Tale of Two card Catalogs

I'm telling you I am completely blessed.

You see a couple of weeks ago I was busy working at the cottage and my sister sent me a picture. I don't have the picture anymore but I'm telling you my heart was beating a bit faster.

This is my nephew as we were ready to load these in my truck

My sister found them at a Re store and asked me if I was interested. Well DAAA of course I was. :)

Thankfully she was able to take them home with her and I was there two mornings later to pick them up. Thanks Zach for hauling them home for me in your truck!

Both of them were spoken for by the end of the day and work got under way by the end of that week.

Both of them are going to very crafty ladies who will use them in their home based business's.

The first person wanted a cream colour, the base removed and industrial type casters added.

 Going to take you through the process just a bit. First I had to removed all 80 drawers...yes you heard that right. Each unit has 40 drawers.

 Everything had to come off. Some to be saved and re used, some to be tossed.

 The bottoms all came off. The steel parts anyway.

It was all taken to the recyclers. 

 All the fronts were cleaned then sanded to remove the final bits of paper and glue that didn't come off with simple cleaning.

 Then new bottoms were cut and glued into each drawer

 That bottom base was removed from one of the units (according to what the new owner wanted)

Then it was all stacked to dry. 

 Then the rods that went through the front of each drawer had to be altered by my wonderful hubby :)

 A new base was built and casters added.

 Each drawer was painted and set to dry.

 Everything distressed to make it look old and worn once again.

 And all that lovely solid brass hardware was cleaned and put back in place.

 And here she is complete. I am waiting for a picture in her new home though.

 I think she turned out perfectly.

The second one had very much the same kind of makeover. 

By the time I started on that one, the drawers were already ready for paint. 

The second owner however didn't want cream...she wanted a combination of blue and green. 

She also didn't want to lose the base. 

I did cut a bit off the base. If you look back at the first picture you can see a black bottom on it. It actually went in a bit and had that nasty black plastic wrapped around it. So that was lost and a new base added along with some lovely new legs. The veneer on the top was removed because it was in bad shape. I should mention the veneer was removed from the first one as well. 

I should have taken pics between coats of paint but I didn't :( 

This is how the second one turned out. 

 I'm sorry the pics were taken inside my garage late at night. I wanted to get pics to the new owner before I left in the morning and this was my only chance :(

 See the two tones? Don't you just love it?

All that lovely brass just sets the whole thing off :) I can't wait for her to see it all in person. 

Phew I'm tired. 

My husband asked me tonight as I was sliding the last drawer in place. "I bet you don't want to see another card catalog in a long time eh?" 

What? seriously? I would do another 100 of these if I had the chance. Ok, maybe not tomorrow, but I'll be game next week again...lol 

anyone know where I can get more? 

Ohhh dear sister......... :) 

Sharing here:
The Brambleberry Cottage
The Shabby Creek Cottage 
Savvy Southern Style
Miss Mustard Seed  
  The Dedicated House
Knick of Time Interiors 
Farmhouse Porch 
Coastal Charm 
Elizabeth and Co 
36th Avenue 

Mustard Yellow dresser

It's getting towards the end of September and I haven't blogged in a LONG time. 

Initially I thought I would take the month of Aug off in order to focus more of my time on actually putting a few really special projects together and getting out the door some of the things that were piling up in my workshop. 

But as so many things go..the more focused I became on doing that, the less I thought about blogging, till it was late at night. 

BUT I"M BACK! 

And I promise to share more here and I will try to have more of a balanced life between work and blog. 

So lets get started shall we? 

 A while back I picked up this wonderful antique dresser..or is it vintage? Actually I don't care. I just loved it. And so I brought it home with me. But as with so many things..I don't have a "before" picture. I know I"m bad..sigh, trust me I'm more mad at me right now than you are. BUT I do have after pics. My mustard yellow dresser! 

This one flew out the door so quickly I don't even remember why I painted the top. 

Hope you enjoy the pictures and stay tuned, I have so much to share I may be posting once a day till I get caught up :) 

Card catalog turned coffee table

I've been on the hunt for a card catalog for years! 

Seriously it's been years of looking. 

But I knew that some day one would fall on my lap and I knew I would be thrilled when that "someday" came along 

Well that someday finally came a few weeks ago! 

I rushed out to buy it. 

It was in decent shape. I mean it had to be redone but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. 

However I was slightly grossed out by the mouse nest I found.....can we say ewwwwwwwwwww

I carefully removed the card holder/pulls and left them in vinegar to clean up. 

Then got to work on converting the first two levels into a coffee table. 

Ordered wood for the top and created a new one. 

I finally finished this morning.

 I left the side straps pretty much alone. I did clean them up but didn't paint them. I love the original patina on them :)

 The back is as pretty as the front :) 

 I did paint the label/pulls after cleaning them. They are done in a flat black. 

Over all I'm THRILLED with how this turned out. 
I have a second one I'm going to be working on, but I'm waiting for new label/pulls to come in. They have been ordered. Ohh how I hate waiting.
Have a great Wed.

Sharing here : 
Savvy Southern Style
Coastal Charm
36th Avenue 
The Shabby Creek Cottage 
The Bramleberry Cottage 
Made in a Day 
Elizabeth & Co. 
Funky Junk Interiors 
Miss Mustard Seed 
   

Antique Vanity redo and a couple of lessons

A few weeks ago I picked up this amazing vanity (without mirror)

 Isn't she pretty? I mean even in it's raw state I'm very impressed.

 Solid wood, no veneer (always a bonus!)

 and just perfect in just about every way

Well except for that stain on top...go back and look at that first picture.

See that stain?

This is my attempt at "fixing" the problem. Unfortunately I couldn't get it all out. The stain was simply to deep :(

So being the kind of crafty person I am...I went with plan B!

PAINT :)

 Isn't she sweet? I love the painted top, and I normally don't.

 And the details...all I have to say is YUM!

 Of course you all know by now that I'm a real sucker for amazing legs. This one is no exception.

 Then I found a chair that I thought would match very nicely. Yes the seat is missing, but you know something? I forgot my stapler. I brought everything else I needed to the cottage, but totally forgot the stapler. No worries, that will happen this coming weekend :)

So now I work on something totally different. Working on an antique card catalog. Can't wait to share. 

Ohhh preview? Of course

Here she is

Any idea on what I'm going to do with this? 

Keep guessing. 

:) 

Sharing here:
Savvy Southern Style
Domestically Speaking 
the 36th Avenue 
Coastal Charm 
The Shabby Creek Cottage
The Brambleberry Cottage
Made in a Day 
Funky Junk Interiors