Madeleine Price continues her rescue mission of a chunk of dirty old carved walnut…

After a summer of scraping, sanding and wire-wooling, I was looking at a repaired, revived and restored chunk of carved walnut. It was starting to look like a table, so that’s the direction I took.

I hunted around for feet that would replace the original ones I couldn’t replicate. In the end I settled for good old wooden drawer knobs. I removed the old feet, screwed in the knobs and waited for inspiration.

Deciding on a glass top was a no-brainer. It had to be the right size, though, not overhanging the carving too much, tough enough to withstand accidents – and at the right price.

G-Plan Table with the perfect glass top

An old G-Plan coffee table provided the answer. I saw the classified ad in the local paper – and snapped it up.

The piece of toughened glass was an ideal fit for the ‘profile’ and it already had a lovely smooth edge, so I removed it and set it aside to await the next stage. (Of course, the original G-Plan table is now considered vintage and I regret having had to ditch it but my obsession made me ruthless…)

The final challenge of the transformation faced me. I could hardly just balance the glass on top of the table and leave it at that. It needed some kind of support…

…Visit us again next week for the last part of this mini-series – the final result of this vintage table restoration is beautiful.

Madeleine is a Managing Partner of Text Engineering, a writing and editing service for individuals and small businesses…and a Vintage DIY enthusiast!

Katy Jo at How to do Vintage celebrated a birthday recently and treated her friends to some Moo’s cupcakes and Bellinis – Yum!

Moos Cupcakes at Katy Jo's Birthday Tea - so beautiful and delicious!

Just wanted to share how delightful these cupcakes were, full of buttery cream goodness, the vanilla cakes were light and fluffy. Our favourite have to be the lemon cup cakes with lemon icing, such a treat. If you’re in the delivery radius, they really will make an excellent gift or be the icing on the cake (ahem!) for any event you hold.

Based in Portsmouth, Hampshire – Marie at Moo’s Cupcakes bakes and decorates with creative flair. Cupcakes come in multiples of 12 and get delivered in very handy flat boxes to make them easy for you to transport.

They come in such a variety of pretty designs, check out their cupcake gallery for more inspiration.

We’ll let you know if we spot any Easter delights from them – toodle pip!

Spring is in the air!

Hope you have been enjoying the sunny spring feel to the weekend if you’re in the UK.

Nautical Inspired Vintage Spring Dress from Pretty Damn Cute

Can’t wait to get shopping for a spring dress…we’re liking this vintage dress from Pretty Damn Cute on Etsy if we can pull off the yellow.

This nautical inspired puff sleeve, vintage spring dress, has very handy pockets at the hips. We think it would make a lovely day dress.

Although a loose fit, it can all be bought in at the waist meaning it will suit most body types which is a bonus for us, we’re 1950’s curvy not skinny jeans slim!

The belt is removable too, meaning easy to accessorise with different colours or styles, should the whim take us.

Pretty Damn cute think its from the 1980’s, either way it does have a distinct cute 1950’s vintage style, which definitely appeals to us.

Double button detail on spring dress from Pretty Damn Cute on Etsy

Our favourite part of this dress is the double button on the sleeves, it is so cute…or should that be Pretty Damn Cute!

The change of season is always a good excuse to refresh our wardrobes and spring is the perfect time to ebay those purchases you’ve got bored of and go on the hunt for new vintage clothing bargains.

Out with the old, in with the new…happy shopping Vintage Lovers…Toodle Pip!

How to do Vintage are very pleased to welcome Madeleine Price, Managing Partner of Text Engineering as a guest writer!

Madeleine's Vintage Table Before Restoration

Madeleine will be sharing with us her DIY Vintage stories, starting with How to Restore a Vintage Table; sharing with us her tips for restoring vintage furniture.

Keep a look out for this three part series that will give you before and after pictures and a great outline of her journey to restore a vintage table…Toodle Pip!

DIY vintage restoration is not always a cheap way to bring style and originality into your life – your bank manager will think you’re being blackmailed. But once it’s finished, the rewards just keep on coming, says Madeleine Price.

It cringed at me from a dusty corner of the auction house and begged me to take it home and love it. It was clearly in pain. It was very dirty and badly damaged. One of its ‘arms’ had come off, the other was missing completely. The carved feet were in a bad way and its coat was dull and lifeless.

So naturally, I had to buy it.

This was how it looked when I got it home:

Restoring a Vintage Table

Like most of my reckless endeavours, I hadn’t really thought it through, but here it was.

It turned out to be made of walnut and I spent the best part of one summer, removing layers of dust and old varnish from every inch of the intricate carving with Nitromors, paint scrapers, sandpaper and wire wool. I got a talented amateur wood carver to replicate the missing piece (in cheaper, softer pine).

Then I wood-glued the adrift ‘arm’ back in place, attached the newly carved one, varnished the whole thing – and then looked around for a suitable top that would fit the ‘profile’ of the table.

Visit us again for part 2 of this three-part mini-series from Madeleine, on how to restore a Vintage Table.

Madeleine is a Managing Partner of Text Engineering, a writing and editing service for individuals and small businesses…and a DIY Vintage enthusiast!