I got this sad little bear at the Midwest Art and Antique Show in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on April 1.  In addition to almost non-existant paw pads, his ears had been inexpertly reattached, the eyes were replacements, too large and pulled in too tight, and his nose and mouth were redone poorly with heavy thread.  The dealer thought he had character, but I thought he needed my help!

The first thing I did was clean him up a bit. I was able to gently lift off a lot of soil.

You can see by this photo that he has pretty classic proportions.  At this point, I had removed the offending eyes and tried to move some of the packed excelsior into his muzzle area.

I removed his ears which were mashed over with the raw edges showing.  I washed them while they were off.  I also gave him a new nose and mouth with lighter weight thread more appropriate to a bear his size (10 inches).  Since he will still be somewhat bald, I gave him a  sparse nose.

When the ears were dry, I sewed them back on, tucking the raw edges in and cupping them as I sewed them down.

Here’s the little guy cleaned up with his face put back the way it should be. I think he is pretty cute.  Now what should I do about the non-working squeaker and those worn-out paw pads?

Whenever I go antiquing with Linda to a place Bruce has never been, I have to take him the next time.  So, we went to Collector’s Eye and the Midwest Antique and Art Show on April 1.  We got up early and were there moments after the doors opened.  I was immediately drawn into a booth with quilts and other things I love and when I looked around, Bruce had disappeared into the crowd.  Oh well – that’s why we have cell phones, isn’t it?

I made two circuits around Collector’s Eye – first round to scope it out and second to buy.   At that first booth, I bought a beautiful old blue and white quilt.  Then I picked up a mohair elephant that I had drooled over at the fall show and made a deal to take him home with me.   I stopped to chat with Laura Arensdorf of Rusty Pumpkin on the way past. I missed out on some stuff by doing two rounds, but that meant I didn’t spend so much money!

One dealer had completely rearranged his booth by the time I came back around and I couldn’t remember what it was I wanted there.  I remembered exactly where it had been, but it was not there.  This was only an hour into the show.  Why would someone rearrange so soon?  He might have made more sales if he had restrained himself!

I saw lots of fabulous things in the Antique and Art show section, but they had high price tags.  I fell in love with a little doll-sized chair with alphabet lithos all over it.  The $795 price tag was too rich for my blood, though.  Maybe I will try to reproduce it somehow.  I should have taken some pictures with my phone.

In the last row,  I found a reproduction cloth doll with a clay head and painted head, hands and legs.  I loved her face and her price was reasonable, plus the dealer came down on her, so she went in my bag with the quilt and elephant.  (She’s the doll on the left holding the bear I found.)

Nearby, I spotted some mohair!  A bear on wheels drew my eye first.  He was too expensive, but nice.  Then I saw two large mohair dogs that were in good shape, but again, too expensive.  By the dogs was a sad little mohair bear sitting on a chair.  He had some problems, but the mohair was actually in pretty good shape, although a little sparse.  He had a happy price, so I added him to my haul.

The dealer commented on how the bear had “such character”.  I smiled to myself as I thought about what he would look like after I was done with him.