Celebrating 300 with a giveaway!!

I am so honored that 300 of you are now following my blog through Networked Blogs!! To celebrate, I am hosting a giveaway.

I made a special art bottle to commemorate the occasion. Thanks to Photoshop, I was able to put my face on it and customize it a bit. It is an old picture of me. LOL It was taken during my 2nd Halloween. I use this picture on my blogs, online shops, etc. My Aunt Emma made the costume for me. She currently has a costume shop in Eufaula, Oklahoma.

Anyway, if you would like to be entered, please leave a comment and you will be entered once. If you would like to be entered twice, post this giveaway on your blog and then leave a 2nd comment with the words BLOG. I will randomly choose the lucky winner on Friday afternoon, Jan 1.

Merry Christmas!

Have yourself a very, merry Christmas!

The Junk Fairy blew me kisses

I didn't want to get out of bed yesterday. It was Saturday; my bed was so, so soft and warm. I stretched and stretched and finally made my feet hit the floor. I wasn't moving fast by any stretch of the imagination. My goal today was to get more of my Christmas shopping done and didn't feel like I wanted to rush into the madness.On the way to the mall, I stopped at an estate sale here in town. I didn't expect to find anything because it was already an hour into "half-price day". I made a bee line to the garage. Forget the furniture and household - my first order of business is usually the garage, shed, and outbuildings. I like the boxes of "treasures". You never know what you will find and I love the "thrill of the hunt". I don't even always take time to see what all is in the box. If it looks interesting at first glance, I pick it up and keep hunting. Let's just say that the Junk Fairy blew me kisses. I am a sucker for old door knobs, keys and the like. Can't seem to pass them up.
I also couldn't pass up a plastic bag full of plastic bags, full of Barbie accessories. They didn't have a price on them so I guess that is why they were still there. The assistant took the bag to the guy in charge and when she brought it back to me with the price, it was all I could do not to start grinning ear to ear in fear that he would change his mind.

Let's just say that I got all of this and more for less than the price of a large pizza and a drink. Yes, the Junk Fairy definitely blew me sweet kisses.

Open House at Third Coast

Third Coast Antiques is having a Holiday Open House and you are invited! It will be an all-day party that starts at 10:30 in the morning and goes until 8:30 in the evening. Everything in the store is at least 10% off. Stop in for cool vintage gifts, food, spirits, music, and fun. I certainly plan to be there! Did you say wine?

It pays the rent

I am fortunate to be able to also offer up my art pieces in my antique shop booth as well as furniture and smalls. In fact, my art is what is paying the bills. Literally. A couple of weeks ago, the owner called me and said that there was a lady in the shop who wanted to know if I could make 25 of these. SURE! They would pay for 4 months of my rent. After I hung up, I danced a little jig. Don't get excited. I'm sure that I looked like Elaine from that Seinfeld episode.

Gotta love "free"

Joy called me and she said she had some items that I would probably like. She also told me that she would make me an offer that I couldn't refuse. She knows I couldn't possible turn down "free"!

The darling little yellow table was built way back in 1941! I know because its builder signed and dated it. It has a neat little pullout section and a nice drawer. I think I may put a crystal knob on the drawer. I haven't quite decided yet.

I'm pretty sure that the doll beds are going to get a nice coat of pink paint. The other day, I mixed up a nice, soft shade of pink and it is now my color of choice (at least until it runs out)

The ceiling tin may find its way on top of a birdhouse. Not sure yet. It seems almost too precious to cut up. Almost.

The wire chair is just screaming to become a planter chair. Wouldn't it be great with a foxtail fern sprouting out of the seat?

There are 4 nice pieces of gingerbread but a couple of them are broken. I think that I may salvage parts from the most damaged one to make 3 complete pieces.

Oh, and do you want to guess how many wads of gum are under that black desk?

Felt like a Hobo

I had errands and doctors appointments today so I had to drive in to Corpus Christi which is about 45 miles from my home. At my first stop, I slipped on the wet tiles and broke my shoe! Flip flops to be precise. I don't care how graceful you are, you just can not walk in broken flip flops. No way, no how. To top it off, the side of town I was on didn't have any known shoe stores. I had to walk around Corpus Christi barefooted until I bought more shoes. Made me feel like some kind of hobo.
Since I was already on the side of town that Third Coast was on, I had to rework my booth barefooted. Yuck, yuck, yuck. I can't stand dusty feet.
I'm glad that because I'm a junker, I carry a big container of Lysol wipes with me at all times. Ahhh, relief!

Miles and miles of SHOPPING!!

There was shopping as far as my eyes could see and as far as my feet could walk.



I just went from one awesome booth to the next. Most of what I found was in Warrenton. I also shopped Giddings and Fayetteville.

I ended up falling twice on my trip. No one said I was graceful. The first time I fell was when we were buying the trailer. The guy we bought it from had a Segway. When he offered to let me ride it, I jumped right on. He gave me a little lesson on how to manuever on it. He just didn't get to the part about how to get off of the thing. When I went to step off, it put more weight on the right side so it started to turn that way and sent my feet flying. I scraped up my elbow a little.

The second time I fell, I was watching for my DH to come back with the truck and didn't see the pile of stuff on the ground in front of me. I looked like I was sliding into home plate. I had white pants on. How I didn't get dirty, I'll never figure out.

They were even all set for Halloween.


I have spent far more than I had intended to. I just love all of my purchases. Can you see the gingerbread in the trailer? It came from Galveston. Galveston was devastated during Hurricane Ike. So sad. So very sad. I picked up several tables and chairs, a couple of neat dressers, minnow buckets, post office doors, I also found rusty tin ceiling tiles, chandeliers, and lots of other cool stuff. Now where am I going to store all this stuff?

Marburger Farm

I was walking around the Marburger Farm Antique Show with my eyes wide open and my mouth agape. I was like a kid in a candy store. The show is in Round Top, Texas and features something like 400 vendors from all over creation. There is tent after tent and building after building to explore.

Marburger is where you go to see the best of the best.

Magnolia Pearl takes you to some other time. lts creator is Robin Pearl Brown. She grew up in California to an artistic father and a gypsy mother. She now lives in Bandera. I'm sure that she got to Texas just as fast as she could.

This year's Victorian fairy wear is stunning!!

I stopped by Janet Waldrop's booth. She is a certified jeweler who does wonderful vintage jewelry using vintage found objects for her Skip to My Lou shop. All of her pieces are displayed on old cabinet cards.

Michelle's Vintage Girl booth was absolutely darling. She has a love affair with rust, chippy paint and time worn objects. Her items make you want to invite all your girlfriends over for a tea party. Her use of color is so very appealing.

These pieces were made from industrial parts. Some of these used to be old propane tanks. I like them in their second life. Very creative.

Warrenton

I shopped 'till I dropped today and boy did I have a great time. I am so thankful for my supportive husband. He toted all by treasures all over the place today. He's such a sweetie!!

It was a bit overwhelming, but apparently the best approach is find a starting place, remember where you parked, and have fun!

I found some of the authors to a few of my favorite blogs. It was wonderful to meet some of the people that I read about. I've been a bit of a lurker. I stop by and read their posts, but I haven't left many comments. I promise to be better about that in the future.

First, I met Mindy. Her shop is Primitiques 'n Poetry and is located inside Winnie & Tululas in Athens, Texas. I've enjoyed reading her blog and now I have had the pleasure of meeting her face-to-face. Her sweetie, David was there, too and we got to meet him as well.

I also got to meet Teresa of Garden Antiques Vintage. She hosted a wonderful blog party. I got caught up in the party and didn't take more pictures. I'll try to do better tomorrow! I met Debbie of Talkin' Trash. She is such a delight! I almost didn't recognize her without her crown!

On the way out, I stumbled upon this awesome car. All I can say is WOW!

Ready for Round Top

We bought this wonderful trailer this morning on our way to Round Top. If I fill it up, I should have PLENTY of cool stuff to put in my booth at Third Coast Antiques, won't I?

My brother-in-law talked us into going to the lake today instead of hitting Round Top this afternoon. He is probably right. I wouldn't have much shopping time today. Besides, he promised to throw something tasty on the grill for us. Who could pass that up?

I need a bath!

I feel so dusty and dirty after this morning's treasure hunt, but BOY did I find some goodies!!! I wasn't even sure I was going to bother this morning. It had been raining most of the week and there were very few sales to choose from. In fact, I wasn't even going to go to the one that I found all of the goodies but a friend of mine said, "Let's go", so I did.

The cedar jewelry box is from Dallas. The front of it is stamped - Texas Centennial 1836 - 1936. It's a neat little box. I didn't get everything photographed, but this gives you a pretty good idea of today's score.
Fortunately, the guy I bought all this from also delivered it. After he told me he would deliver it, he asked me where I lived. I joked with him and told him that I lived about 25 miles south of town. I couldn't resist.

Old window chalkboard

My husband's friend has spent the last year helping his parents re-do a dilapidated old house. My DH has talked about how I can take something destined for the trash pile and turn it into something cool so he gave us a big stack of old windows that had come out of the house.


I had my DH pressure wash all the windows then I gave them a good sanding after I removed the glass. Instead of spraypainting the glass with chalkboard paint, I spraypainted some brown hardboard. It takes a couple of coats to get a nice finish, but I really like the results.

Lamp Rewiring 101

If you do it right, rewiring lamps can be easy peasy.

Just follow these simple steps.

1. Go to bing.com and type in "rewire lamp".
2. Assemble all necessary tools.
3. Make sure husband is in room.
4. Ask lots of questions out loud.
5. Wait for husband to say, "Here, let me do that".
6. Hand him all the tools.
7. Watch intently.
8. Say "Thank you"!

See, I told you it would be easy peasy!

We grew

Today, we went and doubled the size of our shop.


We are going to have some serious fun!

We are in!

Our move in day finally arrived! Everyone was shaking their heads when they saw just how much stuff we were planning to stuff into our booth. I had it all in my garage for over a month, so I can tell you how much space I was going to need.


Each one of us has our own area of talent and between us all, we got everything arranged in a pleasing way. I am so thankful for my DH who helped us. He loaded it all in his great big Ford truck, helped lug it all in to the shop, and put our displays together.


Joan has done visual merchandising professionally. Need I say more? She has a real eye for placement. Joan was solely responsible for all the display in the consignment shop that I used to belong to. My hat is off to her.


Betty shows a fine attention to detail. She is a master with her paintbrush. Her painted pieces are stunning. She also has a couple of online shops where she markets her pieces. She is beginning to receive special orders from local ladies who have seen her work. They want her to work her magic on furniture they have in their home. I can tell you - this girl is going places!



I just know we will be happy in our new "home".

19th Century Thrift Store Find

I braved 100 degree temperatures to wait outside until the Amistad Thrift store opened this afternoon. It was only 5 minutes, but when you're talking 100 degrees, standing outside for that long is tough!
They put all of the new stuff right by the door where their counter is. Well, I snapped this baby up as I walked by to see what might be in the showcase. When I had a chance, I turned it over and looked at the bottom for any telltale markings. I didn't know what any of them meant, but I looked anyway. LOL.
Imagine my delight when I got home and looked up the symbol on the bottom of this piece. Their website says that his piece was manufactured in England between 1883 and 1889. It doesn't have any chips, either! I have no idea what it is worth, but I bet it's more than what I paid for it.

Facebook and ArtFire

I really enjoy Facebook for its networking possibilities and the wonderful way to keep up with family and friends. This week, I found a new reason to love it. ArtFire has an application where you can make a tab just for your ArtFire shop. Don't have an ArtFire shop you say? What are you waiting for? It's only $12 a month - period. If you should get 12 friends sign up, you will get the account free for LIFE - you and one of your friends.

ArtFire has been around less than a year and it has already made a big splash. It has made 10 times more for its artisans than Etsy did its first year. Works for me!

Should you decide to get your own ArtFire account, please use this link http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=power_up&refuid=27255 so I can get credit towards my 12.

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I am going to Round Top!!

My DH and I have just been invited to go with some friends to the 42nd Annual Fall Antique Show at Round Top, Texas. There will be over 350 dealers there. My pulse is getting awfully fast just looking at the map. I just know that I am going to have trouble sleeping. One thing I do know for sure, I better start saving my money now. My DH won’t come out and admit it, but I think he is pretty excited, too.

We are going to stay at a Bed & Breakfast 1 1/2 miles from all the action. Traffic is going to be a challenge as it is. I'm glad that I'm not driving. Can you believe that they even have Wi-Fi there? This is going to be so great! Can you tell that I am excited? I am looking for a covered trailer. That would make things much, much better.

If anyone has any sage advice to pass along, I’m all ears, please tell me, tell me.

8 more days

We have 8 more days until we get to set up our shop. I found some delightful additions this weekend. I know I will not have room for all of my treasures when we first set up. I will need PLENTY of things to add as (hopefully) things are purchased.

Since I will start working again full time next month, I am getting as much done now as I can. It will be nice to have our garage back. We still have enough room to park the car and the Harley, but that's about it.

I just love the drop leaf farm table. I bet lots of stories have been told while sitting around it. Can you believe that I got that whole stack of plates for just a buck?