YOU'RE GOING TO WANT ONE OF THESE! {Bicycle Memo Wheel}

My parents came up with the coolest idea, and I reaped the benefits!  I've mentioned before that they maintain a large booth space at a local vintage/antique mall, so they are always coming up with great finds and ways to re-purpose and reinvent items.

Several weeks ago I was at their house and Mom showed me this cool bike wheel that Dad had painted turquoise and mounted on a wooden disc. I told them how neat I though it was and knew they planned to put it in the booth.  Then, for my birthday party  they had this gold one hung up to display 40 cards that everyone wrote to describe me. 

They surprised me by letting me take that one home!  (I thought it was just to hold the cards and then would be moving on to the booth.  How'd they know I wanted one? :)

Here's how they put it together:

Dad used a block of wood cut into a circle and drilled two "reverse keyhole" pockets in the back.

Then he drilled a hole slightly smaller than the size of the axle in the center of the circle, and worked the axle in so it would be a really tight fit.

Then, everything got a good coat of spray paint.

I think this little gem fits all of today's requirements for "cool"...

Recycled?  Check.

Re-purposed?  Check.

Shiny? Check.

Industrial-looking? Check.

Useful? Check.

Fun?  CHECK CHECK!

They also mentioned that it could also be hung on a ceiling.  Really great idea to hang things from!

Here's a little sneak peek of a wall in the office that I'm working on-I really want to show you the whole room but it's taking longer to finish up than I thought.  Next week, I promise!

My only regret (well, two of them):

-They didn't come up with this idea about 2 weeks sooner before I set my old bike out for the trash.  Oh snap!  We would have had 2 more wheels.

-They didn't still have my little green bike with the white banana seat that I got for Christmas one year (it only sat and rotted around the side of the house for about 25 years!)  A wheel off of that bike would have been a great keepsake.

A big thanks to my mom and dad for letting me share how they did this on the blog, but if you're close to Oklahoma City and want to purchase one, you can visit their booth at The Rink.  They'd probably even let you choose your color!

Linking up with: The Shabby Nest