Old Sifters --- New Life!

I am drawn to old kitchen utensils. I love to find old flatware and serving spoons that have been well loved and well used over the years. Old teapots and coffee pots are my delight!!! I go back to my childhood when there were no coffee makers and my mother would perk coffee every morning on the stove top. Who needed an alarm clock when the smell of fresh brewed coffee did the trick? I can see my grandmother even now as she baked in her kitchen. My job was always to sift the flour and, even though I got more on me and the surrounding work area than in the bowl, she never lost patience.

Sifters of all sizes are perfect pieces to breathe new life into for me. I love their knobby cranks and handles and the indentations for the measurements. It is so much fun trying to decide what do do with each one that comes my way. Here is a tiny little sifter, only one cup, that I found at my favorite thrift store. It was just the perfect size to hold pencils and maybe a pair of scissors. I think a bunny and rosemary make a great design for this little guy.




Sometimes it's not what you paint on the sifter that is important, but rather what you put in it. Using an old sifter as a container for a little kitchen Christmas candle light composition was just the ticket for this piece. Cinnamon dough ornies, little apples with evergreen and "candies" formed the perfect compliment to the cinnamon coated light. Even the silicone bulb had that fabulous spice in its coating.


My latest repurposing started with an old Bromwell sifter that had seen a lot of use. I decided to try out one of my new designs and use it also for a candle light. This time a wooly sheep surrounded by a verse from Psalm 100 seemed the perfect thing to paint. I have pieces of an old antique quilt that is so worn the cotton batting is coming out. I used a piece to cover the top (and the bottom) of the sifter. The candle light is stained to make it blend in with the old pieces. And the hang tag???? What better than "This Little Light of Mine"? I have always told my friends I have never been bored a day in my life. How can I be when there are so many sifters to paint?