At an estate auction the other day,
I had my eye on a cute little green suitcase – the one on top in the photo.
There were 4 suitcases there – the 3 green ones plus a worn brown one.
I really only wanted the small green one, but when it came up for bid,
the auctioneer lumped all 4 suitcases together.
I went ahead and bid and won all 4 of them for the bargain price of $3 for all.
I went ahead and listed the 3 green ones in my Etsy shop,
and they sold within 15 minutes, but I wasn’t sure what to do with the brown one.
The interior lining was badly rotted and the outside was unpleasantly dinged up.
I seriously thought about just dumping it in the burn pile,
but I also got a mountain of vintage books (4 boxes) at the same auction,
so I decided I had nothing to lose, so I’d try improving the appearance of the suitcase.
As usual, I forgot to take a picture before I began.
First I tore out the rotten lining.
I choose an antique dictionary to line the inside,
because the pages had aged so beautifully, despite the fact
that some insect had eaten a hole through the whole book.
It took nearly an entire bottle of Modge Podge to put all the pages in
and add a sealer coat, but I was pleasantly surprised with the results.
The inside looked so much better, but the outside as still pretty bad.
I added some Valspar Antique Glaze to it.
Now the “scars” look great and the whole suitcase
has a perfect aged look.
I seriously love it now and am so glad
I didn’t consider it excess baggage and burn it!
Linking to these parties this week…
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Wow! I can’t believe you got all four for $3! That’s an amazing deal! The green ones are especially gorgeous 🙂
Emily
emilysummers-designer.blogspot.com
i need to seriously take a vacation in your area..just to get some bargains!!!!!!! love what you did with the suitcase!!
Don’t you love these old suitcases? I’ve been on the lookout – you got a great deal!
Love! I got an old trunk at Goodwill a few weeks ago and need to do something to the inside. This is a fabulous idea.
This looks amazing!! Such a great idea.
That looks awesome!!! I love the bookpage lining. You did a great job!
Angie, Great buy on the suitcases and I love how you saved the one with book pages. Thanks for sharing at the Open House party.
xo,
Sherry
The greens ones would be cute with some kind of map lining! Great idea!
tot
Great buy! It looks awesome. Thanks for sharing.
Hope to see you on my blog:)
Soo soo cute!! I love old suitcases too! Thanks for sharing at Feathered Nest Friday 🙂
Wow I love it. That’s adorable. Visiting from Gingerbread Blog.
One better than the next. You did an awesome job!
I am pinning this — I have several old suitcases that I’ve collected for our vintage travel theme room. Some are in excellent shape, others not so much so I like the idea of the book pages and the glazing on the outside.
Definitely why you get thus several blog comments.
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