Buffet Beauty

Firstly I must apologize for my Blog Neglect but I have been busy, busy, busy with reincarnating relics  buried deep in my garage. I started this piece in July. In August I culled, holidayed in September and I am pleased to say after a little R & R,  October has been fairly productive.

This old pine veneer buffet had seen better days

I had no idea when I first got it home what I was going to do with it,

but as time went on it seemed to transform all by itself !

I started with a primer then chose an Almond spraypaint.

The Almond colour was perfect for the look I wanted, but felt a bit too Queen Anne for this piece so out with the basic flat black for the interior and top.

The weather turned nasty around that time and with cold & rain this piece seemed to take forever to dry.

Frustrated at the lack of progress I decided to ignore the buffet for month.

I went on a short trip to Melbourne & Sydney op-shopping & touring around with one of my good friends.... then came home and spent a couple of weeks of school holidays with my kids.

The weather is now back to beautiful in Western Australia & my boys went back at school.

Time to finish what I started.

Drawers were primed and painted .....

Handles replaced with some nice wrought iron ones.

      and finally....

after stumbling across Tracy's Trinkets and Treasures Hutch Transformation Blog,  

I was inspired to use matching baskets instead of replacing the doors.

 I also added a little labelling to each basket for identification 

        and now this Buffet is a Beauty !!

  

I am feeling really motivated now and back on track having finally finished this piece.

Amazing how a holiday and a little sunshine can make all the difference !

*****

Fridays' Fab Finds

It's been a great week for finds and I have had huge inspiration to get thrifting thanks to all the couples on The Block ... Last week was Second Hand week and the couples had the challenge of creating their room with using only second hand items. I would have been in my element,  as were Josh and Jenna who won Bedroom 2 with their talent for using all things thrifty. Take a look here. So my creative juices are once again flowing thanks to this show and I have almost finished the long suffering buffet I have been working on for what seems like months. I am hoping to have it completely bowled over by the end of the week & then will have the difficult decision as to whether to keep her or sell her. Remind me next time not to take on a project like this in winter.

Friday thrifting can be very hit and miss. Today was a slamdunk ... check out this table ... Isnt she a beauty?  Better still the price included delivery !!



Big Old Solid Table




Lovely Legs

 I was recently reading one of my favourite blogs Red Hen Home who transformed an old table into a masterpiece by adding some french detail to the top. Sadly I dont have an overhead projector & with lousy freehand I'm not sure Im brave enough to take it on, but I really saw this table in a whole different light after being inspired by 
Red Hen Home's French Chocolate work of art.  

Here are a few other bits & pieces I couldnt leave behind

Nickle Silver Thimble

Apron ... great fabric potential !

Nice Glass Jar

Anchor Hocking Bowl USA Made

Chipfree Cut Glass Bowl

3  Jars



 19th Century Picture Frame ARCO
Birmingham England Stamping





Silk Painting possibly Chinese  
 I love the colours & the fact it is an original & not a printed copy.
I will try to investigate the artists mark below thou not sure where to start
given I cant read Chinese !

 

So thats the fun over for another week.

  Happy Thrifting

Ms V   x

South for the Weekend

Not often do I get a kid or work free weekend ... I had to take full advantage and get out of town for the weekend ... Woohoo !!!!   My friend, Lynda and I decided to head south to her property in Boyup Brook, almost 300 kms south of Perth. 

         

Gorgeous little cottage with rolling hills in the background & thank goodness for the open fire and loads of wood ... its freezing down south this time of year.....

                                                        
Lynda, like me, is partial to a  little op shopping so first stop was Donnybrook, where we loaded up on morning tea at the local bakery. 

 Donnybrook is approx 200 km south of Perth and is renown for being the largest apple producing area in Western Australia.  

What is it with me & apples ???

My last post had reference to New York City (The Big Apple) and here I am in the SouthWest &  I'm seeing apples again ... an omen  ????

  

After a yummy Sausage Roll & Vanilla Slice, we popped into one of the local op shops to check out Donnybrook's bargains. Our original plan was to head to Bridgetown for an Antique & Collectable Fair & silly me forgot to take something along for a free appraisal.

Making a beeline for the Bric A Brac section I took a quick glance around while Lynda tried on a warm scarf. I was completely gobsmacked when I noticed in the back corner of the shelf sat a EPNS ( Electro-plated Nickle Silver ) Glass Cut Biscuit Barrel with a price tag of  $ 4 .  Well I was in awe, what a find ... even better I knew I had a wonderful little piece to take to the Fair to be appraised.  Grabbing a few more bits and pieces along the way I headed for the counter and the shop assistant announced " It's half price day !!"

Are you serious , I thought, $ 2 for a Vintage Biscuit Barrel ....

It really is a great day !!



Isnt it lovely ???     Any suggestions on age ???

  

The Underside of the Lid showing EPNS mark


Bridgetown Antique & Collectable Fair here we come.

 

Being a freezing weekend down south,  I think kept a few dealers away from the fair because it really wasnt a big turn out for displays compared to some I have seen in other years or towns. However I was very happy to say I found an almost identical decanter to the depression green one I have at home and this was in a lovely pale pink & way cheaper than my green one.

 

Vintage Pink Decanter



 

Vintage Green Decanter & Glasses

                                      Another one of my purchases from the same

                                                  Op Shop was this item below. 

                                        I 'm thinking it is an aluminium camping pot               

                                             but as it has no lid it is hard to be sure.                            

                                         Its similar to a pot my grandmother would sit

                                             on her knee while stringing her beans

                                                  Does anyone know what this is ????

                                                                       

On the way home we stopped at other towns along the way such as Collie & Waroona. 

If you are ever in the Waroona area, check out the most stunningly organised, well stocked, amazing Antique & Collectables store in WA go to

 Drakesbrook Antiques in Waroona 

I could have spent hours in this store  

It is truly amazing & the largest collection of MoorCroft Collections I have ever seen.

So a nice weekend was had by us girls, driving, chatting, junk food, thrifting ...

Our only downfall was completely forgetting the wine !!!

OMG who does that ??

For those of you dying to find out the appraisal on my Bargain Biscuit Barrel 

the Valuer said it would probably fetch anything from $ 65 AUD to the right collector.

Not bad for a $ 2  op shop buy !!

Hope you all had as good a weekend as I did  :)

Ms  V   xx