For the Budding Home Decor Gal!

I purchased an adorable antique child's cupboard when my daughter was four years old. She is nineteen now. How quickly time passes. This was one of those UFO's, (unfinished objects) that had been stored in the basement for 15 years. It was completely painted in a creamy yellowed and checked white paint. ASCP (Annie Sloan Chalk Paint) to the rescue! I thought it could be painted over if I thoroughly sanded the piece, but the old paint just gummed the sand paper. The entire piece needed to be stripped using that yucky chemical furniture stripper. I have stripped painted pieces in the past but I have never a piece like this. The paint dissolved into a liquid cream that needed to be scooped up not scrapped. My mom spent many hours stripping and getting the awful sticky mess out of the corners. After a gentle sanding and a thorough washing it was time for ASCP.



The majority of the cupboard was painted with Old White and the inside of the cupboard was painted with Louis Blue.



The drawer pulls were carved wood but I sprayed them with oil rubbed bronze by Krylon to give it that look so popular in repurposed home decor today.



I think about the joy a little girl had long ago when she received this cupboard lovingly made by a father or grandfather. The construction and attention to detail shows that a skilled craftsman wanted his little girl to have one just like her mother's cupboard. Look at the adorable pull out cutting board.



I haven't found exactly the right thing to style it with but it is now restored to its original glory and will hopefully be cherished again by another little girl.



Do you remember playing pretend when you were a child? I used my mom's doll cupboard with decals on when I was little.

I have been working on a vanity for my daughter's bedroom this week. The wax is drying and it will need buffing. It will be ready for the photo session soon.

Figuring It Out

Over the last two months I took a break from blogging. In January I had a long term substitute teaching job and was kept busy staying on top of 5 different high school preps. In doing that, I realized what I have probably known for the last 10 years, that I love being a teacher. On the other hand, I truly missed the blog world, the world of repurposing and making something old useful. I'd race home each day after school and immediately sit down and read all of my favorite blogs and dream. A recent job loss has forced me to try to make some money in different ways. I know there are teaching positions in other parts of the country, but I have a son and a husband who are comfortable in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Maybe my new found passion will be the way I repurpose myself. If furniture can gain a new life with a coat of paint, why can't I?

A trip to Barnes and Noble last weekend has revitalized me and helped to focus on my other passion. How you might ask?

This little spot in the Latest edition of Flea Market Style.


My mom and I were vendors at Viva's Vintage Market and I had so much fun, so I thought the entire world that is hooked on blogging and decorating with vintage finds should know about this lovely little show. I submitted a little entry after reading the Flea Market Style Bog, and now on page 29, my name is in print. Pick up a copy at your local bookstore. It's filled with great ideas. Technology enables us to have contact with so many more people. The possibilities are endless.

So I am busy dreaming and planning what finds to bring to Viva's Vintage Market this year! Maybe these will be some of the special finds customers will find in Vintage Retouche at Viva's Vintage Market this year.


A Vintage Checkerboard with Embossed Checkers


A Basket of Children's Aluminum Cookware


Adorable Bisque Sailor Boy


Retro Red Kitchen Items

Mark your calendars for the Saturday after July 4th for a trip to Sister Bay, Wisconsin to attend Viva's Vintage Market. Stop and see all of the great things I have in store for you.

Check Out the Basement

At estate sales I find that you can snatch up some great finds at rock bottom prices when you search the basement, closets and garage first. All of the items I am featuring today were collected from the basement at the last sale.
Check it out the next time you go to a sale!


I love the checkerboard with the delicate china and silver.


A gold filigree perfume bottle, a pretty handmade gold velvet pin cushion trimmed with a millinery flower, a vintage wall thermometer, and a pressed glass spooner sit on the checkerboard.


This cute little dresser tray along with two silver serving pieces just had to come home with me. We have a woods in our backyard that always is filled with violets in spring.


The designs on these vintage checkers are perfect. My two kids have taken to playing a daily game or two since this board and "cool" checkers came home with me. My brother Tom was quite sick when he was little. He had an imaginary friend "Joe" who he always challenged to a game of checkers when he was home in bed. Joe never won. The checkerboard brought back such great memories.


A few wood pieces to repurpose came home as well.

I traveled to Cedarburg yesterday to do a little shopping at Chippy Shabby. Jeanine was so welcoming and helpful. She gets the award for being the sweetest salesperson ever. Check back tomorrow to see what I found.

Nothing Ventured Nothing Gained

A week has passed since the Vintage market in Sister Bay, Wisconsin. My sale did not go as I had hoped but I have learned a few things and best of all made some new friends. Seems like the industrial look is the hot selling look right now, metals of all kinds, wheels and rust. Since the only rusty crusty item we had was a little garden tool I unearthed from the shed, items weren't flying off the shelves. Here are a few pictures of our booth.