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Health & Fitness

Just An Ordinary Week! No Drama! Thank God!

No Drama! Just an ordinary week of unique "Finds" and restoration.

Well I'm back again! This time to talk about just an ordinary week of unique finds and the restoration of some of these pieces I've acquired over the last two months. Between the "Fire," getting the 150 year porch doors home in one piece, and the removal of the glass coffee table with my boys; my life has been a real "WHIRLWIND." Can you believe it? No drama for me this week, but that's OK. Finally, I had the time; to create and restore some of these unique "Finds."  

My house at the beach is now packed with all my great "Finds!" There's barely any living space left! With Memorial Day weekend upon us, it's time for me to empty the contents and start again.  So, I'm planning for my "BIG SALE" which is coming up toward the end of June.  Don't worry, I will let everyone know when and where!  But for the meantime let's talk about some of the pieces and what I've created from some of them. 

Remember the old map I told everyone about in my first blog. The one I bought from the really nice old man with no arms at the Flea Market. Well, the restoration is complete on that find and I'm so happy with the final product. Rather then matting and framing the map, I decided to create something totally different.  I bordered the map with thick black hockey tape and drilled two holes through the top on either side.  I took weathered old boat rope and tied really cool boat knots on each side to create a way to hang the map on the wall.  Then I bought some old boat cleats at the Flea Market and tied the map to the cleats like it was a "boat in a slip".  It looks unbelievable on any wall and is a conversation piece!  Wait till you see it!    

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The rest of my week was spent framing and gluing and here are the reasons for my hard work. I was at one of my favorite second-hand stores in Long Branch called "Furnished With Love" and there I had a great "Find." At the bottom of some old box was a bag filled with old Playbills from Broadway Plays.  I had picked up the bag and knew immediately that I had to buy them. I didn't know what I was going to do with the Playbills; but I was sure that somebody would treasure them.    

It took me an entire night to matte and frame each Playbill!  I've never done my own matting before!  You have to love an exacto knife and gorilla glue!  Did you know; that you can actually glue your fingers together if your not careful with gorilla glue.  Make sure you read the fine print on the side of the tube before you start to use it! Once I got it down to a science, it was like riding a bike. I don't think I will ever pay somebody to matte artwork for me again after what I was capable of doing! I framed over 25 Playbills and they look amazing in a series on a wall. Anybody that has a media room or is into Broadway Plays will consider these a real treasure.    

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Last but not least, I restored an old french style antique wall clock.  This is one of my favorite pieces because of the unique style, shape, and color.  I bought this piece from another one of my favorite second-hand stores in Summit, NJ called Sage Re-Sale shop. When I was there, they had just unloaded an entire truck load from a huge estate. Every piece was in crates and I knew there was hidden value behind those crates.  I waited in the store anxiously for the owners to reveal the treasures!  There must have been over 20 crates to open, so I was back and forth all day until the final crate was opened. I couldn't think about anything else that day except those crates.  I felt like a kid in a candy store, happy; and waiting to make my purchase.  I purchased alot of valuable pieces that day. Too many to talk about; you will just have to wait for my "Big Sale."

Well that's it for today! Stay tuned; I'm back to the Flea Markets this weekend and I'm sure there will be a ton of garage and estate sales over the holiday weekend. Plenty of treasures to be found! Plenty of treasures to restore!          

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