Repurposed Vintage Bucket Rustic Vase

Have you ever come across vintage, old buckets that are coming apart, or maybe even in pieces? Whenever I hit an estate sale {“Estate Sales 101 and Insider Tips”}, I head to the basement or the garage first, where I know I’ll find the best deals on the stuff in the rough. Yes, it’s a disease, but I always fall in love with the projects that everyone else is overlooking and passing by. Every once in a while I find an old herring bucket or a wooden barrel, whose metal rings are falling off. These engineering masterpieces held all kinds of consumer products in their day, but have been relegated to the far reaches and are falling apart. Time for a rescue! Here’s how to save them by making a repurposed vintage bucket rustic vase.

The first pic shows the pieces of an old herring bucket. The pic above are the pieces of an old barrel. You can see where their metal rings were that held them together. It’s amazing to me that these containers were not glued or nailed to stay together, yet many times held liquids.

I love the old character of the time-worn wood and never want these pieces to get thrown into a fire! By recreating their inherent good features, this repurposed vintage rustic vase can make them functional and beautiful for another generation!

Here’s how:

The herring bucket staves are ready to go just as they are, but the barrel staves need to be cut in half lengthwise. They also need their rough ends cut off. Mr. Fix-it handles the cutting tools:

Next, hold 3 of the staves together, overlapping each edge to get your desired shape.

Using an airnailer, put a nail in either end all around to keep the shape. Continue nailing down the sides every 1-2″.

We were able to create 3 rustic vases from the herring bucket and quite a few more from the barrel. Here’s how they look in their “unfinished” state:

I sold a lot of these through the years at my former store {“Do I Miss It?”}, just like this. They look great in the spring with a faux spring branch like apple blossoms or forsythia. In the fall, I love to use them with grasses and cattails.

Since I’m keeping these (and probably using them for Mr. Freckles grad party next spring), I decided to take them to the next level, and finish them off with a little sanding and poly. Because everything’s better with sanding and poly in my world;)

The beautiful, time-worn character came out even more:

And that cool, galvanized tray they’re sitting on? It was in hibernation way up in the rafters of my garage, waiting for a refresh. Mr. Fix-it was getting a little overeager when I had my recent clearing out sale and slapped a price tag on it. “Noooo…this isn’t going anywhere!” I exclaimed as I quickly brought it back to the garage.

This week, it finally got it’s simple refresh; I scrubbed it up with an S.O.S pad and brushed on some poly. I don’t exactly know what it is, but I know I like it! Some type of water bath, water cooler tray since it has a water filler spout on one end. I’m thinking it may need to become a table top for my living room:) Can’t wait to see the reaction when I run that idea by…

Now for the pretty fun! There’s nothing better than galvanized metal and rustic wood with poly on it to make my junky heart flutter! Early fall has an abundance of wonderful grasses, and even roadside weeds to enjoy in bouquets, so I decided to revel in their beauty with these repurposed vintage bucket rustic vases!

Some of these grasses I purposely planted in my garden, and some I’d call weeds, but who cares? They all look beautiful when picked and styled together! I placed a different type in each rustic vase.

If you want to place cut flowers that need water, simply tuck a florist tube down the center, or even a skinny vase or plastic bag.

Don’t you just love their rustic beauty?

With only a couple very cheap or free vintage buckets, you can enjoy a whole table-full of rustic vases!

(Boy, I’m glad I caught this galvanized cooler before someone walked off with it ;0

You could also tie some colored or jute twine around them and add a shipping tag note for a centerpiece or place setting feature. Next time you see a broken-down, falling apart bucket or barrel, scoop it up! You can whip up one of these fun repurposed vintage bucket rustic vases, or a whole family of them! Decorating possibilities galore!

Sharing at these lovely parties:

Farmhouse Friday

Feathered Nest Friday

Vintage Charm

To Grandma’s House We Go

Style Showcase

Talk of the Town

DIY Salvaged Junk Projects