A little Something for one of the Granddaughters

[Carolina Coyote]

My Oldest Granddaughter is 24 and when she was a little Girl she was such a Buddy to her Grandpa and I wanted to give her something a little special for her to remember her  Grandpa .  I had this old Steamer Trunk so I decided to refinish it and give to her as a wedding present as she is planning to get married soon.

What it looked like before I started.


<a href="http://s254.photobucket.com/albums/hh112/cafree54/Old%20Trunk/?action=view&amp;current=July2011001.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh112/cafree54/Old%20Trunk/th_July2011001.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" ></a>



After a little cleaning






Then a little staining and touch-up work






Final touches for the tray





This was a work of love as she is very special to me, took me several months to do this and invested several hundred dollars but for her its worth every cent and minute.
CC

[Todd Rahm]

Shoot that turned out super CC!!!!!! 

She'll love it forever. 

[nastygunz]

Wow thats beautiful, and I bet she brags she got it from her grandpa 

[centerfire_223]

Man that is pretty, I am sure she will be tickled with it. 

[FinsnFur]

Wow, what a transformation I didnt know you was into that stuff. Looks like that wasnt your first refurbish job and by the looks of the other trunks, it wont be your last Very nice work.

What the heck is in the back on that first pic? You got three furnaces running?

[HuntnCarve]

You did a beautiful job on that trunk Carl.  Your granddaughter will have a special gift that will last a lifetime.  Well done!

Dave

[Carolina Coyote]

Thanks everyone, I have done a couple of other Trunks but none to that detail but for the Granddaughter I though I would give it a try, there is a lot of small detail work and had to replace a couple of pieces of the wood . I worked on it a little just about every day. I have another Trunk and another Granddaughter so I plan to try and redo it for her. I enjoy restoring old stuff when I have time.
Jim, I have a Geothermal Heat and Cooling system, a unit for Upstairs and one for the basement the other unit is a Dehumidifier with the hot and humid summers here it takes a lot to cool this house.

[coyote101]

Wow Carl, that trunk turned out beautiful! Nicely done sir. 

Pat

[HaMeR]

HOLEE SMOKES you nailed that Carl!!  Excellent labor of love for sure!! She will cherish that trunk forever. 

[Hawks Feather]

That is one really nice looking restoration.

Jerry

[iahntr]

Very nice !!   

[shaddragger]

  Phenominal job CC!! That is an amazing transformation!

[vvarmitr]

Carl: that is just magnificent!
One whale of a job!

[yotefever]

Great job!!
I have a soon to be four year old granddaughter and my uncles trunk from way back when and you have given me an idea, THANKS.

[Carolina Coyote]

Yotefever,My Granddaughter was here for Thanksgiving yesterday and I gave the trunk to her, her reactions were beyond my expectations, I saw the little Girl that was such a buddy to me when she was small and a moment that will last for both of us the rest of our lives, for sure the time and effort that was put into the project was worth every second, Good luck on your project. cc

[securpro]

That awesome CC  I have a couple of those old trunks around and you've given me some ideas

[Ladobe]

Beautiful job on the restoration CC, and a great gift idea for your G'Daughter.    Fills the bill nicely for "something old" for her wedding. 

When I lived in Carmel, CA (until the mid 70's) most of our house furniture and accessories were from the old windjammer and steamship periods that I had restored.   Even then they could still be found in old garages, sardine canneries or boat yards around the Monterey Peninsula and picked up for a song (some for just hauling them away).   It became a fad and prices went through the roof though.   Anyway, we had several trunks, the flat tops with glass on them as end tables and night stands, and the dome tops at the foot of beds to keep our antique quilts and extra blankets in.   I used mast sections with brass rigging for table lamps, bells for hanging lamps, hatches for coffee and dining tables, a collection of sextants, compasses, gages, ships plaques, tools etc and copper/brass hardhat diving gear as accessories.    With Carmel being an eccentric artists community, it wasn't hard to get neighbors to make up several oil paintings for us as well.     

The original Carmel has no street addresses.    So many homes have house names listed in guides downtown with how to find them, and most names are geared to the ocean.   We named our home the Whales Tale, and that was on an appropriate Moby Dick plaque on the house like a house number.   Fun pace to live, although very expensive even back then. 

[Carolina Coyote]

Ladobe, Do you still have that stuff? I have several more old Trunks that I have picked up at the Flea Market as my Wife and I love them and we have given our Daughters some also, I have one now that is covered in Leather that I plan to try and restore, the leather is in pretty good shape but needs refinishing and I don't know how to do that but looking around the web for info. Could be a real challenge. cc

[vvarmitr]

... the leather is in pretty good shape but needs refinishing and I don't know how to do that but looking around the web for info.

Sending ya a pm! 

[Okanagan]

Carolina, what a fabulous work, from the heart.  You made a family heirloom, and a usefull one.