Category Archives: Vintage Things

Whatever Wednesday

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I’ve been on a roll getting things done in the garage….Remember that garage sale where I bought a ton of furniture pieces?  Well this is yet another piece that I bought there.  Before I bought it I did a lot of debating…a LOT!  It was marked at $75.  That’s more than I typically spend on a piece to re-do and sell.  A lot more.  I liked it…I liked it a lot but then the internal debate started…would someone else love it.  UGH!  Who knows?  I don’t want to be out $75.

Then another guy came to the garage sale.  He had his wife on the phone and was talking about the furniture.  He was driving a trailer and was picking some furniture pieces.  I quick grabbed the lady who was operating the sale and said-  “I want all of these things (and then pointed them out)…will you shoot me a deal?”  I could visibly see that the guy was angry as some of the pieces he was talking to his wife about were the pieces that I had taken.  I didn’t know what he wanted…  This the garage sale life.  He got a couple dressers I wanted so I think we were even.

The lady ended up giving me what was equal to $5 off the piece so I paid $70 for it.

As you might have noticed from the picture above you can see that were was some damage to this piece.  Here’s a close up picture of the top.  UGH.

I showed Hubby and he wasn’t thrilled with my purchase.  He wasn’t mad.  He definitely didn’t think it would be a money maker.  When buying it is my real goal was to try to learn from it and at least get out of it what I put into it.  But after his lack luster thoughts on the piece, I had all the motivation I needed to fix it right and actually turn a profit.

Hubby wasn’t much help on suggestions on renewing the top so I just did what instinct called for….sanding.  I sanded and sanded and sanded.  I used different sand paper weights and sanded until my arm vibrated.  I sanded for almost two hours.  Those water marks were deep.

I ended up giving up on completely removing the worst mark but it had GREATLY improved.  The dark marks were gone.  I didn’t think it needed to be perfect as it is a vintage piece.  If it was too nice on the top then the bottom might start to look bad.  There’s a fine balance and I thought I had found it….now what to do about staining the top?  Do I varnish it?  Hmmm.

I asked Hubby if he had any light stain around.  We don’t do light typically so we had none.  He said, “I do have that scratch (Old English Scratch Cover-light wood version) stuff you like in a light version”….Hmmm.  That was my only option so I decided to give it a try….

 

Here is how the cabinet looks now….

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Whatever Wednesday

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About a month ago I was driving home from visiting Kayla.  There’s a tiny little town called Lamont that has a little antique shop.  Well Kalissa was with me and we stopped.  I ended up spending $38 for this shelf.  I’ve been needing something for childcare toys.  I’ve not liked what I had.  I wanted something antique/old looking.  This, I thought, would be perfect.


I did have a few things I didn’t love.  She the white smudges on the center of the shelves?

Check out the photo below….Paint drips.

So time to fix it up….I wanted an old worn look so decided a razor blade might do the trick on paint removal.  I didn’t want to lose the finish on the wood so no chemical removers.


After the razor treatment it looked like this… Continue reading →

Just Precious Vintage

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Now to long ago Kalissa and I had a girls morning…we wanted a whole day but when you have a little one and dad is watching him, you take what you can get.  I think we both needed a little time to recharge.  We ended up in Decorah and found the cutest little shop.  Well it’s not exactly shop.  It’s in a carriage house behind a home just off of Water Street.  I have a little paper I got and the description says, “In the little barn behind the old stone house on the corner of Water and John Street”.   The name of the place is Just Precious Vintage.  It was SO-SO CUTE!!

The lady that runs the store was so friendly and helpful.    I took a ton of photos but forgot to take a picture of the outside of the building and her super cute “glamper” that sat in the driveway.  Here’s a whole bunch of pictures of the goodies inside.  LOVE this spool cabinet!

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She had lots of lace for sale and she made decorating with it look easy.

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The shop is tiny but LOADED with goodness.

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Kalissa and I were constantly saying “did you see this…did you see that?”

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Look at that button jar!!

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Cute little thread display….

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I have collected so many of these things but I never take the time to organize them into a display…someday I hope.

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Check out the little red toy sewing machine…. Continue reading →

Day 2 of my Kidnapping

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I told you earlier in the week that Hubby kidnapped me.  Day one, although we had fun and did find the bathroom mirror, was slim on the antique hunt.  We did end up going to Cedar Rapids that evening and visited with our son Buck and his wife Jen.  It was almost their anniversary…my a year can fly by.

The next morning we were in Monticello, Iowa visiting our daughter Kayla and her husband Spencer.  Both of our kids had bought houses and Hubby hadn’t seen either one of them.  We just had a quick visit with Kayla as they had a full schedule that day and we were off antiquing.

There’s a great shop in Monticello we always stop at, Whistle Tree…we didn’t find anything there.  Their specialty seems to be furniture…which we LOVE!

Next stop the old church in Cascade.  We love their shop.  We can’t resist stopping.  We bought our kitchen chairs there and we bought my filing cabinet that was Hubby’s first refinishing project.  They had lots of things to look at there but the owner was reorganizing the shop getting ready for fall so it was a bit of a challenge to get through.

I always have an eye open for quilts!!  The bottom one didn’t appear to be vintage at all….but I still liked it.

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I’ve seen something like this done before…I want to make one someday…I think I might revamp it and do it with half square triangles.

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Here was a nice quilt.  I seem to be drawn to quilts without a lot of whites in them lately…Loved this one!

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This was wool and I loved it.  Kayla had made something similar once.

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I grabbed a close up of the stitching if she (or any of you) would ever want to replicate it.  I could easily find wool jackets at the thrift stores for it!

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We didn’t buy anything there and continued on our way…a trip to Lowes in Dubuque and then on to Cuba City, Wisconsin….complete with a stop in Hazel Green.

The Hazel Green store is going out of business so nothing was new there…at Cuba City…we found this….

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I had heard of this place via Craig’s List.  I had been begging to go…Hubby ignored my pleas.  Well he won’t ignore me again.  WE LOVED IT!!

It is huge and perfect for antique lovers and house restoration people.  I was so in awe that I forgot to take many pictures.  In the front is a show room of nice antiques.  There were probably 5 tall high backed beds.  All were beautiful.  In the next big room there were fire place mantels…probably 6 to choose from.  All were displayed neatly and very organized.

In the upstairs…they had a room of wood trim taken from houses.  They had a room bigger than the main floor of my home FILLED with doors.  All types and sizes you can imagine were displayed.  This photo is half of one wall.

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Looking for a claw foot tub…look no more!

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There was a room of only lighting.  There were lots of people there to help too.  They are only open Fridays and Saturdays.  But WOW…we ere so impressed!

We did find a few things we were looking for…all in this bag are our “big” purchases.

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There are three double switch plates for push button light switches.

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We didn’t realize we would need as many double push button switches.  The electrician put double switches in the bedrooms…one for the light and one for the fan.  They had a triple switch there we probably should have bought but we know where they are now…at least we hope there are some there if we need them!

We found glass knobs for the kitchen cupboards too.

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Cuba City has other antique shops…more like antique malls too.  We stopped there too…

I am slow in antique malls because I am trolling the place for sewing or quilting things…Hubby in only looking for furniture or fire trucks.  I knew he was already done looking and sitting out on a bench so I was especially trying to hurry…besides, both of us were hungry.   I came around a corner fast and was going to quick peak in a room when I got so excited.  I spotted my childhood doll.  I have been wanting for a LONG time to find her…I was giddy.  I got the rest of the way around the corner and imagine my shock when I realized she had been beheaded!!

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I came out of the store shaking my head trying to get the image of my beloved childhood doll beheaded when Hubby asked what was wrong.  I explained the whole thing to him and we both ended up laughing and laughing.

All in all a good trip.  On the way home we stopped and visited Hubby’s niece and we stopped at Kelli’s house too.  I was good to be gone but as always it’s good to be home too.