thrift or theft?

you know that saying "one man's trash is another man's treasure?" well it couldn't be more true--or at least we hope it was "one man's trash"..our neighbors put all this "stuff" out at the end of the driveway..next to the trash can..so my roommates and I kind of assumed it was trash and went rummaging. found a {rickety} wooden swing and a {broken} chimenea...but in our defense, they were moving out so it easily could have been leftover trash, andddd most of it was broken. just in case we left a note/phone number saying we took their stuff and if it wasn't trash we'd give it back--fair enough right??

so we got red spray paint, painted the swing which gave it new life :) we got some crazy super glue and fixed the chimenea--good as new! I wish I had before pictures, but here are some afters:

we then cleaned up the backyard, hung lights and ta da! a once-plain-backyard-used-only-for-the-dogs-bathroom turned into cozy-smores-making-wonderland :)

any other great trash finds? {please tell me I'm not the only one that has done this}

yours truly,

kelley mackenzie