December 23, 2010

Make-Overs

After a lot of hemming and  hawing I have finally done a couple of make-overs on some of my re-sale buys. My favorite day to shop is the last Tuesday of the month whenb a chain of World Mission re-sale stores in the area have 1/2 price day. I have a field day between shopping for make-over projects and wool clothing for rug hooking.

Who wouldn't love to have a dirty
old Mr Peanut wheelbarrel bowl?
Well, me for one. So, I unscrewed the
 base and stripped the peanut away. It
 cost a whole .34 cents. I didn't do a
thing to the .34 cent scoop


 






AFTER


This next find wasn't terrible for the .39 cents I paid. But........ what I needed were some things to set on a shelf we will be putting up next week (fingers crossed). So I pulled the corny built in candle holder off and filled the hole with wood putty and hubby cut the bottom bit off on the table saw for me. The brass candle holder was a quarter.

After


I just love how this little hand made basket came out. I sprayed multiple coats of light and dark sage and brown. It has some beautiful detail in the weave but the colors detracted from the workmanship. Baskets are .25 cents each or $1.00 for 10 every day at Love's Treasures re-sale.


After
This one isn't a make-over but a craft I found in one of the wonderful tutorials on The Pickled Pepper Patch blog. These little pantry cakes are made of plaster. They really don't shine at all but you know how it goes with a camera flash sometimes.
This next one was torture. I found this little high chair at an antique show over 2 years ago. It was originally finished in an appaulling pale yellow enamel paint. Then someone who was clueless when it came to refinishing furniture, spray painted over the high gloss enamel with a flat black. No sanding, no prep. It was a mess with the black rubbing off and the yellow enamel showing through everywhere.
I "thought" I was going to strip it down to bare wood and simply stain and varnish. But, that old enamel was tough as nails and nearly impossible to remove. Hours of sanding and scraping and bottles of stripper and I finally gave up. I announced I was going to just paint the thing over to make it usable for Christmas dinner. Hubby decided to give it one last tackle. He sat and patiently chipped and chiseled for 2 nights. It was far from complete, but it was finally good enough that I could imitate a Dimes chair I had seen. I stained the portions I wanted highlighted and paint and distress the rest. You don't have to look too closely to spot some bits of the yellow enamel peeking through the distressed black. But, it is what it is and........ beautiful despite the yellow chips. At the very least it is now a safe and usable chair for little ones.

After

Finally, here's one last wish for 
a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!


3 comments:

Cherie said...

Everything looks wonderful. You have inspired me to get out there and start hunting treasures again! Cherie

Gettysburg Homestead said...

Oh my Gosh!!!! I just LOVE all your makeovers!!!!

The high chair is Fabulous!

Mary

Carla said...

Great makeovers! Gotta love a bargain.
Merry Christmas!