White Trunk Re-do

I can't help myself - I love re-doing antique trunks!  This is the latest one that I just refinished.  I bought it at an estate sale a couple of weeks ago and this is what it looked like when we brought it home...

This trunk was by far in the worst condition of any truck I've done yet.  I have no idea what that white crap was inside.  I vacuumed it out and then washed down the entire trunk with bleach water and let it sit out outside for a few days in the sun.  Then I ripped out most of the paper because it was in really bad shape.

The side handles disintegrated so Louie removed them and then cut new handles from an old black belt.  Once he finished that he turned his attention to the lock.  Originally we thought it was broken but it just needed to be oiled.  The trunk was missing its key but I happened to have a spare one that worked so we really lucked out!

The fabric covering on the outside bottom of the trunk was badly shredded and falling off so I took a couple sheets of paper and mod podged them over the bad areas.  Once they dried I painted the entire trunk with 2 coats of white paint, including the patched areas on the bottom.  It worked like a dream and you can barely even tell the bottom was patched.

Then I lightly distressed the entire trunk, paying extra attention to the brass rivets, and finished up with a good coat of wax.

The final thing I did was grab my favorite go-to for papering trunk interiors - vintage sheet music!  It took 2 nights to do while watching TV, but it turned out great!

Every trunk I do is my new favorite.

 Available at Antiques Et Cetera in Benton, Ky.

Linking up with...

Vintage Charm #81

Refinished Trunk - Music is Love Looking for Words

Two years ago I bought a vintage army foot locker/trunk at an estate sale.   I just fell in love with it.  But stupid me, I didn't buy it the first time I saw it, and I was so upset about it that I went back the next day and let out a big sigh of relief that it was still there....

This was the really fabulous thing about the trunk - it had the original owners name written inside and I think he may have used it in Viet Nam....

I didn't really have the room to keep it for myself so I listed it in my Etsy shop.  And guess what?  It didn't sell.  So after about 6 months I took down the listing and it's been sitting in my shop waiting for a make over ever since.  Then a couple weeks ago I got the itch to start working on it so I dragged it into the house.

First I painted the outside with black, gray and white and gave it a light distressing....

Then I papered the inside with vintage music sheets. 

That is absolutely my favorite thing to use on the inside of old trunks...

It took me the longest time to find a quote that I liked but I finally found the perfect one "Music is Love Looking for Words."  I stenciled the quote across the top of the trunk and it was done!

I'm glad I waited to refinish it until the right inspiration hit me because I listed it in my shop and it sold in just 2 weeks.  I think it waited until just the right person was ready to buy it.

Linking up with....

Simple Saturdays 3-11-17
Vintage Charm # 73

Party in your PJ's  #148
Talk of the Town 3-7-17

Estate Sales Feb. 13, 2017

We only found 1 estate sale this weekend, but we visited it THREE times.  Crazy, I know.  It wasn't because they had a ton of good stuff either.  It was just that I had my eye on something in particular and I was biding my time....

We first went on Saturday, which was the opening day and got there about an hour and a half after it opened.  I hate standing in line for these things, so we went a little later and walked right in.  OMG, it was packed with people.  There were 3 floors to explore and we were there for an hour.  Here's what I picked up the first day....

A Jack Daniels commemorative whiskey tin with matching whiskey glasses.....

No bottle of Jack Daniels tho - LOL.   It would make a super gift for someone.  All they have to do is add their own bottle of JD.

Three brass belt buckles.  I think they should sell with no problem, especially the Chevy one...

Brushes which I go through like crazy...

A nice Jack Daniels tray.  This would go nicely paired with the above mentioned commemorative tin, don't you think?  Perfect for a man cave.

This tin canister is a first for me.  I've never heard of this company and I rarely find yellow tins.  Plus it's a square tin, which is sort of different...

A felt covered camping canteen that I don't think has ever been used, and 2 tin cups...

A Mirro 12 piece camping set, still in the original box, although the box has seen better days.  Everything in it needs a really good cleaning, but all the pieces are in great shape.  Wouldn't this be cute for a camper or lake house?

I've been looking for a 3 tier silver tray to display my bracelets on and this one will get a quick make over...

So as we rummaged around the house I came across a vintage steamer trunk, and you know how much I love re-doing old trunks....

And it was a big trunk, like the one I bought and re-did here.   That trunk turned out so nice and was one of my favorite ones that I've done.  Do you remember this one?

I had re-done the interior with vintage sheet music....

Anyway, this trunk was stuck in a corner of  the enclosed back porch and nobody was even giving it a second glance.  I pried it open and it was stuffed with old blankets and the interior paper was in bad condition, which is pretty normal.  The main lock was broken, but that's not a problem because Louie can drill them out and I can buy a new one.

So I sent Louie off to find out what they wanted for it since it wasn't priced.  He came back shaking his head, "$ 80.00."  Well there is no way in hell I am paying  $ 80.00 for a trunk so we paid for the other items and we left with me talking all the way home about how much I wanted that damn trunk.

Sunday we got up and headed back over there at 9:30 am.  The trunk was still sitting where I had originally seen it.  Louie went and talked to the estate sale guy and he told Louie he'd take off 50% today and he'd throw in the blankets that were inside of it.  Yuck, I did not want the blankets so Louie told him we'd pay $ 30.00 and we'd leave the blankets.  Well, the guy didn't want to take that deal so we left and I was sort of steaming.  Now I really wanted that trunk!

We went home and did some stuff around the house and at 1:00 Louie told me to grab my coat.  The estate sale was going to close at 2:00 and he wanted one more shot at that trunk.  When we got there it was still sitting in the corner where we had left it.  Louie walked into the other room where a different man was sitting at the register and Louie told him we'd take the trunk off his hands for
$ 20.00.  The guy didn't even bat an eye, just held out his hand and said "Sold!"   This was me doing a happy dance!

Do I have the best husband in the world or what???  The first order of business will be to completely clean this entire truck and then let it sit outside for a few days in the fresh air.  I cannot wait to start working on it.

Vintage Steamer Trunk Re-Do

Last month we bought a beat up vintage steamer trunk at a garage sale.  It was in pretty bad shape.   First of all, it was locked when we bought it and there was no key.  Plus both the leather handles were missing.  But it had a lot of redeeming qualities -  This is a vintage trunk with a lot of history. It is at least 86 years old. How do I know?  Well, because the original steamer trunk stickers from a long ago voyage are still intact and you can read the year - 1929, as well as the value - $ 2,050.00. The original owners initials - WHR - are still on the trunk.  My heart was thumping because that is really just...so...cool!!

We were dying to open it because we were sure it had something awesome inside, like money, old letters, money, pictures, clothes, money.  Louie grabbed his tools and drilled out the top part of the  lock.  We were so excited to open it - to find nothing.  The inside smelled bad, altho it did have its original lining.  And it was really dirty.  Did I mention it smelled really bad???   Oh, it was awful.  So I got out the bleach and water and scrubbed it down really good.  I stuffed a couple of Bounce sheets inside and closed the top.  Then every day for a month I dragged it outside, opened the lid and let it air out on the deck.  And every night I dragged it back inside and closed it up with the dryer sheets.  Slowly the nasty smell disappeared.  Thank goodness!

The first thing I did next was paint the entire outside of the trunk with black paint....

Next up we tackled the issue of the handles.  Louie removed the shredded ropes and replaced them with an old leather belt that we cut to fit.  Doesn't that look fab?

I also decided that all the original stickers and the initials had to stay.  You just don't see that kind of thing intact anymore.  So I carefully went over them with a few coats of polyurethane to preserve them....

Look closely at the next photo.  See the top sticker that says COLLECT?  You can just make out the date  - April 15, 1929 and the value of the trunk contents $ 2,050.00.   It also says American Railway Express Co. Santa Monica, CA.    It really makes me wonder who owned the trunk and what it was filled with.  Where were they going?  Did they travel across country?  Did they take a steamer ship across the ocean?  My mind reels at the possibilities.  Oh, the stories this trunk could tell...

Next up was my favorite part of the whole re-do.  I had spent quite a bit of time thinking about what to do with the inside of the trunk.  The original fabric was still intact for the most part, but it was quite dark and rather stained.  We even went to Michael's Crafts and pawed through different sheets of paper but nothing felt right.  It had to be something really cool and worthy of this trunk.  And then one day the perfect idea hit me.

A couple of weeks ago we helped a client empty his house before he moved.  He was getting rid of a huge stack of vintage sheet music.  My heart sank when I saw him toss the box into a dumpster.  Well, it took me about 2 seconds to climb up there and drag that box back out.  I'm not too good to dig around in a dumpster, believe me.  When I got the music sheets home I was floored to discover that there were dozens of sheets of music from the 1930's thru the 1970's.  Just gorgeous pages with fantastic graphics.  How could anyone just throw that away?  I packaged them up and I've been selling them in my Etsy shop.  So I grabbed one of the packages up off the shelf and started laying pages out across the floor and before I knew it I had them laid out in a pattern to cover the inside of the trunk.  First I applied them with Mod Podge and then after everything dried overnight I applied 3 coats of polyurethane for a lasting and durable finish.  It worked really well and I left pieces of the original lining peeking out here and there.  Here's the back wall and the bottom of the trunk...

The left wall......

The right wall....

The front wall....

And the lid.  The lid is my favorite.  Just check out the graphics.  I want to swoon!!!  I don't know about you, but I think the music sheets were the perfect choice.

The last thing we had to deal with was the one thing that was the pain in the butt all along - the broken lock.  I searched all over the internet trying to find a replacement key but couldn't find one anywhere.  I went thru the bag of old keys that I had and found nothing that worked.  I even tried to pick the lock using an assortment of things like thin screwdrivers and paper clips.  Suffice it to say that I will never make my living as a lock pick.  Nothing worked.  Now I had this beautiful trunk with a broken lock.  I couldn't have been more annoyed.  Finally I found a website that made replica vintage locks and I ordered one as close as possible to the original. Louie worked his magic and drilled out the rest of the lock and installed the new one. It looks great and works perfectly.

So here's the finished trunk.  Are you ready??  The front....

The back.....

Left side.....

 Right side....

 New lock and working key....

Inside.....

The lid.....

This is a large and roomy trunk. The approximate dimensions are:
40" long
22 1/2" wide
25" high

My kids said they are getting far too accustomed to seeing me sitting inside trunks.  LOL!

This trunk has lots of uses....

As a musician's instrument case
A magician's trunk
A front room coffee table
Linen/blanket storage
Toy box
Storage unit
Window seat

This trunk re-do was truly a labor of love and a lot of time went into it.  I think it may be my favorite one yet.  Now just keep your fingers crossed that it sells.  I have it listed.  I still haven't sold the last one that I did and I'm running out of storage space.  I promised Louie I won't buy another one until one of them sells.  I don't know if that's a promise I can keep.....

If you're interested in vintage sheet music for a project like this or something else, I have a couple of packets left in my shop.  Use the code BLOG10 for a 10% discount.

On another note - if you're not using Ebates for your online purchases you're letting money slip thru your fingers in more ways than one.  First, you get a rebate on qualifying purchases from hundreds of stores.  Second, if you refer friends, YOU get sign on bonuses.  Check out these bonus rates....

Click on my link here to sign up.  Yes, I do get a bonus for referring you, but more than that, YOU are on your way to getting free cash back.  I've been a member for a year and I've gotten checks back every quarter.  And guess what, there are no fees or charges to join.  This bonus sign up goes thru 12-31-15, so sign up now before you start your online holiday purchases and you are on your way to extra cash in your pocket.

Linking up with....

Vintage Inspiration Party 11-17

Party in your PJ's # 82

Worthwhile Wednesdays # 95

Let's Talk Vintage # 58

Sundays at Home #83

Craft Frenzy Friday 11-12-15

Vintage Inspiration Party Nov 10, 2015

Vintage Charm #5