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.

Timing is everything.

Remember this cute little grey chest of drawers?  It’s been forever since I had any chests to put in my booth at Stars, so I was anxious to get this one painted and taken in.

Just DAYS after I had put it in my booth, I came across this adorable little SOLID OAK  hutch top /  cubby shelf, that looked like it would be a perfect fit to set atop the grey dresser.

I went to work on it as fast as I could.  Painting it in the same grey that I had used for the chest, and distressing it.  I was SO looking forward to pairing it with that grey chest!  Alas, when I went in the following week with the grey hutch top and some additional stock for my booths, the chest had SOLD!! Bitter sweet.  Happy for the sale, of course; but disappointed that I wasn’t able to display the two pieces together.  Lousy timing!

Here are a few other pieces that I’ve recently completed:

Off white oval three tiered night stand; painted pink and distressed.  This piece is available for purchase at Pink Door in Aurora, Oregon.

I had two of these child size chairs.  The seats were made of that white ‘dry erase board’ kind of wood, which as as you can see in the before photo, was slightly damaged.  While the damage did not affect the structural integrity of the chairs; my attempts to cosmetically repair them failed.  Pretty wrapping paper and Mod Podge to the rescue!  These have not yet been taken to either of my sales venues.

  The drawers to this cubby didn’t slide very well once I had re-painted it; so I set them aside for some other project.  Cubbies with the backing already on them are extremely time consuming to paint; hence, spray paint is my go to solution for such pieces.  A little hand sanding along the edges shabby it up a bit.  available to purchase in my booth at Stars.

Continuing with the grey color scheme on this small shelf and DVD rack.  available to purchase in my booth at Stars.

 This bar stool is BIG and sturdy.  It had a glossy finish on it to begin with, so I had to either prime it or sand it before re-painting it.  I opted for primer, which gave it an added dimension when I distressed it.  Some of the distressed areas show the white primer layer and others the original dark color.  I was very tempted to stencil something on the back, but I couldn’t quite decide what, and I really NEEDED furniture in my space, so I left it plain for now.   Available to purchase in my booth at Stars.

With two of the wicker drawers missing, I opted to just remove them all.  The cubby was in fairly rough shape, and since I had just painted the other cubby white, I decided to leave this one it’s original wood; just distressed it a bit.  It’s available to purchase in my booth at Stars.

The leopard print mannequin torso needed some ‘legs’.  I had a black wrought iron base and a tall curvy plant/candle stand.  Opted for the wrought iron base as the weight of it would make her stand steadier; and besides, her skirt pretty much covers the base.  I used nearly 100 yards of tulle to hand make her fluffy black skirt.  She is available for purchase at Pink Door in Aurora, Oregon.

A couple of smaller upcycled mannequins with fluffy tulle skirts; also available for purchase at Pink Door in Aurora, Oregon.

I’m ALWAYS on the lookout for vintage gumball machines to make over and fill with ‘fun stuff’ like seashells, spools of thread, jingle bells . . . . etc.  NEVER imagined that I’d come across a silver plated one!?!?!  It really wasn’t even very tarnished and required minimal polishing.  Such a fancy gumball machine needed some fancy filling.  Acrylic gemstones to the rescue.  They look prettier in person.   Available for purchase at Pink Door in Aurora, Oregon.

Somehow I missed getting a ‘before’ picture of this one.  It was dark brown wood, that I sanded painted and sanded again to distress.  LOVE the little drawer and the ceramic rose drawer pull that I put on it.  This piece can be purchased at Stars in Portland.

Could hardly believe my good luck when I found this set of three suitcases . . . ALL of them had beautifully CLEAN innards!!  The color is difficult to tell in the photos, but it’s a very, very pale pink.  Each is priced individually; and available for purchase at Pink Door in Aurora, Oregon.

Just waiting for the weather to cool down a bit and the outside air to be ‘breathable’ so I can get LOTS more painting done.

My booth at Stars Antique Mall

I know I’ve been posting a LOT about the upcoming Rebel Junk Marketplace in Hillsboro, Oregon; and seemingly doing nothing BUT prepare for the show.  But I have still been adding new inventory to my booth at Stars every week, as I always do.  Here’s a little peek at some of the recent additions:

LOVE these little Valentine gift ‘bags’ that I upcycled.

I’m really not certain if ‘gift bags’ is the right thing to call them.  They are more like little ‘boxes’ made out of lightweight cardboard.  I have no idea what I originally intended to do with them when I bought them; or even when or where I bought them in the first place.  But they were in my Valentine supply box and I decided it was time to ‘use them or lose (donate) them’.  I’m in serious paring down mode so that I don’t need to rent a storage unit anymore.

In the top left picture you can see what they originally looked like.  I only covered them with the old dictionary page on 3 sides.  (trying to keep it a ‘quick and easy’ project!)  Then I glued a strip of pink ribbon along the top and tied it in a knot.  Then I added some little scrapbook embellishments . . . just whatever I had on hand.  I was going to add a piece of tissue paper to give them some ‘oomph’ and keep them looking nicely fluffed up; but thought I see if paper doilies would work.  Just the perfect little extra touch.  These are available in my booth at Stars for $1.00 each.

These red cones were leftover Christmas trees from LONG ago.  (I think clear back when we had our shop!)  I had filled them with cello bags of wrapped candies in the past and added a chenille handle.  I had a package of ‘hearts on a stick’ and put two in each cone along with some paper shred (I ‘blend’ my own paper shred) then tied on a tag that I printed with some bakers twine.  The tag reads “Forever, for always and no matter what.”  I only had three of these, so I displayed them on the little black wire shelf along with the little gift bags.

I had bought some of these ‘honeycomb’ hearts a while back to use for display, but decided to go ahead and sell them this year.  I opened up one of them, and left the other two ‘flattened’ for easier transport.

For some reason I had the ‘lid only’ of this old heart shaped box.  I added some embellishments and made it into a wall hanging.  The ‘arrow’ on the box was made from the one extra ‘heart on a stick’ leftover from the cones.  (there were 7 hearts in a package) I glued some cardboard on for the tip of the arrow and glittered it to match the heart end.  Used some leftover red Christmas ribbon to glue all around the edge of the box and tied it into a bow at the top.

Then I tied on a little ‘True Love” tag, which I printed myself; with baker’s twine.  really trying to keep my upcycles ‘simple and quick’ so I can price them lower; so they will hopefully SELL faster!

A couple of upcycled mini Valentine themed mini mannequins.

Vintage Ironstone bunny covered casserole dish, and an English gravy boat with attached liner.  I especially like the ones that have the liners attached like this one does.

Some ‘Love Potion No.9’ upcycled bottles.

Some cool newly found hobnail Milk Glass containers.  (and a few more that I am taking in tomorrow!  I’ve been finding a lot of the hobnail Milk Glass lately.)

Upcycled jar lantern with tea stained lace and rusty tin heart.  A big ole tub of letters to spell out just about anything your heart desires!

Upcycled apothecary jars and vintage and upcycled medicine bottles.

PLENTY of hand stitched and stuffed felt hearts still.  (there will be some of each of these colors/styles at the Rebel Junk Market too!)

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

Head count

My mannequin head collection started with these three vintage ones.  The one on the left, I covered with torn vintage dictionary pages, and mounted on the round wood base from a cheese board.

You can see how I made the tallest one in the center HERE.

The one on the right I actually left ‘as found’; just added a bit of spray varnish to prevent further ‘shedding’.

I made this one last year from a NEW styro head that I bought at the craft store.  Not really caring for the look and feel of styrofoam, I covered with paper mache then sanded to smooth it out.  I glued a glass bowl to the bottom of this one and spray painted the whole thing a flat white.

The reason I ‘add things’ to the bases of these heads is to give them some ‘weight’  and a broader base,

so they don’t tip over too easily when used at a show or in my booth.

Here is my latest addition to the collection.  Found this vintage head at an estate sale and it was a very WEIRD shaped face!?!  Very flat nose bridge and very BIG eye sockets . . .and NO mouth!  Looked like an alien head to me!!

I covered this one with vintage sewing pattern pieces.  Just tore up an old pattern into small pieces and applied them with white glue.

For the base on this one, I glued on a vintage wood bowl that I had painted black.

Just a little bigger than the base of the head is a perfect fit.

Modeling one of my newest crowns.

And the gangs all here!  Displayed on the shelf above my bed until they are called to duty.

And the all white one is now ‘on duty’ in my booth at Stars in this just added crown display.

I’m ‘test marketing’ assorted sizes.  I’ve made small and full size ones before, just not displayed and sold them at the same time.

Will be interesting to see which size sells better.

The small ones, for just decorative use.

Or the bigger ones that are actually wearable.

Candle stands make cute displays for the smaller ones.

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Some are ‘bear’ size.

‘Almost’ vintage cherub size.

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I wish I could find more of this vintage, WIDE, eyelet lace.  I tea stained it and stiffened it before adding the embellishments.

Yes, this is what I use a lot of those crepe paper rosettes for.

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These crowns are now available for purchase in my booth at Stars.

My favorite little model, PRICELESS!

Booth re-do

Front focal display from last week.

Since both of these two drop leaf tables sold in less than a, I really needed to completely re-do the front focal point of my booth.  But I just wasn’t ready to scrap the ‘wedding dessert buffet’ theme just yet. I’ve been trying to ‘segregate’ the white and aqua items, each color in their own little vignette for a more powerful visual impact, but I just didn’t HAVE any more white tables to replace these with so soon!

Booth front focal display.

Since I didn’t have any white tables to replace those that had sold in less than a week, in order to recreate the wedding dessert buffet theme; I had to intermix my aqua and white pieces.  It’ll do for a while.  The weatherman said “lots of sunshine in the 7 day forecast” so I should be able to get outside and get some more tables painted white.

One of a kind mannequin

Did you notice this beauty surveying her kingdom in that previous picture???  This is the first in what I hope will become a series of one of a kind ‘art mannequins’; that I just made.

She does have a pretty white post base.  I just didn’t have room to display her where it was visible.  She is standing atop a bench just behind the front display.  The base is adjustable in height and removable, making it easier to fit her in the car for transport.

I had really hoped that you could see her silver necklace better in this picture.  It’s a little silver frame with a silver key hanging from it and a pewter color heart tied to the key; all hanging from a grey sheer ribbon.  And she had to have strands of pearls, of course!

You can better see her whispy white ‘faerie-like’ wings in this picture; that match her little frilly white skirt.  What do you think of her???

Perfect sign for a wedding dessert buffet.

And I remembered to add the sign to the display this time!

And the white birds decided to join in the festivities.

A couple of porcelain cherubs stand guard over the wedding cake.

A vintage metal tea light candle holder sits atop an over-sized, upcycled metal cake stand as an impromptu cupcake display.

White and aqua combined display in the back corner.

Because I had to pull the aqua tables to the front display, I had to move some existing white pieces and place a few new white pieces in what had been the ‘all aqua’ corner of the booth last week.

This sweet little vintage smoking table was just brought it.  Would make a great bedside table or lamp stand.  $59.00

This little ‘chest’ atop the picnic basket is a new addition too.  $35.00.  Love how the little three drawer chest fit into the cubby on the right!  I’m guessing that this was probably a cook book stand and the drawer for recipe cards?

This same spot last week.

This is how it had been last week.  I just could NOT make myself move that big oval aqua coffee table again so soon!  (that thing is a BEAST!)

This spot previously housed all those white birds on pedestals that are now at the wedding buffet.  I like the contrast of the black pieces on this white shelf MUCH better.

Upcycled metal table top mannequin.

 I almost forgot about the silver and white mannequin’s little friend here!  She is a ‘table top’ style (no stand) of upcycled rusty and verdigris metal scraps with lace punched green verdigris wings; which are removable for easy transport.  This lovely is $190.00.

The oval gold frame around her neck is sold separately.

New white mini pie safe?

Does this mini pie safe look familiar?  It had been in my booths for months and gone unnoticed.  So I took it home for a pretty whiter make-over! $39.00.

Added a few new lamps to brighten up the space.

Vintage crystal lamps are always a good bet.  They go well with so many different styles.

So, that’s how the booth is looking this week.  The road construction has finally made it’s way down the street a bit, so parking for Stars is once again plentiful and easy to access.

Come by soon and meet the new ‘girls’!