Auction follow-up

I learned a lot today.

First, I learned that no matter how much I looked at the online pictures of what was available, I wasn't really struck by what I wanted to bid on until I got there and previewed the lots.

I took a seasoned auction pro with me to my first auction. And the minute I started bidding, she looked at me like I was nuts and said something about waiting for the auctioneer to go down further before putting in the opening bid.

But I couldn't help myself. All that clambering from the auctioneer, all those people huddling around and bidding against one another. I totally got swept up in it.

Plus, I made a bit of a snap decision when the bidding started, something I'm sure they're counting on from newbies like me. I decided to bid on this jewelry armoire in the first half hour of the auction. And the minute the auctioneer went down to a number I could afford, I jumped in with both feet.

So, despite all the good advice I got from my FB friends about keeping my hands at my sides or sitting on them or being firm with what you're bidding on and for how much (and thank you to all for that), the second thing I learned is . . . I tend to get swept up (duh).

Lucky for me, there was only one competing bidder. I only had to best her once and the item was mine. Woohoo!

So here it is, my first auction purchase. A beautiful jewelry armoire with mahogany finish.

BTW: I was going in there to bid on either a small settee for my dining room or some small accent tables I could paint and decoupage. The settee turned out to be not exactly what I was looking for and the occasional tables were going to go for too much money. Auctions are like a box of chocolates—you never know what yer gonna git . . .

Today's bonus: purchasing a new jewelry armoire frees me up to paint and/or decoupage my tired old dresser top jewelry box.

HELLOOO next craft project! I'm thinking maybe black paint, distress it, then decoupage the sides and top with some animal print paper.

What do you think? Got any ideas?