A couple garage sale goodies....redone!

I picked up a few garage sale finds this weekend and had some fun cleaning them up and dressing them up, so, I thought I would share them with you.

First sale, we nearly drove by, the sign was facing the opposite direction but we turned around and went back.  She had a wonderful 1920's sofa with the carved wood trim for $50, that need the springs redone and a new cover but, alas, I do not have room for such a sofa.

But, for a dollar I found this small wood box.  I call them cutlery boxes, not sure of the original purpose.

Not a super quality piece, it is put together with nails, not dovetails, very grungy but nice lines and could have several uses.

When I got home, I washed it down with just plain old water and a scrubber to remove the loose dirt.  Let it dry overnight.

Looked like it could have been painted at one time but it was so worn and dirty, I couldn't tell for sure.  The primitive cutlery boxes, that I've seen, have not been painted so I decided I would leave the natural wood finish. 

I've used Howard's Restor-A-Finish many times and pulled some pretty badly scared and battered wood finishes back from the brink.  Besides removing years of collected dirt, grease and grime, it is great for getting rid of white heat rings and water marks on stained, not painted, furniture.

I went to work on the box with the Howard's product and a piece of steel wool. I wiped it down with paper towels to remove the grime, as I went.  Polished it with a clean cloth and let it dry.

Then with the aid of an alphabet stamp set and some "StazOn" ink, I stamped "tools" on the side and let the ink dry.

TA * DA........................

I set on a shelf on the patio and I like it there!

  

An inexpensive holder for some vintage garden tools but it could be used for serving drinks, holding napkins and silverware or condiments on the picnic table.  Inside, I was thinking I could use it in my craft room to hold colored pencils and pens or on a desk for tape dispenser and stapler. 

My other find was small set of twin buckets attached with a handle, on the underside it reads 1-800-FLOWERS.  I'm guessing someone loved the flowers but the buckets.....not so much, take a look.......

Again........useful storage!  So, I lightly sanded and painted with black chalkboard paint, like this.......

I decided they would make the perfect container for the Grandkids crayons, scissors, glue and other art supplies........so I painted the handle bright red and

drew on the bucket with chalk.  I'll encourage the kids to improve upon the art by adding their own touches and when they are finished drawing or coloring, they can put their stuff back in the bucket...

and they can even write inside, if they want.  Between visits from the little ones, it will look cute sitting on a shelf holding their art supplies.

  That's how I spent my buck and a quarter this weekend....how about you?  

I'm off to visit some blog parties, please join me at Make It Yours at My Backyard Eden, Making the World Cuter Monday, Metamorphosis Monday , Tabletop Tuesday.

You'll have a great time visiting all the other great bloggers and we all LOVE comments. I, also, love followers and hope you will come back again.