Another recycled canvas

I’ve finished another art piece. This work is part of my recycled canvas collection. This piece, as you might have guessed, is a kitchen cupboard, picked up from the Restore for a couple of dollars. I remember the cashier laughing at me for taking so long to pick out just one cabinet door, but I was looking for something that would work well as a canvas – smooth on the back, not a lot of damage caused by existing or removed hardware, and it needed to be something that would offer a nice frame. (I thought the cabinets provided a natural frame for the picture, which is how I got this idea in the first place.)

As always, I prepped the canvas by manually sanding it (with sandpaper, not an electric sander) and laying down a good coat of gesso.  The layers are made with tissue paper (pink and white) and graph paper.  My intention of using the graph paper (which is not very visible in this photo) was to play homage to my inner geekiness, evoking (for me,) images of pencil-drawn diagrams on cheap graph paper. I wanted to contrast this with the femininity of cheerful pink.

It may be of interest that this scene here is made up of entirely recycled or thrifted materials. The vase below is a James Sadler vase that I thrifted at a garage sale for $1 (see “thrifted gems“) and the doily was thrifted at Aberfoyle (see “weekend antiquing: thrifted gems” for more finds). The cabinet used to belong to my nana. I’m still not sure what it was used for. It would appear to hold either vinal records or documents, since it has narrow slots throughout the interior. It’s a unique piece and I shined up the brassware to give it a brighter look.  The flowers were picked up in St.Jacob’s and dried by yours truly - this is their final run as I will likely replace them this spring/summer.

This season I hope to add increasing personal touches to my home with more of my own photography and artwork.

Thrifting delights

Above is a picture of a pretty antique class bowl that I discovered at a Salvation Army store in Guelph a few weeks ago.  The reason it caught my eye is that it is very similar to one that I already have in pale, translucent pink, which was passed down to me from my Nana.   I’m guessing this piece is from the 40s or 50s.  For now, it’s storing a small collection of jewelry that also belonged to my Nana. I paid $1.99 for this piece, but recently found the identical item on sale at an antiques store in Toronto for $10 (the same store also sold hobnail milk glass vases for $10, which pass for $1 at any thrift store.) The store was absolutely beautiful, and provided me with plenty of inspiration on how to better arrange and display my own antiques and collectibles.  However, it also made me realize that thrift store shopping really requires a great deal creativity.  Modern and trendy consignment, vintage and antiques stores often display thrift items that shoppers might otherwise easily miss.  When items are paired together, set under the proper backdrop and under flattering lighting, it’s much easier to imagine the item in your own home.  But you often pay a heftier price at such boutiques.  I prefer to use these stores for inspiration, and then dig through the racks and shelves of thrift stores to find my own treasures. Thrift store shopping requires us to think differently, and employ some imagination to figure out what could be done to enhance an object’s hidden beauty or value.  I adore this creative element so much that regular shopping has become completely uninteresting to me.  Coupled with the consideration for environmental impact, not to mention the difference in price, regular retail shopping has become a chore, whereas thrift store shopping – or should I say, hunting – remains a delight.

Thrifted gems

I haven’t had a whole lot of time to go thrifting or garage sale-ing lately, but I do keep an eye out for bargains. This summer I’ve managed to pop into a few garage sales here or there, snagging a great little item at a fabulous price.  My strategy is to look out for items that either have a practical purpose, or offer a collectable value, and are made of sound quality. 

When buying china or porcelain, be sure to turn it around to check the stamp on the bottom.  You may recognize the name or stamp. If not, you will still be able to venture a guess of its quality by where it was made.  England is a safe bet when looking for quality.

Above, on the left, I scored this beautiful, yet simple, James Sadler vase for $1. I thought it would look beautiful filled with flowers on my kitchen table. Sadlerware dates back to 1882, and is best known for collectable tea pots.  I could not find a trace of this vase anywhere on the internet, but it has the James Sadler stamp on the bottom.  I have no idea whether or not it has value, but it is obviously of good quality and has aesthetic appeal that suits my taste. The two milk glass vases you see there were purchased at $1 each.  They do sell for higher on eBay, but these standard milk glass bud vases are of little value, even though they are vintage (milk glass was made between the early 1900s and 1930s) because it is so common.  There are, however, many milk glass collectables that will fetch a high price.  I just think it’s pretty, and had been hoping to snag a couple of pieces.  Mission accomplished!

I visited a thrift store yesterday and managed to buy exactly what I needed – a pair of denim shorts, a simple black cotton-stretch shirt, and a light sweater, which has a nautical theme – very cute!  They were $6 each, which may be considered on the high end, but all three items were in such great condition, they seemed like new.  

I also broke my rules and took a risk by purchasing a couple of items I didn’t have a lot of personal interest in, but thought they might re-sell profitably. 

This Charles and Diana plate was one of them.

I keep finding pieces that I think might be collectible and I have been considering starting up my own eBay store, so I grabbed this plate just in case.  The store will exchange items up to 7-days after purchase, so I decided to grab it and then think it over.  Think I should keep it, or return it?

Weekend antiquing: vintage linens

On the weekend I went to the Aberfoyle Antiques market. It was huge, and delightful, and even after spending two full hours there, I reckon I only covered about 1/3rd of the place – I didn’t even make it to the indoor part of the market. 

I noticed that things seemed quite over-priced.  I wonder if this is partly because it is classified as an “antiques” market, rather than a flea market, so people are naturally inclined to assume things are old and valuable and are willing to pay more.

When you are antiquing, here are a few strategies to follow:

1. Before buying, have a look around and compare prices.

2. If you are buying an expensive item, you should have some idea of what it’s worth, so do your research before hand.

3. Make any purchases towards the end of the day, unless you don’t want to take the risk that someone else may buy it.  I couldn’t believe the deals that the sellers were willing to make at the end of the day.  They were offering to cut their prices in half, before I even asked.

4. Remember that just because you’re shopping at an antique store, every item might not technically be an antique.  Antiques are technically items that are more than 100 years old. Many antique stores combine their stock with vintage and even some new items. Furthermore, many antiques can be replicated.  This might not matter to you, but you should be aware of what you’re buying.

5. Just as you shouldn’t assume that anything thrifted is junk, don’t assume that everything in an antique or thrift store is valuable, either. It’s easy to come home with a car full of junk.  You might envision a “shabby chic” look, but don’t go overboard and have a good idea of where the item will go and what kind of repair it may require.

My finds for the day: Antique & vintage linens

I think it’s pretty clear that I have a thing for antique and vintage linens.  At the market I scored a this stack (a total of 17 pieces) of doilies, place-mats, napkins, a table runner, coasters and hot pads for $7.  Oh, that also included a cute tea cozy as well as a handmade apron.  Most of these things were technically unnecessary, although an apron and coasters have been on my thrift list for a while. Almost everything I bought was in near-perfect condition – that means no tough stains!

My favourites:

A table runner for the table in my bedroom

Placemat for my tea trolley

An oval doily, suited for a serving dish

I think this is a hot pad suited for a tea pot

Coasters

Napkins

Tea cozy

Mugs – $1 each – and a hot pad

The apron

Gift tags (2 packages for $1).  I also bought a set of 8 Laura Ashley note cards, still in their package.

I also bought a cute strawberry 3-piece tea set.  The tea set, mugs, gift tags, note cards and all linens came to $17. There were many more things that I would love to have brought home, but when it comes to antiquing, I like to take my time and decide what is truly important to me before I make an investment.

What are your thrifting rules?

Do you thrift or collect?  I love thrifting and antiquing but I have certain rules.  I don’t know very much about price values, so I stick to items that I really love. Attempting to anticipate the future worth of antiques is just as risky as playing the stock market.  I either buy items that I will actually use or can be displayed prominently and add significant decorative value to my home.  I don’t buy items that are going to sit on a crowded shelf or cupboard and collect dust.  I’m very selective with what I buy.  It’s very easy to get into some bad habits while thrifting, because items are so affordable it’s easy to think you can afford to buy just about everything you want and then find yourself over budget, (not to mention with a house full of clutter.) If you’d like some tips on how to thrift, check out The Thrifty Chicks, one of my favourite thrifting blogs.  

Normally, as I said, I don’t collect, as in I am not a collector of rare or valuable pieces.  I did, however discover this Star Trek collectors item. (Did y’all already realize I was a great big NERD or did I just out myself?)

I found this fantastic Star Trek bowl in my favourite antique store.  It wasn’t in the best shape when I bought it.  There was some old tape on Dr. McCoy’s face, dirt encrusted on the bottom, and some stains.  (The tape was probably there from an unsuccessful garage sale – that hurts.) I got all the tape off, and all the stains off on the bottom and sides of the bowl with baking soda.  I think I can remove most of the stains inside the bowl with a little Comet, although I worry about damaging the plastic.  

This bowl is, according to price books, worth about 4-times what I paid.  However, this was not consistent with the prices I found on Ebay.  I wonder if this is because the present demand (with the poor economy) means there is less interest in collectibles. I also wonder if more people are attempting to sell off their collectibles in order to make a little pocket money.  So the Ebay prices might not reflect it’s future worth.  With that perspective, it’s probably a reasonably good time to buy collectibles.

Anyway, I now am faced with the dilemma – do I use the bowl or protect it?  Light will surely fade the plastic.  But what’s the point of having cute memorabilia like this if I don’t use or display it?  It’s not worth much if it’s hidden in a box somewhere. 

Do you thrift or collect? What are your thrifting rules? And do you display or keep your cherished items portected?

Linked to: Life as Mom