hippie Christmas

Every year around this time the oddest thing happens on the University of Wisconsin's Madison campus. Thousands and thousands of students are displaced from their apartments for 24 hours as new tenant leases end and begin the next day.

'Move out Day' as it is called, gives landlords a day to clean, paint and re carpet rental units. Meanwhile the students cram all their belongings into moving trucks, leaving what doesn't fit or no longer wanted along the campus curbs.

Hippie Christmas, curbside shopping, dumpster diving.. call it what you will, but for many it is a time to score BIG. Compared to other roadside shopping this can turn up some fantastic finds. For the most part, college kids have some pretty eclectic taste and they often decorate with hand-me-downs and thrift store items to begin with, so for me, it is just cutting out the middle man. I came home with 2 chairs, 3 tables, 2 footstools, 1 bookshelf and a still in the wrapper Van Gogh print that will most likely be turned into drawer liners. JACKPOT !

The new recruits will be highlighted right here on a monthly basis until Christmas. Complete with before and afters, material & color choices and a few helpful restoration techniques, these projects are bound to inspire YOU to transform that curbside castoff of your own into a work of art.