It was a trash to treasure moment – ok, so it wasn’t exactly from the trash, but it was amongst the spread of abandon antiques that had found their way to Nana’s yard sale. With a joyful smile, Nana handed it over to my seven-year-old son to take home, I was not thrilled. A large, heavy item with a glass globe on top…of course he was drawn to it, but could she have checked with me first?

Well, not if she wanted to get rid of it I guess!

I hesitantly took the gumball machine home with us, carefully disassembled it, cleaned each part and reassembled it (sounds simple, right?)…then, after an unsuccessful search for perfectly sized gumballs, I filled it with large bag of M&Ms candy and placed it within reach of anyone over three-feet-tall.

I admit to being cynical about the whole thing. Just another piece of old junk to sit around collecting dust – which will eventually shatter into a million tiny glass shards that will likely lodge themselves into our carpet – waiting to be discovered by innocent bare feet…when we least expect it. Ok, so that’s a bit dramatic, but I really didn’t feel like adding one more item to our already full (of stuff we don’t need) home.

And so, I wasn’t expecting to get all sentimental over candy coated chocolate!

~ One old gumball machine, one new bag M&Ms and a bowl full of coins.
Somehow, this peculiar grouping became a cherished treasure in our home. ~

It was absolutely to my dismay that this pain of a gumball machine ended up being one of the most amazing candy “dishes” we’ve ever owned. For several functional reasons: no grimy kid-hand contamination, no dust accumulation AND portion size is predetermined – excellent benefit for a mom who likes to graze mindlessly throughout the day. Oh, and did I mention that it’s decoratively appealing too? When cleaned up and filled with colorful candy it’s sort of…pretty!

In a true trash-to-*treasure* fashion, this surprising find also offers hidden treasure – a super cool feature of a gumball machine. At the end of each globe full of candy, a treasure of riches (in coins) can be found in the base of the machine. This makes running out of candy a whole lot easier on a little ones heart…and mom can enjoy giggles rather than tears.

So, I guess I have to admit, just this one time, Nana may have been right.

Who would have thought that this out-dated, clunky, heavier-than-you-wanna-know piece of, well, junk would end up having a place in a mommy’s heart? Now, I’d like to say that my affection for the thing is simply a matter of convenience and functionality – that would make sense. But, in all truthfulness, I have to admit, it’s possibly a bit more than that. There’s something special about the way the kids’ eyes light up when they turn the knob and their hands fill to the brink with a rainbow of sweet treats…or the way their reflections translucently glisten in the curvature of the glass, their giddy smiles spanning the circumference of the globe.

Maybe I even find reminiscent feelings of joy from days long since past, when I could look eye-to-eye into my own reflection, shadowed with mounds of of sugary colors.

I’m not sure I can pinpoint any single reason for it, but I think that old gumball machine has finally, completely won me over. So, here I am, getting all sentimental over candy coated chocolate…again!