I went to a doozie of an estate sale on Friday. Generally the ones run by professionals are organized, prices clearly marked and no safety hazards. This one was a hot mess - no pricing and lots of junk that should have just been relegated to the trash.
Apparently the man who lived there ran his own business from a tiny office. It looked like someone had just dumped boxes of paperwork onto the floor until there was really no where to walk. The desk was buried in paperwork, several jars of those little black combs, broken pencils and other assorted flotsam , but then I spotted this from the doorway:
Dirty and slightly rusty, but it still had all its pieces . I climbed over the rubble to snag it and the "PAID. CK # " stamp that was still hanging in it. Some serious cleaning and a bit of sanding and the caddy was ready for paint.
A couple of coats of spray paint later my little treasure was restored to its 1945 glory. I did the first coat with a Krylon black paint - at least as much leaked out all over my hands as sprayed out the nozzle - so annoying. I finished it with this Rust-Oleum Carbon Mist paint - a rich charcoal, not quite black, not too shiny - my new favorite. And no drips - always a plus. I left the top the original gold color since it was in good shape and a nice contract with the charcoal.
I added a couple of other stamps that have those great handles and my Distress Ink tools. And it makes a perfect spot for my corsage from DC son's summer wedding. You can sort of see the dried rose and greenery on the right.
Turns out that these are collectibles now - not sure how I feel about something made in 1945 classified as "vintage", although that's less harsh than "antique"! I saw this exact caddy on Etsy for $65.00, lots more than the $1.50 I paid for mine.
I think I may keep it on my work table - so cute!
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