                                                                                                                   ....until I said, "I'll take it!"


Yep, I purchased the basket for $8.90 and  PB shipped it to me at no charge.  After that, the basket sat, in a box, for a year.  At some point, I showed it to my friend the florist, Sadie. She said, "Sure, it can be fixed...you use hot glue and fishing line to fix the handle and there's this spray for moss...I'll get you some."


Two weeks ago, my "bargain basket" got a spring makeover...with hot glue and bits of moss and super special, magical, moss dye spray. It's beautiful...and occupying a place of honor on my Easter table today. It's filled with roses and ivy,  hydrangea and stocks and a few pink weeping cherry blossoms. It smells heavenly...like spring!


Sometimes, it's a good idea to say "Yes" to the broken, brown, 90% off, moss basket that someone else is throwing in the dumpster.  With a little work, and imagination other people's cast offs can make a wonderful addition to your life.


Of course, I suppose the trick is knowing when to say "Yes" ....and when to walk away...I'm still working on the "walking away" part...because I never saw a piece of  "junque"  that I could resist!

If you'd like to see my table all set up for Easter, stop by the blog on Wednesday. In the mean time, have a joyous and wonderful Easter spending time and celebrating with those you love!

xo,

Kimberly