Twas the night before Christmas...and MORE chairs!!!
Okay, so it's still four months until Christmas but you can never shop too early!
If I bragged on every "great deal" I scored at an auction, this whole blog would be about nothing but auction deals. But this find is amazing...and beautiful...and reminds me that the holidays, and cooler weather, are just around the corner!
This week I bought this beautiful nativity set....
At most auctions they pile the glassware and "knick-knacks" in boxes on a trailer. Sometimes it is hard to tell what is wrapped up in a box so you have to do a lot of digging to find goodies. I have found Wedgwood, milk glass and carnival glass deep in boxes of junk. This week I found a beautiful ironstone casserole dish, spotless, in a box of inexpensive stoneware. You just never know.
So when I started digging through a box and found little ceramic nativity pieces wrapped in 30 year old newspapers, I knew it could potentially be a great find. Naturally I didn't want to draw attention to it by unwrapping all the pieces, so I wasn't quite sure what all was in the box or even what condition they were in.
Anywho...at some point they did a "choice box" bid on all the boxes left on the trailer. Two dollars...for two bucks I would take my chances on what was in the box.
All 18 pieces are in mint condition...not one little chip. No mark so I know little about the set, but I think it is beautiful and could be special addition to someone's Christmas decor! I can't wait to display it when I decorate my booths for the holidays!!! Until them the pieces will get rewrapped in bubble wrap and stored away properly.
CHAIRS, CHAIRS, AND MORE CHAIRS!!!!
A few weeks ago I picked up some nifty old "mid centurish" chairs at an auction. I'm sure "back in the day" they were really something special, but not so much now. But each was unique and had the potential to be beautiful again!
A little paint, a little upholstery, and they are ready for another lifetime of WOW!!!
BTW, the orange vinyl chair and brown vinyl chair in the back...I didn't do a thing but clean them up a bit...sold in two days as is! As did another mid-century chair...sometimes people like to do their own thing!
It's hard to see this little guy in the "before" picture, but it is a beautiful walnut. With all the students returning for the fall semester, I thought a little "Razorback love" was in order!
I was amazed at the condition of all the caning on these two chairs...perfect...not one broken weave! I sprayed these two chairs and the red chair with Kilz, sanded smooth and then sprayed them with spray paint.
I don't have one piece of fabric big enough for this seat...so for now it only has the batting on it. Hopefully I can find something this week I like!
A beautiful oak chair...but again, sometimes you have to paint wood to "enhance" it...or at least make it desirable again! This too was sprayed with primer and spray paint!
This chair had a dark blue vinyl seat. I had every intention of adding some foam and batting and covering it with something new and jazzy. Nope...I painted the vinyl...seriously, I sprayed it with Kilz and then a teal spray paint. It looks kind of cool if you ask me!
This chair was painted with an off-white plaster paint, distressed and sealed with spray poly.
The chairs are all oak and walnut...great pieces that could easily be refinished. But this is a prime example of "enhancing" a piece. In today's decor world, painted pieces are desirable...so painting them really does enhance them! Whether you chalk paint or spray paint...making over a chair is a simple project!
