The last little bit we’ve been busy doing some antiquing and auction shopping. I wanted to show you guys a couple of the really cool things we bought.

We actually found this watercolor in an antique shop UNDER a pile of rusted metal light fixtures. I managed to pick it up for $20. I just LOVED something about it. It’s a depiction of a cavalryman of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw (possibly the Lancers of the Vistula Legion) during the Napoleonic war. Of course the painting isn’t that old, it’s actually from the 60′s I believe. I cleaned it, we bought the lovely silver leaf and linen frame from the Goodwill for $4. The blue linen pattern acid free mat was custom cut for the piece and cost $12. Total cost $36!

I researched the artist who is S. Pajackowski. He was born in 1900, but can’t find any info on when he died. The few paintings of his I was able to find sell in about the $350-$400 range, so not bad  for under $40!

This unfinished painting is on the BACK of our painting. I’m not really sure what it is exactly, some sort of polish procession I guess.

It’s hard to say that one or the other of this group is my favorite, all three items in this post are great! But I really LOVE this vintage pram. This is in such awesome condition that I honestly don’t think that this was ever used with a child. There are no rips or wear marks on it anywhere, no staining, it has all of the original parts including the cloth covered mattress and the mosquito net. When I saw the Perego Confiori stroller in forest green and white I HAD to have it. The auction house sold it as a buggy pram (the bottom two photos) and a car seat that was out of date. Once I got home We figured out that it wasn’t a car seat at all (hubby figured it wasn’t from the get-go). What they were calling a car seat is actually the seat for the Summer stroller configuration (the top two photos). The hood over the bassinet collapses, the little window on the apron snaps up or down and the entire apron can be removed if you want the pram open. You can remove the bassinet and replace it with the stroller seat. This seat can be adjusted into several different reclining positions, the surrey top can be attached, there is a bracket that can be flipped up and that holds the mosquito net off the baby’s head. It also came with a matching cover that woud go over the top of the stroller to cover the baby for sleeping.

I know what you are thinking… We don’t have a baby! True true, lol but I figured it was well worth the $100 price tag because if we DO have a baby (we are trying) I couldn’t get a new stroller half this awesome for $100. This thing is in such good condition it’s like old-new stock and we love vintage so it is perfect for us, it’s even hubby’s favorite color! If we don’t have a baby at least I have an interesting piece to use when staging photos of the baby items I make. Also, I could sell it online. less mint versions of the same buggy have been going in the $300 range on eBay (even with $50+ shipping) and most of them only have one set of the parts, either the stroller or the bassinet and none of the accessory parts! I feel like it was a hell of a deal even though it was way more than I would normally consider spending. Something about it just called out to me!

This is the reason why we went to the auction in the first place! It is a handmade vintage/antique pattern case! It is solid wood, all brass pulls and glass in the windows with 2 replacement pieces included. I had been storing my vintage pattern collection in Rubbermaid storage drawers which were becoming stressed under the weight. I don’t have to worry about it with this, I have plenty of room for all of my patterns to be spread out into their categories and then put into separate drawers by size range and even one left over for other stuff. The drawers aren’t completely full so I have room to grow! hehehe. It’s 21 inches deep, so that’s a lot of drawer space! This one set me back $80 which I don’t think was too bad for a handmade item like this. Seems like anything with more than 6 drawers in it sells for WAY more than I’m willing to pay. All the little apothecary chests, old safety deposit boxes, seed chests, etc, etc all START at about $300. hahah So, I felt lucky to get my hands on this one for a relative pittance. The only bad thing about it is that hubby tore his abdominal muscle moving it into the house and has been out of work on Vicodin for a week. It really isn’t THAT heavy, but it’s very awkward and he should have let me help him when I offered. LOL. Hopefully he will be well again soon, but they said 6-8 weeks.

I would also like to send a get well soon out to regular reader Toocutedobs!