Painting and Pricing and Worn Out!

I'm running out of time to get things prepped for the new booth (if the previous dealer vacates on time, I'll move in the day after tomorrow).  I've spent the past several weeks sorting and pricing items and painting furniture from the barn.  Mr. KV is really excited, hoping that the 'hoarder's heaven' in the barn will retreat and we'll be able to see the walls again.  I'm not so sure, but I don't want to burst that bubble of hope, so I don't tell him.  I know that more will arrive to take its place (I have NO idea how it gets there...)!

The barn, before...

The girls don't care what I do, as long as I don't start storing stuff in their coop

My side of the garage is full of tables, shelves and chests of drawers in various stages of being painted.  I've been making my own chalk paint, which I don't think is quite as nice as the commercial brands, but it's so much less expensive!  I shop the 'oops' bin at Home Depot every time I go and usually find some interesting colors in their small sample sizes, which are just the right amount for a batch of chalk paint.

Waiting to be painted (not the white cabinets -- they're great just as they are)

I'm getting Christmas stuff ready for the new booth.  This choir boy is one of my favorites, along with the home-made porch candles.  

The white bench needs a top and I just have to choose which vintage fabric or barkcloth I can give up.  I hate to ever cut them and give them away -- I'm such a fabric junkie!

making progress

These two turquoise pieces will be mod podged with some map pages.  I'm not finished with them yet, so the 'after' pictures are still to come.  I'm really having fun doing things with maps and globes!

The two-tone drawers on this little chest REALLY bother me, but the green is great!  Why would anyone leave just two drawers and the knobs unpainted?  They must have been getting in touch with their artistic side....  I looked into getting a complementary green for the opposite drawers, but it ended up costing too much to make it worthwhile for resale.  Instead, I found a perfect shade in a sample size to match the green and am going to paint just the two odd drawers (but not the knobs).  I might paint the knobs antique white, but I'll probably end up leaving them alone.

Mr. KV and I will be moving things into the new booth Saturday morning (Lord willing and the other dealer moves out...)  One thing we're taking in is a mid-century metal office desk that we've had all of our married life (37 years...).  Neither one of us can remember where we got it, but we know it was when we were newlyweds and one of our offices remodeled, so we got it for free.  It's so cool -- seafoam green with a formica top and all the style of the 60s.  It's in near-mint condition, even though we've moved it to 5 states.

I'll post pictures of the booth next week when the dust settles.  There might even be a barn picture where you can see the walls, but don't count on it!

New Life for a Sad Jack-o-Lantern

I finally finished one of the projects on my list this weekend (a rare occurrence, lately).

I bought a blow mold at a rummage sale a year ago, planning to sell it at a bargain price, because of its condition.  It was a black cat sitting on a jack-o-lantern and the orange on the pumpkin was faded to almost white.

I decided to keep the cat & pumpkin and paint the pumpkin a renewed orange (thinking that new granddaughter might like it in a couple of years).

I've seen blow molds that people have brush painted and you can always see the brush strokes -- they look really bad.  I bought Rustoleum spray paint that is made to bond to plastic.  The toughest decision was neon or regular orange?  Since I could barely see the old finish, it was impossible to know which it had originally been!  I opted for regular, as the neon was too much like landscaper's orange...

I didn't take a good before picture, because I thought I already had one... The pumpkin was almost the color of the cat's mouth, though.  I think that was originally orange, too, but I didn't try to paint it.

Taping off all the black and masking the cat was the biggest part of the job (it took almost a half hour to make sure it was perfect.

I made sure it was completely covered, but didn't want it to be too opaque.

I think it turned out pretty well!  Now all I need is the granddaughter! :-)

New Life for an Old Table

I found this table by the side of the road back in November, 2010.  It had been raining and I'm sure the table was there a few days, because all the veneer on the cutwork sides was separated and the table was in rough shape.  It was really solid, though, and built with the care that things used to be made with back in the day, before we starting throwing out instead of fixing up.

I actually began working on this the summer after I picked it up.  I toyed with the idea of recreating the cutwork on my scroll saw, but in the end, I just removed it and filled in the 'trough' where it was set into the table.  I was prepared to replace the veneer, but didn't have to -- it held tight, in spite of being left in the rain.  The only part I really had to replace was the drawer bottom, which was too warped to flatten out and fit back into its grooves.

Then life got in the way -- the day job, the Etsy shop and booth at Livingston Antique Outlet, along with a wedding at our house last year -- and I didn't get back to the table until a few weeks ago.

Here's what it looked like when I took it to the mall last week.  The pictures aren't the best, but I actually almost forgot to take an 'after' shot!

I used homemade chalk paint and CeCe Caldwell's soft wax on it.  I added a pair of vintage glass knobs, since one of the original knobs was missing.  I think it turned out pretty well.  I wish I'd distressed it a little more, but I'm always afraid of going too far.

Remember the Pineapple Lamp?

Do you remember the pineapple lamp?  I bought it at one of the first estate sales I ever went to, back in the summer of 2011, and I rescued it from the landfill, I'm sure.  It had a ruined cord and was so dirty and gross that the estate dealer was amazed that I even wanted it.  After it was cleaned up and rewired, it was a treasure!

Well, a lady found it on my blog and wanted to know if it was still available.  When I replied and told her I still had it, she wanted to know how much I would sell it for...  I still owe her a reply.  She was so nice about it and it's really a nice feeling to have someone contact you about an item in the blog -- I feel bad that I haven't answered her yet (Goldie, if you're reading this, read on!)  The problem is, I don't know if I want to sell it!

I've gotten quite attached to it.  Besides the fact that it's an awesome teal and a great mid-century design, it was also one of my first restoration projects when I started going to estate sales.  I also use it -- it sits next to my laptop on the counter in the basement that I use as a work-station for selling.  So, I could always tell myself that I need to keep it.

On the other hand, I'm supposed to be selling the stuff I find and fix up -- right?  It's not as though I can't find another lamp...

What do you think?  Should I keep it or sell it?

Star-studded Accordion Hanging Rack

Well, the pipe's been repaired, the floors wet-vaced, the industrial sized blowers are blowing and the carpet is drying (see yesterday's post), so now I can get back to the business of blogging about something fun!

I think just about everyone has one of these wooden accordian hangers -- they're a staple of every college dorm room!  They're really useful, but not much to look at.  If you don't have one around the house, you can always find them at garage sales.

I wanted to use mine in the booth for hanging aprons and linens, but didn't want it to look so ordinary, so I glammed it up a bit!

 I took it apart and painted it  "Depression Glass" green.  Then I bought carriage bolts that were long enough to serve as pegs.  I needed to find something to use as a spacer so the stars on the end wouldn't go down to the base.  I finally ended up buying a piece of fish filter tubing that was easily cut to size and had a ID (inner diameter) large enough to go over the bolts.

 I topped each bolt with a mirror star and a closed end push nut.  Some of the nuts and mirror stars were vintage ones that I found in my dad's old hardware organizer and some were new ones.  These run about 85 cents for 2 nuts and the mirror stars are about 80 cents each -- they're both usually in the specialty drawers at the hardware store.

This was a very easy project with a big return because it looks great!  One word of advice, though -- don't forget (like I did) to slip the hangers back over the bolts before your attach everything, or you'll have to take it apart again!

Treasures from a Successful Sale

Yesterday I showed you the Harry Houdini-like job of packing a huge amount of stuff into a tiny car.  Now I'll show you some of the great stuff that I got at the sale...

A box lot of red-ware and asian cups plus some cool frosted glasses (the dealer threw in the 7 undecorated ones for just $1 more).  Of course, I had to buy the coronation plate, too!

A pyrex percolator, vintage toaster with a neat red cord, Hall Cactus ball pitcher (which I think MIGHT actually be worth something) and a lucite ice bucket.

An assortment of Christmas things -- you can't see them well, but there are a bunch of plastic snowflakes next to the ball of garland.  I think the pygmy cow that's smaller than baby Jesus is funny!

4 old photo albums (one had to instantly go onto the back porch because it was so moldy -- probably not my best buy).  I had one of the workers get the birdseed tin down from the garage ceiling -- I think it's interesting.  I also got two glass lamps with flowers etched on them.  I'm not sure they're vanity lamps -- they're so tall, they could almost go on a sideboard.

A large fruit picture in a nice frame

A picture of a girl looking at a bird.  I'd seen this in several other places, but could never afford it.  THIS is what I stood in front of and waited to grab. 

An old yellow card table and a large white picture frame

3 little bird pictures -- there were 4, but I gave one to Crit.  I also got a white framed Grandma Moses snow scene and a funny baby picture (look below)

No more kissing, 'cause you slobbers!

A wooden inlaid card table.  I've restored 1/2 of it so you could see the before and after

   This brings me to something I wanted to share about restoring old wood furniture.  I've worked on the right side of the table and left the other side alone so you could see the difference.  All I did was use a wood finish restoring product that we sell at the antique mall, but which you can get at most hardware stores.  It's called Restore-a-Finish and it's some of the best stuff around!  You choose a shade similar to what you have -- I've bought Dark Walnut (for really dark finishes) and Walnut (which I used on the table above).

You can see how it covered the scratches and dried out areas on the  right, as opposed to the left.  After it had soaked in for a while, I wiped off the excess and let it dry.  Then I used Howard's 'Feed and Wax' on it to add a final finish.  This is great stuff (I think they should put me on their payroll)!

This is all that I got from 3 sales that I went to Friday morning -- real frogs!  The butterfly apron was a sympathy-buy.  I was just looking at it and saw how stained it was and that it couldn't be laundered because of the flocking and glitter AND I saw that the ties were almost completely gone, when a little old lady (who looked like she was 90+) said, "Oh!  You found my apron!  Good for you!  I wore that for so many years!"  I had to buy it after that -- I couldn't tell her it wasn't good enough for me!

The flocked & glittered butterflies...

 Zootsuitmama asked yesterday about oilcloth and where I get it.  I buy mine at an fabric store in Royal Oak, Michigan.  It's good to find a local outlet for it so that you can really see what you're buying.   You can buy it online, too, at oilclothbytheyard.com.  They're one of my favorite online sources for it, since they have a really good selection and their prices per yard are the same as any fabric store.  You have to realize, though, that oilcloth is pretty wide (so you don't need as much if you aren't doing a tablecloth) and fairly heavy -- keep that in mind if you're having it shipped.  

 Thanks for looking at my junk treasures!  I'm going to share one of them tomorrow linking to 'Would You Buy it Wednesday' at Junkernewbie's blog.  The one I'll blog about is the one that caused the most discussion at my house when I brought it all home.  Do you think you can you guess which piece it is (Crit, you're not allowed to answer!)?

The End of a LONG Week!

I started working four days again at my day job this week, as I finished my other job at the antique mall, so I worked 6 days straight.  Friday and Saturday at the mall were REALLY busy -- we just started a mall-wide sale and the place was packed!  Then today was Dealer Day (when we get to work on our booths from 10-12 before the mall opens) and I was there until about 2:30 rearranging, rehanging picures and making everything fit.  I have one special project to finish tomorrow for my work and then, FINALLY, I'll be able to (hopefully) go back to a normal four-day-a-week routine.

The hoosier cabinet made it into the booth, but was only there a week.  Sorry about the picture quality, but I took it on my phone.

The cabinet went out the door early Friday morning -- Woo Hoo!  I was excited that it sold, but sad to see it go.  I really liked it and had spent hours working on it.  The hardest part about having a booth is saying goodbye to all that great stuff. 

Now that the long week is almost over, I can start thinking about getting out next weekend to shop.  I just kept imagining the last yard sales of the season and all of those great bargains that were out there and I wasn't able to get any of them!  I'm also looking forward to catching up on a few projects and seeing what I've missed on everyone's blogs -- have you all had great thrift buying adventures as summer comes to a close?

Remember the old hoosier cabinet?

Do you remember the old hoosier cabinet that I picked up at a sale back in May? This is what it looked like then:The body was original (but had been repainted), the doors and drawers had been replaced with homemade ones by someone years before and then the whole thing had been partially stripped by the people I bought it from. I hate to change original paint -- any chips or stains are part of the character of the piece -- but with the doors partially stripped, I had to repaint the whole thing.

I had to restore one of the glass doors and one of the drawers, which were falling apart, but it didn't need any other repair than that. I also added some legs because the old-man-made doors on the bottom were dragging on the ground. I painted it all a creamy vintage white, though I left the inside untouched -- I think it's still the original paint (though maybe not, as someone had painted over the manufacturer's plate).It came with cream colored plastic knobs and handles. I was going to get glass knobs for the drawers, but couldn't find anything that I liked for the door pulls to go with them. So in the end, I spray painted the handles and knobs cherry red (after double- and triple-checking that they weren't bakelite!).

Here's how it looks now! It feels so good to have another project completed! One down, about 10 more to go...

Another Project Finished

I'm finally finished working on the redo of the little vanity chair that I picked up at a sale a few months ago.

Just to refresh your memories, this is what it looked like:I painted the metal frame a creamy white and covered the seat with a piece from a 'cutter' vintage green chenille bedspread that I've had for a while, just waiting to put it to use. I managed to salvage the original leatherette center button and it adds exactly the right touch.I was sad to part with this cool little bench, but I just can't keep everything; so off to the booth it went!

New Booth

Tonight I finally have a chance to sit down and update on my new booth!

Settling in on Friday was a much bigger job than I had anticipated. The booth had been 'decorated' years ago by a woman who sold only mid-century and retro. She hand-painted the walls with color block boxes, martini glasses (think Mad Men) and starbursts. The walls were very cool, but also very distracting. As one of my dealer friends said, "You're in business to sell your stuff, not to sell the walls". Anyway, when we got there, I hung up the first thing on the wall and it immediately disappeared into the design. So...the design had to go! We almost matched the paint perfectly and tried to just cover the blocks and pictures, but then it looked like something had been painted over. In the end, we repainted all the walls.

One of the best things about the booth is the black and white floor that the original person put down -- it looks just like my kitchen floor! Doesn't it look great? I think it will help people remember my booth, too.

The 12 x12 booth seems really big and all that empty space was more than a little overwhelming! After day 1, it looked really empty -- just like the ones where BH & I ask each other, "Who can afford to rent a booth and put so little stuff in?" Today we took lots more over and it's starting to come together. I'll continue to tweak it and rearrange, but I'm feeling pretty happy about it, and REALLY relieved to have this long couple of weeks behind me!Now I finally have time to check out everyone else's blogs and see what I've been missing!

Have a fun and safe Independence Day , fellow Americans. For my British friends, I hope your Monday is a good one.

One project finished -- LOTS to go!

I finished one of my waiting projects (admittedly, it was probably one of the easiest) but then picked up another one last Friday.

I bought a child's clock puzzle a few months ago and was very proud of the great deal I got -- until I got home and saw that it only had one hand! Since I've been making clocks out of kids' records, I decided to turn the clock puzzle into...a clock. Here's how it turned out:

You might remember, though, that I still have this waiting for me:and this

and thisand thisand thisSo, maybe I'm nuts, but I just gave myself two more things to do! I picked this table out of trash on Wednesday and it needs LOTS of work. I can't decide if I should keep the slate inserts or put wood in those places. Any opinions? I also bought this great cabinet on Friday for a great price -- it looks like it began life as a hoosier, but someone (some old man somewhere) replaced the drawer fronts and doors and added lovely plastic handles & pulls. I see it as totally different, though -- painted depression green with glass pulls to bring out the glass doors. I can't wait to get to it.

It looks like I'll have a busy summer!