Cemetery Chairs Resurrected

No cooking adventures in this post, but I couldn't wait to show you my new project.  This particular "craft" is outside of my normal creative quests and I was pleased with how well it turned out.  I figure with some practice and maybe some instruction or even a DIY manual I might someday be able to join the world of furniture restoration. 

I was conducting my daily walk through at Colonial Cemetery last Tuesday morning, kind of bumming because it was the first day back to work after the holiday weekend and ahead of me just off the main path I saw something unusual sitting in the grass.  My contacts were far from new and my vision was a little blurry, so trying to figure out what this mass ahead of me was turned out to be quite a task.  I knew it wasn't living, so I assumed it was safe to approach and it looked kind of like a tree bent over in the middle, but I was pretty certain I would have noticed a tree in the path before now (I do walk the same path every weekday). 

It turned out to be two wooden chairs.  Pretty nice, solid wooden chairs if I do say so myself.  I haven't the faintest idea why these chairs were left in the cemetery, or how they got there to begin with.  I have a sneaky suspicion someone was attempting a seance of sorts.  There was some candle wax on the top of the chair legs. 

I circled them a few times...and walked away twice, but decided they needed to go home with me.  If nothing else, I figure it is my duty to clean up debris left in the cemetery, right? 

They turned out to be quite a score.  I tore of the tattered weave, sanded them down, polished them with some linseed oil and created cushion seats with some brocade I picked up on sale at JoAnn's.  Altogether, I spent about $15 for the fabric and cushions for the two chairs...and had way too much time experimenting with the world of furniture rehab. 

I'm afraid this project may have opened a whole new obsession with dumpster diving and lane hopping... :)

Before is on the right and after on the left