Heidi!! You around? And anyone else who loves rummage sales and artsy fartsy stuff....

You will not believe the score I made today at a rummage sale.

Besides the nearly new TV with built-in VCR/DVD player I got for $10 (needed a TV in my bedroom), I also got this beautiful handmade, hand-carved chest for $10, AND a set of wicker chairs for $5.

I'm going to firm up some of the joints on the chest, replace the hinges...strip the red paint off the top, and then stain it in a lovely neutral tone, unless I deside to paint it folksy with some colors. What do you think?

The chairs are going to be painted Natchez Green (a dark green, almost black-green), and they'll go on my back porch...

But I just had to show you the chest, because it's so artsy and I thought you'd like it. Did I mention TEN DOLLARS?






Everyone, post about your favorite rummage sale score....and post photos if ya got them.

Well, no, actually, I :loveya:. But I'm extremely jealous. We don't have rummage/garage/yard sales here. I tried to describe this wonderful phenomenon to my mother-in-law and she responded with, "What a cool idea!" :rofl:

We do have one junk store in our region and I'm going there next week to scavange for assemblage stuff! :bounce:

For ten dollars!! There wasn't any price on it, and when I asked the woman (she was from New Orleans, and came to my little town to hold her sale) what she wanted for it, I was thinking "she's gonna want about $40 or $50." She shrugged and said, "I don't know. Ten dollars?" I said, "Sounds great," and loaded it up. :D

So, what do you think? Stain it, or paint it colorful folksy?

Rub it with a citrus/beeswax oil! It'll bring out the natural characteristics of the wood and also protect it. It's _gorgeous_, and I've got my eye on that wicker, too. ;)

the woman said her kids painted the flowers...

They were carved just like the flowers on the chest's side...the kids painted them in. I could get my dad to make a new lid in no time, but I don't think we could do the carving. It'd have to be plain if we made a new lid.

Here's a shot of the lid:



What should I do about those flowers?

I will take your advice on the citrus/beeswax oil...wonder where I can get that?

I'd ask a master woodworker about that flower. I wouldn't attempt to remove it with a solvent or power sander without first checking with an expert. (If it were me, I'd just take a power sander to it and see what happened, but I'm not an expert on furniture refirnishing. x( )

Even if some of the color is left, it might look kinda cool.

Thanks for the advice!

I don't know what I'd do without my Friday and Saturday rummage sales! When we moved to Mississippi, no one had them here. The garden club ladies scoffed at my mom, who brought them here from Texas, where everyone had them. They made rude comments behind her back about her being so poor that she had to sell her furniture in the yard...lol.

Now the very same ladies have garage sales, too.

Tell me about the junk store you visit! What kind of stuff do you buy?

I have a list, though, for next week's visit:
- Mannequin hands and/or old doll hands
- Optical lenses, telescope and microscope parts (CMW, inexplicably, will not allow me to rob parts from his microscope.)
- Rotary phone(s)
- Record player (I only want the arm, but I'll buy the whole thing to get it)
- Absinthe spoons
- Wig mannequin
- Brass fixtures: doorknobs, hinges, drawer pulls, etc.
- The old kind of electrical fuses that are clear
- Would love to find a glove mold (iron), but that's unlikely
- Vintage books on philosophy, natural science and the occult, but only in Italian, English, French, Latin or Spanish, and no newer than 1960
- Typewriter keys or a 1930s-era manual typewriter

That's the short list. :D

I could have bought you:

1) The rotary phone

2) The record player

3) Old door knobs

And I passed up an antique typewriter at a sale a couple of months ago. :(

Whatcha gonna do with all that stuff? I'd love to see photos when you're done.

:) But I've also gotta buy some tools first. This is an experiment. I'll only send you photos if I consider the experiment successful. :rofl:

I have a 1930s Royal manual typewriter back in the states, but I don't wanna ask my ex-boyfriend to send it to me. x(

What you might consider a failure, others probably would not.

I would love to see your assemblage when you get through.

:hug:

(And get on the horn and tell the guy to send you the typewriter. Silly!)

I'm going to my pop's in a sec, to show it to him, and I'll reply to you again when I get home to tell you.

It is pretty, isn't it? It's just small enough to go at the foot of my bed.

It would make sense if it were a hope chest.

Anyhoo let me know, I'm interested.

I'll let you know! I'm pretty certain it's not cedar. :)

I'm with Heidi - I tend to want to look at the natural wood, but my sister is good with the colors and has painted up some nice "junk" in cool colors (also junk buys!)

My coolest find was actually at a junk shop - it was a brand new 1940's enamel on steel kerosene range. 4 burners and an oven, with a cool glass fuel jar. It is black and off white made by Nesco. The coolest part? It still had the instruction manual, complete with smoke-belching factory smoke stacks on the front and an apron and pearl wearing woman doing the cooking!

I use it as a microwave and coffeemaker stand and the toaster stores on a tray in the oven.

I also bought a similar metal pie safe (I think that is what it is called) from the same place, but it wasn't new and was missing it's pull-out table top part. But it also has a cool glass jar on a swinging arm for sugar and a big metal bin with a built in sifter at the bottom for flour.

The woman told me that it was handmade by a friend in New Orleans for her first child. I'd guess that it's pine, too. I think I'm gonna go with natural--thanks for your opinion on that!

And I'm very very envious about your Nesco range! I'd love to come across one of those! Great idea about using it for the microwave and coffeemaker--ad for storage...

I'd also like to find an old pie safe. The best ones ARE old.

I don't have much storage space in my kitchen in my cabin, so I'm always looking for stuff to use for countertop/storage areas.

You've got some good finds!!

Yeah, I rarely have this kind of luck on big items...

I collect old pyrex stuff, and sometimes I luck out and find the pieces in the patterns I'm collecting.

But I rarely find really nice big stuff.

Thanks again!

and good Southern patios can never have too many wicker chairs

I can't wait to start the work on the chest...it just needs a few minor fixes.

:hi: