Tea Time Table

     I saw a vintage children's ice cream table and 4 chairs on eBay 7 - 8 years ago, (prior to having grand children) and the cost was $600.00.  I watched that one sell., and I was astounded.  We began searching for individual chairs and a table, and purchased each, one at a time.  They were in various stages of disrepair.  I sand blasted them, and JC did the powder coating.   He made new seats from scrap lumber, left from building our house.  They were all then stained and finished.  The chair seats range in height from 10 1/2" to 11 1/2", and are all a bit different. I checked eBay this morning, and ice cream sets this size are going for $90.00 to $660.00.  Whether they will sell or not, who knows.

     I had a child's china tea set on the table for display.  Another of our grand daughters was visiting, and climbed up to "take tea."  She began "clinking" 2 pieces together, and we quickly realized that china would not work with those who are 18 months.  One piece was chipped, but that's still a memory.  JC, our daughter and grand daughter went shopping that afternoon and purchased a plastic Disney princess tea set for grandma and one for grand daughter to take home.

     The little one you see in the pictures is now 5, but those were taken over 18 months to 2 years.  Pieces of our tea set have disappeared over time.  We still have the tea pot, sugar and creamer, 4 plates, 3 cups, and 2 spoons.  Little ones love to carry pieces around.

     I was a red hat queen at one time.  We all seemed to drift apart, though I still have my red hats.  This grand daughter and her 3 year old sister love to wear them, and I always have to join in.

     The two bottom pictures are of a pair of chairs we found at Round Top last spring.  The seats are 9" high, but they are great for bears, and most of the time, bears are the ones taking tea.  Friends were visiting over Labor Day with their children who are 2 and 4.  I looked up at one point and the little 2 year old had these small chairs in the den at the ottoman.  She was sitting in one, with a bear at her side, playing a game on Mamma's I-pad.

Fun to pretend Stove

                                                    BEFORE

                                                      DURING

                                                        AFTER                                                                                           A A friend brought this to us, knowing my love of old wood and coal burning stoves.  (This makes the 6th one in our house, and we have 5 or 6 others stored in the "barn.")This friend shared an airplane hangar, and when  the man who shared the rental hangar moved out he left the stove, in 84 pieces.  We had this for over 15 years, stored on a pallet in our barn.  My husband grew tired of tripping over pieces of it that stuck out, and one day decided we would check to see if all the pieces were there.  He said if it was all there, we would finish and assemble it, if not, he would throw it out.  We began assembling it, and to my excitement, it was.  The stove had been stored outside at some point, because many parts of it are pitted.  We sand blasted all parts of the stove, then JC powder coated each piece.  You can see how he does that in the second picture.  The paint is electrostatically attached to each piece.  If it is not baked in a high degree oven, then the powder can just be blown off.  The large white back piece was replaced.  The original was so dented, it would never have looked right.  Every piece is powder coated, though the silver parts look like the original nickel plating. The silver piece beside the door covers the spring which closes the door.  As I sand blasted it, I could tell that it had originally been nickel.  The only piece we purchased was the temperature gauge.  The original one could not be restored.  An added benefit of refinishing the stove is that all the young children who visit love "baking" cakes, muffins, etc.  Our grand daughters played with it for hours at first, and still "cook" on it at times.

Restored Theater Seats

My husband and I enjoy antiques, and have many that we have restored.  These came from the old Junior High School, which was about to be torn down here in our city.  I learned of the sale from a friend who did my hair.  When I told my husband I had always wanted some stadium seats, we purchased a row.  We now have 2 sets of 2 in our den, and a set of 4 in our game room.
When my friend moved her salon, she had room for only 5 of the 7 seats, so we moved them to our shop, and my husband took them all apart.  We sandblasted all of the castings, then he powder coated black what had originally been a very faded blue.  He built the base of wood and painted it black.    Her new shop has black shelves in the reception area, so these tie in very well.  The seats are birds eye maple, but you really can't see that detail.  Many of the seats had gum on the underside.  She said some of it was probably her's, so we left it on her's, but cleaned it off of ours.  We sandblasted ours and painted them black, but stained wood for our bases, to fit into our Victorian home with it's wood floors.   We have a friend who is in her late 70's, and she said she sat in these when she was in Jr. High, so you can tell how old they are.