DIY Making Fake Enamelware

 About a month ago I was working at the antique mall and saw an adorable reproduction French enameled bathing pitcher ... it had a checker board band around it and I was smitten ....



That started my mind peculating, and I thought it would be great to use black and white enamel ware on the tops of my cupboards when I redo my kitchen in black and white ... a project that is still in the planning process.  I know, as an antique dealer, that old enamelware can be pricey, especially the pitchers, tea pots and coffee pots that I thought would look best.

I then found the small enameled pitcher above and it was  a steal, so I bought the tall bathing pitcher (not a steal) and the small jug and looked for an in between piece ... that's when I saw the aluminum coffee pot above ... and thought "Perfect size, love the shape, very cheap ... ah if only it were enamelware ...

 

Now for a little history, enamelware was made by dipping tin pots and pans into heavy enamel (oil base) paint.  Then after drying, it was baked. 

 

Spray paint is also oil based enamel ... though I did find that even with a clear coat on top of the white it was not shiny enough to look like enamelware.  That's when I remembered my secret weapon ... 'Hi Shine' ... it worked like a charm. I then used a foam paint brush and painted the trim on the rolled edges that are usually painted on enamelware.

 Sadly the cute aluminum tea pot I found at a garage sale .... for a dollar, with the same intent, had a painting accident ... and will have to be stripped and redone ... a project for after flea.o.logy.

 

So here is the completed grouping.  See how the coffee pot is the perfect size?  I love it and am now on the hunt for old aluminum forms, which are ALWAYS MUCH CHEAPER, but have the same utilitarian shapes as the slightly earlier enamelware.

 

And did you notice that I christened it a chocolate pot? (Ala Graphics Fairy) I want black pops, but don't want to be too matchy matchy to the checkerboard pattern ...

Oh and then, while still in the enameling mood, I looked around and spotted these abused, but not very old, tin buckets with paper patterns glued on.  (I bought a stack of 12 of them for $4 at a yard sale of course)  After some soaking and scrubbing, I gave the one above the same treatment.  I found the label form on Graphics Fairy too ... then moved it to my Paint program and 'typed' in a flower name ... it reminds me so much of the gummed labels my mom used to type on and label EVERYTHING with ... that it makes me smile!

Thanks for coming along ... if you love enamelware, maybe you will be making some fakes yourself?  What do you think?

DIY Royal Cupboard Makeover

 This is the story of how the dated reproduction mahogany colored cupboard on the left found it's royal heritage!

First of all I stripped it, as the hand
painted roses were very thick.  I removed
the hardware, and puttied the holes. Mr. P
then drilled new holes for me and I set
out to paint it.  Died mahogany always
takes several coats of paints and some Kills
as well.  After it dried I replaced the lower
handles with crystal knobs, which I still
love the looks of.

 Here it is, in its new persona as a linen press in my newly remodeled bathroom.  This bathroom was build in the space that had once been a service stair case leading from the servants quarters (only on the house plan, not in real life) to the dining room and then down again to a kitchen in the basement.  When the house was split up into apartments in the 1930's, the builder made a bathroom on each floor of this stair case, and this one is very long and skinny, as you can see.

 This is how I gave the cupboard some personality.  I used the 'scribble on the back of what you want to transfer with a pencil' method.  Above you see the 'pattern' for the words, with the pencil scribbling.  Above that is the partially finished 'street sign'.  Note all the rubbed off smudging from the pencil.  then note in the picture below that it washes off after you have traced and colored in your design with permanent markers. (I use two sizes of sharpies.)

 Here are a few other pictures of details we included in our black and white décor.

 The signs and pictures in the room are all family oriented.

I plan to add more street names to the cupboard, on the doors and drawers.  I chose Imperial Street, which is in the neighbor hood where I was born, so that I could put a crown, on the crown. :-)  Other street names will include: Hartford, where I great up, Fardown Ave, where my husband grew up, Edison Street where our first apartment was, then Sunnyside Ave, where our second apartment was found.  It will be like a scrap book of our homes, which gives me an idea, maybe I should make black and white prints of houses we have lived in and add them in ....hmmm, have to think about that one.  Thanks for coming by to see my new bathroom.  And a special thanks to Graphics Fairy for the awesome crown graphic!

Junking Fun with Ann!

Yep, it was another junking day for me with my friend Ann.  It just doesn't get better than a day of digging with friends.  We headed north almost two hours to Hoytsville a charming community up in the mountains, to a sale called the Vintage Market, an occasional  sale held three times a year.  

Here are Ann and I out front of the old milking barn where the sale is held. Ann and I both substantially lighted our pockets and loaded my 12 seater van to the roof!

We had visited their sale in the spring and Ann had loved it, she said to be sure to let her know next time they were to have a sale.

It's especially fun for me because I get to see 'my cousin' Kathy. OK she is really my husband's cousin and I met her for the first time when I went to their sale last summer!  Isn't she a doll?  She has collected antique lace for years, and wore this 1920's flapper era brassiere just for fun!! I love it!

Headed south again, after stopping lunch, we drove past this cute shop on Main Street in Heber on our way home we had to stop.

The shop abounded in great painted goodies... But our pockets were empty and our van was full!!

Last of all we went to Picker's Paradise in Nephi.  Larry is a member of the Reclaimologists Group I belong to. Boy does he have the goodies.  A store and yard full to dig through, and yes, we found more goodies to squeeze into the van.

This is Larry showing off a radiator cap from a historic car that is worth $800.  Whoa!! It was kind of funny, because when Larry walked us out to the van and we were leaving and seeing the size of our junking mobile, he said "Oh come on, you girls have room to buy more!"  that's when I opened my window so he could look inside and see what the back tinted windows had hidden.  He started laughing and walked away ... "yep, that's pretty darn full!"  

What a great day .... Thanks Ann!