Long story, but I was originally going to use this shopping basket as a jewelry display.  Yeahhhhhhhh………..that didn’t work out.  But I had this big empty space above my cabinets and I was THIS CLOSE to reverting to my 1980’s roots and filling it with a fake plant!  Luckily, I waited to do that long enough that I eventually had a brainstorm to put my cool vintage shopping basket up there.

It’s really hard to get a good picture of something that consists mostly of space….

So there it was, all empty and stuff.  For a long time.  I always felt bad because it’s such a cool thing!  I mean, check out this brand badge:

And when I took it down to work some magic on it, I noticed that the previous owner had taped her name and address to the handle of the basket!  And she was a Show-Me-Stater, like myself!

So cute!  Hazel, if you’re a reader of RedoPalooza and you want your basket back, get in touch!  Of course, I’ll have to see photo ID in order to relinquish this beauty.

So I had an idea to make it look like I had just taken this basket shopping in 1943 and wouldn’t you know it, on a thrifting trip shortly thereafter, I came upon some delightful faux fruit and veggies!  I brought them home and set them on my counter.  Well, today was the day.  The day I got SICK OF HAVING THEM ON MY COUNTER!  So I also had an empty cereal box and I decided to fix it up with a printed copy of a vintage cereal box.  Look – it still says SUGAR Frosted Flakes!  Then I took some cardboard and glued some fabric to it and lined the inside of the basket.  I wasn’t about to do any SEWING for this “just to look at” project!

SO!  Awesome vintage shopping basket + fake fruit + faux vintage cereal box + imitation fabric basket liner =

And here they are in their new habitat, above my pantry cabinet.

I’m not completely pleased with the whole montage.  I wish I had a mesh bag for the fruits and veggies to go in but I guess I’ll have to wait until the next time I use up a bag of onions!  And I didn’t realize how high up the whole arrangement would be and it’s kind of hard to see from the floor.  But that’s the beauty of redoing stuff – I get to decide when it’s finished or just keep tweaking it until I’m happy.  We’ll see where it goes from here!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you’re all having a wonderful holiday season!