Saturday, January 24, 2015

Got A Few Things Done

Here are a few things that I was able to get done from my last post.  


Before
After




What a difference! The bookends turned out fantastic!

Before
After
 You can hardly tell but the one on the left he's a terra cotta color.  And here he is all chalk painted, touched with gold and waxed. I always enjoy making these little guys over. Sometimes after waxing I add just a bit of real blush powder (with a cotton swab) to add a hint of color to the cheeks.

A few of the picture frame skeletons...remember that blue one?

Before
After
Way better now! Those purple painted spots from the before pic bled thru so I had to scrap off the paint, really easy the chalk paint adhered to the purple and it just sort of popped off when I scraped at it. 

This is the paper in back of the previous frame pic. It's the Time Traveler Collection "Love Affair" Prima Marketing Inc. Just picked up yesterday at Memories of Time, my local, well stocked scrapbooking shop.  It's gorgeous...be great for Valentines Day projects or just any romantic, sentimental project.
Before
I left the inner liner in and just painted. I've ruined a few frames trying to get the sections apart. Never thought to paint the whole thing. Unfortunately the large dark one in the back turned pinkish from stain bleed through...got to fix it.

After

I really liked how beautifully they painted. I also waxed with clear wax, even the fabric colored liner.  Grey frame just got spiffed up with wax. The more ornate one shows some red that was under the gold.


Here's the desk with the broken pull.
Before
 Much better...but was sort of pain to accomplish. Got the pulls off EBAY, somebody else wanted them as badly as me. Crazy spendy!!! But they were the exact maker and style number that I needed.
After
And having said that...they didn't fit!!! 
At first that is. 

The replacement ones were for a flat front and I needed to fit a slightly curved front. They wouldn't lay flat and I disliked that noticeable gap. So I heated them (almost a boil) in a pan of water and VERY GENTLY shaped them with a pair of pliers. Heating sort of helps prevent the metal from snapping into and it also cleaned them very nicely! I used tongs to take them out of the water and an old towel to hold them. I also used a brass brush on them it helps to polish very nicely.

After
After I got the new ones put on I thought the single drawer pull needed "beefing" up a bit. This one is larger and has more gold to match with the others.


The desk is finished on the outside, just need to line the drawers with pretty paper. It's headed to the shop Monday morning!!! 
~~~Have a wonderful weekend~~~

Sharing at the following...please join me.
Ivy & Elephants
My Salvaged Treasures

Thanks for popping in!!!
~~~Happy Hunting and Gathering~~~

Monday, January 19, 2015

New Junking Finds ~ #2


~~~This post is going to have tons of pictures...so get a cup of your favorite brew and sit a spell~~~

My granddaughter, Cici, and I went on a junking expedition out of town. Well not that far~~~We drove up the coast about 50 miles to Florence, Oregon, making a stop in Reedsport on the way up. We had a grey day for traveling, but surprisingly only a slight mist at times, and even that fizzled out.

I have been needing to replenish the smalls at my shop and a trip up the coast with a G'kiddo fit the bill. Florence has a Goodwill, St. Vincent de Paul, Habitat Restore, Blue Vintage Estate Sales (an estate sales warehouse...full of great stuff!) and Florence Humane Society Thrift Shop. Reedsport has Sunrise Thrift.   I have to admit, St Vinney's is my favorite...I always find the European objects that I like to stock my shop with. All of these locations deliver up different things...love visiting and especially shopping each one.

Cici has been helping me out with my shop since I first opened in 2008, she was only 4 years old back then. She knows what I look for and can spot a "jewel" two isle's away.  This time out one of the items she found was a small folding wooden artists stool, but pointed out to me that we should probably leave it since it was "to rickety for me to fix". I agreed and we moved on to the next "find"!

And here they are!!!
English brass plates, the two in back have small porcelain plates. Blue Boy is missing his glass.

This toile fabric really is two large curtain panels. But will become so much more!
An English Sadler teapot in "Apple Blossom" pattern (this one will be gone before the cherry trees blossom)!!! three unmatched forks, a footed silver plate tray, two finger towels (keepers) and a beautiful cross stitched in roses table cloth. When I was at Blue Vintage ES, I spotted a tablecloth on a wall hung with clip rings. Notice the ring clips in back? So going to try that idea!

Found this at Blue Vintage ES, an English tea cup with lilac flowers...can't you just see this in a clear glass canister of flour?




A very large American flag, several books, the cat Warriors are for the G'kiddo's, and the six in front are just wooden blanks for Halloween projects.






This one is a keeper
~~~going in my 1800"s collection!
Beautiful cover! Very fine condition!




















Only French book I found this time!
These small volumes sell fairly quickly!







A not so vintage standing globe~~~something about a globe that people just love~~~good sellers for me!!!



These green handled cutters are a good seller when I can find some! I keep a collection of wooden pestle's handy for display and purchase. The large aluminum star strainer will be gone before the months out.

The lion is so adorable!


Isn't that little axe the cutest?


This small crock bowl is a keeper. Don't find too many of these around here.

A blue marble Samsonite suitcase, great medium size.
It even has the key (bonus)!!! And this baby has NO musty smell (double bonus)!!!
Interior is in excellent condition also...I even found the one little brass hook that was missing all snuggled up in a seam (triple bonus)! So now that left side curtain will stay in place! I paid more for this but the condition is everything and well worth it...I'll be asking $33.00 for it.




These souvenir pillow slip covers are all silk~~~and are a first for me~~~we'll see how they sell!












Scored several nice sized frames!!! These are hot sellers right now when painted and distressed.







This one's a keeper~~~have a smaller one just like it.
See the two with the fabric inner mount? I'm leaving that part on and just painting all of it.




I really like this chunky, ornate blue one (not its purple and green though)... it's going to go white with just a hint of blue showing.  These empty frames when painted and distressed are steady  sellers. These two should fetch $10.00 (white) and $18.00 (blue).


A cast metal wall candle sconce...might just leave as is...gold seems to be coming back, can always paint later. The pierced brass urn is weighted and unmarked.

Liked the look and feel of this picture. Fit's my shops European theme.


The white carved frame you see in the background is an Italian made frame. Don't expect to have either of these long.
  





The Luther Travis table cloth is pristine and a nice weight linen, so pretty on the table. The hardware scale bucket is a rare find. These are great for displays (rustic "French" country feed store)! Cici thought this one would make a great soap display. She's in charge of that project!!!

A pretty hand crochet camisole upper.









 

Found a nice barrel shade for a wooden floor lamp makeover. Also a pretty milk glass with blue flowers globe...these look pretty just all sitting in a row! Since I offer French soaps at my shop I like to have plenty of soap holders on hand...this one is English. And do you see that clear globe? I've been looking for this size (2" opening, most are 3" across the bottom) for a couple of months now.














And this is why I needed that clear glass globe!  These brass lamps were really popular back in the 70"s. But nowadays most are minus the glass globe. Now it's ready for the shop and I think it will be just that special touch a "well traveled" themed room could use!
 


Love the graphics on the English ironstone plate.









Love, Love, Love this hand made white cotton pillow slip cover, the pink cross stitched monogram is luscious! Do you see the little laces peeping out? How sweet is that?  Hmmmm... U.M.   Uniquely Mickie    V. M.  Very Mickie??? Either works for me, it's a keeper!!! This was another find from Blue Vintage.







Six luncheon plates marked Japan...love the flowers on them. And six French wine glasses with silvered tops...Gorgeous.











Found a bag full of aluminum moulds and chicken cookie cutter and turned them out into a wire basket find...just to sweet to resist.  And yes, I bought one more doily, cause the little loopy daisy's are super cute!

The Red, white and blue placemats and napkins (4 each) were made in Hannibal, Missouri, by the Mark Twain Weavers. Would look great on a 4th of July table!
 A very vintage, large wire birdcage. These (when cleaned) are awesome for display vignettes. I had to actually go back into Goodwill after I checked out and loaded the car to buy the birdcage...wasn't sure it would fit. On my previous stop I picked up this small (very heavy, all wood) coffee table at Habitat Restore.  The top is dinged and scratched up and it's not an attractive stain so it'll be getting a paint make-over.

French Provencal desk and  metal & plastic chair.





I spied the legs first peeking out from the bottom drawer (and my heart did a double beat). You couldn't find, much less see the top, because it was piled high with rubber door mats that hung over all the edges and front. When I got it un-earthed I realized it's a QUALITY PIECE (no particle board or plastic) of French Provencial style furniture. I also noticed it was a pink tag and that was not the 50% off color.  This was an incredible find...but I had to pass it up as it was over $70.00 and I felt there was to slim a margin for re-sale profit.

Sunrise Thrift  changes it's colors on Sunday...so I made a mental note to call back Sunday morning and check the color of the day.   Like I really would remember to do this and the color of the day would be pink!!!

It was a "PINK SUNDAY", Cici and I drove up and claimed this little gem as ours. It's about a 60 mile round-trip and they do not hold items, won't even let you pre-pay with a card. So it was kind of a nerve racking drive up to maybe find it already sold. And the cute chair~~~well my dears, that had just debuted on the floor that very morning. It has potential!
I guess I can remember some things!!!

Well, I just got notification that I was the winning bidder on a set of ornate drawer pulls...and they were very spendy!!! The broken one on the bottom drawer needed to be replaced and it had an odd center sizing 2 3/4". In my opinion these pieces need to have original style hardware...it's part of the overall look and charm.

How I opened that drawer and checked it and not notice the broken pull is beyond me. I just got so taken up with the construction of the piece I totally missed it. Like twice~~~didn't see it on my return visit. In defense, I was rather worried about an avalanche of huge door mats burying me alive!!!
I hope replacing with like kind will pay off. And I will have a few spares!!!



 

Just cleaned and polished this four legged stool and it was shop ready...small stools just left natural are big sellers for me. Another  candle wall sconce,  this one is chalkware and it's going a bit whiter (kind of beige now), I also do well with these. This one will price out about $11.00, and the metal one at $13.00. The stool $14.00.

I have a very large soft spot for colored mason jars. The one on the left has a nice purple hue starting. The blue one on the right has an odd crack at the very top (fortunately in back)...you can see but not feel it! It'll still hold water and make a beautiful country vase!

These two mason jars were the best deal of the day~~~absolutely FREE.

Almost forgot, the cane bottom wooden chair that most of the photo's were taken on ... got that too!!!


Thank you for popping in and making it to the end of this post!!!
~~~Happy Hunting and Gathering~~~