restoration ruination

So I bought this for about $12 at a yard sale on the weekend. I bought it mostly due to evidence of copper under the awful white paint. And, I suppose, it's retro charm.

                           

Once I got it home, I was able to search online to find this:

I friggin LOVE copper, especially in the kitchen. 

There is also a current ebay listing for a shittier version at $125 US dollars (way overpriced, most sell for between $30-$70):

Now the question becomes: Refinish it and keep it for myself? Or sell it for a profit?

I've just been introduced to the charms of heat-gun pain removal. We (read: my poor mother) tackled several pieces of original trim with the nasty chemical paint remover and much elbow work with disheartening effects. It took HOURS of work to remove a fraction of the paint. Yet the heat gun, while not that much faster, gives much better results.

Heat gun (left) versus chemical (right). 

In both instances these projects involve pre-1978 paint. As you can see in the above picture, I was set up in the grass outside of the barn with a generous cross-breeze. Hopefully this will keep the lead from materializing in my brain or bones. 

The beauty of the heat gun means I might have a chance of refinishing the canister set to it's original copper beauty. Either that or ruin it completely.

(Also in the Oh-My-God-I-Am-Officially-An-Old-Home-Owner category: I bought a set of crystal knobs on kijiji for $50. The picture below is not of the actual set although it is very similar. Except for the price that is - I got half this loot for 1/5 the price. Huzzah.)