Summer Furniture project - refurbish a mid-century stool seat

 It is that time of year where the kids swim just about every day so I figured I needed a project to work on while sitting on the patio watching them.  I am in need of some accent tables, a table for under my TV, a desk for the baby or a bookshelf, so I started searching the thrift stores & yard sales.  I didn't find anything that I need, but thought that this metal chair/stool combo thing looked interesting.
To tell the truth, I have no place for this chair in my home and pretty sure that my husband will hate it but I wanted this project anyway.  I think maybe once it is finished, I will try and sell it.  After some research, I discovered that they are currently making a reproduction of this same chair!

When I found that, I panicked a little thinking, 'oh shit, I bought just a dirty stool that isn't even old!' but I took a closer look and this one is indeed, a very old version.  Also through some online comparisons I found out that it won't be super valuable once refurbished, but as long as I don't spend too much time on it, I will be able to turn a slight profit.  Obviously this business is more of a hobby than a business.

 At least I get to work in comfortable clothes!

I took it apart completely in about an hour.  I spent another 2 hours scrubbing off rust.  I like to keep most things original, so I soaked the screws overnight in a vinegar bath to get the rust off.  Today, (or maybe tomorrow) I will be working on upholstery, paint and then the real challenge.... putting it back together correctly.

Craft Show displays made from Vintage Suitcases

Probably the place that you'll have the most vintage hard-shell suitcase sightings would be at a handmade crafts show.  Especially the indie ones! They are so handy for craft shows because they double as storage. You can store your crafts inside, carry them into the show, open up the case and boom.... display is done. (ok, so there is a little more work than that in setting up a craft show booth but still... you get what I mean)
The other day I was surfing around the web looking at suitcases when I came across this

http://pommes-frites.blogspot.com/2010/07/craft-fair-booth-display-vintage.html

Adorable right? I've bee using my vintage cases for my craft show displays for awhile, but I've been using just the plain case... as is.  Mine didn't have anything fancy, I just open it up, arrange my softies inside and sling my banner over the top, see... here's me

(above picture taken by Eric Bojanowski for the Sun-Sentinel article about Odd Duck)

But, I've got one case that I never used because it is HUGE and any softies that I prop up indie just don't fill the vertical space. So, I figured I'd get crafty.  I dug out the saw and managed to cut a piece of peg board the right size to fit inside.

I didn't permanently attach it because the interior if this case is pristine and I just couldn't bring myself to make permanent changes.  Surprisingly I was lucky enough to get the size of the board just right and it just sticks in there by itself held on by the interior trim! Honestly I don't know what I am going to use this for because I don't really sell anything that would be displayed hung from a peg board, but oh well... I am still proud of my handiwork.  Next I'll paint the peg board to match the suitcase and sometime between then and my next show... maybe I'll find a use for it.
Below is a picture of my kids trying it out to make sure it holds strong enough.  They were running around just hanging up anything they could find.  Here we have a pac man plush, a sugar skull plush, two aprons and a wii remote.

I found a seller on Etsy who makes and sells these sorts of vintage luggage display cases already made for you.  I also found several tutorials on how to make Vintage Luggage into craft show displays.

http://www.lynnminneydesigns.com/2011/07/12/tutorial-tuesday-vintage-suitcase-to-craft-show-display/
http://greenupgrader.com/15758/vintage-suitcase-craft-project/ 
http://leafytreetopspot.blogspot.com/2011/01/friday-finds-craft-show-display-ideas.html

If you are looking for a vintage suitcase to upcycle,  eBay is an easy way to find one without having to take repeated trips to the thrift store with your fingers crossed.