Last Saturday, there was a little snow on the ground, (Compared to today, when there is a LOT of snow on the ground.) but Hubs and I braved the not-very-scary conditions and headed out to Raymore (about a 40 or so minute drive from where we are) to get a free, that’s right, FREE, giant cable spool.

But let me back up a little bit and explain how this all came about.

Ever since finding our awesome Mid Century Modern dresser, headboard, and mirror set from Mr. Craig, I’ve been scouring the list every day (pretty much) just to what other awesome deals we could find.

Now, in the process of looking for said dresser, headboard, and mirror, there were several awesome pieces that I came across on the Free page of the site. (Nothing that great, today, though, especially if you notice the last item on this screen shot…)

In fact, if we’re being honest, I might as well tell you that I may have missed getting a free, yes, FREE, awesome dresser by about twenty minutes because I made breakfast instead of checking the website first thing when I got up one Saturday morning. That loss still stings a little bit, but I’ve learned my lesson and made my piece with it: You have to move fast.

Really fast, I mean, if you want the good free stuff.

So when I saw a listing for two free cable spools, I squealed and emailed the guy as fast as I could.

Sadly, I soon got back this email:

But, since he said there was maybe still I chance, I mentally crossed all my fingers and went about the rest of my day.

After a day with no reply, I gave up on the spools and went searching for the next free treasure, vowing to not miss the next one.

Then, on Friday night, I saw this in my inbox:

Who hoo!

I quickly sent a reply that yes, we still wanted it, and we set up the arrangements for picking it up.

Then, Friday night, it snowed about an inch (maybe less), and we found ourselves driving to Raymore to pick up a free, but wet and covered in snow, cable spool.

I was thankful we had a tarp in my car so the back end of Jimmy didn’t get all wet and snow-covered. And I was glad I had on gloves for the task of loading him in the car. Brrr!

When we got home, we unloaded it into the garage and cleaned it up a bit.

Still, when we got it home and all wiped off, it was pretty awesome.

 

I love the detail on the top!

I’ve had my eye on some projects you can do with these cool wooden pieces for awhile now, just wondering where we get our hands on one of those babies. Now that we have one, I may or may not occasionally go out to the garage during the day just to peak at him and dream about what he’ll become…

We don’t have any specific plans for this guy yet. I wanted to make a coffee table out of him, but at 25 inches tall and 32 inches across, he’s a bit big for that. We’ve had suggestions to make him into a patio table, and we may decided to do that, especially if we add some sort of wheels or legs to raise him up a few more inches.

We’d love to hear your suggestions for what to do with our slightly awkwardly sized spool. I’ve seen all sorts of cool things, but none seem just right for the size we have.

Still, we think we scored with this one, and can’t wait to figure out just how we’re going to fix him up!

Tell me about the coolest thing you’ve ever scored for free, or maybe the best thing you’ve ever had slip your fingers using Craig’s infamous list. Anyone else get anxiety when you find a piece you really want and then have to wait to hear if it’s still available?