Last Weekend's Vintage Finds

All of these items came from one garage sale and an hour at an auction:

I generally have a hard time selling middle of the road glass light fixture shades.  But there was a stack of  FIVE at the garage sale for $1.  I ought to be able to make some money off of those.  Love the art deco one in the center.

I got this great set of eastlake brass door hardware, one of my faves to put on ebay.

Paid $3 for all, sold on ebay for $47.

I bought 13 porch posts, for $5. 

 I am trying to buy things that guarantee a profit.

Sold for $29.

Two old windows, always a guaranteed seller.

Paid $1 each.

Metal porch swing -- paid $8. You will have to picture it right side up, sandblasted, painted, and hanging on a porch somewhere in the Ozarks.  UPDATE:  Not just "somewhere" in the Ozarks, but on my own front porch. 

These two porcelain light fixtures came from the auction.  

 They will end up on ebay.

ANOTHER Child's Vintage Easel Chalkboard.

ANOTHER Child's Vintage Easel Chalkboard, check out my last one here. Looking back, I think I have redone and sold two additional ones.

I still haven't sold my last one, so why buy another one? 

A $4 price tag, that is why.

I painted the chalkboard paint on what used to be the work service, 

and secured it so that it would not flop down anymore.

Then I added a "Penmanship" graphic to the scrolling window.
I am getting quicker at giving these little pieces of the past a makeover.

Saturdays Vintage Finds 08.19.2017

I already mentioned that we made a whirlwind trip to Springfield, MO last weekend.  We had a couple of discretionary hours Saturday morning -- which is when we hit a flea market, and an auto swap shop.  We didn't let any moss grow under our feet.

The flea market was just north of Springfield, and we have gone there before.  This time there were not very many dealers set up (unbeknownst to us, they were all at the car swap meet).  But we did find one dealer that had some interesting stuff.   All of this came from him.

The cooler is the coolest, right?

Reviving A Walnut Foot Locker

BEFORE

I cannot stay away from large, old wooden boxes.
And this footlocker stands apart because it is WALNUT.

 It weighs a TON.

They don't sell for a whole lot of money, but most have such a great history.

It doesn't take much imagination to figure that some old farm boy

from Nebraska did some traveling. (What a HEAVY thing to tow around!)

This is the top.
I just knew how beautifully it would clean up.

I sanded quite a bit of the old finish off the sides,

leaving the graphics on the top.

AFTER
Then I used some clear furniture wax on it.
And nothing beats the look of walnut once it is cleaned and waxed.

Vintage Car Side Show

During a quick road trip to Springfield Missouri,

 we were staying at a budget hotel

 and the parking lot was full of car guys.

 (Look closely to see the rat hood ornament).

Turns out there was a huge auto swap meet at the county fair grounds.

 So we popped in to look - for fun and maybe to find other vintage items.

Takin' a look under the hood.

Plenty of interesting people and vehicles,

 "We Don't Rent Pigs".

Some people were prepared to cart around their finds.

Some rented scooters to cart themselves around.

Signs, signs, everywhere a sign.

 

My husband, who tried his had at door painting this summer,

 was particularly interested in this booth.

Click here to see the truck doors that he painted recently.

He called this scene, "A Set of Tires and a Couple Spares".

Found an awesome vintage box,
  but out of our price range.

Limestone Sidewalk Repair

We are making some major repairs to our 1895 home.  Curb appeal is part of it -- and a sub-category of that is the sidewalk leading to the house.  Ours was original to our 1895 house.  Limestone.  Limestone does not last forever.  It gets  cracked and worn.  Some of the limestone pieces were hard (or dangerous) to walk over.  Some had deteriorated into dust.

 We selected the four worst rectangles to remove and replace. 

(Sorry, no "before" pics). They ranged from 4"-6" in depth,

so it wasn't going to be easy. 

Look how smooth!

 My husband rented a jackhammer to

remove / break up the old limestone.

He claimed that part was pretty fun.

Then was the sand underneath and the wooden outline.

Here you can see how nice the new concrete (left)

looks next to the old limestone.

Fortunately, none of the four new concrete sections were side by side.

One repair completely done,

397 to go.

Last Weekend's Vintage Finds

Last Friday I went to ONE garage sale.  Normally I have to shop at about 10 garage sales to find something at one of them.  When I pulled in front of the  garage sale it was a bit sad looking. With most everything in the yard from the 1980s, at a very sad looking little house.  They mentioned they did have a few things inside ....

 Like FIVE 1913 era trophies.  

(All sold at the Platte City Antiques Show.

Paid $20 for all, sold for $75.)

 Like this little box of jewelry from Bejing.  

Like a piece of Italian pottery marked Tiffany & Co.

 Authentic? I don't know, but it is gorgeous.

You cannot tell a garage sale by it's cover.

UGLY Music Cabinet Furniture Redo

I am NOT supposed to be buying furniture.  Not even small furniture.  Somehow I still ended up with this music cabinet, probably because of the $4 price tag. Missing the door. Ugly, to boot.

Then I started looking closely.  It went from bad to worse.  Big hole where something started eating the leg (insert shiver here). When I lightly sanded the top, I realized it wasn't solid wood, neither were the sides or the back.  Sigh.  The only areas of real wood were the legs and trim.

Oh, and the shelves which I had already ripped out were also wood.  The bottom of the shelves revealed that they had been "recycled" way back when from a shipping crate.  Probably by the Hammond Music Company, since it is a music cabinet.  But I had already hacked out the wood shelves at this point.  VERY close here to putting it on the curb.  Two things saved it:  cute wooden rollers on the  bottom, and I already had a COKE crate that was going to fit perfectly into the bottom.

So I did a coat of white chalk paint, inside and out.  Sigh.  The top had stains that bled through.  (Mama said there would be days like these.)

Last weekend I had purchased a couple of pieces of pressed tin for $3 each.  One fit fairly well on the top, so I spent the next hour tacking it on top and bending it over the back.  Love it, and it covered  the stains.

Another light coat of the white paint.  Light distressing (but only on the real wood areas).
Then I added several pieces of the two torn out shelves to make one interesting top shelf

(totally removable if someone doesn't want it.)

Between the embossed tin top, "Hammond" top shelf, Coke crate, and wooden rollers -- this baby now has an excess of personality.

Last Weekend's Vintage Finds

The common denominator for all of these vintage finds: none of them are "my usual" picks.  Totally outside the box of what I normally purchase for resale.

 This year I am trying not to purchase pottery or glass.

But what to do when I see a McCoy bank grinning at me?

Bought for $5, sold for $10.

 And I have always had a soft spot for carnival glass.

.The pattern & iridescence on these Northwood berry bowls was sweet.

Bought for $4, sold for $15.

 Cabbage leaf  Wedgwood Plates.

Bought for $4, sold for $22.

 A primitive chair.  I always tell my husband

that they are not worth messing with.

Bought for $2, sold for $15.

But what great green paint and patina on this beauty.

 I bought TWO of these without a clue of what they were.

Apparently, if you are into looking at colonies of bacteria,

this is your best friend.

Bought for $4, sold for $15.

My husband bought the closest dump truck for $1.

I brought the other THREE up from storage to show him we already had a few.

He thought that his dump truck was just good at making friends.

Never buy books in poor condition.

Never.

So why did I buy this 1907 

"Moving Pictures Teddies" book?

Bought for $4, sold for $10 on ebay.