Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Have you missed me? Ok so maybe it's not been that long but it has been over a week since my last post. Since starting my blog last year I do believe this is the longest I've gone without at least writing a little something.

It's not that I've been intentionally neglecting my blog but the way it is with life busyness can seem to eb and flow. Sometimes I've got all the time in the world and then sometimes I barely have a moment to breath.

Just this past week I've been cleaning out the garage in order to make room for the things I've been purchasing in preperation for the Funky Junk Sisters show this June. I've picked up a lot of fun things this past few weeks that I will give you a peek of later.

With all the items I needed to clean out I considered a garage sale but decided I might not have enough to make it worth my time. I decided to post a few things on Craigslist to see if that might work and it turned out pretty good!

The first items that went were some cool old windows and a farm style rocking chair...

then an old leather travelers bag...

next was a french provincial etagere and a primitive potting bench...

and last but not least my huge antique armoire.

Some of you may remember my previous post about this piece and the story of how I accquired it. I actually had great plans for this piece but knew how valuable the space was that it was taking up so I had to let it go. I think I actually breathed a sigh of relief when it left and am now loving all the extra room I have for new finds. On to better (but hopefully not bigger) things!

Before I get too eager in my purchases though I have a number of things to purge...slowly but surely!

How To Clean Vintage Embrodiery

I love vintage textiles but in the past I was always very hesitant to purchase any with even a hint of a stain as I rarely was able to get the stain out properly and just ended up banishing them to the hopeless pile. Just recently I came across a product though at Big Lots called Sun Oxygen Cleaner (probably a knock off of OxyClean). It was $3 for a 30oz container so I decided to give it a try. I had a set of delicately crocheted doilies that I had given up on after trying to hand clean them a few times with no success. They had some very dark stains on them that did not want to budge but after a decent soak in this solution I was so impressed with the outcome!!!

So this week when I was at a local thrift store I found this darling little cross-stitch picture.

It had some stain spots and was very dingy but I was feeling confident after my doily experience and decided for a couple dollars I'd buy it.

After removing it from it's frame I laid it in the small side of my sink and sprinkled a thin coat of Sun over the top.

I promptly poured a very thin layer of boiling water over the top. Hot water seems to activate this stuff the best. And the less water you can use the better as the more you add the weaker the solution becomes.

Immediatley the water turned brown! yikes it was dirty! I then let it soak for over an hour. Half way through I agitated it a bit with the bottom of a glass cup. You should see some tiny oxygen bubbles when you do this.

I then rinsed in warm water. It was already looking better! One more soak for about an hour, air dry, a light iron and here it is! What a difference! Notice the clouds!? And the house is now pink, not mauve!

AFTER

BEFORE

Now to decide what to use it for...pillow, patch for a purse, wall hanging, book cover...I'll have to get back to you on that.

Happy Cleaning!

P.S. I found an interesting way of removing stains from linens suggested here at French Cupboard . Ever tried that before?