By one o’clock yesterday afternoon we had three-quarters of the ground floor of an estate packed into a U-Haul trunk and a van and we were bouncing back down the road toward home. It is a friend’s connection and job, I was hired to fill boxes while he packed the vehicles. It was hard work under any circumstances but made more so because the previous owner was an antique dealer and artist with a pennant for iron, stone fossils and giant balls of string.
The string is not only visually interesting but more so because the tied together pieces were saved by people before the invention of rubber bands, twist ties, various tapes, Rubbermaid tote bins and other forms of containment. What would surprised the thrifty savers of yesterday’s string is today’s value of their frugality. Values starting at 300.00 proved that winding string was time well-spent.
The string balls are the coolest thing! Something so simple in form and suggestion but so deep in where it all came from and why. Very cool! Love it!
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That is just what I thought!
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Ginene, I’d never would have realized how cool a large ball of string could look as home decor. Especially on a fireplace hearth. Hmmm. Getting ideas. Oh, and is that a quilt I see in the back of your vehicle? :)
Joanne
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That quilt is something my friend uses as a moving blanket. Believe me, when I first saw it, I checked it out. It is Target quilt or something. But, another moving blanket he was using was a 1940s fabulous barkcloth-like quilt and HE WOULD NOT GIVE IT TO ME!
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This is amazing but definitely shows us that if there is a will there is a way! I tucked a little piece of jute in a miscellaneous drawer the other day with a myriad of other pieces of string, twine, ribbon, etc. It occurred to me that I just might be getting senile. Not so much after reading this.
Jane
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So funny, Jane.
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Holy moly, GInene! You find the most unique things! Those string ball are absolutely statement pieces!
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Rita, you wouldn’t believe the fabulous things the woman collected. It was so unusual. Walls covered with turtle shells (worth more to the turtle), giant tree mushrooms, iron weights….
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I just read your comment here… turtle shells!! that’s awesome.. I have been hoping I come across one in my thrifting journeys..
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Hey Ginene! those balls are a fantastic find.. they’re highly sought after for props in weddings and outdoor themes. Heck, I even toyed with the idea of making one .. using the balloon..but slapped myself outta that thought..lol.. but I’m glad someone who saw the beauty in them got them.. I’d hate to know someone threw them away.
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I love that “slapped myself out of that”. That’s funny! I need to borrow that.
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I have never seen huge string balls like that. So interesting!
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My friend says he hasd found them several times. I hadn’t seen them either. But, when I think of where I spent most of my life (Northbrook-where no one was saving string!) and the Northwoods (where we didn’t have anything worth tying up with string!) it all makes sense to me.
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Ginene, I must say the string balls are so interesting and have such a decorative element to them. Love the texture they provide! What a find! Happy Monday, Pam @ Everyday Living
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I don’t know what it is, but if something is really tiny (compared to the actual normal-sized item) or really big, it is so cool! Maybe the reason why is because it throws off our perspective!
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That is a good observation, Debbie.
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For some strange reason, seeing those balls of string reminds me of the meme about a grandmother who grew up in the Great Depression and when she died her heirs discovered among her things a little candy tin with a neat label that said: “pieces of string too short to use.” Save every little thing; you never know when it might come in handy!
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How absolutely charming! Indeed, Cynthia, it was another world.
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I think those balls of string are amazing! Hmm, I wonder how all my kitties would like them! 🙀😻
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That would be fun, but the balls of string are so heavy that they couldn’t be rolled!
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The string balls are definitely amazing, Ginene and I love the colour scheme in the photos. I have to ask what are the large round ‘woven’ brown wall hangings – something made from bamboo perhaps?
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Carolyn, my friend, Robert, answered that question when someone else asked, but I all I remember is that they were from South America. It seems to me that it had something to do with harvesting a grain, I believe.
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I had looked in the comments but must have missed that, sorry! That makes sense, I’ve seen ladies in Malaysia winnowing grain in similar things :)
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Carolyn, I didn’t even remember that it was in a comment before. Ha, ha, ha. If someone asks me again, I may remember it now. Reading comments is not required, my friend.
Ginene
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