Vintage Vikings

I took a picture for someone of these guys that I found at a thrift shop a few years ago.

Vintage Swedish China Cabinet

I have in all my years never owned a china cabinet.  I always expected to have one.  It wasn't a priority and I wasn't in a hurry to get one.  I always felt like it was one of those things I wanted to buy only once.  The past 6 years I've really been stepping up my search.  I knew what I wanted and I knew what I DIDN'T want to pay for one.  The past year I was starting to let that feeling of hopelessness enter.  But low and behold, a few days ago as I was leaving a vintage shop-- right by the door was my dream cabinet!  We brought it home yesterday and today I anchored it to the wall, cleaned it up and selected things to put in it.  I left the sliding glass doors off to take the picture and avoid the reflection.  I'm so happy with this little Swedish cabinet and I'm even happier I didn't have to pay an arm and a leg!  I let hubby ceremoniously hand the cashier the credit card, he's been wanting to buy me something to commemorate our anniversary in less than a week.

Cathrineholm Bowls - Playtime

Just some bowls from my Cathrineholm collection.

Vintage Finds - Pyrex and Japanese Cedar Birds

It was a beautiful day today and hubby has spring break next week.  We decided since we were both a bit low on motivation thanks to seasonal allergies, we'd just wander around.  I'm refraining from buying Pyrex these days, but I ran into some things I justified buying.  Great prices made it easy.

I'm trying to collect the set of 6 Glasbake Lipton soup mugs and today I found number 3.  I didn't need another Friendship 503 refrigerator dish, but this one is almost mint and my other one has a dark mark on part of the design, so I got it.  The black tulip casserole, well , too cheap to leave.  And the two Spring Blossom green  casseroles have been on my want list though I never aggressively sought them out, I waited until they came to me.  I love the lime green color of the alternating pieces of the set.  I have the 402 mixing bowl and they will become part of my daily ware.

Hubby found this sweet birds piece for his Japanese cedarwood figures collection.

Black Pyrex 503 - Yipee!

It has finally happened!  A black Pyrex 503 has made it into my life.  It was sent to me by a sweet friend, she knew she would be making my day!!!

$13 Thrift Store Bookcase Find and Playing with my Pyrex

I picked up a vintage bookcase at the thrift store for $13 a few weeks ago.  Solid and sturdy, but it needed TLC.  I've been needing something to display some of my Pyrex in, such a shame so much sits on the storage shelf until I rotate my kitchen displays.  Finally I have one permanent display!

Must show a picture of my Pyrex first, I can't get enough of how pretty it is.

Here is the whole bookcase.  It's just 2 feet wide and 39 inches tall.  It fits under the window in the family room which was a requirement.  It was stained, but after stripping it, it appears to be walnut.

The stain covered up the grain and made the bookcase darker than the natural wood.

 

This picture is after sanding, applying an oil varnish and installing lighting.  My plan is to get two custom glass shelves later in the fall.

And here she is all dressed up.  I like it so much the way it is I don't think I'll be changing it, at least not soon.  Not sure about what I have on top, I have a couple other space savers in other patterns--I may put them up top with additional pieces. Have to work that out!  I'm looking forward to seeing how the glass shelves and lighting will look.

Linking up with Sir Thrift-A-Lot over at Thriftasarus!  Come on over here to see what everybody else found!

All Good Things in Time - Jewelry Box (Before and After)

Thrifting isn't just all about find things is it?  There's the unloading, stacking/putting it somewhere, taking off price tags, washing/cleaning, putting away.  That is generally the very least of it.  Today I brought home one of those "project" things.  When we were at the thrift store, I showed hubby this find--it would be for him.  I said I would need to do this and that to it, he said "you sure you want to go through that" and I said, "well if you really want it, I don't mind doing it".  So here's what I got.

A dirty glass top jewelry showcase/display box.  Just what hubby needs for his vintage cufflinks and tie accessories.  I made him a tray to stick in the drawer of his little antique table from his grandmother, but he quickly outgrew that.  I didn't want to spend $30 or more for a new box, so he's been limping along.  But it's a pain, he has all these little boxes he has to go through in addition to the overflowing tray. 

There are 56 cells, that's a lot!  He has room to grow in this!  That's nice, I won't have to even think about it for a while.  Well, since I usually have more projects than I need going on, I decided to clean this up after supper.  I vacuumed it, cleaned the glass, wiped down all the wood with alcohol and scraped the edge along the glass where there was some excess stain.  Then I made templates to cut felt to line the cells.  I could only do the top, I don't have enough light colored felt to the bottom as well. 

Here it is.  I packed everything in the top tier though some things will be separated out once I get the lower tier felted.  I made some some trays beige and some white.  I sorted silver toned items into the white and gold toned into the beige.  It probably won't stay that way for long.

Another project down, another area of the house organized!  Oh and, it cost $3.50! 

Project -- The Kristmas Kitsch Katcher!

Those who know me well know that I am always creating something in one fashion or another. I have a hard time sitting still! I've been thinking and thinking about how I will display Christmas decorations this year without buying any new furniture such as shelves.  After chewing on it a good week, I came up with the idea of creating a display shelf from old closet doors.  The doors have been hanging around in the garage for a good 6-7 years since I laid the new floors.   I've been reluctant to give them up--one of them on a couple of saw horses comes in handy for a temporary work table.  So...I grabbed my camera and snapped a pic before I go any further with this project, I'll update as it evolves!

Here are two doors of 24" width each that I hinged together with standard door hinges.  I didn't bother to chisel them out, just screwed them on leaving a gap in between.  These were originally varnished and I primed them with 3 coats of white primer.  I started to put a shelf on when I remembered to take a picture!

 

I have placed this in a corner of the family room which is behind our recliners.  It's a perfect space as it is out of the way, in plain view and there is no other furniture on the two walls.  There is also an electrical outlet.

 

I have attached numerous small shelves that I had stored away (they always come in handy!)  A couple little wooden boxes and a myrtle wood planter I found at the thrift store recently.  I'll likely pic up some more shelves and little crates, maybe a basket.  Yes, it requires measuring and drilling, but it isn't hard--just takes patience.

 

Here's a closer view.  So much to do yet, but I'm happy to have gotten this much done today.  Now on to folding laundry!

Yay! Syroco! (and my little Corgi)

Any serious vintage thrift store thrifter that looks through kitsch has undoubtedly seen their share of mid century plastic decorative wall plaques!!!  In one of my previous posts I showed a set that I purchased for my husband (and then painted them).  I have finally found a pair just perfect for my laundry room and I am so excited!  They are made by Syroco dated 1968. The laundry room color scheme is yellow/orange/green and I really wanted something in the orange family and I found it!  Here they are in my 1950s ranch laundry room.  Oh and, if you haven't seen my previous post on my West Bend bean pots--they have turned out to be the best containers for my oxygen bleach and baking soda!

My other finds include a Harmony House plate marked 4512 Wheat H.H. Parchment Beige.  This picture doesn't do it justice--it is very warm tan color on cream.   I have to go read about the process of manufacture of this pottery.  I  have a plate with an ivy leaf pattern by Harkerware in a robin's egg blue and beige that is made the same way.  It appears as if the color glaze is applied omitting glaze where the pattern is leaving a relief on the surface.  Really cool!  My other nifty item of the day is a wood planter that appears homemade--love the tapered legs!  It was a whole $2.70!

I had to add this picture and a comment this morning.  Here is my corgi in the laundry room.  If you are intimately familiar with corgis, you know how they can spot the minute something new enters the house.  Last night my little guy ran to these plaques and barked at them every time he saw them.  He figures they don't belong to the herd and he needs to run them off.  By this morning he was ignoring them.  Oh and...my old laundry basket--not sure how old, but it's very flexible.

Labor day weekend can't be without a little work!

I had big plans for today--I was going to sand the Egyptian revival desk I bought a couple months ago.  I won't have 3 days off in a row for the rest of the dry season.  But I laid in bed this morning struggling with the thought--there are so many other things I need to do  I decided not to stress out about it and ended up working 7 hours straight on all kinds of other stuff, to include--cleaning up that Egyptian ottoman that's been sitting around...even longer than the desk!  This piece is likely from the 60s, I've seen some similar, but this one is way cooler in that it has hieroglyphs embossed in the leather cushion and there are three different styles of medallions in a very classical ancient Egyptian motif.  The other ottomans I've seen have camel medallions and a large pyramid on the cushion.

 

Initially I thought it was missing an end cap, but I found that they were stacked together.  Very, very grimy, I dare not speculate what was all over it.  

 

I had to bang out one of the end caps and here I already shined them up. 

 

Here it is all cleaned up.   I fluffed up the stuffing and put a new (old) shoelace in.   I will order a special leather product for leather cleaning and restoration--just to perk up the tone and sheen hopefully.

 The ottoman in it's new home under the vanity of the Egyptian themed bathroom.

Stanley Table - Finished!!!

I'm thrilled!  I got the table refinishing done!  I think it looks great--better than I expected! It was a lot of work, but so worth it!

Oh yeah and before!

Stanley Table - Progress

Moving along on the base of the table. After much thought, I decided not to re-stain it.  Here it is after a few coats of Danish oil.  It is supposed to be nice and dry this weekend--I plan to sand the last two side pieces and drawer front.

Stanley Tiered Table - Refinishing Progress

I got the base of the table stripped this week.  It is suppose to rain the next couple days, so I had to take advantage of the nice weather today and get to sanding.  I still have the two sides (that hold the top tier) to sand and finish working on the drawer.  I've got a coat of (oil) varnish on the second tier and I'll wipe that down tonight and let it cure. Here's the before stripping and sanding and the after.  I'm so glad to have gotten to this point--a lot of work.

Wood Cabinet - Add Some Glass (UPDATED)

Another great $3 find today.  This cabinet has a solid frame and that dense composite board backing.  Very solid and measures 24" wide by 19" long. It obviously held glass at one time and I knew I could replace that.  I checked my stash and I had a piece of glass big enough to cut two doors, I did that lickety-split.   Now I have to decide which wall I'll hang it on in the kitchen.  We will be packing our vintage kitsch into little guy soon.

Couldn't wait to get the cabinet mounted.  After breakfast this morning I got started.  I'm just so tickled it only cost me $3!  This girl loves a bargain!  Here is is.  I'll take my time filling it up.

Tiered Table - Making Progress

No way I could stay away from working on my new table--sore back and all.  I got the top shelf stripped sanded and touched up with stain where the veneer was gone off of one of the edges.  I was so excited to get a coat of Danish oil on!  Can't wait to start stripping again tomorrow!

 

(stripped and sanded)

  

(wiped down with damp cloth)

(first application of Danish oil)

Tiered End Table - Stanley Distinctive Furniture

This table sure has seen better days!  The burl inlay is damaged on the base and the wood is very abused.  Never-the-less, I don't have a mid century end table and this one was $9.99.  All I had to hear was my husband say "you should get it".  So I did!  I forgot to take a picture before I put some Ready Strip on it.  The top tier has stripper on it as well as the the burl inlay on the bottom.

First pass with chemical stripper on top tier.

The burl veneer is in bad shape.  I applied stripper (the hazy grey) and scrapping lifted some of the burl (two light patches).  I reapplied stripper and will try to carefully remove the finish without too much friction.  I will just have to patch and disguise the flaws as best I can.

Here is a companion piece to my table that is being sold on ebay for $349.  Mine will never look this nice, but I'm pretty excited to see how much I can improve it.  Both of these tables feature a drawer as well.

Vintage Granville Nested Tables from England

Finally!  I have finally purchased a set of nested tables!  These have been something on my wishlist for decades, but either I didn't like what I found or there were other priorities.  I've been checking out the furniture shipped from England to St. Vincent De Paul and today I spotted these.  Nice solid wood construction in a classic simple design--just my style!  I'm looking forward to refinishing them.

Vase and Vikings

I have a weakness for Asian cherry/plum blossom designs.  Spotted this vase at the thrift store.  It wasn't a giveaway , but it was very reasonable and I just had to have it.  The stand I purchased on ebay from a gentleman in England about 10 years ago.  I was elated that the vase fit into it!

It was my lucky day when I found a bag of wood Vikings at Goodwill.  I knew my husband would like them.  Here are a couple of my favorites.  I call them Laurel and Hardy.