Whiteley Creek Homestead

With a few simple square knots you can repurpose a scarf, small tablecloth, or scrap of fabric into a hands-free waist pack then toss in your keys, sunglasses, and yard sales listing from the local newspaper as you race out the door to snag that rusty, white enamel pan to pick strawberries in later in the afternoon… 

a bangle bag to carry a veggie hummus sandwich to work or to the lake to throw in a fishing line on a sunny summer morning…

or a larger knotted bag to store your bounty from the local weekly farmers' market.

So easy and fun. (Blueprint Magazine May 2006) I found these two scarves after sorting through a huge mound of every size, color, and pattern at the Mount Dora Antique Extravaganza near Orlando, Florida that I attend every year with my youngest daughter. We each pull an old metal shopping cart up and down the hills at the outside market where over 1500 dealers gather, transporting their wares mainly from the East coast. We love to dig to discover those treasures that have been overlooked by the casual passerby or that appear to be beyond refurbishing. I choose to retain the markings… the evidence of previous owners, so I apply no more than a few rubs of sandpaper to smooth away peeling paint. We've never rubbed elbows with Sue and Ki, the JunkMarket gals from Long Lake, Minnesota who are featured in Country Home each month. They regularly attend the Round Top, Texas antique event. What am I missing? I wonder… Maybe Sue and Ki should wonder what they are missing instead.