Happy New Year

Jill of beanlennon has rung in the New Year with this Etsy treasury that she titled, "happy.new.years.day!". She included my brass stencil letter Y. (mine is the Y in the word year) Jill lives in Mississippi and her shop is full of necklaces, earrings, and other items. You should check it out.

For some reason, I'm not quite ready to be done with 2010. It doesn't seem like we've had 2010 for a whole year yet. I guess that is what happens when you get older. The years start zipping by like you are standing next to the highway as the cars zoom past. My calendar is already starting to fill up.

I am wishing each one of you a wonderful 2011. You mean a lot to me. God bless!

American Pickers on Etsy

When I found out that Danielle from American Pickers had her own Etsy shop, I checked it out right away. She loves textiles and makes some great bags from reclaimed fabric items. This is one of her Pickin' Bags. A few hours after I bought mine, she was completely sold out.
When I shop the estate sales, I make a quick run-through like a rabbit to scope it out, then go like a turtle, digging through the random boxes in garages and outbuildings. Of course, I couldn't do that without my anti-bac wipes!
After I bought it, I decided that it would be nice to have her sign her handiwork. She granted my request. I like the way Danielle chose to sign it. Since it was an after-the-fact plea request, she added it using a huge eyelet.

What kind of items do you think I will score with it?

Open House on Alameda

Last night was our Open House. Once a year, all the antique shops on Alameda stay open until 9:00. There is lots of food, music, and FUN.

A couple of the shops have a universal percentage off, but at Betty's it is up to each vendor to have a sale . . . or not. Joan and I opted for not. We ran into Judy and Betty and had fun checking out the shops together.

Betty is one of the hardest-working people I know. She has three (count them, 3) antique malls in Corpus Christi. I have booths in 2 of them. Frankly, I don't know where she gets the energy. I'm pretty high energy, but Betty could run circles around me.

The food went fast. There were tons of people enjoying the huge shopping party. The brownies did not last long. They were absolutely delicious! Did someone say, "chocolate"?

Jean is owner of the Renaissance Shop. She is another with boundless energy.

This is the window that Jean did at Betty's Trash to Treasures. Even though she has Renaissance, she also has a booth at Betty's. Our booth is just to the left of this wonderful window.

Jean has started a Junk display at her counter at Renaissance and has included one of my Junk Queens to be a part of it. I feel quite honored.

This guy was awesome. He played Christmas music on his sax all evening. He really added to the festivities and could be heard all over.

Cricket stopped by our booth and we had a lovely chat. It's fun to meet your customers one-on-one. She has a shop just down the street and I plan to go check it out the next time I am in town. By the way, she got an awesome deal on those bowls. I wish that I had seen them first. LOL

Even Duggers Flower Villa on Antique Row got in on the fun. She served lumpia and jello shots. Quite a combination.

Perfect solution

I loved the gas heater when I first laid eyes on it, but it was missing one of its ceramic bricks. The chances of actually finding a replacement were slim to none. Inspiration hit me upside my head this morning when I was looking at my bird nests. Instead of filling the space with an impossible-to-find brick, why not fill it with a sweet little bird nest?

I didn't permanently attach it if someone wants the heater in its natural condition. It would be so cute for Christmas. I am planning to place this in my booth at Betty's for the Open House on Saturday.

Now for the big question: what am I going to wear??