Second Chances

I'll start this post by showing you one of the latest items I've come up with for my shop. I had the rusty tin pots and a delivery of fragrant French soaps that I'd ordered, to work with...

I wrapped the soaps in vintage sheet music, held in place with lace/ribbon and millinery flowers. I trimmed the pots to match each one and put them together as pretty little gift sets.


Lots more to do, but the scent of the soaps is lovely in my workroom for now! ;-))

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It can be difficult to know sometimes, when buying stock for the shop, whether to commit to an item or not...after all, if I don't sell anything, then I can't pay myself(!) - It can be a risky business, when its all money up front. Sometimes, if an item has hung around longer than I would have liked, I have to look at it and think if I can change it in some way to make it more appealing...
This French bedside cupboard is one such item.

I've had it in the shop for a while - At first I felt I should keep its original wood finish - Its had some interest, but hasn't sold...
So on Sunday, out came the paintbrush!

The French grey colouring tones nicely with the marble top, so I hope it will find a new home soon.

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A plain/tatty suitcase had (unsurprisingly!), sat on top of the wardrobe in the corner of the shop for a number of weeks too.

So I decided to cover it in fabric yesterday. Its a large case and so would need a large piece of fabric - I decided to use a fairly modern chintz, rather than one of my more valuable vintage fabrics.
Half way through...(A bit fiddly getting the fabric to sit neatly around all of those metal fixtures! - It took me about an hour to finish.)

Here it is done!

I used to make these for my previous shop - A big trunk that I covered years ago can be seen on my other blog here (about halfway down the post).

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And this dark wood chair has also been unwanted stock. (I actually like the original chenille seat pad, which is what drew me to the little chair in the first place - It reminds me of the fabric they used to cover the seats with on buses years ago!)

Anyway, another coat of paint...

And I made this removable slipcover at the shop today, using vintage ticking and French linen.

Fingers crossed that giving these items a second chance will see them sell soon.

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I made this floral bag today as well, from a vintage Sanderson cotton, which looks pretty displayed with the suitcase. . .

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My most recent buys include:
A (very!) rusty metal antique hat box. I love the finish its acquired (hopefully I'm not the only one, or the paint brush will have to be put to use again!)...

and so I wanted to save the rust as much as I could. I rubbed a generous layer of furniture wax into the surface to protect it.

And buffed it to a shine.

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This wooden box with distressed green paint caught my eye too...

But the top of it was a little too shabby to be considered attractive...

So I covered it in a vintage Sanderson fabric.
(I sold today - Thank you!)

This dainty little occasional table received a coat of paint at the weekend and is sitting in the shop this week too.

Other smaller items are, an original watercolour painting...

A warm and cosy traditional Welsh wool blanket...

An assortment of moulds and tart tins...

An adorable little turtle make-up compact and vintage 21st Birthday key, which have all been added to the shelves today.

I changed the shop's windows to include the new make-over projects...

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And there will be several changes to the inside of the shop over the next few days...

I've decided not to stock clothes at the shop any more. I need more space for my handmade products which have proven themselves to be my best sellers...so I need to work on that. (I'll be taking the vintage costume items that I have left, to some of the fairs that I've booked for this year. Its their second chance! ;-))

OK, That's it for now - Thanks for stopping-by! :)
Enjoy your evening,
Niki x

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