Good news / Bad news

Well, I have some bad news and some good news.  Bad for ME.  GOOD for you.  The bad news first.  This is what the passenger side of my car now looks like:

It actually looks a lot WORSE in person.  You can’t really see how DEEP the dent is in the photo.  It’s deep enough that I can’t open that door anymore.  I’m fine.  My car, notsomuch!   Thanks to another driver in a parking lot who ‘saw me but thought I was going to let him to go by’, even though he had a STOP sign and I had the right of way.

Currently dealing with insurance and just waiting to hear what they decide.  Here’s the ‘back story’.  The ‘Cruiser’ is 15 years old and has served me well for the past 7 years.  I definitely ‘got my money’s worth’ out if it.  Because it’s got such a low resale value at this point, it was futile for me to have full coverage on it anymore; and most likely it is going to be deemed ‘totaled’.  And while I knew the day was coming, in the not too distant future, that I was going to have to replace it, I really can’t afford to do so just yet.  I was really hoping to get at least another year out of it.  It’s still driveable, but isn’t going to be worth squat as a trade in.  sigh.

So, what’s the GOOD news?
The good news is that because I need to drum up considerably more funds to replace my vehicle, I’m having a 50% off sale in my booths at Stars.

Look for these red and white ‘50% OFF’ coupons in both of my booths.  You have to have a coupon to get the discount.  The discount is good for everything you purchase from my booths, through May 31, 2019.  After that, I’ll be extending the sale ‘as needed’, until I have enough to replace the Cruiser.

You can also print a coupon directly from the Stars website.   The coupon on the site will look a little different than the ones I printed on my PC, but the offer is the same.

I was just in Stars yesterday, rearranging and restocking, so there is a huge variety and selection of goods awaiting your shopping, and SAVING, pleasure!  And IF there is something that you have seen in my booth in the past and always coveted, but don’t see there just now; feel free to ASK ME!  It might just be something that I pulled and took home when I changed out inventory.  I’ll be happy to take it back in for you; and even have them HOLD it ‘just for you’ at the front desk.

Time for pictures!

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As you can see, both booths are jam-packed with goods.  I will continue to bring in MORE stock every week.   I’ll be making more and resupplying the coupons too.  IF, for some reason you can’t locate a coupon while you are there; ask them to CALL ME, and I will give them a verbal okay for your 50% discount.

So, come and get it while the gettin’s are half off!!

Stars is open 7 days a week; 11am – 6pm.

Every Husband’s Nightmare Spring Show

The show opens tonight for preview, from 5-8pm with a $3.00 donation.  The rest of the week, admission is FREE.  Parking is always free.  Now that the old exhibition hall has been demolished, the show is in the Cloverleaf Building, at the back of the fair complex.  Tuesday – Friday hours are 10am-8pm.  Saturday. 10am – 5pm.

I delivered MANY boxes and bins and old suitcases filled with inventory!  Turning that, into this:

I brought mostly farmhouse rustic decor to the show this year.  Including lots of crates and trays made from upcycled old weathered fencing:

Decorative shutters and shadow boxes too.

My items will be very easy to find.  Most of my product is displayed on the tables directly to the left after you enter the building.

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I didn’t make the weathered wood potting benches, but they are pretty fabulous!  Great for indoor decor use or outdoor garden work!  Those dried hydrangea are from my garden.

I brought quite a bit of Paris chic decor too.

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The rest of the displays were still ‘in progress’ when I left, so I didn’t get pictures of the rest of it.  Lots of great spring home decor and Mother’s Day gifts, vintage, hand-made and upcycled goods.

Carload of reclaimed fence boards.

Visiting one of my very best friends this last summer, and returned home with this!  LOTS of mossy grey weathered cedar fence boards.  I was literally GIDDY with ideas and possibilities of what I was going to make with these beauties.

My first project was some simple signs, using laser cut metal words glued to a piece of the natural weathered wood.

A few of them have gone to my wall space at Stars.  The rest of them will be going to the upcoming fall show at the Washington County Fairgrounds in Mid-November.

Next I decided to try my hand at making some BIG rustic Farmhouse style trays.  This one is the prototype.  LOVE these super long wrought iron handles.  They were an estate sale find, and unfortunately a ‘one time find’.  Well, I probably COULD find more like them if I really searched on-line, but they would probably be cost prohibitive for me to use on my trays.  I’ll have to find some other handles that will work.

Then I went on to make three more; one of which is an EXTRA long 38″.  The other two are 24″ and 25″ long; all are 11.5″ wide and just under 4″ deep.  I have taken ALL of these to my booth at Stars for the time being.  If I don’t get more of them built before the fall show, I may pull a couple from Stars to take to the show.  Priced $37.00 – 59.00.

On the extra long tray I used the ‘beefy’ black metal handles.  On the other two, slightly smaller black handles, on the sides of one tray and on the top sides of the other.

I’ve only made one of these little stools thus far.  It’s 11″ x 6″ x 5″.  I’ll probably make another batch of them a little later; graduated stacking sizes.  This stool has gone to my wall space at Stars.  $10.00.

I saw the idea for reclaimed wood shutters on Pinterest.  Adding the removable little boxwood wreaths with the metal words and red truck ornament is my own idea.  Making the embellishments removable makes it easier for the buyer to use them to decorate with year round, instead of having to pack them away after the holidays.  $29.00 with the wreaths.

Decorating with arrows is very popular right now.  I made assorted shapes and sizes of wood arrows with hangers on the back to hang on the wall.  I made a couple dozen of these.  They will be going to the fall show.  Priced $5 – 14.00.

This is my take on something ‘somewhat similar’ that I saw on Pinterest.  They measure 12″ x 13″; and will be going to my booth at Stars and to the fall show.  $29.00.

I forgot my camera last week, so I didn’t get pictures of all of these items in my booth.

 

So long summer . . . . Hello Fall!

We are finally getting our ‘enjoyable’ summer weather.  80 degree days, breezy evenings and cool nights, and an occasional overcast day.  Happily soaking up every minute of it that I can, after a record number of 90 degree days this summer.  So, I’m personally not quite ready for fall, but it’s time for fall in my booth at Stars.

Beach decor / Before yesterday.

Now, Fall decor.  A few little pops of traditional fall colors, but greys and whites for the most part.  More of a rustic farmhouse fall look.

LOTS of grubby old step ladders in stock.  Perfect for displaying pumpkins.

I hand painted all of these white and grey pumpkins, and they all have real wood stems and moss at the base of the stems.

Lots of upcycled, hand painted galvanized cake stands, jars and little side tables.

Those vintage shabby white floral stands I showed you a while back are perfect for displaying this ‘big mama’ pumpkin!  And upside down works great holding this upcycled bowl of little pumpkins.

Made these laser cut metal words signs backed with old fence boards.  Some faux galvanized architectural stars.  Lots of vintage industrial size spools of yarn, vintage gallon jars filled with assorted small spools and balls of yarns and threads.  If you already have your own big jar and only needs the ‘fillers’; there are bags of those available too!

It took me two days to change out all of the inventory on my wall space, so my big booth just got a ‘quick tidying’ this week.

Here’s a quick peek at the rest of my big booth.

Did you notice the THREE metal bottle racks that I have??  I have seriously been looking for one of these forEVER.  I found the big cast iron one first, then the two smaller ones within the next week!

I’ll be adding Halloween decor at the end of the month.

 

Changing things up a bit

Not quite two weeks in, and I’ve already rearranged my new wall space.

This is how I had it set up originally.  I absolutely LOVE using a ladder, opened up and filled with product; but I really NEED to sell that ladder.  So I decided to re-work the space and lean the ladder, folded, against the wall; making it easier for someone to purchase.

This is how it looks after the rearrange.  I added the black metal table on the far left, and the vintage metal bar stool.  Everything else was just moved a little.

Side by side comparison.  To compensate for the loss of the vertical display space on the ladder, I hung a few things on the wall at the top of the space.

Galvanized cubby shelf and canisters.  Little metal ‘file basket’ set on its side with stack of grubby books and electric candle.

Close up of display on top of cubby shelf.  Those little baby food jars contain some moss and hand painted tiny faux bird eggs.

Wall space just above the cubby shelf, a wire basket hung on its side to function as a shelf.  Vintage repro tin tiles that I upcycled into memo boards, a bundle of grubby books and a couple of old whisk brooms in a small tin flower bucket on the ‘shelf’.  The little wash board ‘memo board’ has clothespins backed with magnets to hold memos.

A couple more baskets hung to use as shelves above the burlap curtains.

Perfectly grubby industrial style vintage metal stool.

I was HOPING to have enough room to open up this little step-ladder.  That didn’t happen, but I was able to move it closer to the front where it’s more visible and accessible to shoppers.

With the ladder folded up, it’s more difficult to display items on it.  This metal basket tucked into the ladder just perfectly!  Tight enough to not fall out, but loose enough to easily remove.  It was a perfect spot for some garden signs.  The rusty wire baskets I had, fit nicely in the two rungs below this.  Rolls of chicken wire filled one.

A trug on top of a trug.

Trying to make the various trugs more visible, moving them to the front edge of the space.

Here you can better see the other baskets on the ladder rungs.  Big rusty and metal urn, stacked with assorted other vintage buckets and baskets.

And a few new things in my big booth!

Sophie’s Annex Premier Display

Got my additional 2’x8′ wall space at Stars all set up yesterday.  It’s very difficult to take good pictures because of spatial limitations.  There is simply not enough room in that back aisle for me to step back far enough to take a good picture of the entire booth.

This is the little sign that I made explaining that there will be an entirely new theme displayed in the space every month.  This first display is kind of a mixture of farmhouse, galvanized stuff and garden-ish things.  May’s theme will be ‘Happily Ever After’.

This picture makes it look even smaller than it actually IS!  The purple border on the floor outlines my space; and the shutter door on the right hand side, which I put up to divide my space from the one next to me.  The big ladder is not a terribly effective use for this limited space, but it works so well with all the baskets et all.  The ladder IS for sale.

This is as far back as I can go to take a picture, but you get the idea.

This is what all is displayed on the ladder.

BIG jar filled with dried hydrangea (from my garden!) on galvanized metal tray.

Jar of assorted dried botanicals, another galvanized tray (I have three of them the same size) The metal bird-cage thingys on a pedestal are supposed to be for candles.  I put some mini glitter chandeliers in them.

Burlap curtains, valance and cafe.  I’ve had these curtains forEVER, but have never HUNG them to display them.  There are more of the curtains in bundles right beneath the hanging ones.

Hand crafted paper wreaths and small olive buckets with pale blue rims.  I also have some olive buckets with red rims.

Cloche with wood base is filled with three nests.  Glass jar is filled with assorted moss and bark, gathered from my yard.  I have LOTS more of the nest, egg and botanical items; just no room for them yet.  Will be adding more to my big booth after Easter; and as room becomes available in this space.

One of the several garden trugs available sitting atop a small grubby step-ladder.  Those are big burlap bags in the rusty basket under the ladder.

Another trug, vintage canning jars, that third square galvanized tray, a nest with eggs and a bird skeleton; stack of buckets behind the bird.  Under the trug is an old rolling mop bucket that I upcycled into a storage bucket with a padded seat.  The seat lifts off to store things inside.

Big olive bucket and awesome long narrow galvanized trough.  Burlap pillow cases in the shabby metal urn to the right.

There’s the aforementioned red rimmed olive buckets!  A cute little glass and galvanized house and electric grubby candle.  Three more garden trugs under all that, and an old tool tray on the right.

I’ve got LOTS of these rusty wire mesh baskets.  Galvanized storage box with blue lid inside.

Stack of buckets, vintage and upcycled.

Remember, this ALL GOES AWAY the end of April.

 

Pottery barn cubby shelf

Thrifted cubby shelf in nearly perfect shape.  A few little knicks along the trim.

Originally from Pottery Barn for $79.00?!?!

Add one can of white satin spray paint.  ( I choose SPRAY paint  to get the job done faster for things like this with lots of corners.)

Decided to NOT distress this one.

Available for purchase in my booth at Stars for $59.00.

Shabby kitchen chair

I found this little lovely at Stars a few weeks ago.  Forgot the before photo, but it looked much the same.  A bit more grime and cracked paint; which I sanded away.

Some pretty blue paint came through as I sanded through the layers with my orbital sander.

A little blue on the head rest and back rungs too.

Legs are always the hardest for me to sand.  Hand sanding would allow you to get ‘into’ the turnings a bit more.  But with my bad back, I am relegated to doing the best I can with the power sander.

It’s in storage for now, until there is room in one of my booths.

Little rummage sale wall cabinet

Cute little green cabinet I snagged at a rummage sale earlier this year.

Completely finished INSIDES too!  Bonus!!

This was really ‘one of those things’ that I really could have easily used ‘as is’.  And after I almost didn’t re- paint it after I sanded off the sheen.  But I’ve never have been very good at leaving well enough alone!  So it got painted aqua (inside and out!) and sanded again.

LOVE how nicely it distressed along the Wainscot grooves!

Distressed the back side of the door, but not the shelves.  (orbital sander won’t fit inside the shelves!)

It would make a perfect little wall cabinet for a bathroom.  It already has two heavy duty wall hooks on the back for hanging.

It is available in my booth at Stars for $35.00.

Five minute make over

Thrifted blue stool.  Sloppy paint job to begin with, and getting a bit grubby looking. (but not grubby in a GOOD way!  just dirty and ICKY looking!)  Needed a good sanding before I could do anything further with it.

Got out my trusty orbital sander and gave it a VERY quick once over.  Seriously, less than five minutes!

So then I stood back and pondered my next step for this stool.

It isn’t quite ‘my color’; but I’m kinds liking the faded denim look . . .

So I decided to stop there and leave it just sanded. Sometimes LESS word is just enough!  Like not further embellishing the chair; I can always bring it home later if it doesn’t sell and ‘do more work’ on it.

This little stool can be purchased for $19.00 in my booth at Stars Antiques in Portland.