You see a beautiful brass or copper antique pot, kettle or other metal object in the flea market but some fool has lacquered it. You know it’s a vintage piece, but its value is greatly diminished by the now yellowing lacquer. However, the price is right and when you point out that its been lacquered; the seller offers to make you an even better deal. So you buy it with thoughts of leaving the lacquer and using it for a trash can. (shudder)
What can you do with that lacquer? Try this.
Mix ½ cup of baking soda with
1 gallon of boiling water
Put the newly found lacquered pot into this solution and let sit. When the water cools the lacquer should peel right off. Be careful not to use any sharp metal instruments around the crevices or tight areas. Use a toothbrush instead. If any lacquer remains, repeat the process. You should have a completely restored piece by the end of the day. We’ve not tried this on varnish or an other finish other than lacquer. If you do and it works, let us know. We’ll pass it on and give you credit for the advice.
There has to be a point in every cats life when they realize that they just did something stupid; when they run behind the
Cat hiding behind the couch (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
couch and, according to the legendary comedian George Carlin, slap paw to head and howl out “F*&$*ng Meow.
My daughter’s kitten had her moment today when she thwarted the laws of nature and in mid-flight, suddenly came face to face with the realization that for every violentaction, there is an equal and just as violent reaction. In her usual morning ‘ kitten run through the house as fast as you can’ moment, she came nose to tail with this old law.
In the spirit of the summer Olympics, her ‘never-before-attempted’ running broad jump from the back of the recliner to the couch was to be her moment of feline glory. However, the recliner was not to be toyed with. It “reacted”, (naturally) by doing what it does best. It reclined – violently. That’s when I saw it; that “stop action” moment, when the human mind records the feline equivalent of “Oh Crap!”
Did she see me – see her? Of course she did, but she was too busy to look “cat cool” and that’s when the second myth was shattered. You can rewrite all text that records “cats always land on their feet.” I have news for you – they don’t. They attempt to make up for it by looking as if they meant to land on the side with their head stuck behind their back leg and their tail stuck in the ear. They do this by imitating their best Fonzy move, jumping up quickly.
This action shatters the third rule of cat mythology. The rule that says all cats are graceful. When cats are ungraceful, (as this one was) in their haste to get away, they scatter everything collected on the table – to the floor – including the full cup of coffee. Then, (this is the best part) they run straight behind the couch – where I am sure they – in the cat’s equivalence of disbelief, slap the old paw to face.
As I write this, hours later, after having cleaned up the last dregs of the overturned coffee and put the table back in order, she has yet to come out from behind the couch. She knows I am writing about her. She hears me chuckling between key strokes. I know this because I hear her “cat muttering” under her breath. Poor kitty. Chuckle.
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About Julie
Julie Clark is a homemaker, mother, teacher of special needs children and an entrepreneur. As a teacher with a long history of teaching students in the elementary grades, she obtained her credentials for Special Need teaching and advocacy late in her career, because – as she puts it, “these kids need to be taken out of the corner and given a voice.”
As a means to lessen the stress that comes when one deals with bureaucracy, Julie – her Mother-in-Law and her daughter, opened the Mom & Me Vintage Linens and Lace shops late in 2011. Now with two locations in Colorado Springs, (The Treasure Shoppe – downtown CS and American Classics on N. Academy) she has managed to gather a rich following of friends and steady customers who look forward to seeing her come in with an armload of vintage linens, fine lace and the occasional vintage purse or pillow to round out her diverse selection.
Julie can be reached by JClark@Linens2Lace.com . You can also follow her blog at Linens2Lace.wordPress.com, and her Tweets at #MomNMe.
Have you ever bought an item from an antique store or flea market only to get it home and realize that the seller glued a %@*$#+ sticker on the wood or other finish, that will not come off without the threat of ruin? Don’t use alcohol, scrape it or use any abrasive. (shudder) Don’t even pick at it with your finger nail. Instead, grab the salad oil or mineral oil, pour it on a soft cloth and cover the sticker, letting it sit and soak for a while.
If you have already pulled parts of the sticker off, use the cloth, rub the oil into the glue in a circular motion until it softens and rolls off. If the sticker is stuck fast or has been there for a long time and you can afford the time, (and with some stickers you may have to do this anyway) pour either one of the oils directly on the paper and let it sit overnight. The following day it should be soft enough to pull off, glue and all.
While we are on this topic, every collector should have mineral oil around. A small amount of mineral oil works great on removing light scratches from vintage furniture, without stripping the original finish or patina.
Let’s talk about what can be done to organize an office or dorm room while doing our part to recycle. Here are some great ideas for putting things together inexpensively.
Save those Styrofoam veggie and meat trays. Wash them thoroughly and place them in desk drawers. Arrange pens and small office supplies in the sections.
File papers on your desk using an old record rack. Paint it to match the rest of the colors in the room.
Are there too many magazines just lying around? Save an empty detergent box, cut out a pocket and line with decorative paper. Store your magazines neatly on a book shelf.
Here are some quick fixes:
Old eye glass cases for pens, erasers, paper clips, etc.
Remove the clip bar from an old binder, secure it to a closet door for hanging scarves or belts
Let’s talk about “diapering.” No, I’m not talking about a baby’s butt, but diapering as it applies to Damask Linens. Diapering is derived from the French term diaspre, (bed of flowers) and means to adorn or bejewel. Vintage Damask linens were used to “diaper” walls, windows, tables and bedchambers. When used in a fashion sense, ladies of the French and English court were said to have had their bed chambers “diapered” with fine Damask linens. And (I’m speculating here) probably someone “bejeweled” a baby’s butt with a piece of Damask linen and a whole new use for the term “diapering” was coined.
From the fourteenth to the sixteenth century, most damasks linens were woven in a single color, with a glossy warp-faced satin pattern against a duller ground. Two-color damasks had contrasting color warps (fatter thread) and wefts, (thinner thread.) Polychrome damask is often gold or other metallic threads or additional colors as supplemental brocading wefts. Medieval damasks were usually woven in silk, but wool and linen damasks can also be found. (Thank you Wikipedia)
Today’s Damask is usually a single-color produced from silk, linen or linen-type synthetic fabrics. Damask weaves appear most commonly in table linens, but also in clothing and furnishings. Many repurposers take a Damask tablecloth and repurpose it to beautiful Damask evening dresses. For a wide variety of Vintage Damask linen, visit our vintage linen and lace store in The Treasure Shop. Space B4. We are exclusive linens and lace, and we’ve been in the same location for many years. Repeat customers come from all over Colorado to “pick” our finds. If you have never been there, we invite you to try us. Let us know what you are looking for. Send me an e-mail. If we don’t have it (yet), we may know where we can get it.
I get so busy selling linens, that I sometimes forget that summer is the perfect time of the year to wear them. The fact that you sew your own, adds to that pleasure. Great post.
This is simply too pretty not to reblog. I had one similar to this in the store for about 2 days before someone purchased it. Now i get calls from people wanting more.
Hand crocheted Bedspread was a big undertaking and countless hours of work. But when daylight was gone and inside chores were finished, one picked up their needlework and stitched. It was and still is a prize to have one.
You are in mid-panic. The in-laws are coming for dinner and your furniture looks as if a dust storm blew through your house in the middle of the night. You go to your cleaning cabinet and here is where you discover you are out of furniture polish. The heart can’t take this and you want to open the booze cabinet instead. What can you do? Follow these simple steps and you will stay sober and live another day.
1) Run to the kitchen. (don’t trip over the dog or the baby)
2) Measure out a quart (4 cups) of water and pour into a pot. .
3) Put the water on the stove and turn on the burner.
Let it heat up until it’s just warm but not boiling while stirring constantly.
Pour the mixture into a spray bottle before it gets too warm.
Get busy. Use it as you would any spray polish with a lint free rag.
This is a low-cost, green alternative to expensive furniture polish. It works best if the mixture is warm, so you might want to sit your spray bottle into another pot of warm water occasionally and before using the next time. The mixture will wash the dirt off the furniture, leaving behind a light oil finish. Add a drop or two of lemon extract to the mix for a great lemon scented furniture polish. Your mother-in-law will be impressed.
By the way, for you collectors, I have a natural formula for a furniture polish that my grandmother used. It works great on antique furniture because it doesn’t harm the original finish. That and more of my formula for removing stains from vintage linens are also coming. Tell your friends. Have them subscribe.
Occasionally people ask us where we get our linens. It took us awhile, but at this stage of our business, we depend on our customers; therefore, most of our linens come from referrals and sellers who contact us directly. More than just referrals however, we depend on our customers to tell us what they want. In some cases, especially when it comes to vintage lace, we may buy from a few known dealers or private estates, both local and out-of-state.
In any case, we have specific criteria for what we put in the store and most of our referring agents know what we look for. When they get it in stock or hear of a supply, they contact us. For example, some of our early 70’s and 80’s linens have come from a Chicago estate sale and we are fortunate enough to have established a long-term relationship with the estate so we expect that we will have plenty of beautiful vintage linens for years to come.
Some of our exotic lace came from the granddaughter of a Russian immigrant who ‘hand made’ the lace she carried out of Russia as a young girl, during the revolution. Occasionally, I will come across a great supply of vintage material on either Etsy or eBay that I can’t pass up. I have selected dealers on both these sites that I have bought from before and what they sell is quality.
Bottom line is that we depend on people, just like you, people with taste and an eye for fine linen that holds that old school quality. Thank you for you e-mail and your suggestions. Please keep them coming. If you’re local and have vintage linens to sell, contact us. We are always in the market.
Mom & Me - Vintage Linens, Lace & Antiques 