Vintage Finds

I made it to a couple of estate sales and antique shops this weekend.  I found some good stuff!

This is an old Victorian shoe box.  Much nicer than the shoe boxes of today.  It is very sturdy and has brass details, great for storage.

A cute little enamel pitcher.

And a handful of silver.

The pitcher will be used outside to water the plants on the back porch. 

The silver includes forks, spoons, a bon bon spoon and sugar tongs.

This group is all Scandinavian.

All very ornate, art nouveau details.

Closeup of the sugar tongs and sugar spoon.

Linked up to Thrift Share Monday hosted by Apron Thrift Girl.

Trophy Collection

I have been trying to expand my vintage trophy collection for some time now.  They are very hard to find, at a reasonable price.  I have even bid (and lost) on a few on Ebay.
But just this past weekend, I came across 2! at different estate sales.

The first is a 1948 trophy is from a Persian Cat competition, called the Billie Bancroft Trophy. 

And a tennis trophy from 1919.

This trophy started my collection, a while back.  It's a 1922 Tennis trophy.

A few more things I found this past weekend...  A trio of baby cups.

Two of them are aluminum - and this one has little scenes of Mary Had a Little Lamb and other nursery rhymes.  So cute.

Linked up to Silver Sunday hosted by Gypsy Fish.

Thrift Finds

This is my thrifting haul from the weekend.
I found some feed sacks with cool graphics.

I love the archery guy.

 

This one has "Supersweet" all over it.  Both sacks have printing on 2-sides.

A group of little things.

 Including a 1933 version of Three Little Pigs.

Cute little cup engraved with the name Mamie.

It has a horse scene along the bottom.

A little silver dog knife rest.

And a Victorian Sugar Cube Holder - also perfect size for holding business cards.

Linked up to Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday.
And Coastal Charm's Nifty Thrifty Tuesday.

Vintage Finds

These are a few things I've found recently at estate sales and antique stores. 
I love using wine boxes as planters (lettuce growing in the above picture).

 This box came from an estate sale, it has great graphics.

 And lots of French writing.

 Some other great finds...

 A couple of unique serving pieces with pretty pierced designs.

 A little German pewter cup.  A prince and princess on one side.

With the inscription: Reiner Wein und Wahre Liebe Machen Fröhliche Gefühle,
which means, according to Google Translate, Pure and True Love of Wine Making Happy Feelings.

 One of my favorite finds, a brass bath sign.

And a couple of brass cats.

French Inspired Pillows

I have finally tried the Citra-Solv Transfer method, making two French themed pillows.

I found extremely helpful tutorials and tips at The Graphics Fairy and 2 Vintage Sisters.
Citra-Solv was hard to find in my area, I ended up ordering it online.  
It also took a few tries to find a toner based printer that worked - my local Kinkos printers did not work.  I found an old copy machine at a local grocery store - it worked perfectly. 

I used some vintage fabric pieces that I had in my fabric stash. 

Both images are from The Graphics Fairy. 

  

The pillow forms were old pillows I had around the house. 

 

This image transferred a bit blurry on one side - but I don't mind.  I think it adds to the vintage look (hopefully).  

I was very happy with this method and will definitely be trying other projects. 

Linked up to The Graphic Fairy's Brag Monday.

Weekend Thrift Finds

I hit up several estate and garage sales this weekend, and found a few things.

Brass Pocket Change dish.

A set of Pinochle card from the 1930's.  It has a linen cover, and great graphics.

A bridge score keeping pad.

It sits inside a brass clip board.

Brass golf club bottle opener. 

And a lovely little silverplate strawberry fork.  

Linked up to Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday!

Barstool Redo

This was my first attempt at distressing furniture. I read up on techniques on Miss Mustard Seed's blog in preparation - it was very helpful.

I started off with these 1980's style barstools.

First step was to stand them and then paint them a creamy white. I used a sample I received from Valspar - Blizzard Fog.

Next step was to paint the design, using a stencil. Once it dried, I used a dry brush to paint a bit of white over the design to make it look a bit more worn.

I then sanded it again, hitting the spots that would get the most wear - the edges, the bars along the bottom.

Then I used Dark Walnut Stain, brushed it on then wiped it off with an old rag.

Last step was to seal with a couple of coats of Minwax Polycrylic (water based).

Linked up to Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Friday.
And  Primitive & Proper.