Shhhh, don’t tell, but I have a confession to make.  Sometimes I fake it.

Do you love the look of vintage European grain sacks as much as I do?

Have you ever priced them?  I still remember the first time I saw them for sale at Oronoco Gold Rush.  The woman had a booth with stacks and stacks of them.  I casually strolled over to take a look.  Not a price tag in sight.  Sometimes this is a good thing, sometimes not.  In this case, not.  I asked how much and tried not to show how excited I was.  “Well, they start at $100 and go UP from there.”

That was when I just as casually said “oh, well they sure are lovely” and slowly backed away from the grain sacks.

I have since priced them on Etsy, and at other sales, and this seems to be the going rate.  Oftentimes even much higher.

This is the point where I tell you that I am usually a cheapskate.  Not always.  If I see something that I absolutely cannot live without, I will spend more for it if I have to, but for the most part, I’m looking for bargains.

And when I can’t find what I want at a reasonable price, then I just fake it.

Last summer I picked up a plain grain sack at a garage sale being held by a lovely elderly woman.  She kindly noted on the tag that it had been ‘repaired’.  I’m quite certain that she considered this a negative quality, but I only loved it more for its flaws.  Price:  $3.

I got out the tools of the trade, some Martha craft paint, a stencil brush, and my favorite stencil.

And I made my own ‘faux’ European grain sack for far, far less than $100.

What do you think?

Stay tuned to find out what I’m going to do with my faux grain sack!