14 Masters Who Gave Old Things a Second Life — From a $1 Handbag to a 100-Year-Old Clock

The handbag is designed in the Art Deco style of the 1920s. I purchased a new strap and restored the bag itself using leather conditioners and metal polish.

Fred the jeweler saved this historical piece! Initially the jewelry store said they wouldn’t be able to fix it, but Fred said he could take it on but it would take a while. Well worth the time and effort. I also asked if he could add a hidden bail so it could be used as a pendant, and Fred designed a custom hinge and swivel that works perfectly with the piece.
When I picked it up, I gave Fred a big hug with happy tears! He did such a beautiful job restoring it. After all, it’s an Edwardian-style piece by Gattle, dating from around the late 19th to early 20th centuries. The brooch features 50 diamonds and 2 lovely pearls.

A coworker asked me to fix up her doll, and I just have to show off the result! I did everything myself: a new dress, stockings, and hair. I left the lips as they were, though.

All taken apart, cleaned and the joints re-glued, the wood refinished, waxed and polished, optics cleaned and illuminant found and fitted. Rust removed from the chimney.
Just look at how wonderful it is to view slides on this Magic Lantern — the historic predecessor of modern projectors.

I removed the remnants of the old finish and treated a few water stains with oxalic acid. I applied gel stain to the top, followed by a couple of coats of satin polyurethane. I used black enamel on the legs.

I completely took the chairs apart and put them back together from scratch. The result is wonderful, isn’t it?

This clutch is absolutely beautiful. Its standout feature is a coin purse with an unusual mechanism. But over time, it became worn and no longer looked presentable. So I decided to refresh it with a pirate-inspired style. I added raised panels with embossed designs. I was also able to place classic pirate coins inside.

I wanted to preserve as many of this vintage clock’s original parts as possible. Almost everything needed fixing. First, I took the case door apart, cleaned it, and glued it back together. I made all the carved details by hand myself. I varnished everything and made brass plates with adjusting screws so the clock would be easy to mount on the wall: even a slight tilt can stop the clock or make it run unevenly.

I was disappointed by the state of the dial. I took the mechanism completely apart, fixed the defects, and cleaned it with gasoline. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the paper dial looking decent again: like an old photo, it was covered in tiny cracks and scratches. But I managed to track down a ceramic dial in excellent condition to replace it.
Interestingly, the decorative bottom of an antique wall clock’s case is called the “drop,” and the top is called the “crown.” The “drop” on this clock was missing a few pieces, and the “crown” was gone entirely.
I didn’t let that stop me. I had to make the missing parts of the case myself. To recreate the “crown,” I used a Gothic-style illustration as a model. Finally, I finished the case with wax and coated the carved details with shellac.

You have to admit, the result is impressive! This clock looks as though it was only recently hanging in the living room of an earl’s estate, and now it adorns a modern apartment.

The bag had no fasteners, so at first I planned to use it for materials. But something about it really grew on me. I made new closures, restored the edges, and ended up with a great bag.

I’d love to know how this dresser’s previous owners used it: did they keep their bed linen in it, or jewelry? The condition of the drawer runners and drawers makes it clear that the dresser was used often. Apparently, it had already been restored before.
My father completed all the work: he got the drawers sliding smoothly again, recreated the missing pieces, and closed the gaps in the frame. He polished the hardware with GOI paste and painted it with Little Greene paint.

I bought a card table that was basically fit for the scrap pile. The tabletop was badly warped, one leg had been repaired long ago, and the lower cross brace was broken. The table was taken apart and carefully inspected.
It became clear that the tabletop would have to be discarded: it had been completely eaten away by wood-boring beetles, and half of the veneer on the base was missing. It appeared to be curly maple burl veneer, also known as bird’s-eye maple. Beautiful and rare.
I decided to preserve the original veneer on the legs and use strips from the base for the restoration. The veneer was crumbling and breaking, but I stood my ground. I spent about a month working on the legs. I filled the beetle holes and glued patches into place.
At the same time, I commissioned the missing pieces from a metal casting workshop: brass appliqués and one foot for a leg. Fortunately, there were samples of every element, and the workshop made exact replicas of the brass embellishments for me. This is what the original “feet” looked like:

For the tabletop, we chose a base and covered it with veneer on all sides. The front surface was created using marquetry techniques with different wood species. We made a special trip to a wholesale warehouse for the veneer. We brought back several varieties, but ultimately chose American walnut burl (similar to the “bird’s-eye” pattern on the legs) and oak.

I added a little charm to an 80s viscose dress I found at a thrift store. I reversed the bodice so the buttons ran down the front, reshaped the neckline, and adjusted the sleeves to give them a little more volume. I’ve been learning to sew for a couple of years, and this is the first time I’ve successfully redesigned a dress without a pattern. It was so much fun!

These were my grandma’s and I am so honored to have been gifted them. She didn’t have pierced ears so they were clip-ons. I had them converted to posts and cleaned. I can’t wait to wear them!

The stools were $40. I learned a lot, including what I would do differently if I were ever again to restore the caning on a piece of furniture, but I’m proud of the result!! I did the bare minimum with the wood — got feed n’ wax from Lowe’s and applied it, following the instructions on the bottle. Sadly, they’re too tall for the bar in my home, and I’m going to have to part with them, so I wanted to memorialize what I did here in this post.