Grandma's Treasures

Hi Everyone!

Well, sometimes a creative idea gets put on hold.  When I started this blog, a generous Gem, "Auntie H", offered me her Grandmother's 3-tiered table for a project for my blog.  I was planning on painting it turquoise and giving it away to one of my nieces as a birthday present.  When I was prepping it for paint, I found an emblem and category number on the bottom of one of the tiers and started to question whether or not I should paint it.  After I did some research, I figured out that it is called a dumb waiter (very odd name), and very similar ones are rather old, like maybe a few hundred years old or more; some are quite valuable.  Her finish is in rough shape, but I'm going to have an antiques dealer check it out before I ruin give new life to the finish.  It looks like a giant cake stand.  Check it out:

So, onto a different Grandmother's treasure.  My Grandma B passed away over 6 years ago.  At the time, I was in the hospital and didn't get to travel to her funeral.  A few treasures were brought back to me that she owned and live in my kitchen where they get frequent use.  I cherish these few things I have of hers.  Oddly, a few years ago an unmarked package was sent to my Mom with two decorative birds in it that used to be in my Grandmother's home.  My Mom instantly recognized them and offered them to me.  At first glance, I didn't really care for the look of the birds, but I only have a few thing's that were hers and didn't want to pass up the treasures.  I decided to give them a fresh look with a good old can of spray paint.  If any of my cousins read this, I hope you don't cry like the transformation.

Here is the before:

That eye kind of watches you huh.... 

Here is the after:

I really like the birds now.  They are substantial and beautiful.  They are sitting on a set of my father's yearbooks that I recovered with painter's paper.  This is also significant because my father passed away a few years ago and now they support his mother's beautiful birds.  That gorgeous painting is done by one of the dearest friends I have ever been blessed to have in my life.  This little grouping of items holds some heavy sentimental weight for me and they are out in the open for me to enjoy every day.  A little dose of beauty for every day life......

Do you have a little treasure that belonged to a passed on family member that you can't bare to part with, but don't have out in the open because you don't care for it aesthetically?  A little paint, or brown painter's paper, can go a long way.

From this:

To this:

Many blessings to you, Home Centered Girl