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Sunday, March 16, 2014

A Mailbox Makeover

Not to rub it in for all of my neighbors to the North, but I planted flowers nearly two weeks ago.  Yep, blooming, colorful spring flowers.  It was part of a desperately needed makeover to my parents mailbox area.  It was their 44th wedding anniversary gift.  Check out this before shot:


Now keep in mind, everything is still a bit scraggly because it's not quite Spring yet.  In the summer time that Jasmine is robust with bright yellow flowers.  However, it's all too much.  It's overgrown and (God love him) my dad "prunes" with a weed wacker. So, I knew that no matter what else I did here, that jasmine had to go.  Thankfully, mom agreed.  So out came the Hitachi CR13V2 10-Amp Reciprocating Saw AKA, the
sawzall! 

When figuring out my plan of attack, I wanted to avoid having the utilities come out and mark the underground wires...because I procrastinated and needed to get it done.  What else is new!  So I decided on a somewhat raised bed around the mailbox.  Check out what I made with some old pallet wood and soda bottles, yep, soda bottles. 


Before I did all that though, the mailbox and post needed some work!  Here's a better look:


Forget about all the rust and peeling paint, the hardware is MANGLED.  Looks like it's time for a new mailbox!  HA, I don't think so.  I simply removed the four screws holding the mailbox to the post and the 6 nuts and bolts holding the hardware on and blasted it with some spray paint.  As for the hardware, well that was straightened simply with a little muscle and a rubber mallet.

Besides the fact that the numbers were completely obscured by the jasmine, there were also numbers missing.  I knew I could come up with something better, handmade and upcycled!  Check out the house number plaque that I carved from a piece of pallet with my Dremel:

Now, just add flowers!


Which one do you like better?


See the complete details on how to make:

Garden edging made from pallet wood and soda bottles

18 comments:

  1. wow, this is great! your parents must be pretty happy.

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  2. Thanks, Boud. My mom always appreciates the effort a bit more than dad does. He just can't wrap his mind around the fact that I'll work on a simple house number plaque for three days instead of going to the store and buying those stick on numbers that every other house on the block has :) But he did appreciate the fact that he didn't have to tear out the jasmine himself!

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    1. @Tricia *Excellent* work on your project. Your example shows us what's possible with a little creativity and vision towards a change. The #Green in me likes what you've done with the weeds that grew around the mailbox.

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    2. Thanks, William, it was a fun project for me!

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  3. What a great job you did. It looks beautiful and so Sping-y.

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    1. Thanks, Sally. I do tend to "force" Spring as it is my favorite time of the year!

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  4. Wow!!! Talk about upgrades! That was incredible! Great job!

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  5. It is beautiful. I would bet the neighbors like it better, also. You did a wonderful job.

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    1. Yes, I would hope so, Doty! Only problem, now the other mailboxes look so drab. :)

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  6. That is an amazing difference - The flowers are lovely and I especially like the number sign and love the idea of the dremel tool - I think I have one that hasn't been used yet.......hmmmmmm......my brain is getting ideas. :) Thank you. Gentle Joy

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    1. Thanks gentlejoy! I'll have the tutorial posted for the house number plaque this weekend (Sunday). Time to break out that Dremel!

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  7. well that was certainly some before photo! i love the wood trim (is that a diy?) and am so jealous of your real live, colorful flowers, lol.

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    1. Thanks Cape! Yes the garden edging is a DIY AND I have instructions for it here: http://upcycledstuff.blogspot.com/2014/03/how-to-make-garden-edging-from-pallet.html

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  8. Hmm great minds think alike! I am in the middle of redoing my mailbox too! I love how the mailbox turned out and very cool number plaque! You did an awesome job! LOVE...oh I love that you just fixed it up better than new!

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    1. Better than new is way better than new, no? Thanks for the compliments!

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  9. It's amazing what a little paint can do; that mailbox looks brand new! I love the flowers. I know spring will come eventually. :-) Thank you for sharing this at the HomeAcre Hop; I hope you'll join us again this Thursday.
    Kathi at Oak Hill Homestead

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