Auction Finds and Bench Inspiration

I did it.  I went to another auction.  Maybe I've turned a corner.  I bid more and won more.  The corner I turned may not be the best corner on the block.  I spent more on most of the items I won than I should have.  I came away with some things I like and a few things I plan to keep.

My first win of the night was another vintage wooden ironing board.  This is my fourth.  Now I have one that I actually use to iron, one for sale at Rockin' B, and two waiting on a small makeover.  This new one( the lightest colored one) is great shape.  Interestingly, all four of my ironing boards have different ways of opening and setting up.  I like the legs and opening mechanism of the newest one the best.  My first board (the medium colored one) is the widest and for actual ironing that's a big deal. The newest one has some sort of paper covering stuck to it.  I hope that comes off easily with water!

I am still in love with re-purposing vintage ironing boards.  If you haven't seen my post on ways to use them, please take a look!  If you like vintage things, then this may leave you in search of an old board for yourself.  The good news is, they are still fairly easy to find.

My next win was a tray of 4 bird figurines.  These are china or porcelain or pottery or something.  I fear I am really at a loss when there is no mark on the bottom to at least get me started on a little research.

 Only one of the pieces had a mark - Goldcastle Made in Japan.  After a little Googling, I found out that this piece was made in the 1950's or 60's.  I did a quick rinse on it at night, but after looking at these photos, it's obvious I need to go back and do a better job.

 I'll probably keep on or two of these pieces, at least for a while. My hubby seemed to like the brown speckled one that looks like a bird feeder. I'll keep it if I can figure out a good spot for it.  I'm also keeping one of the bird pairs.  It'll probably be the one without the babies, but I have to say those babies in the nest are adorable.  I generally don't like having a lot of knick-knacks around, but I'm having a hard time resisting bird things right now.  I hope I don't end up a little old lady living in a cluttered cottage surrounded by a million bird figurines!

I won a metal garden urn.  It's large - around 30 inches tall - and chippy in a perfect sort of way.  I saw it and fell in love.  It came with the  fake flower in a clay pot that you see in the photo.  I paid too much.  Apparently, someone else was also in love with it.  If I decided to sell it later, I might break even, but that's about all.  I don't plan to sell it anytime soon.  I'm picturing it with a lush red geranium inside.  Or maybe a purple trailing something or other.  Should it sit on the ground or be placed on top of a table?  I don't know, but I look forward to playing around with it.

I bought a wig stand.  Ordinarily, this might be a very odd thing for me to buy, but my mom has breast cancer and is going through chemo.  She's right in the midst of losing her hair and I must say she is handling all of that extraordinarily well.  We got her a wig (mostly for wearing to church) from the American Cancer Society.  The wig is beautiful but it looks really sad just laying down.  Now it will have a nicer spot to rest when it's not being used.  I was determined to win the stand.  Again, I had to battle it out with another determined person.

My largest item was a park bench. I fully intended to fix it up to sell, but I think I might keep this, too. (Oh dear. That's becoming a very bad habit!) 

Most benches like this have wood that's stained.  I want it to have some color. Maybe even a bright pop of color.  I was having trouble envisioning this bench painted, so I searched online for inspiration.  Truthfully, the cutest painted benches were all wood.  I did find a few painted park benches (cast iron and wood), but not as many good examples as I was hoping for.  Here are some of the painted benches I came across.  After lots of browsing, I think I'm leaning towards something in the blue family.

1. PhotoLori's Flickr site
2. My Crazy Container Garden - This wonderful gal has paint and isn't afraid to use it!
3. Country Living
4.  GreenCulture
5. Gates of Vienna - I got lost in this post and was completely sidetracked into the world of sonnets
6. Sixaguilar's Flickr site
7.  Coach O's Flickr site
8. Rosalind Creasy - You'll want to plant edibles all over your yard after visiting this site
9. How Did I Do It? see also Life in Sugar Hollow .

 

While searching, of course I was inspired by things other than color.

 Brittany, from Pretty Handy Girl, did a wonderful tutorial on turning a headboard into a bench.  I see these benches often at the store where I rent a booth.  Plus, I have one that I picked up at a yard sale.  

This bench from Eden Maker has a French poem verse written on the back.  

I would love to see a close up view.

I also came across a fun older post from Working Woman's Guide to Domestic Success about wishing she had a cottage by the lake.  She illustrates her dream with some really wonderful photos, all of which are wonderful. Here's one of my favorites.  It illustrates my love of having a totally unexpected color in a room.

 

I found the photo of a coatroom with a blue bench on CreateGirl.  The bench isn't anything like mine, but I love it.

Last, but certainly not least, I came across a wonderful post from Erin of  The Painted Garden.  Erin is a painter.  She creates her own inspiration in her garden.  She has been featured in tons of magazines.  This article was about her feature in the magazine, Container Gardens.  You know - I think I read that issue!