Shadowbox Mirror - I FINALLY Got One!

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you probably know I've been looking for a really over-the-top, gaudy shadowbox to hang on the wall here at the Uncle Atom crib.

Well, the planets finally aligned.  A few days before we were set to leave for Chattanooga and the World's Longest Yard Sale, I spotted this great shadowbox on that auction site.

The price was not ridiculously low, but it also wasn't ridiculously high.  The seller was willing to work with the buyer on shipping but preferred the item to be picked up.  That's understandable, because it's easy for one of these beauties to be damaged in shipping, with all of the glass and mirror pieces and fragile moldings.

Luckily, I noticed that the seller was within a couple of hours of Chattanooga.  So, I pulled the trigger and bought it.  The seller was great to deal with, and as we were starting the Yard Sale, we already had the shadowbox in the back of our car.  Anything else found at that point was simply gravy, or icing if you prefer.

Originally I wanted to have a shadowbox to go behind our bar in the basement Rumpus Room, but as you may remember, there's now a huge 8-foot Man From U.N.C.L.E. banner there.  So, the shadowbox needed to go upstairs into the living room.

I had this heavy mid-century mirror hanging above the fireplace (I'm guessing it's from the early 1950s).  We now have it up for sale at a local consignment shop.  Whatever we make on it will be gravy (or icing), because I had picked up the mirror at a country auction years ago for about $5.

If you look carefully at the first picture above, you'll see the ugly wire holding the shadowbox against the wall.  Well rest assured dear reader, I fixed that problem.  The wire is gone and the shadowbox now hangs on two reinforced screws using the original hooks on the back.  No ugly wire now.

Now that it's safely in its new home, I'm starting to look around for stuff to display on the shelves.  Any ideas?  I'll probably try to dig up some more vintage bobblehead nodders.

This shadowbox was made by the Illinois Molding Company, as noted on the back.

And.....it's celebrating a birthday this week!

If you want to see some more great shadowboxes, check out my Flickr photo group for mid century shadow boxes.  And hey, if you have photos of other great shadowboxes, how about sharing them in this group on Flickr?

Vintage Bread Box Project is Done!

Whew have I been busy lately.  I made it to one estate sale this weekend and scored another toolbox very similar to my project toolbox, and I also found a great buy on a 32-foot extension ladder. (I've needed one of those ever since we moved to this house six years ago, but I could never justify buying a new ladder because they're so expensive.  Let's just say that I got a heckuva deal on the ladder.)

Today I finally finished up the bread box project.  I thought long and hard on a color.   I have not yet found a good mint green or turquoise in a spray can, but I sure wish Rustoleum would offer these retro colors.  In the end, I went with canvas white, which I believe is very close to the original color.  It goes well with the copper lid, don't you think?

I'm pretty sure the lid was anodized originally.  After I got all the pink paint off of it I buffed it with some fine bronze wool.  It still shows some blemishes, but the thing must be at least 45 years old.  The small knob at the top twists to release the catch and the door drops forward.  That knob also was painted pink, and it took some work to get all the paint off without destroying the plastic knob itself.  Since I had some canvas white paint made especially for painting plastic, I painted the knob too.

The inside of the lid is a thin piece of wood.  I used some Howards Feed 'N Wax on it after lightly sanding to remove paint and some errant paint stripper spots. (We won't be using the lid as a cutting board, so I'm not worried about bread contacting the waxed wood, but you certainly would want to consider this before doing what I did.)

Here again are a couple shots of the bread box as I found it for $2.

I'm very happy with the way this turned out.  Now I'll be watching for more of these needing rescue. :-)

Recent Finds, For Those Who Can't Relate to Old Car Tales

OK, here are a few recent finds I've dragged home:

I'll bet you can't guess what this first one is. No, it's not bigger than a breadbox.  Or smaller than a breadbox.  It IS a breadbox!

Inside with paint stripper applied

I spotted this breadbox at a local estate/yard sale yesterday and for $2 it was mine.  I could tell it was still solid, and my experience the past couple years of stripping old paint and refinishing metal things (trays, coolers, toolbox) convinced me I could bring this breadbox to its former glory.  I'm in the process of stripping off the old, poorly applied pink paint now.  It was white originally, with an copper anodized lid.  I'll update you soon on this project, I hope.

So while we're looking at pink stuff, here's a set of coasters I picked up on our road trip to Adamstown, Pa., recently.

 I didn't get much else besides some record albums, except this:

This bullfighter is about 24 inches wide and 16 inches tall, and it's made from a very thick plastic. On the back it's dated 1968.  Pretty cool in a tacky/kitschy kinda way.  She Who Must Be Obeyed has already banned it from the upstairs, so I'm not sure where I will find a home for it.

Since it's Sunday, I'll end this post with, well, I guess it's a prayer.  I found this at the same sale as the breadbox, and since it's vintage and I have a vintage camper, I figured why not.  I remember these pine knickknacks from many a gift shop back in the day.