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.

Hippity – hoppity . . . Easter’s on it’s way!

We had an amazing break in our winter weather last week that made me SO ready for Spring!  Our winter weather arrived late (February!) but hit HARD; as did my cabin fever.  Putting out the Spring and Easter product in my booths at Stars has really got me in the mood for ‘play outside weather’.

Since I’ve got the beach decor in my big booth, I put the Spring/Easter product in my wall space.  (Pardon that red bucket in the left corner.  It’s an OLD building and occasionally the roof leaks.)

Some cute vintage chicks and bunnies.  Ostrich sized faux eggs covered with vintage buttons.   Milk glass is great for using with your spring decor!

Vintage bell jars with hand shredded vintage book page ‘grass’ and gold leaf eggs.

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Custom blend of pink and gold paper shred to go with the packaged gold leaf and pink little eggs in the pink basket on the right.  Turquoise glitter eggs too.

More unique eggs for your spring display.  These are covered with ‘Paris’ themed paper.

Hand stitched felt eggs, embellished with vintage buttons and baby rick rack.

Gallon size mercantile jars filled with moss, nests and eggs.  Smaller jars with straw and eggs.  Big vase with nest and eggs under black wire cloche.

Cute mini take out boxes in Spring colors are perfect for filling with sweets to give to your friends at Easter Brunch.  Decorative faux cupcakes.

Plenty of cake and cupcake stands.  These are so versatile for use in your seasonal tablescapes for adding height and dimension.

Upcycled journals.

Reproduction vintage style chicks from an estate sale.  I gave them lace crowns and nestled them into some cozy nests.

Hand painted faux eggs in turquoise ceramic pots and buckets.

LOTS of new frames, big and small, just stocked.

LOVE this reproduction Gothic arched window pane.  I’m still on the fence about selling it.  It just might come home with me on my next trip!

Vintage white shutter with handcrafted twiggy wreath.

Youth size white rocking chair.  Vintage wash bowl and pitcher.

One of a kind little upcycled suitcase end table with ‘hairpin’ metal legs.

Black occasional tables.  The bottom one is distressed oak, the top one with  the scalloped apron and curvy legs is a satin finish.  Will be removing all the darker furniture in the not too distant future; replacing it with lighter colors for Spring and Summer.

Not quite matching pair of vintage canning jar lamps.  The jars are the same size but different brands.  The shades are the same color, but slightly different shapes.  Each sold separately; $29.00.

Vintage jewelry box with seashell motif paper.

Assorted crates and carriers; perfect for use with your spring decor.

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

 

Quick Change

Well, not really all THAT quick (it took me three hours), but a considerable change in my booth layouts.

My original ‘plan’ to put in a completely new vignette in my little wall booth has been abandoned.  I’m not abandoning the space, just the idea for changing it out.  Why?

My thought process in deciding to change it up monthly was that it was a small enough space and it would be fairly easy to do so.  It was a LOT more work than I had anticipated.    Not that I necessarily eschew hard work, but it was getting to be too much for my ‘bad back’ to handle.

AND the aisle along the back is much narrower than the central aisles.   It was next to impossible to move stuff around without blocking the aisle for shoppers to traverse.  So I decided to put mostly small items in my wall booth.  Small stuff is easier to stock without getting in the way of shoppers.

Fortunately for me, the owner scheduled a ‘dealer work shift’ Saturday, which gave dealers 3 hours to work without any customers.  I took advantage of that time to move the big metal rack from my big boot to the wall space.  Which sounds fairly simple, but it was a pretty big undertaking.

First I had to empty and move four shelves on the back aisle side of my big booth in order to access the big metal shelf.  Then I had to empty the metal shelf.  Move the stuff that was in the area of the wall booth where I was going to put the metal shelf; then move that big heavy shelf to the wall space.  Put all the product back on the metal shelf.  Figure out where I wanted to put the four shelves I had moved out of the way.  Then figure out where to put the stuff I had taken from the wall space!  Believe me, I needed every MINUTE of the three hours allotted for us to work without any interference.

Normally I have what I am going to do with my booths pretty well thought out ahead of time.  As soon as I decide to take a new piece of furniture in, I start thinking about where I will put it and how I will move things around.  So I had measured ahead of time and knew where I was going to move the big metal shelf to, but beyond that I just drew a blank.  Had to ‘wing it’ this time.  I’ll be changing this up again next week when I take the leftover Christmas product from the show in, and pull the last little bit of fall left.

It feels SO much bigger without that metal shelf in the middle!

Took these two cute little upcycled tables in last week.

The bottom photo here is the space where the big metal shelf used to be.  Haven’t quite decided what I want to do there.  This will do for fine for now though.

Some pretty vintage liqueur bottles.  Perfect for putting homemade liqueurs for gift giving in.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Beach Cottage Decor now at Stars

I rearranged my wall space at Stars and put out all the beach cottage decor.

I brought in my shabby white crates to create shelves for the booth.

A couple of shabby blue nightstands tucked in there, and a white wall shelf.

A sweet vintage shabby white child’s chair and a little three legged foot stool.

Shell topped jars, shell filled jars and shell candle jars.  A little round table with a shabby white trug on top.

Distressed turquoise frames with ‘floating’ white fingerling starfish.  Some BIG sugar starfish, painted white and glittered.

A shabby vintage spice rack filled with little jars of shells and sea glass.  Some small mermaid crowns and a sugar starfish mounted atop a shabby white candle holder.

I did some rearranging and stocking of my big booth too.

Lots of stacks of old books, as always.

This giant turquoise cubby shelf is filled with vintage milk glass and Ironstone pieces.

Some additional, and smaller, cubby shelves.

LOVE this vintage chicken tureen!

I’ve added lots of this style of vintage Ironstone with the scalloped edges.

Beautiful hand painted vintage milk glass vase with gold accents and ruffled edge.  Gold glitter Eiffel Tower tags.  Little vintage vanity jars.  Old bottles and upcycled bottles with repro labels.

Vintage metal chair with new gold paint and pretty soft blue and gold Toile covered seat.

Come on by and check it all out.  The construction on the next block continues; BUT, they have not been blocking off the side street parking as much lately.

 

 

 

 

 

Nesting tables

Bought this set of wood nesting tables at an estate sale a while back.

At first I didn’t think they all actually went together, because of the different shapes; but they are indeed a ‘set’.  When the smaller tables are ‘nested’ they slide on runners that actually lift the legs slightly off the floor.  A unique feature.

I sanded off all the ‘sheen’; painted them aqua and sanded again to distress.  (I was able to do most of the distressing with an orbital sander.  Then added some stenciled designs.  Since I never actually sell a set of tables ‘as a set’

A set of ANYthing that a customer MIGHT want to buy ‘just one of’; it’s always best to price individually.  For several reasons:  a) Someone WILL ask “How much for just one of them?” whether they are actually interested in buying just one of not.  b) They can STILL buy the set for the combined price; but the store doesn’t have to waste time calling you to ask.  c) If the set gets ‘separated’ by shoppers in your booth you have items that don’t have tags and they end up in another booth!  It’s just easier to price them individually and be done with it!

I didn’t want to completely cover the tables with a design, and I didn’t have any stencils that ‘worked’ with both shapes.  Settled on these simple edge designs.

Nesting tables are GREAT to work with in your displays!  You can ‘nest’ them id space is tight.  Stack and use them like a shelf, or spread them around.

I actually only had room for the large oval one when I took then in last week.  Stacked it atop a little night stand at the front of my booth.

In the meantime, I got this other oval table put together and painted, and took it in along with the two smaller nesting tables on my next trip.

This third oval table has been in my booth for a while.  I was HOPING the newer oval pedestal table was a slightly lower height than the one already in my booth; and I knew the oval from the nesting set was shorter.  I putting them at the front of my booth, cascading from taller to shortest; with the matching upholstered chair and overstuffed foot stool sitting on top of them; along with some stacks of my grubby books.

Yippee Skippee!!!  The heights are just right!

Alas, the chair legs were a tad too wide to fit on the biggest table.  (well, the just perfectly fit . . . but could have easily been knocked off with the slightest touch.  A gamble I was not willing to take.  So the three tables ended up like this.

You can still see part of them from the front of my booth; tucked behind a couple of night stands.  As soon as something sells and I have a little more room to work with; I’ll bring the three tabled forward.

Did you notice the two smaller nesting tables on top of the tallest oval?  Once I have more room, I’ll spread those out or stack them for better visibility.

I wanted to be sure it was really well stocked going into this weekend because  . . .

I am occupied taking care of this little ball of energy this weekend while her mommy  and daddy (My son and his wife) are out of town for a friend’s wedding.

Yep!  She follows my every move.  Sleeps at my feet when I am sitting down (she’s ON my feet, under the computer desk right now!) And keeps me very entertained.

And before you ask . . .  she is a ‘Bernedoodle’.

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!

Post Valentine / Pre Easter booth at Stars

Ahhhhhhh . . . . . so nice and not cluttered looking with the Valentine stuff cleared out.

(well, ‘not cluttered’ by MY design standards at least!)

I’m seriously considering NOT doing ‘holiday’ stuff anymore in my booth at the antique mall.  The seasonal and holiday stuff was such a ‘necessary staple’ when we had our own shop, that I just kind of got into the routine of ‘planning for it’ and working on it a season ahead of time.

The holiday specific stuff doesn’t really sell that well at the antique mall (except for Christmas); and hardly any of the other vendors do any.  (again, except for Christmas!)

And I’m beginning to feel like the holiday stuff distracts from my regular stock.

NOW I just need to figure out what to do with my time . . .now that I won’t have all those seasonal crafts to work on!  (adding them to my etsy shop is NOT an option either!  Been there.  Tried that and it’s just too much stuff to store away until it sells.)

Hopefully, without the ‘extra clutter’ in the way, the regular stuff will sell even better; and I’ll stay busy prepping and restocking that instead of the holiday stuff.

I’m also going to put some real effort into not piling quite so much regular inventory into my space.  It might sell better if it’s more easily accessible.  (Not that sales aren’t GOOD . . .they are!  I’m hoping to make them better!)

I really do LOVE simple little displays like this stack of old book and nest in a jar.

Alas, I tend to display more like this: the shelf nearly disappears with all the stuff on it.

Easter stuff will be arriving next week; along with more ‘general spring’ stuff; birds, nests etc.

 

OUTDATED ~ UPDATED :: A ‘different’ kind of Country Heart Shelf!

I’ve lost count of how many country heart shelves I have made over since starting my blog!  I really thought I had ‘seen them all’.  Alas, a wood crafter, somewhere, some time ago, had a different vision of the country heart shelf.

And therein lies a NEW country heart shelf make-over challenge for me!  None of the carved wood appliques I had on hand were big enough to completely cover the heart.  For a split second I considered cutting the heart off and sanding down the the curves along the top a bit to blend in.  But that would leave me with a EVEN number of designs on the top and that thought gave me the shivers!!  Especially since the cubbies are so ‘random’.

So, I decoded to just ‘cover it up’ with an angular cut ‘cornice’ type thing; then look for an applique that would fit that space.

This one does the trick!

I had painted the added piece BEFORE gluing on (tacky glue) the applique because it saved on painting time.  Always easier to paint a flat surface.  I also painted the ENTIRE shelf before adding on the pre-painted backing.  Another HUGE time saver!  Any time you can avoid having to paint a lot of interior corners . . . DO so.

All painted up with my ‘New Blue’ paint, and distressed just a tad along the edges.  The added piece and wood applique ARE also distressed, but since the wood is a lighter color than the shelf, it just doesn’t ‘show’ as much.

Sometimes I paint the backing a different color than the shelf; or stencil a patter on it to make it look like wall paper.  I kept it plain on this shelf because it’s already a bit ‘busy’ with the various shapes and sizes of the cubbies.

For attaching the backing (AFTER it’s been painted; which takes about ONE minute using a paint roller!) I run a bit of tacky glue along the back lines of the shelf and press the backing into place.  Apply a little pressure for a few minutes to let the glue ‘set’ a little.  Then I use little finishing nails along the outer edges.

After the backing is attached, I paint the BACK of the backing.

This is why I paint the backs of items.  It literally takes ONE minute; and looks so much nicer when the back is visible in your displays.  It actually CREATES new display options and makes the most of every inch of display space.

All filled up!  When attaching price tags to larger or hard to reach items, I try to make the tag visible ‘at a glance’.  I, personally HATE having to HUNT for a price tag.  The easier you make it on your shoppers to SEE the price tag, the easier you make it for them to BUY the item.  AND this lessens the likelihood of them completely dismantling your display ‘just to see the price’.

No such thing as too many cubby shelves!

Aqua painting binge

My first ‘binge painting’ in my new place is done, and everything is now stocked in my booth at Stars.

The three shelf spice rack.  I debated painting a design on the back, but nothing really ‘clicked’, so I painted it the same aqua as the shelf.  Lightly hand sanded along the edges to distress.

A reminder of how it looked originally.

In progress.  This is what it looked like after the first coat of paint.  You really don’t need ‘perfect’ coverage on the first coat.  As you can see, I removed the backing; originally because I was going to paint a design on it.  But even if I had initially planned to just paint it to match the rest of the shelf, I’d have removed it to make painting easier.

With the back removed you have far LESS little corners to paint and you can reach the shelved from the front and back.  And the backing takes about 15 seconds to paint with a roller.  SO, even accounting for the time involved in removing and replacing the backing; you have saved time overall.

The frame.

First I spray painted it flat black, then two coats of aqua brushed on.

I intentionally avoided getting the aqua paint down into all the carved details for some contrast.  Once dry, I hand sanded along the raised edges.

The little 3 drawer jewelry chest.  I gave it different knobs . . . thought about painting the knobs to match, but decided not to.  If it doesn’t sell like this I can always bring it home and paint them.  I used a turquoise spray paint on this one.

The before.

The ‘to paint or not to paint’ conundrum strikes again!  It was just TOO plain with nothing on the front.  These resin medallions were all I could find that would fit with the non-removable knobs.  Added them as an after thought . . .paint them?

After walking away from it and coming back later, I decided it was too much contrast o leave them ‘as is’.  Opted to dry brush paint them to allow some of the black show through.

Just what it needed!

The inside is fully painted too . . . .

Because it HAD to be!  If the inside had been white or any other complimentary color, I could have left it.  I actually PREFER the inside a different color . . . just not when it means MORE work for me.  (especially on such a small piece!)

This one ‘needs something’  . . . . but I failed to find that something.  We’ll see if it sells ‘as is’ and if not I’ll re-address the embellishment conundrum.

The top had a few flaws that were still visible after painting, so I stenciled a fleur design in a darker turquoise . . . and hated how it looked!  The contrast was TOO much.  Grabbed my paint roller and started painting over it and  . . . . . OH WAIT!!  It looks better partially painted over . . . kind of a faded look.  Old

Old dictionary pages glued to the bottom of the muddy brown drawers.

The before.  The designs on the front were ‘papered on’, but sanded of pretty easily.  The KNOBS were not removable unfortunately.  Had they been, I would have filled the holes and added new ones, centered on the drawers.

The doll clothes wardrobe;  just painted it, no embellishments.

Even though it was unfinished wood, it still required some ‘prep work’ before painting.  Raw wood will really absorb dirt and oils from usage, so if it looks dirty or grimey; give it a good sanding before you paint.  As with the spice rack, I painted the backing separately BEFORE attaching it.

The Cafe do Paris tray was a half-finished project from another time.  It had been base coated black, so all I had to do was paint it and stencil the design on.  The black ‘edging’ was done with the paint leftover on my stenciling sponge.

Not entirely sold on the color I used for the upcycled candle holder finial.  It’s one of those little free samples that Lowes has coupons for every so often.  It’s almost a periwinkle . . . we’ll see if it sells, if not I can always repaint it!

A quick rummaging through my stash of decorative curtain rod ends produced this piece which worked perfectly as a ‘topper’.

I just glued it on with tacky glue.  The candle well was deep enough that I didn’t need to remove the screw.

I typically try to put the ‘new stock’ at the front on my booth when I restock.  Reason being, most shoppers just ‘glance as they walk by’ as they walk up and down the aisles in the antique mall . . . until something ‘catches their eye’ and draws them in for a closer look.   And for those who come in on a regular basis, you want them to see NEW things every time they visit.

I’ve still got some white and cream color furniture pieces.  Some of those are grouped together down the back side of my booth.

I tired to ‘gradually’ phase into the new aqua pieces as you move around to the front of the booth.

Little gold grouping inside the doll wardrobe.

The little 3 drawer piece fit nicely tucked under a small table; the top piece in a stack of three.

I LOVE this little white shelf with a drawer!  I have not idea what it is.  My best guess is that it was used in the kitchen for cook books and the drawer for recipe cards.  It’s been in my booth for quite a while.  Might be time to bring it home and paint it aqua.

Layers!  I always display in layers!  So if the Cafe de Paris sign and little  cupboard with doors sells; there is more product behind it so it I don;t have too much bare space.

More layers.
Come on by and check out  the new stuff!

QUICKIE!

Quickie make-over that is!

Thrifted textured metal and wood wall shelf.

The original color wasn’t baaaaaad, but it just didn’t grab me, ya know?

My first instinct was to spray paint it white, but I just happened to have my aqua paint out at the time.  So I decided, why not do a ‘quickie aqua dry brush’ that LITERALLY takes 60 seconds per shelf.  Then if I don’t like them like that, go ahead with the white spray paint.

This is how I frequently ‘display’ wall mounted shelves.  I have so little wall space to hang shelves on, plus people don’t always like taking shelves off the wall to buy them at Stars.  Sales staff IS always willing and able to help with stuff like that, but for some reason people just don’t always ask.

You can see the color better in this picture.  The white ones in front of the aqua are shelves that I left ‘as found’.