A Deep Breath and a Little Relaxation

After the big "pack in" at the antique mall I was stressed out and all shook up because that's how I roll.  Best remedy for me is a little junking.  When I'm junking I'm like a dog with a bone and the junk is the only thing on my mind and everything gets pushed out.  Maybe that's why I love it so much!

I hit a nearby estate sale and was rewarded with lots to look at and plenty to bring home.  I also stopped and Nina and Joe's where I picked up the cabinet cards and a few rhinestone buttons.

I was really rewarded with the satin lingerie bags for my collection.  I picked up the large one for a dollar and got home and discovered there were two more inside.

Lots of pretty playing cards and a big bag of handmade bridge tally booklets.

And, of course, I couldn't resist the patterns because I am just stoopid on those things!
The new booth is chugging along with some sales already and I am trying to get my sea legs under me on the new routine.  I stopped over after work yesterday to fluff and add a few items.  The drive from the office to the mall only took 15 minutes but the drive from the mall to home on surface streets and in rush hour was treacherous.  Luckily I am a very patient driver.  I'm never in too much of a hurry to get anywhere because I kind of like just sitting in my car and day dreaming.  Probably best to stay out of my way.

Packed In!

I just finished packing in at Monticello this morning.  We got there at the moment we could get inside and finished with 2 minutes to spare.  I was SO happy I had staged it all ahead of time and taken pictures to guide me.  Sorry this photo is pretty wonky.  I had to stand in another booth to take it and still cut off the top of the shelf.  The pretty rose tablecloth on the right is not mine, it is my neighbors, but a happy accident that it is so complementary.  Now the waiting game....  Oh wait, I have already been waiting my whole life!  This is a bucket list day for me.  8+)

Packing Out

Last Sunday I found out the date I can pack in at the antique mall had moved up to this week so I have been wringing my hands and frantically preparing.  I have my display shelves staged on the patio and have been deciding what to bring, staging and pricing. Sorry the back light makes this photo so hard to see.

The angle on these photos is a little wonky because the patio table is in the way.

Things sitting on the floor will actually go on a shelf that is at the top of the dividing wall on the back of the wall space.  The pillow cases in front of the red plate will be hanging on the side of the shelf.

I hope I have a good variety for different tastes while I find out what goes and what doesn't.

My little wall space is about 7 feet wide, 7 feet high and 10 inches deep so it is all smalls.

I hope it isn't so packed that everything turns invisible but 155 little tags later and I think I'm ready!

Thursday afternoon I can get in to put up the wall covering then pack in on Friday.  I will take photos once I am all set up. Wish me luck!

Have a Seat

 Vintage lawn chairs for my fire pit area have been on my wish list forever but I never have found any that said "buy me", then I discovered they are being reproduced.  The color and the $37.97 price tag SHOUTED "buy me"!  They are not the quality of vintage ones, don't have real powder-coat finish and assembly was required.  Assembly was daunting and fortunately, it was the LAST one that was really stubborn or the other three might still be sitting in the boxes!  The company is called Jack Post if you are interested.  Now that they are in place, I am delighted with them.  Much better than the white plastic ones and these legs won't sink in to the ground and buck you off.

I have also been on the hunt for kitchen chairs.  I bought my table and chairs as a set about 10 years ago and have never liked the chairs.  They have way too big a footprint for my tiny house.  I spotted these at The Bins yesterday. They are sturdy and I like the unusual design of the backs.  The upholstery on the seats is beyond ugly but that is an easy fix.  I happened to spot the drape on the same day so I am considering using that as the replacement.  I have to let it steep a while.
This project will have to wait a couple weeks since I am now on the count-down to the antique mall space. I am mostly finished auditioning in the shelves and will begin pricing next.  Photos coming soon!

Meat Bribery

I started auditioning things in the shelves this weekend and Annette was sure right, it swallowed up WAY more of my hoard than I thought it would.  I visited my soon to be departed VOA, Nina and Joe's and one estate sale to add to my depleted stockpile.  The Husband wasn't too thrilled with the neighborhood where the estate sale was being held so I bribed him to go along with MEAT.  There is a great meat market on the route so I mentioned we could stop on the way home and he bit - whew!

I used to avoid holiday items because I didn't want to store them from one season to the next for Etsy.  Now I am going to need to "play along" with the holiday decor so I snapped up these little turkeys for Thanksgiving.  The plates are Avon Cape Cod and I find two sets in original boxes.  The pink heart is a baby bathwater thermometer.

The pincushion will be heading to the booth but the birdies are staying right here with me.

The VOA had everything marked down 20% so I grabbed a bunch of The Old Curiosity Shop dishes.  Fingers crossed that was a good move.

I am such a sucker for vintage linens, especially with crochet.

Doesn't everybody want a vintage prune juice bottle??  The tiny little suitcase is the smallest I have found.  I'm not sure I'm going to be able to part with it, at least not right away.  The two beige pieces in the lower right are vintage half slips.

The big pink dish is Haegar.
Still on the hunt but feeling like I have a better "cushion" now after filling up those shelves.  Pictures of the audition are coming soon!

Progress

I finished up-cycling the old bookcase this week.  Pay no attention to the clutter of my patio behind it. I set it over here, out of the way, while I work on auditioning what I will pack for the launch.  The black paper photographed a little funky.  It is black with white dots.

This black and white ticking will be on the wall behind it.  My idea is to set white things on the top shelf so they stand out against the black background and then organize by color on the other shelves.

I finished lining the wire market cart.  I

It seems like this will work for hauling replenishment to the car from the "booth".  I might be a little overly optimistic on how much I need to haul - LOL!

The week has not been without some junking.  When I walked in to my soon to be dearly departed VOA last weekend they had buttons set aside for me.  These are my favorites. You can click the picture bigger for a closer look.  I am especially fond of the lavender and the amber in the lower left corner and the green buffed celluloid leaf.

I was delighted to score another scrapbook of vintage greeting cards this week.  Most in this one are baby cards and just adorable!
I have also been working on some re-org in the art room this week - shifting gears to accommodate the new "booth". It really isn't a booth but don't know what else to call it.  The space?
Change is in the air around here!

What's Going On Around Here

I have been the busy bee around here, trying to finish up a few things and getting ready for the new mall space.  My wire market cart has been waiting for a makeover for months so I finally pulled out my stash of bark cloth and started piecing it together this weekend.  It isn't quite ready for a reveal yet but I'm hoping by the end of the day.  It is hot here so it will be an indoor afternoon.

I went on the hunt for display shelves and found the short one at The Bins.  I wasn't having any luck finding a bigger one so I stopped at Division Street Antiques and told Nina what I was looking for. She immediately said she had one in the U-Haul that they hadn't unloaded yet.  Joe jumped in and pulled it out far enough for me to see and I said SOLD! It is homemade and kind of cobbled together and perfectly funky.

My vision is a green frame, white interior and the shelves and back covered in a couple different kinds of black and white paper that I found.  When I said I was going to paint it The Husband said maybe you should use "that water paint".  Huh?  What?  I am pretty sure he is talking about milk paint or chalk paint but where that came from, I don't have a clue.  I must talk in my sleep.

I did make one attempt to find chalk paint but my nearest Michael's doesn't carry it and I don't have time to chase around looking for it so I fell back on my typical "use what you have".  I wanted the frame to be Grandma Green, which is what I call nearly every shade of light green.  I dumped together every single bottle of light green craft paint in my stash and made Grandma Goop.

In case you are wondering, I DID finally get my workbench cleaned off, or at least as clean as it ever gets.  I have a little spot to work now, although I'm not going to show you what it looks like this morning - LOL!

 When I carried these two hatboxes in from the car The Husband said I must have been really desperate for some hat boxes. Well, no, not really.  I just couldn't bear to not rescue them.

I patched and glued and I think they have a few years left in them.
Back to the projects now.  I hope you are all having a great weekend!

A Little Junk and Sad News 8+(

No, the sad news isn't the antique mall space falling through again {whew!!}.  I found out on Sunday that my beloved VOA is closing on July 31st.  Apparently they have decided they can help more people by selling the donations to a for-profit thrift than they can my running their own store. I am all for helping people but DANGIT for me!!

I have a little story about those vintage hat boxes but that will be the next post. In the meantime, a few sweet recent finds. I have a collection of swizzle sticks so I pulled out some duplicates to keep and the rest will be passed along for someone else.

It amazes me when I dig a vintage Dennison "book" of labels out of The Bins.  One man's junk, as they say...

I do not know what the little trinket next to the frog is but I thought it was interesting so it came home with me. The vintage recipe box is J.Chen & Co.

What's not to love with an Irmi Humpty Dumpty!  It is another Bins find.

A pretty vintage hankie and a vintage Oregon Coast souvenir.

This vintage scrapbook is a favorite find.  It is filled with old greeting cards and I'm having pretty good luck running my bone folder under them to pop them out of the very tattered old book.

Here are just a few examples of the wonderful old cards inside.

Next post is what's been going on around here!