Pickles On Pizza

Feeling Horse

2012-01-25T20:36:00.006-06:00

I'm feeling crafty and I'm going to make this horse:

Have you seen this Pottery Barn horse popping up all over Pinterest? Cute, right? I'm not really into horses. The beauty of having a booth at the antique mall - I can get crafty and then let someone who IS into horses buy it. That is if I can find a horse to trace...I am not about to attempt to draw a horse on my own. What other animals would be cute?

Speaking of painting and drawing - I have had this urge to paint lately. But, I want to just copy something and paint it. I don't feel like stressing out about drawing something first. I just want to paint in the lines.

So, I got this grand idea to go get a coloring book, blow up the page, trace it, and paint it. (For my own personal use of course) So, I decided what I wanted to paint and jetted off to Wal-Mart to pick up a coloring book. Can you believe Wal-Mart does not have coloring books?!?!

WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?

DO KIDS NOT COLOR ANYMORE?

Coloring was by far my favorite activity as a child. So sad. At first I thought I was just missing them. I thought: "Perhaps they are not with the toys but with the arts and crafts." After checking the arts and crafts section, I checked the aisle with the crayons, markers, and poster boards --no coloring books. So, I asked a worker and guess what? They didn't have any!

Ugh.

I did find this though:Maybe your child will not grow up to become the next Monet, da Vinci, or Picasso but look on the bright side- they will know how to pick up dog poop. Come to think of it, an art degree didn't exactly do me a world of good but I DO have to pick up dog poop from time to time. Hmmm. Maybe I should have spent less time sprawled on my belly trying to stay in the lines and more time practicing my hand-in-the-plastic-bag-and-holding-my-breath-to-the-garbage-can routine.

Since I'm Being Honest--

2012-01-24T18:43:00.001-06:00

I don't like any Disney characters. Especially the Princesses.

Being Authentic

2012-01-21T20:28:00.002-06:00

Something I have struggled with in my "real" life is being my authentic self. This has plagued me since about 6th grade and I think it is a combination of growing up in a small town and going to a private school. Middle school was hell for me. I was taller than most of my classmates, had weird teeth, pale skin, and frizzy hair. If this wasn't bad enough it didn't help matters that I had a very strange sense of style (that my mom let me embrace) and I joined the band and picked the trombone of all instruments!

I never quite fit in (even though I had lots of friends - none of us really fit in) and I was never really comfortable in my own skin. Fast forward to college - the first night there, this guy came up to me and told me I was pretty. In that moment, I realized that I was not prejudged. This was a clean slate for the first time in 12 years. I could be who I wanted to be. It's really too bad that I didn't just become myself at that moment. I decided to become what I always thought I wanted to be. I became the fun girl, the party girl.

I thought being the party girl was fun. I was that girl most of my college life - though I did settle down more and more with each year. I DID have to graduate after all. I can look back at college life and really get a good laugh at it. I made some great friends and we had some great times. But, I can look back and also see that I was not my authentic self all those years. I was still trying to be the person I thought people wanted me to be. I was the funny one, the life of the party and I didn't know how to stop being that person.

I was even still a bit of a wild one when I met Aubrey. Gradually though, the more I got to know him and the more he got to know me, the real me emerged. Now, I am not going to say that it happened over night. At first we would attend lots of artsy things in our town, discuss Beowulf, spend days having picnics, try to take artistic photographs, plan parties, embrace everyone... Not that there is anything wrong with that but that still wasn't completely us.

All of this brings me to the point I am now. At 38, I am more authentic than I have ever been. BUT, I find myself being more authentic on my blog than I am in my real life. I still have this fear of being the "real me" to some people. I guess I have that fear of being judged all over again. I do still live in the same town I grew up in.

So now that I have told you all of that, I am going to come clean. I am going to be truthful and not try to fall into this "blog clique" that I have noticed. Have y'all noticed it? I think I have probably already told all of you these things but here they are again:

1. I hate Nutella. Hate it.
2. I am tired of the word lovely.
3. I love watching reality TV.
4. My car is so messy, I am embarrassed to drive up next to someone in a taller vehicle.
5. I am addicted to sugar.
6. I like being alone with a book.
7. I still have a strange sense of style and I'm glad I embrace it.
8. I find myself being mean-spirited way more than I like to admit.
9. I have gained back 9 of the 15 pounds I lost.
10. I am a bit lazy.
11. I bite my fingernails.
12. I love making money.
13. I'm not materialistic.
14. I want a pair of Toms but I am too cheap to buy them.
15. I hate cartoons.
16. I eat kid cereal most mornings.
17. I know nothing about politics.
18. I am thinking about getting a French CD and learning to speak French while I commute to
work.
19. I tried recycling but when I drove all over town with 3 garbage bags full of plastic bottles and
couldn't figure out where to take them, I just threw them in my garbage. I actually feel
relieved that I don't have to save them anymore.
20.The Honey Badger video makes me laugh.

The Happiness Project

2012-01-19T21:30:00.007-06:00

A few weeks ago I posted that I had become a bit of a grouch and I wanted to try to get to the bottom of why I was acting all negative and grouchy. I spent a few days cleaning my house and getting it in order and I found that it has tremendously helped my mood.

I have gotten into the habit of picking up a bit each day, washing my dishes immediately after I use them, and being conscious of things like hanging up my coat and not leaving junk mail on our island. Now, last week I finished reading "Little Women" and was itching to use the $30 Amazon gift card I had gotten for Christmas. I put the info into the computer and immediately purchased all three of the "Hunger Games" books. Since I didn't feel like immediately jumping into a three book series and still had a little credit on my gift card, I decided to download one more book. I went straight to my Kindle's "Wish List" and found a book that I didn't even remember putting in my wish list.

That book was "The Happiness Project."
I didn't know a thing about this book but was really surprised when I started reading it. It's about a woman who isn't depressed or sad but could stand to be a little happier. It sounded just like how I felt! It even started out with her getting more organized - clearing out the clutter... So far, I am only in the third chapter but its odd because its like I am one step ahead of this book. Every day I decide to do something to make myself happier and it seems like the next night, I am reading about the same thing in this book. So strange.

She even mentions this sort of thing in the book: "when the student is ready, the teacher appears" She calls it "Cosmic Harmony" and though I have always believed you will know and get "signs" if you are on the right track with your life, I never had an official name for that sort of thing.

So, that is what is going on with me lately. I am just trying to become more organized, more rested, healthier, and more in tune with life. There are still some kinks to work out and some things I would love to be able to discuss on my blog, but I just can't. We all know the story of "Dooce" don't we? I'll just have to leave it at that.

But, I have noticed this -- the more I do around the house and the earlier I go to bed, the more it affects Aubrey. I am not sure if he even notices what I am doing or knows that it is having a good effect on him. (Did I totally just get "affect" and "effect" mixed up?) But, he made up the bed one morning when he got up. He has washed dishes a few times and he even had dinner ready for me when I got home from work on Wednesday night. It's like the more I do, the more he does to help. Maybe when I am finished working on my own "Happiness Project" we will both end up a little bit happier than we already are.

Have you read this book?

Maybe Next Time...

2012-01-17T21:03:00.004-06:00

So I was kicked back in my comfy chair last night watching "American Pickers" as I do every Monday night. Imagine my surprise when I see a very familiar downtown. My downtown. Again. How did I miss out, again? I mean, they drive a big white van with a big red logo on the side, right? I live in a small town, it looks like I would have heard about it already. Nope. Not until last night.

I mean, yeah. I knew they were "in the area." At least I knew their scouts were in the area a few months ago. My (ex) co-worker talked to one of the scouts at a bar and he gave her a business card that has sat in a glass on our desk for at least 8 months.

So, 2 times in 2 years. They were at Phil's house again. It didn't look like he was taking much crap from them either. He was sticking to his guns, good for him. I think they had way better access than I did but I must say, I think he was way sweeter to me when I went picking there....

Maybe I should entice them with a "Big A."
or a G, N, or R

Friday The 13th, My Lucky Day!

2012-01-15T18:22:00.013-06:00

I should have just taken a drive over to Arkansas and purchased a lottery ticket because I had some kind of good luck this weekend!

It all started on Friday the 13th. There was an estate sale here in my city so I got to go before heading off to work. The sale was super over-crowded and the prices were, well a little pricey. There was lots of pretty depression glass and fine China but nothing rusty, crusty, or dusty. I squeezed my way through the crowd and into the garage area of the house. I was picking up things here and there but not finding anything that I just HAD TO HAVE. Then, I saw this poster rolled up in a clear plastic tube. On the outside of the tube was a piece of masking tape with "New York Poster, $1.00" written on it.

Well, I am not really into posters so I have no idea what made me pick it up, let alone take it out of the tube and unroll it. I started unrolling it and it had "New York" written on the top and The Statue of Liberty on it. I almost rolled it back up and put it away but something made me roll it all the way out. On the bottom of the poster, it said "Delta Air Lines." I knew right away that I had something good so I quickly rolled it back up, stuck it back in the tube, and tucked it under my arm.

As soon as I got home from work that night, I did a little research. It turns out my little poster is from the 1970s and worth about $100! How lucky is that?!
The next morning, Aubrey and I had an appointment to go "picking." This is the same appointment that had been rescheduled a couple of times already so I wasn't so sure we were going to get anything or not. On the way there, guess what we saw? I sign for ANOTHER estate sale -- but I will get to that a little later...

Okay, so we went to our "undisclosed location" and met the guy. He let us in the gate and let us just have a "free for all." Here are a few pictures:
The photo right above is of a few things we got: a primitive workbench, an old wooden mercantile cart (my favorite find of the weekend!), some architectural elements, and a couple of tin train cars -- (I will share a photo of them later this week)

I also got all of the smaller letters (which are not so small at almost 3 feet tall!) an old hotel cart, and a few other odds and ends. I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY want the giant letters (they are as tall as I am!) but we just can't figure out how to get them, where to keep them, or what we would do with them if we had them -- BUT, I am about determined they will be mine!

I also want some of the wrought iron fencing and porch railings -- but the sections were just too long for us to deal with at that time...also, tons of old barn ladders that I will want to go back and get. But I will have to be patient. Our house is full, our storage unit is full, and our booth is full right now.

While we were there, I got a call from the antique mall. I sold the gray chest of drawers!!
Okay, so we were done with that by 11:30 and it was time to grab some lunch and head to the other sale! I scored once again (sorry - I took these things straight to my booth and forgot to get photos) I got a Tom's Peanut jar and an old tin toy typewriter along with a few other things.

While we were at that sale, we heard about yet ANOTHER sale! So, it was back in the truck and off to the 3rd stop of the day. I didn't find much at the 3rd sale but did find a few blue Mason jars with zinc lids and an old pottery crock with a #2 on it.

I was so exhausted by the time we drove all over, loaded all the stuff, got it cleaned and out to the booth that I was showered and in bed by 7 o'clock last night!

Now, that the fun part is over, it's time to get everything that we didn't put in the booth photographed and listed in the Etsy shop.

Stood Up

2012-01-12T19:08:00.008-06:00

Aubrey and I had an appointment to go picking this afternoon. We bundled up, got our flashlights, called the guy --no answer. We drove to the location-- just in case-- but he wasn't there. Y'all this place is some kind of awesome. If I could design a "pick" perfect just for me and my taste - this would be it!

We are talking cherry red sign letters which are as tall as I am, stacks and stacks of old painted doors, lengths of iron fence...and these are just the things that can be seen from several yards away behind a tall fence.

We will not give up though...we will call and call until the guy answers. I HAVE to get in there. I HAVE to!

So, I thought since I can't share the things I thought I would have in my possession this evening -- I will share a few other things I have picked up the last few weeks. I found 2 of these old potato chip display stands.I thought this reversible metal game board would make a great bulletin board.

Found this little flashcard type game - thought it would be really cute for some crafty project. Look how cute the little furniture is:I have been slowly but surely restocking my Etsy shop. I am trying to find a balance between stocking my Etsy shop and stocking my antique mall booth.

Tomorrow morning will start off with an estate sale here in my town. Because of the kind of job I have, I will get to go to the sale and then drive up to work. Hopefully, we can reschedule our picking appointment. I think I would rather go on a Saturday anyway - more daylight = more time=more stuff!

Just Thinkin'

2012-01-11T21:22:00.002-06:00

Aubrey and I cooked a good portion of the Thanksgiving meal at his parents' house this year. One dish he made was bacon wrapped green beans. This is a dish my family has made for years and years and Aubrey loves it so much he is trying to bring the dish over to his side of the fam.

Basically, you soak canned green beans in Italian dressing overnight. Then, you wrap them in bacon and bake them in the oven. Really yummy.

So, we were all yumming over the meal and everyone was saying how delish the green bean bundles were when my sister in law said this:

We make a dish just like this in my family except we use asparagus instead of green beans and we don't soak it in dressing and we grill it instead of bake it...

Hmmm. So how is that "just like" it again?

Alphabet Soup

2012-01-10T17:26:00.003-06:00

You just never know what you are going to find when you are in the "junk business." Today, I was minding my own business - just went out to the antique mall to drop off a few things. In fact, I was wearing a too tight tee shirt and yoga pants so I didn't exactly want to stay long or be seen by too many people. I had my coat on to cover my outfit and its a bit warm here today. I was just going to stay long enough to drop the things off and go.

Just as I was leaving, something caught my eye in one of the other booths:Can you believe my luck? The guy who owns this particular booth also owns a sign company. Apparently, he doesn't see sign letters the same way I see them. They were marked dirt cheap! As if that wasn't enough - he had a 20% off sale going on!

I also picked up a couple more items -- I'll share tomorrow. I am sort of in the middle of cooking dinner right now. hee hee

Speaking of dinner, we had BLTs for lunch. I tried the Pinterest "bacon in every bite" tip:

Okay, gotta go put the rolls in. I have a big adventure coming up on Thursday!!

Literary Lessons

2012-01-08T20:20:00.004-06:00

I am reading "Little Women" for the first time and not only am I really enjoying it, I feel like I am being given little lessons to help me along and motivate me.
The part where the girls took a break from housekeeping for a week really struck a chord with me. You see, my office and our spare room have become a sort of "dumping ground" since November. It was easy to just shut the door on the matter (literally) and not think of it.

When the girls learned the lesson of doing a little work each day so the work would not get out of hand, I sort of had an "a-ha" moment. You see, I do laundry once a week, on Monday night when I get home from work. Even though there are just two of us, we go through a ton of clothes in a week. By the time I get home from work and get everything washed and folded, I am exhausted. Half the time, I leave the last load in the dryer or in the basket in front of the dryer. Or, I may just stack folded clothes on the table with good intentions of putting them up...

The next thing you know, its the next week and some of last week's things still haven't been put away. The same goes with all the other chores. It seems the dishes are either in the sink or in the drainer. When they get washed, they go in the drainer but never get put away...so, there are always dishes out.

So, I have decided instead of trying to all of the chores at once and getting overwhelmed and exhausted by it, I will make sure that I pick up and put up every single day of the week. I will no longer designate a "clean up day' but clean up a bit every day.

I know that sounds like a "no brainer" to most of you but I have always had a designated day for each chore. Over the weekend, I stayed home and cleaned and cleaned but not without a little reward. I have found that if I immediately reward myself for finishing a task, it makes the work much easier. This weekend, I rewarded myself with getting to read. Another time, I may reward myself with Pinterest or television. For every 45 minutes of housework I completed, I got to sit in my cozy chair and read for 45 minutes. I did this on and off all day Saturday. My house is looking much better -- the spare room, office, kitchen, living room, and dining room are spic and span. The laundry is not only all washed, dried, and folded, it has all been put away as well. All of that -- just because I wanted to finish a book but would not allow myself to do it unless it was in the form of a reward. Who knew part of the reward would be a nice, clean house?

Who knew a book written in the 1800s could still teach a 30-something lessons about life in the 2000s?

Have you ever read Little Women? If not, I highly recommend it. I only wish I read it 20 years ago!

Diving Into The New Year

2012-01-05T15:31:00.005-06:00

Aubrey took his first "dumpster dive" of the New Year and brought this home for me:
Can you believe people actually throw this stuff away? He told me there were 2 more but they were in very bad condition. I started questioning "How bad?" but he nipped it in the bud. "Very bad, they were all torn up, dirty, and had cardboard insides." Of course I still wanted to go see for myself but I am too scared to go on "6th Street" by myself so I had to take his word for it. He also mentioned a big hand painted sign with "Hog Maws for Sale" painted on it. The look on my face made him say: "It was TOO big, Angela." Hmmmph.

We seriously can not get enough of this:
So good. The cappuccino is both of our favorites.

So, a couple of weeks before Christmas we went to an estate sale. You might remember me saying we stayed for 4 hours in the pouring rain. We got soaked but we found a ton of fantastic things! As we made our pile, we got "the stink eye" from several people. One guy in particular actually laughed at me and called Aubrey a "dummy." --Oh yes he did!! I seriously didn't think Aubrey heard him because he had no reaction to it. Later, I found out he DID hear him but Aubrey's only comment was: "He just better be glad I took my Zoloft this morning."

I felt a little disturbed by the guy for a good while after we left and I told Aubrey that I felt like I had "to prove something to that guy" and I didn't like feeling that way. Aubrey just told me that the guy didn't matter at all and that they can laugh all they want, we would be the ones laughing all the way to the bank....

Fast forward a few weeks later-...and I did actually laugh all the way to the bank with my first complete check from the antique mall- $906.26!!! Not to mention I haven't even put half the stuff I bought that day in the booth yet! I am so excited to get off to such a great start with my booth. I was sort of keeping up with it (or so I thought) and I told Aubrey a couple of days before that I thought I was going to get at least $400 from them -- so I was totally shocked when I opened my envelope!

Hopefully this year will be more of the same good luck and good fortune. We have an estate sale coming up on Friday the 13th. This time if we get laughed at, I might have to laugh right back!

Recipe For Cream Pralines

2012-01-04T21:43:00.002-06:00

1 box light brown sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
3/4 c. evaporated milk
1 tsp. butter
2 c. pecan halves
Candy thermometer -- don't try to wing it here-- You NEED a candy thermometer

Mix sugar, salt, milk and butter in a 2 quart saucepan. Cook and stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Add pecans and cook over medium heat to 234 degrees, stirring constantly. Remove; let cool 5 minutes. Stir rapidly until mixture coats pecans and thickens. Drop onto wax paper by the spoon.

One Resolution

2012-01-01T19:32:00.004-06:00

As much as I need to set, stick to, and complete many resolutions, I have decided to work on one big one this year. Yes, I still need to lose the rest of the pounds I started losing last year, yes, I need to exercise more, yes, I need to go to bed earlier.
More than anything though, I need to stop bitching. Yep. I find myself griping all the time about one thing or another. Most of the time, it is something that doesn't even deserve a second thought. I don't know why I have turned into such a crab lately. My goal is to find the root of my problem and try to fix it. I guess the first thing is realizing you have the problem -- so at least I have admitted that much.

What are your resolutions?

So, how did you bring in the New Year?

We took our dogs for a walk in the Cypress Preserve and a swim in the lake. We got out Aubrey's metal detector in the hopes of finding a chunk of gold but we only found a few bottle caps. Then, we ate Mexican food and went home for the evening.

We watched this:Wow!! What an inspirational movie to start the New Year with!!

This morning we went back to Aubrey's parent's house. His sister didn't get to come for Christmas but she was there today. This is the first time we have seen her in a year and a half!

We got home early. I napped and Aubrey played Zelda.

I woke up with a sweet tooth and made homemade pralines. Mmmmm!If any of you want the recipe, let me know and I will post it.

Are pecans going crazy where you live? I see people all over every single day picking up pecans. There are booths set up all over town with "We Buy Pecans" on them. Aubrey's boss took his kids out to pick pecans and he compared it to picking up nickels off the ground --that's how high pecan prices are this year! Luckily, I was given a huge bag so that is why I have been making so much pecan based candy these last few weeks. I would feel too guilty letting them spoil.

My evening will involve reading Little Women and watching The Kardashians. Hopefully the reading will restore the brain cells I will kill by watching Kim's marriage crumble. I just can't help myself. I love my guilty pleasures.

Any Book Suggestions?

2011-12-28T19:26:00.005-06:00

I am in such a mood to read lately! I was wondering if any of you have any book suggestions....

The last book I read was suggested by a blog friend and I enjoyed it so much I thought I would ask for suggestions of what to add to my reading list.

I am thinking about reading the "Hunger Games" series but I don't know the first thing about these books...

Have you read them?

I also considered reading "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" series but quickly dismissed that. I have seen all the movies (the Swedish versions not the American) and I am not sure I could make it through the books. That first movie was pretty darn difficult to watch. In fact, it was so difficult that I may not even watch the English version of the film. Have you seen these/read these?Has anyone read this one?

Have you taken your tree down yet? I haven't. I DID take all the "Christmas-y" things from my antique mall booth on Tuesday and I hope to get all the "Christmas-y" things in our house down tomorrow. I want the house to be clean, peaceful, and relaxing on New Year's Day with no chores left. I just want to cozy up with some hot tea and read all day.

A Look At The Last Few Weeks

2011-12-27T20:08:00.010-06:00

I never mean to just abandon my blog but sometimes it happens. Most of it was related to computer issues - within a week my desktop, our laptop, and our Tivo went ka-put. We are back up and running -- all but the Tivo.

So here is a quick rundown of my life in the last few weeks.

1. The booth did GREAT over the holidays. I tried to stop by every few days but just could not keep up with it and all the other Holiday obligations. I will be excited to get my check for the month and my list of things that sold - I couldn't keep up. I will update you in a couple of weeks.

2. My cousin, Carly, had breast reduction surgery the Monday before Christmas. I spent Tuesday evening with her- watching movies and rubbing her feet and legs with lotion. Poor thing! She is a petite girl and her Mom said that the doctor estimated her a size "I" before. I didn't even know there was a such size! Here she is on Christmas Eve -- still very tired and sore but down to a C.

3. I worked on Wednesday and finished up most of my shopping that night.

4. I worked on Friday and we were super busy at the shop.

5. On Saturday I finished the very last minute shopping and made homemade candy all day.

6. Saturday night - Christmas with my family at my brother's house. Here are a few pictures:(my Dad and my cousin Peter (Carly's younger brother)(My little niece, McKenzie. Apparently, she is a gangster. Who knew?)(My little nephew. He was so happy with this "Hot Wheels" toy - he climbed right up on the coffee table with it)(Then, he had his Christmas "melt-down" and it was time for the kids to go to bed and the adults to go home.)

7. Then, Aubrey and I went home for our own Christmas. I gave him a coffee maker and a ton of coffee and we have both really enjoyed it. He gave me "Trivial Pursuit" for our Wii and I haven't beat him yet!
8. The next day, we went to Christmas at his family's house. With loading all the food and gifts, I forgot the camera.

9. I am hoping to take next Monday off work. I could use a little break. You don't get much of one when Christmas falls on a weekend, do you?

10. My favorite gift this year was from my brother and sister-in-law- an Amazon gift card. A year later, my Kindle is still my all time favorite gift and I can't wait to buy more books!

Last Minute Shopping

2011-12-14T18:18:00.005-06:00

Are you a last minute shopper or one of those who starts Christmas shopping in July? I am usually somewhere right in the middle. I like to shop online and I love to give handmade gifts. I normally start shopping around the end of October. This year though, I have dropped the ball. I have ordered 1 gift. That's it. I have not been to the mall, to any boutiques, to Wal-Mart... There is not one single gift under our tree. I am going to be one of those people this year. One of those last minute shoppers.

I have been so busy the last few months that when I get a chance to be at home, I want to stay there. I just want to look at the tree, pin things on Pinterest, read books and eat Christmas-y treats.

Right now I am reading this book:
It's all about the flea-market culture and I am really enjoying it so far. I just wanted to say thanks for suggesting it, Carrie.

Also, watched this movie last night:What a darn tear-jerker!

What are you reading and/or watching?

Randoms

2011-12-12T21:59:00.008-06:00

Great weekend! Finally spent a weekend resting and not running here and there. It was great - I napped I read...

Finished this:
The book, not the movie. Still haven't seen the movie. Maybe one day. Since I was reading this on my Kindle, I had no idea how long this darn book was! All I know is I read and read and read. Just when I thought nothing else could possibly happen- it did. Whew. Good but a little draining. Strange, before reading this, I always thought Scarlet was a heroine. Hmmm.

On Thanksgiving I made these rolls for the first time. I got the recipe from Pinterest.

Have YOU ever made anything you found on Pinterest? Or do you just pin? You should make these. They are SO GOOD! Here is the recipe:

2 c Bisquick mix
1/2 c sour cream
1/2 c 7up
1/4 c melted butter
Preheat oven to 450º

Just mix Bisquick, sour cream, and 7up

Melt butter in oven

Pat out dough and cut it in squares. Lay dough on melted butter. Cook about 12-15 minutes

I have made these at least 7 times since Thanksgiving. Want to make them even better? I added ranch dressing mix to my sour cream a couple of times. YUMMY!

Confession-

I have one of these:

See:Don't I look gangster in it?

Want to know why in the heck I am wearing this? It all started as an offhand comment. Aubrey bought his sister the ugliest Snuggie he could find for her birthday. It has penguins all over it. He bought it as a gag gift. So, as he was showing me this Snuggie, I commented that I would rather have the "Forever Lazy." A couple of days later our anniversary rolled around and guess what I got? Yep.

So, I put it on --as a joke-- and oh my goodness--it is the most comfortable thing I have ever put on my friggin body! It is so warm and cozy. A couple of days later I was at Wal-Mart and I bought Aubrey one as an anniversary gift from me. We have matching ones and we have had a couple of night of lounging around in our matching ugly outfits reading or watching movies.

Ridiculous, I know. You should get one.

This kills me:
Pinned this for Jen:
Okay, gotta go. I have a Christmas tree to stare at and an American Pickers rerun to watch.

Day Off!

2011-12-09T01:20:00.004-06:00

All of the ornaments are painted and packed! Most have been shipped. The ones that haven't been shipped are ready, they only need to be dropped at the post. 168 total. Whew, I am glad it's over.

Aubrey and I both requested this Friday off several weeks ago. There is a killer estate sale that we didn't want to miss. But, we have decided to skip it at the last minute. We are both really tired so we have decided to just have a day off - at home.

So, here are my plans:

1. I want to make every single craft I have pinned on Pinterest
2. Finish making my sign for my booth
3. Sleep late
4. Finish reading "Gone With the Wind" - the longest book ever!
5. Watch movies

It's going to be about the best day of my life -- I can feel it.

The Christmas Breakdown

2011-12-07T22:48:00.005-06:00

Okay, I have to admit it: Every year I have a slight breakdown/meltdown at Christmas time. In fact, I think I probably write a similar post each year. My annual Christmas bitch post if you will. I want to be joyful and happy and crafty and thankful. I know I should be joyful and happy and thankful and that just adds to the stress for me. You see, every year I make personalized ornaments -- you've seen them, right? I would share a picture but you remember my computer crashing... anyway, don't have any photos to share right now.

So, this year I decided NOT to make the ornaments after 14 Christmas Seasons of painting them. I was weighing my options one day at work a week or so into November (which is way later than I ever start painting) My boss and coworker asked me how many I normally sold and when I told them they pretty much said I would be foolish to turn down the extra money.

I decided that maybe I WAS just being lazy and maybe I should just do them. I decided that I would finish up painting the blank ones left from last year and just call it a day. When I ran out, I ran out. I counted and I had 64 blank ornaments. A nice, do-able, stress- free number.

I started getting orders and started painting them up pretty quickly. A couple of days later I was up in my attic looking for something when I found an unopened carton of blank ornaments so that gave me over a hundred more blanks. I kept taking orders.

A couple of weeks in, I was still painting but not "feeling it." I hated the ornaments and I hated the thought of painting them. Nice Christmas spirit, huh? So, I decided to set a cut-off day. December 6th, I was going to call it quits no matter how many blank ornaments were left.

Yesterday was the last day and I was literally down to only 6 blank ornaments anyway. I had several small orders and one order for 19 to be shipped to Illinois. I woke up early and started painting. I painted and painted all day. I would not have even left my house if I didn't have to go pay my storage unit rent.

I got dressed, went to the bank and went to the storage unit. The guy wasn't there so I gave him a call. He said to come back tomorrow or Saturday. So, I sat in the parking lot of the storage place with tears brimming in my eyes. (Not sure why him telling me to come back is what pushed me over the ledge) I realized I was stressed. Really stressed. In the last few weeks I have been to the flea market twice (hauling stuff there and hauling it home) I set up my booth at the antique mall, had Thanksgiving -twice, commuted back and forth to work every other day, stood in lines at the post office for several hours, eaten way too much fast food, driven to estate sales, hauled big things in the rain...

I sat there and talked myself out of crying. I know it is stupid to get stressed about something I asked for. I love having the extra Christmas money. I appreciate my customers. I could have way worse problems. I HAVE had way worse problems.

But, I honestly think my Christmas ornament painting is over. I want to enjoy Christmas for the first time in my married life. I don't want to be frazzled and bitchy and stressed and look like an unkempt wooly mammoth. I am retiring from the ornament business. Five more to paint tomorrow and about 31 boxes to pack and ship and I am done. It has been a great run.

As I painted on Tuesday, I put them over into the laundry basket so they would not roll off my bed. This is what the basket looked like when I was done:

Photo Overload

2011-12-07T00:48:00.019-06:00

Okay, it's late and I have painted ALL day! So, this is just going to be a picture post-

From the antique mall in Memphis -- LOVE!!
Things from the estate sale:

Got this in Memphis:

Got a ton of these cute chalkboards at the flea market in Memphis for $7.00!From the rainy estate sale- the is the chemical cabinet which is still in the truck-

A look around my booth:

Cold, Wet, and Smiling!

2011-12-04T19:17:00.005-06:00

I went to Memphis early yesterday morning and went to estate sales until I could not see straight. Got some great stuff! I put most of it in the booth today and didn't remember to take pictures of any of it...maybe I will get a chance to run out there on Tuesday and snap a few pictures.

Okay, on the way to Memphis, I think a spider bit my foot. I remember feeling a sharp pain but since I was driving on an interstate, I couldn't stop and pull my shoe off. Then, with the excitement of all the things I was finding, I forgot all about it.

When I got home last night I pulled my shoes off and my foot was really swollen. But, both feet were puffy so I thought it might be because I had been on my feet all day --and it didn't hurt (did itch), was not red, and I could not see a bite. Took Benedryl and went to sleep.

Woke up, foot looked fine but I put a "Googled" home remedy on it just in case. (bleach and baking soda) Now, my foot looks fine but it does have a red spot on it in about the place I had the pain. UGH, I don't have time to lose a leg to a spider bite. I have ornaments to paint. I am keeping an eye on it. If it is still red in the morning I will have to skip work and go to the doctor. I am thinking the bleach probably caused the redness.

Okay on to the good stuff. Aubrey called me when I was in Memphis yesterday. He was at an estate sale here in town. He showed me some photos when I got home and OMG I could not wait to get myself to that sale today....and today was half price day!

Y'all, I hooked up! You will not believe the things I got! All industrial, all straight from a machinist's shed!! I got stools, bins, metal cabinets, file drawers, 36 antique outdoor faucet handles in all colors, pulleys, some big metal cabinets and- the cream of the crop- an industrial chemical storage cabinet from an airport!

-- one thing on my wish list- an old rake- so I could make this:

Source: twighome.com via Angela on Pinterestthis

.

Would you believe I found 2? Neither one had the handle --so I have zero work to do on this project!

Okay, then I found one of these which was also on my 'must have' list-

Source: mytatteredangels.com via Angela on Pinterest

I seriously can't believe my own luck!

In the middle of all of this "shopping" it was cold and raining! Aubrey and I were soaked and I was getting worried that the case of pneumonia I was going to come down with would aggravate my spider bite treatment... oh yeah, have a mentioned I am a bit of a hypochondriac?

I am talking soaked to the bone, our hair, our clothes, our shoes, our socks...

But we could not quit smiling!

Can't wait to take photos and share with you guys--you would have flipped! Hopefully, when I am home on Tuesday I can get everything photographed and share...

...as for now I have a ton of ornaments to paint. Currently I am at 132 ornaments!

What's Up.

2011-11-30T21:25:00.002-06:00

First of all what's up? It has been ages since I have gotten the chance to sit down and blog OR read blogs. I look forward to catching up soon.

Here is what's up with me:

*Painting, painting, painting.

*Set the booth up and it is doing really great so far. I am very pleased considering that I stocked it with the "leftovers" from the 2 weeks at the flea market.

*I DID take a picture of the booth but my computer crashed (while I was away at the flea market the first weekend) and I have not gotten it back yet. I am working off the lap top and just don't have control over the situation just yet.

*Got a new phone today so I can't get the photos off my old phone anyway....but I will take more photos and share soon -promise.

*With the help of some blog buddies sending things to help "fatten" up my booth in such short notice it doesn't quite look like a "leftover" booth. BUT, I do need to hit up some estate sales-quickly!

*Ate way too much over the 4 days(!) we celebrated Thanksgiving.

*Going to sleep by 10 tonight so I can have a FULL DAY tomorrow. I want to finish the painting and packing and get to the post office early. I am feeling very crafty and all my "Pinterest Ideas" are piling up.

*Hope all of you are doing great!! I will catch up very, very soon.

Randoms-

2011-11-21T21:45:00.004-06:00

I have to make this quick so I thought I would stop by and give a quick update on why I haven't been around much lately.

1. Christmas ornaments- It's that time of year again and even though I said I wasn't going to paint them again this year - here I sit with a list of 67 ornaments to be painted in front of me. At first I thought I only had 65 blank ones left from last year. Then, I found an unopened carton in our attic and it was "game on." I am in full ornament mode now.

2. I spent the whole weekend at the flea market again. We did great on Saturday and sold tons of things! Plus, this time I worked it alone (Aubrey was on call and could not leave town) and I commuted there each day which meant I spent 8 hours just commuting back and forth this weekend!

3. Then, there is the little thing called my job which ties me up for at least 30 hours each week.

4. Between all of that there has been packing and shipping...

5. I got my antique booth mall this afternoon! I will move in tomorrow. The bad part (well its not BAD) is I sold so much at the flea market that now my Etsy shop is depleted and I barely have enough stuff to make a halfway decent flea market booth. I wanted to start out with a bang but it looks like I might start out with a soft thud. But, I will just have to build it from the ground up.

So, that's where I am right now ---ALL OVER THE PLACE! I will not be around much this week if any so I want to go ahead and say HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all of my pals!!

Thank you for the endless supply of love, encouragement, and support!!

...and you know who you are --

Thank you for the book suggestion. I will download it and read it as soon as I can catch my breath.

I did sell the "P" but I do have another one I will save back for you!!

The blueprints will be listed in my shop very soon and I will let you know when I list them.

A Closer Look At The Flea Market

2011-11-15T17:04:00.008-06:00

I am back and a wee bit more calm today. In the last week my life went from 0 to 60. It went from wait, wait, wait to it needs to be done now!

Okay so to tell you a little more about our flea market adventure...

We started out on Friday morning with a truck full of things we thought were great but we weren't sure if anyone else would share our vision. We talked about how much money we wanted to make and also how we shouldn't "count our chickens before they hatch." It's a weird feeling to have confidence and doubt all at once.

I kept reminding myself (and Aubrey) that it all depends on the shoppers. You see, this is not my first time at the rodeo. My Mom and I used to have a pottery business. We hauled our wares to craft shows all over the state. We sat in rain, cold, and heat. We had good days and we had bad days. If I learned one thing from all those craft shows -- believe in yourself but don't get too cocky. The crowd might love your things and they might hate your things. You never know until you get there.

Our best show ever was one October. It was an indoor, upscale show and the shoppers LOVED us! We made over $3000 in one day! There were several times during that show that I almost cried with joy and with fright. My mom helped make all the pottery but all of the painting was on me. Each plate, bowl, and platter was personalized and very detailed. All were made to order. I kept looking at her and saying "What should we do?" She just said: "We can do it. Just keep taking orders." ...and so we did.

The very next week we were at another show. If we had not booked it far in advance we would have cancelled but we felt obligated to attend. You know what? We didn't sell one piece. Not one piece! (Actually it was a good thing because we really didn't have time for more orders) But you see -- you just never know!

Sorry, I got off track a little there ;) When we got to the flea market and got a good reception I have to admit we got a little keyed up. We counted our chickens before they hatched all the way home that night. Boy, we counted a lot o chickens!

The first day, we made our first sale pretty early. It was a pretty big sale and we got excited. Then, things got slower instead of faster and we ended up selling little things here and there for a while. We made one other pretty decent sized sale and then just little things after that. We made enough the first day to cover food, gas, the booth space, and the hotel room. We went to bed happy that night and figured we would do just as well the next day.

The next day was S-L-O-W. We made a few small sales and that was it. So, our chickens didn't hatch. BUT, the other vendors convinced us that it was just a slow week. They told us to try again next weekend. So, I am going again next weekend! Why not give it another go? The booth is already set up. Another flea market report will be coming up next weekend!

Okay, that is ENOUGH from me. Let me show you some pictures of some of the fabulous things from the flea:

Blogging, It Can Be Hard Work Sometimes

2011-11-14T19:08:00.002-06:00

Hi

We got home pretty early from the flea market last night but after trying to get my computer to start up and not being able to figure out why it wouldn't I gave up and called it a night. We were tired from a long weekend.

So, the flea. It was fun. We didn't sell as much as we wanted to but we didn't go in the hole either. Plus, it's always nice to get away from home for a night. Am I the only one who actually likes staying in a hotel?

I have so much I want to share with you about the experience. Unfortunately, I have spent the better part of the evening searching in vain for the camera card so I could share photos as well. Finally, I called Aubrey who told me it was out in his "man room" in his computer. Great. I was glad to at least know I wasn't crazy. I DID leave it on the dresser this morning.

Then, a message popped up on my screen. 7% power left. I had to go find the plug and plug the computer in. I ran out to the "man room." I grabbed the card. Came back in. There were no images on the card. Whew.

So, I'm over it. I will share tomorrow. When blogging -- well not so much blogging-- but technology, cameras, computers and all that stuff starts making you mad to the point that you want to cuss and be mean and your blood pressure goes up- its better for me to just cuddle with my dogs and watch tv.

Day One @ The Flea

2011-11-13T09:09:00.010-06:00

I am still tucked in bed at the hotel as I blog this morning. We were so tired after a full day at the flea - we had dinner, checked into a hotel and were sound asleep by 8:45 last night! I had 10 hours of sleep and Aubrey is STILL sawing logs almost 14 hours later!! But, that is only because we were running on about 4 hours of sleep each all day yesterday!

When we got there yesterday morning we added a few more large pieces to the booth-

Here it is before:
Here it is after adding our gray chest, green shelf, a horse weather vane, and our Clabber Girl sign as well as lots of other little odds and ends I packed on Friday night. Can you believe there is still stuff in my office, dining room, and the storage unit back home?The crowds were really slow yesterday. In fact, at one point it was mostly other vendors shopping each other's booths. I did look around a bit but tried to focus on making money, not spending it :) So, I sat near my booth with my Kindle while Aubrey made friends with everyone in the building. He is so awesomely friendly and does not have a shy bone in his whole body!

Here are a few close-ups of our booth-

We have gotten tons of compliments on the set up and one lady made a comment that just made my whole day. She said: "Ohhh your booth looks like it came right out of Country Living magazine."

Since I buy a ton of rusty, chippy "junk" at estate sales (generally the stuff other people don't want) I get lots of "turned up nose" looks and "What in the world are you going to do with that?!" comments so it felt nice to be in a place where people understand my things.

We sold several pieces yesterday. The first thing I sold was the horse weather vane that I have had forever! You might remember him from last year - the horse with the broken tail. Aubrey welded it back together months and months ago and we have had it in our backyard getting rained on and snowed on and heat baking through it for a year to get the color just right around the place where he welded it.

I wanted to say thank you to all of you for your well wishes. I get my blog comments through text and felt like I was being cheered on all day yesterday with your comments coming through every few minutes!

We are about to get up and going. The flea starts at 12 today. Here's hoping we sell something BIG!

11/11/11/11 and The Flea

2011-11-11T16:36:00.009-06:00

Why the extra 11 in my title? Because Aubrey and I are celebrating our 11th anniversary today! Here is how we are celebrating- we woke up at 6am but couldn't get the lead out of our butts. We finally got into the truck at around 7:45. Not sure why it took us an hour and 45 minutes to get on the road - we packed everything last night.

We drove 2 hours to get to the flea market. I know it sounds like an awful waste of gas to go there and drive back home only to have to turn right back around tomorrow but we do have 2 very good reasons:

1. Aubrey has a gig tonight so we had to come back home.
2. We could not fit everything into the truck so we had to come back home to get another load anyway.

The flea starts at 9am tomorrow morning but we will get there at 7 to finish our set-up. That means we will have to be on the road by 5am tomorrow morning!

So, here is the state of our booth so far-

We still have our gray chest and our green shelf (the stereo re-do) to add in the morning-
I am realizing that I am a bit of a suitcase hoarder. Good thing though because they were great for packing the smaller things in and since we didn't have any tables, they came in handy for display. I still have 2 train cases, another brown suitcase, a white one, a blue one, a red one, a yellow one, and a metal one in my office! I think I need to start "just saying no" to suitcases!

The factory carts came in very useful to use as tables too. But if we sell them we are pretty much going to have to just put all of our stuff on the ground!
I am happy with the way it has turned out and I hope we have a good crowd. The few people who were there today (other vendors) were very helpful and had a really good response to our "junk." We even made our first sale while we were setting up!

Here is Aubrey with my purse:

Setting up in a middle aisle was hard. We wanted to make the booth easy to get to from both sides. I hope this configuration works. Who knows? I might figure out a solution tonight and have to switch thing around a bit...

I will check back on Monday to tell y'all how our first flea goes!

Just When Life Couldn't Get Any Better

2011-11-09T18:13:00.001-06:00

...I got to cuddle and snuggle a potbelly pig:

Oh how sweet!

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

2011-11-08T17:51:00.002-06:00

As if getting a spot at the flea market wasn't enough good news this week - today I got a call and after a over a year of being on the waiting list, the wait is finally over! A space opened for us at the antique mall!!

We will get to move in perhaps by mid November but for sure by December 1st! I guess my post on Sunday helped move things along. I declared that I was tired of being on the waiting list of life and boom - within 2 days we got the flea market and the antique mall!

Finally, Ginger's Girl will be it's own little shop!

We're In!

2011-11-07T19:21:00.004-06:00

Today was the day I was supposed to call the flea market to see if we could get a booth. I wanted to call right when I woke up but decided I didn't want to disturb anyone's sleep so I would wait until at least 9am to call. I ended up calling a little after 10 and got a voice mail. I left a message and then I waited.

If you read my post on Sunday, you know I am a little tired of waiting on things. So, I didn't wait very long - only about an hour- before I decided to send the guy a text. I got a text right back that said he would call me in an hour...

...an hour later he called and gave me the good news: WE ARE IN!! In only five short days we will be setting up a booth at our first ever flea market! So, my posts may be few and far between this week. We have so much stuff to pack, things to price, and projects to finish up.

Since Aubrey has a gig on Friday night, I will take the first truck load of things down on Friday morning and we will take the rest of the things on Saturday morning. The flea market begins at 9am on Saturday and ends at 5:00 -- then, we will go again on Sunday!

We are both so excited! Aubrey spent the day turning this:

Into this:

Believe me, this photo does not do it justice at all. The flash (which I had to use because it was pitch dark when I got home) makes the colors look too bright but they are so subtle, rustic, chippy and worn in real life. It is SO pretty and if we are the only two in the world who like it, at least we will get to keep it for ourselves, right?

I actually skipped down the aisle at work today when I found out we were in! It was hard for me to sit still all day knowing there are a ton of things to get done! Right now, I am boiling brown paper bags in coffee. I am going to attempt a faux leather treatment I read about on a coffee table.

I will work tomorrow and Wednesday and I have Thursday and Friday off.

The Waiting List

2011-11-06T10:11:00.005-06:00

We have 6 days until the flea market and we are still not sure if we are going. A few weeks ago we sat down together and found a weekend where Aubrey didn't have a gig and wasn't on call for work. That happened to be the weekend of our anniversary!

On 11-11-11 we will celebrate our 11th anniversary! Hopefully we will be celebrating it at the flea market. When we found a date that would work for both of us, I emailed the "flea market guy" immediately. He told me that they don't reserve spaces in advance and I would have to call back the Monday before the market the following weekend. So, I jotted it down on my calendar and have been waiting for the time when I can call-We have a ton of things we need to accomplish in just a couple of days:
Funny thing is - I'm not motivated to do any of these things on the list. Aubrey worked on a table all day yesterday and I took a nap and then I took a trip to the grocery. I don't know what came over me. I just wasn't "feeling it" yesterday. There ended up being about 27 yard sales here yesterday and I only went to five!

I think I am just totally frustrated with being on the waiting list at the antique mall for so long. It's not like they can help how quickly (or slowly) people move on but it's hard to get your hopes up for something, make a decision on it, and then sit on the waiting list for over a year!

Then we finally find a date that works for us for the flea market and we have to wait 3 weeks just to be able to call and see if there is room for us.

To be honest I am tired of waiting. I want my own shop. I want to have a place to spread out and work. I want a place to display my pretty things - not have them all crammed up in a storage unit. Aubrey and I have been talking and talking about this lately. We want to make this happen but we know we are not in the right city to start a shop like this. We feel like we would have to move...but we have a house and jobs...and family here.

When do you get to the point where you start living your own life and not the life that is expected for you to live? These are the things I am thinking about lately.

How do you let go of fear and just do it?

Do you ever feel like you are on the waiting list of life?

Blogtoberf...........blah

2011-11-02T19:46:00.005-05:00

I was doing so well with Blogtoberfest - blogging every single day and then blah... I just fizzled out right there at the end and now it is suddenly November!

I had good reasons though:

1. On Friday, Aubrey came back home from being out of town and I didn't want to spend the evening on the computer when I could spend it with him. I also FINALLY got the magazine and YES my shop is in it. They decided not to use the photos of us but shop photos instead so I was happy about that. I was kinda freaking at the thought of my photo being in thousands of magazines.

Nine of us with Etsy shops in the state were chosen for the article. You can't view it online (I guess that would make it harder for them to sell magazines if you could just read it online) but I will try to scan it to share it with you.

2. On Saturday it was an estate sale day (not a very good one) and the rest of the day was spent napping, cleaning house, and eating the homemade Butterfingers I made --(and OMG - they are so good!)

3. On Sunday, I spent the entire day at the Pumpkin Patch with my nephew, Paxton. Neither one of us had ever been to a pumpkin patch before. This is my very favorite photo from the day:

I didn't want to narc out my poor little nephew so I couldn't share this one on Facebook but this is one of my favorites as well-We were the only 2 in the "junior corn maze" and he said: "Angie, I have to pee." So, I thought quickly - porta potty or corn? I told him just to go in the corn. He loved that idea! He started giggling and yelling: "I peed on that corn!" I was like "Shh...You have to keep it on the down-low little buddy. Whatever you do, don't tell the nice lady or Farmer Jim that you peed in their corn." You know public urination, keeping secrets... things an Aunt has to teach her nephew, right?

3. Halloween. We only had 3 Trick-Or-Treaters and they arrived in a car and weren't even dressed up. Lazy kids. I swear.

4. Tuesday was a day off and I spent all day shopping. Since last Winter was spent working from home in hoodies and sweats, I decided my wardrobe needed a little help.

5. So, today I am back to the world-o-blog. Boy, did I miss you guys.

Shut Your Mouth, Pinterest!

2011-10-27T17:09:00.007-05:00

Ooooh Pinterest is an evil bi-atch sometimes. Not only do I have to stay up too late pinning and pinning and pinning, there are delicious tempting recipes thrown in with all the pretty stuff.

Have y'all seen the one for homemade Butterfingers? If not, let me bring you down with me and share it. I have done terrific on the diet this week and slipped back down to the 140s so it is with a heavy heart that I say:

I AM GONNA MAKE THESE!!!

...and yes, I have already been to the store and picked up the ingredients.

See:

Candy Corn Butterfingers
Taste of Home forums
(Printable Recipe)

1 lb. candy corn
16oz jar peanut butter
16oz pkg. chocolate candy coating

Melt candy corn in microwave on high 1 minute. Stir and continue cooking in 15-second intervals til melted, stirring after each interval. Stir in peanut butter. Spread mixture in an 8x8 pan lined with parchment. Cool completely. Cut into squares. Dip in melted chocolate candy coating. Lay on waxed paper to set.

You can thank me or cuss me later.

Also, DON'T FORGET THE GIVEAWAY!! I will announce the winner on November 1st!! All you have to do is "like" Ginger's Girl on Facebook. (For ways to get extra entries, go to the October 1st post)

Oh and I still haven't found a magazine. Waiting sucks.

It's Here! Well, Sorta...

2011-10-26T20:44:00.005-05:00

Well guys, it is finally here! The magazine I am supposed to be featured in is finally out! (I say "supposed to" because well I tend to have bad luck and honestly I will not believe it until I see it with my own eyes!)

The reason I say it's "sorta" here is because it's not actually here, here. It has not made it to my city or the city I work in yet. I know because I checked bookstores, Wal-Mart, and Kroger this afternoon and the September/October issue is still on the shelves. Oh the waiting is killing me.

You can't really view it online so this is as much as I can see of it:

This is the little tagline for the story:

Handmade goes high-tech as a new generation of
Mississippi crafters shares wares with the world.

...and since my shop is not a "craft shop" and I am therefore not a "crafter" I am beginning to wonder if I will really even be in the article or if I got bumped...

I even tried to enlarge the image on my already large screen but it was a no go. Can't make out a single word of it.

I had a goal of reaching 900 sales before the article was published and I made it yesterday! It was sort of funny because I reached 900 sales but I had a non paying buyer a bit ago and Etsy just got around to cancelling the sale yesterday so I suddenly went from 900 back down to 899-- but then had another customer and got back up to 901 because she purchased 2 items. So it was a bit of a roller coaster reaching my goal, then not, then reaching it again all within about 2 hours.

Anyway, that's where my mind is tonight. Anxiously waiting for the magazine, cleaning the house in spurts, enjoying my bachelorette life until Friday, and planning kid activities since I am babysitting a 3 year old all day on Sunday -- that should be fun or exhausting - not sure which one yet.

...and I still don't know what I want to be for Halloween.

Starting From Scratch!

2011-10-25T18:08:00.002-05:00

I went way off track with my diet for a couple of weeks and quickly gained 3 pounds back! So, I have officially started over and so far, so good. Why can't I just eat what I want and not gain weight like I did for 29 years of my life? Oh well. I will watch what I eat. I will watch what I eat. I will watch what I eat.

Today has been a hectic day for me. My camera is on the blink and I don't know what is wrong with it! It just decides after about 10 photos that it is done. Done. The screen quit working on it today too! I am a bit upset about it. That camera is not even a year and a half old and quite frankly it cost too much for it to quit this soon. So, that sort of ruined my plans for working in my Etsy shop all day today. I could only work as long as my camera allowed.

So, the magazine article that I am supposed to be in is coming out this week! I am nervous about it! But this is how my life generally happens: The camera quits just when I really need to do one final push of filling up the shop, my computer has started acting all kinds of goofy, and Aubrey is leaving town tonight for a business trip. He will be gone the rest of the week. I swear I would think I was having Deja Vu if I didn't vividly remember this exact same thing happening last year!

Last year it was West Elm instead of MS Magazine.
Last year Aubrey was in Maryland instead of Vicksburg.
Last year our computer went out while he was gone.

Am I supposed to be learning some sort of lesson that I'm just not learning? Oh Heaven forbid a dang bird flies into my dining room again!

Win A Dress From Shabby Apple!

2011-10-24T20:44:00.005-05:00

Cute dress, right? Want to win it? Or, maybe you would prefer this one:
Or how about this one:
If you said, yes, yes, and yes---WHAT ARE YOU WAITING ON!?!

All you have to do is go to my blog buddy, the one and only Chinamommy's blog and enter!! That simple. Plus, you are going to love Chinamommy, she's a hoot. Win.Win. (Oh, and don't forget to tell her I sent you!!)

Saturday's Treasures & A Flea Market

2011-10-23T13:25:00.005-05:00

On Thursday I discovered some factory carts while I was out and about. There was nobody around the place to ask if they were for sale or not so I had to leave them there. I got a chance to go back on Saturday and not only were they still there AND for sale, the guy told me he has lots more so I will have a big supply of them if they go over well.

The only problem, I think they would be impossible to ship and my slot at the antique mall still has not opened (after being on the waiting list for over a year!) So, over a very unhealthy lunch of cheese sticks at Pizza Hut, Aubrey penciled me in (he is booked with band gigs right now!) and we are going to do a weekend at a Flea Market!

If we can get in for the weekend that is good for us, that will give us only 19 days to get ready!

I am super excited about the carts and the flea market!

Here are the carts I got-We are going to stain some boards to put on this one.
This one is my favorite and it is ready right now to become someone's coffee table! (If they don't go over well, it will become our coffee table)

...and this one:What do you think?

I have one estate sale planned for next weekend but after that, we will only be working on projects. So much to do! Our storage unit is full! Hopefully, we will not be bringing much back with us from the flea market and we can start all over filling it back up!

Can You Say Honey Hole?

2011-10-22T23:19:00.001-05:00

Since reading the American Pickers book I am all clear on my picking vocabulary now. Good thing- since I just found a honey hole :) (see before I wouldn't have been sure if I had found a mega pick or a honey hole...)

Can't wait to show you what I got today! But since it's dark out, I will have to wait till tomorrow. Did any of you treasure hunt today? What did you find?

Don't Forget The Giveaway!!

2011-10-21T19:56:00.006-05:00

I am giving away a $25 store credit in my vintage shop! Just "like" us on Facebook to enter!

Today- an estate sale before work and would you believe I didn't buy one thing! That's a first!

This afternoon a quick run to a yard sale while I was out picking up my lunch. Got a big old rusty milk can much like this one:Tomorrow, a quick trip to one estate sale and then over the river and through the woods to see if my factory carts are still there. Cross your fingers for me!

Picking Karma

2011-10-20T19:56:00.013-05:00

I just finished reading "American Pickers: Guide To Picking" this afternoon. It was a good book and I learned a little. I already knew most of it from experience but it was nice to be reassured that I am on the right track with my reasoning in some areas.

Most of all, it inspired me and reassured me that this is a great job and I am not crazy for being obsessed with junk, estate sales, and the occasional pile of trash on the side of the road. I am not alone in my love of junk.

One thing they discussed in the book is "Picking Karma." Now, picking karma is something I need to work on a bit. I am a little bit of a stingy picker. I want all the good stuff and if I thought any of you were in a hundred mile radius of me I wouldn't be sharing as much as I share about where I go. I love ya but I don't want you invading my turf. --That's the ugly truth!

So that brings me to a text I got a couple of days ago from one of my blog pals:

I have been looking for/lusting after factory carts for about a year now. I always look for them. Never find them. I often search eBay to see if perhaps someone even remotely close to me happens to be selling one. They never are. Last night, I found some and got on MapQuest to see how long I would have to drive to get one. 11 hours. Too far. So, I "mapquested" again using my blog friend's address and found that she was pretty close to them. I convo'd her through her Etsy shop with the link. I figured if I couldn't get them maybe one of my blog pals could...even though I would be happy and insanely jealous all at once.

So, factory carts out of my mind, I was off for a little tiny picking trip. I was on the hunt for something a customer asked for this morning - glass doorknobs. I went to the first shop and did not find door knobs but found these old tin ceiling tiles and this locker. Two great finds! I didn't get either because I need to think on them a bit.

I decided to make one more stop. The shop was closed. I drove through the circular driveway and just as I was leaving, I saw these!

FACTORY CARTS!!!!!!!!!!!! One blue, two green, and a brown!!!!!!!
How about that for picking karma?

Just Chillin'

2011-10-19T18:14:00.005-05:00

Today was my long anticipated day off! As you know, my boss has been out of town for the past two weeks. So, instead of working my regular Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule I worked Monday through Friday the past two weeks as well as last Saturday. I thought I would be off work on Tuesday but my boss had to have surgery and the TV crew was scheduled to come. My coworker begged me to come help her with the TV segment and even though I didn't want to, I agreed just because I felt bad that she had to do it.

Thank goodness the TV crew only needed one of us in the segment so I swiftly threw my co-worker under the bus. I reminded her that I came to help her and if they only needed one of us - it was all on her. It was raining and my hair probably would not have fit on the screen anyway.

I spent the day chillin' -- literally. It's cold here today! Here is a photo I took of the cold front coming in yesterday-

Today I spent most of the morning in my bed, pajamas on, reading.

BTW, is anyone else having this problem of the photos automatically going to the right and not budging no matter how hard you try to move them? What is that? It's driving me bananas!

I felt sorry for my dogs (even though their house is bigger than my bedroom!) and I let them inside. Todd didn't waste any time making himself right at home:

I don't have to work tomorrow either. I think I will spend the day working in my Etsy shop. I still have so many things to get photographed.

GIVEAWAY!!!

2011-10-18T18:20:00.003-05:00

Don't forget to enter the giveaway. You could win a $25 store credit to Ginger's Girl!

All you have to do is like us on Facebook for your chance to win.

If you want extra entries, go here to see how to get extra entries!!

I will announce the winner on November 1st!!!

yeah...

2011-10-17T22:07:00.002-05:00

This has been cracking me up for about 3 days.

Sales Report - October Looking Great!

2011-10-16T17:19:00.012-05:00

As far as my Etsy shop goes, September was bad. Really bad. Last year September was my very best month for the shop this year it was my worst month. October though has started out with a bang! Thirteen sales so far! Here's to hoping this upward swing will keep on going through the holidays. If you also have an Etsy shop, how was your September? How is October looking?

This is also the month my magazine article will come out... I can't wait to see my interview turned into an article. Just a couple more weeks to wait - I will be in the November/December issue which will come out at the end of October.

We spent the afternoon re-visiting the estate sales. Sunday is always half price day. I wanted to go to the one I missed yesterday - Aubrey wanted to go to the one he missed Friday.

On the way there, we passed a pile of stuff on the side of the road. We are having some pretty good luck with "trash" piles lately. Here is what we got from the pile:

Not bad for a pile of trash --

Then, the things we picked up from the sales today:

Tonight on HGTV, the "World's Longest Yard Sale" special is coming on. Since I still haven't finished editing MY video from the sale, you might enjoy watching.

Good Job, My Young Grasshopper

2011-10-15T18:07:00.015-05:00

Well, everyone, today is a proud day for me. Today I had to work at my day job. I never work Saturdays but there was a big festival in town and we decided it would be best if the shop was open today. We had lots of customers and I know our boss is going to be happy when he returns from his 2 week long trip on Monday.

The reason I am proud is because of Aubrey. Since I had to be at work in a different city by 9am, he was in charge of finding treasures today. He went to one yard sale and one estate sale -alone. Now, there was a time when I am not so sure I would have trusted his judgement on things. Boy, was I wrong! I was absolutely blown away when I came home from work and saw his finds sitting in our carport! He has apparently paid loads of attention to the things I like over the past few weeks (he really just got involved in all of this in August) He is a star pupil. I am so proud of young grasshopper.

Enjoy:

These 2 frames are GINORMOUS!! They come up to my waist and I am no shorty. He actually took these home before he ever went into the house (these were in a storage area) because people were trying to buy them from him. I flipped when I saw the price tag - he has good taste AND he is frugal. Only $5.00 each!

Little baby watering can-

Love it!

The fact that he thought to buy this fabric, amazed me! It's cute and practical for so many of our upcoming projects.

Does it get any more shabby chic? Antique curtain "pull-backs" -- Does my husband have great taste or what?!

Antique mirror. Lucy was just checking to see if she is still a dog. She is.

The next find is really unique. It made for a pretty funny phone conversation too. He called and said: "I found this roll of canvas from a subway. It's pretty awesome." I said: "WHAT? What does it look like?!" (Thinking this was an old subway destination, roll type thing....) He was like - "I'm not sure. It's big. I can't roll it out right now." Then I was like: "Wait. A subway? Or a Subway as in sandwiches?" He said: "No from a subway. Its an old ad or something." My heart was about to beat out of my chest!

About an hour later, he called back. He was at home. He said: "Oh, yeah, it's from a Subway." Me: "Like with sandwiches?" He said: "Yes." I said: "Well, does it have pictures of food all over it?" "No. No food just tunnels and stuff."

I think it is really cool though. The images are on canvas and I know we can cut them apart and frame them individually for some really great architectural artwork.

....and if that wasn't enough - He found a large pull down map! It is very old and gorgeous! (It is too dark now but I will share a picture soon)

I am excited.

Tale of Two Plantations

2011-10-14T19:19:00.005-05:00

Today started out a tad mixed up. By now you know I work in a different city that is about an hour away from my city. Yesterday, my co-worker and I were looking through the classified ads when we saw an ad for an Estate Sale. The sale was on a street called "Plantation." We weren't quite sure where the street was so we "Map-Quested" it. It was about a block from our shop. We decided to meet up and go to the sale this morning before going to work.

I asked Aubrey if it was okay if I took his truck to work instead of my car. He said yes and I hopped in the truck ready to make the commute, meet my co-worker, and do a little treasure hunting before work. I drove all the way across town when I saw a sign (in my own city) advertising a sale with the exact same address!

I texted my co-worker and told her I thought the sale was here, not there. I told her I was going to turn around, drive back into town and see. I was right, the sale was right under my nose the whole time! So, I got to go and my coworker had to miss out :(

These are just cell phone photos but here are the couple of things I found:

Guide To Picking

2011-10-13T20:15:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, I started reading "American Pickers - Guide to Picking" Its an easy read with a few tips on what to look for when you go picking, how to "break the ice", and I am sure much, much more...(I am only a couple of chapters in) If you love picking, junking, thrifting, or the American Pickers - I recommend it! You might just learn something new.

You can order it from History channel's website or download it straight to you Kindle.

After reading just a tad of it yesterday, I decided to approach today in a whole new manner. There was a customer in our shop this afternoon. I was the only one there at the time (my co-worker was out running errands and picking up lunch) and I was watching him as he picked up what I consider some of the more interesting things in the shop. He asked me a couple of questions and I started asking him questions back. I realized we were both sort of into the same thing (JUNK!) so I started sharing with him places I like to shop and he started sharing with me places he liked to shop. He told me about a few weekly auction places that I didn't even know existed and a couple of "good" antique shops in towns I had never even heard of...

We exchanged numbers (in case one of us found something the other might be interested in) and then I told him I would quit talking and leave him to just look. I went back to the desk and picked up my Kindle. Right then my co-worker came back and sat behind the desk with me. She gave him a once over and said to me under her breath - "Day-em." She scribbled a note to me on the notepad and we giggled a bit and then I decided to go up to the front of the store and continue reading. (We are all finished with the 2 week store overhaul!!)

He looked for a long time, purchased a few things and left the shop. When he left she asked me if I thought he was cute. I told her I did BUT that I honestly hadn't noticed it the whole time I was talking to him before she got there. I really just thought he was a nice guy and I found it interesting that a young guy would be into antique shops and spending weekend nights at auction houses. That is when I reminded her that I was actually old enough to be the guy's Mom! (a very young Mom but technically old enough to be his Mom - that's kind of a weird thing to realize!)

It made me think of a few things this afternoon:

Have I gotten too old?
Am I really that interested in talking about Junk?

I thought about it and realized its not that I am old or so interested in junk that I didn't notice the guy was cute. Its just that as far as men go, I am only interested in Aubrey. When I first met Aubrey I had an instant physical attraction to him. I saw him (on stage) way before I got to speak to him. Over the years though he has gotten older (but I will always be 2 years older than him!), a little chunkier (hey--I'm not judging cause I have too!) and his hair a bit thinner. He has only gotten more attractive to me though. He has been with me through thick and thin, he is dependable, and he takes care of me. He provides for me and looks out for me. He makes sure there is air in my tires in the morning, learns how to make creme brulee just for me, is quiet around the house if I am sleeping in, puts Gatorade in the fridge if I have cramps, buys me calcium chews because he thinks I have brittle bones (and reminds me to eat them), answers my countless "computer questions", and is just generally an all around thoughtful and great guy. He has only gotten better with age.

Have you reached the point where you realize you are old enough to be a young person's Mother? OMG, have you ever used the term 'young person' like I just did? Does it freak you out that people who were born in the 90s are in college? Have you ever told a 'I remember the first time I used the internet' story???

You Don't Even Want To Know What I Wore Wednesday

2011-10-12T18:13:00.008-05:00

You know those cute little "What I Wore Wednesday" posts that some bloggers share? I always want to do that. I think: "I am going to wear something super cute next Wednesday and blog about it." Then, Wednesday rolls around and something happens - I am running late, I have a zit, my hair is big...

Today, I actually do have a zit, I was running late, AND I have big hair!

The zit - it is on my lip and over the weekend I thought I was getting a fever blister. I have only had one in my entire life so I am not sure why I thought this was my second one - but I did. So, I went straight to Walgreens and purchased some medicine so it would stop it before it started- you know, just like the commercial says. So, all weekend I carefully 'doctored' a zit with fever blister medicine and I think it actually moisturized it - which is the opposite of what zit medicine would have done so I made it bigger, not smaller. Ugh. I'm 38. Dear God, enough with the zits, okay?

Running late - that's just an everyday thing with me. I have a 45 minute commute and I was 7 minutes late to work. Since I had been in my car since 8:17, shouldn't that actually count as being 43 minutes early?

Big Hair- It was going to rain today anyway so why fight it?

But, at any rate - here is my terrible outfit for the day:

Tennis shoes. We are cleaning at work so tennis shoes are fine.

A tee shirt and a sweater with lint balls on it. I was actually just planning on wearing the sweater on the drive up. Right now it is chilly in the mornings and warm in the afternoons here. It was chilly inside work today though so I never took it off.

Jeans with rust stains. (Isn't this the most hilarious camera angle? My legs look super long.)

So yeah, that's it. What I wore Wednesday. One Wednesday I AM going to dress cute. I really am!

Yay or Nay?

2011-10-11T18:49:00.005-05:00

My boss is still out of town and my coworker and I are still cleaning away! There are things in the shop I love and things I question. I think I have touched every item in the shop at least once this week. Some things I look at and I think - "What made him buy this?"

Just when you think there is no rhyme or reason, you start to notice a pattern. He likes wooden boxes, pin cushions, records, pitchers, decanters, and things with "Coca-Cola" on them. When I started grouping like things together, I started seeing a theme. I want the customers' eyes to have a place to rest. I want the shop to be enjoyable and I am afraid it is a bit stressful with just random stuff shoved everywhere. Four more days is all the time we have left before he is back with more stuff! Hopefully, we will have a place for everything and we can quickly get the new stuff priced and in its proper place.

While I was in the storage room today, I discovered this fabric:

I think it is kind of cute but at this point I have seen so many things that aren't my taste that I am afraid I am gravitating to the one thing that is maybe sort of my taste. If I was somewhere else with lots of things I liked, would I still like this fabric?

What do you think? Yay or Nay? I put it in our eBay shop this afternoon but I am sort of thinking it might be the perfect fabric for my coffee table that I am slowly being convinced will make an even better bench. Am I losing my taste?

18 Minutes To Spare

2011-10-10T23:42:00.007-05:00

Committing to blog every day in October is not as easy as I thought it would be. But, it is still Monday, in fact I have 18 minutes to spare.

Friday was my birthday and Aubrey surprised me with lots of little treats. One of my gifts was a slide show he put together of never before seen photos. We had a ton of old film rolls in a bag in our house that we had never had developed. I thought we should just throw them away but he decided to get them developed little by little. I'm so glad he did!

In the five rolls he has gotten developed so far, we had a few duds and a few great surprises! Here are some "lost" photos from our honeymoon which was almost 11 years ago! We were hiking in Asheville, North Carolina.

I was 27 in this photo but I think I look like a teenager. Look how ginormous the video camera is!!

This is my new favorite photo of us - I just can't believe it took us almost 11 years to see it.

This double waterfall is something I totally forgot about seeing!

I saved the best for last -- look at my jeans! They were so high! This was way before low rise jeans or boot cut! So funny! ...and my hair! I still can't figure out how it was as straight as it was in this photo. I have very, very curly hair and that was way before flat irons!

I enjoyed the blast from the past so much! I think it was my favorite gift of the night. Now, I can't wait to get more developed. If you have any old rolls of film around your house - go get them developed -- you know, while there are still people who know how to do that sort of thing!

What's In The Truck?

2011-10-09T17:28:00.025-05:00

As I told you yesterday, I went to an estate sale and a few yard sales all to come up empty handed. It was still early in the day but since I had gotten such an early start I was tired and wanted to take a nap. I decided it isn't always a bad thing to come home empty handed from an estate sale. Just as I was starting to feel better about the day being a big bust, I passed a ton of stuff sitting in the front of a house that is on the street right behind mine.

There was an older couple standing in the pile going through things. I didn't think it was their house because their truck was sort of parked willy nilly in the middle of the street. But, there were people going in and out of the house putting things into a truck that was parked under the carport.

So, I rolled my window down and asked the couple in the pile if they were having a yard sale. The lady, who had the cutest country accent, said: "Naw, Honey. They are moving and they have to have everything out by Monday. They are throwing all this stuff away and they said we can have what we want." She said: "Park your truck and come on!" So, I parked and went to join them in the pile. My eyes were jumping all over the place...my mind was racing and I was trying to work fast without taking ALL the good stuff. I put 3 things in the back of the truck before I called Aubrey. I tried to not sound all goofy and too excited but I said: "You have to come over here to the street behind us. Lots of good stuff and its free!" He decided to walk over and I continued to pile the truck up while more and more people stopped and joined the pile! It was actually really fun and we were all talking and helping each other "find" stuff. Kind of a nice way to meet your neighbors - ha ha

I could tell Aubrey was pretty excited when he got there. He immediately jumped in and started on one end while I was on the other. After about an hour, here is what we ended up with:

(and those files are full of vintage maps!)

(These are window boxes they are just standing on end to make more room - we got 4 of them)
This is one of the first things Aubrey got. He looked at me and said: "Did you see this?" I said "Yes." He looked at me all bewildered because he couldn't believe I had passed on something chippy. The truth is, I just hadn't gotten to it yet! There was so much stuff and just 2 hands!

...and you know I almost peed my pants when I opened this little metal box and discovered it had numbered key hooks in it! I didn't even know it until we unpacked it!

Can you believe my luck? I didn't pay a cent for any of those things! Today, I did a drive by and they are still putting things out. I was in my car so I didn't stop but I am going to take an evening stroll and see whats new in the pile tonight!

Giveaway!!

2011-10-08T20:30:00.007-05:00

It's still "Blogtoberfest" and I am determined to blog every single day of October. Is it bad that I almost forgot already? With good reason though -- yesterday was a BIG day followed by another BIG day today. I was beat. I fell asleep across the end of my bed and JUST woke up.

A bit of my day:

1. Woke up early & drove to an estate sale in a town about 20 minutes away. It was a dud and I was back in my own town by 9am empty handed.

2. Determined to "get while the getting is good" - (I know cold weather means NO sales) I decided to stop at the handful of yard sales that were in the newspaper. Left every single one empty handed.

3. On the way back home, on the street right behind mine, I struck gold -or rusty gold as the American Pickers would say. I will share this whole story later in the week. I will tell you this much: I paid NOTHING for all of this:

...and just wait until you see what is in this truck!

4. They are filming a movie in our city. Aubrey has a script and will audition for a role in the next week or so. So much fun! I don't want to be in a movie but I am going to see if I can somehow get involved in the set design. Even if I am just painting or hanging wallpaper -- I just want to see how its all done! I had to take a quick "headshot" of him this afternoon:

That's my sweets - my favorite person in the whole world! But now that I look at the photo, its not exactly a headshot is it?

Now, can you see why I was so tired and almost missed my eighth day of Blogtoberfest?

By this point, you are probably thinking - "What about the giveaway?" -- Click Here for all the details!! I am giving away a $25 store credit to my vintage shop!!

The Big Day

2011-10-07T20:08:00.005-05:00

Today is the day. My birthday has rolled around once again. How did I get another year older that quickly?

I worked today but tonight has been perfect. Aubrey had a delicious dinner cooked for me when I got home - spaghetti, cheese sticks, and salad. Yum! Since he requested a special dessert on his birthday (Molten Lava Cakes) I also got to request a special dessert. I decided on Creme Brulee. I figured since I purchased a dozen ramekins to make his birthday dessert, I would also request a dessert that required a ramekin.

If you follow me on Facebook, you already know that he made a test batch earlier in the week so this is actually going to be my second Creme Brulee of the week! nom. nom. nom. I am also going to try to convince him to do a Creme Brulee "how to" vlog for me... (but you know how my video editing goes...I'm not exactly quick.)

He had a back-up dessert all planned since the creme brulee needs to chill a bit. Can't go wrong with a grocery store cupcake-

Oh and I got some GREAT gifts! I got a new big huge plant since 2 of my other ones got killed by someone who shall remain nameless. I got a full length mirror so I don't have to stand on the toilet anymore to see what my outfits look like!! So thoughtful of Aubrey!

My niece, nephew, brother and sister in law got me a gift card to Lowe's -- they know I love some DiY!

Aubrey got the number one thing on my list:

My very own PAINT SPRAYER!! OMG, I can't wait to use it!!

Then, he had a slide show prepared for me. He found a ton of old film and he has been getting it developed bit by bit behind my back!! There were even some "lost" photos from our honeymoon! I will share them later in the week...and oh my gosh -- this was way before low cut jeans -- SO funny!

Now, I Get It!!

2011-10-06T20:12:00.007-05:00

Pinterest. I have had an account for quite some time now. I have to be honest though - I didn't get it! I thought if I "pinned" something it was just putting it back to the top of the page. I thought - What is the point of this? It wasn't until one day a couple of weeks ago when I really looked at it and I saw it plain as day...

Oh...I am just saving ideas into files. That's it. No over-thinking required. Sometimes I tend to "Ted-Out" a bit. If you follow my boards you are well aware that I "get it" now. I have become a pinning fool! I have even made up my own pinning song. I have to sing it when I want to pin things. It goes like this:

I get logged on
and I log out again
Think I'm gonna log back on

I get logged on
and I log out again
Think I'm gonna log back on

Pinning the night away, pinning the night away....

Feel free to sing along the next time you pin.

I thought I would share a few things from my boards.

From my board called "My Style"

From my "For the Home" board:

My "Great Ideas" Board:

Backsplash tiles (or in this case pebbles) used as place mats. Makes me want to take a trip to Lowe's to browse the tile section!

My "Cute Food" board -- (I also have a whole 'cute food' notebook!)

...and finally - my "Just Plain Cute" board:

If you want to be my pin pal (yeah, I just made that up while I was typing - I am quite full of wit tonight -- see! "Full of wit" heeeee) I am not hard to find. Follow me under Angela Holman. I will try to follow you back...but don't write on my wall -- because I don't really even know where my wall is - not yet anyway.

When The Cat Is Away, The Mice Will Clean Up?

2011-10-05T20:34:00.008-05:00

So my boss is gone for 2 whole weeks. He is taking a slow trip down to Miami stopping and "picking" the whole way there. I agreed to forgo my regular schedule and work in the shop every day for the next two weeks. We are on day two.

My coworker, Susan, and I didn't waste any time getting straight to work. You would think we would relax, maybe surf the net, read a book, or chat all day but we were both thinking the same thing - "Let's get this place cleaned up!"

Not only does our boss love a yard sale, a picker bringing stuff in, an estate sale, and a clearance sale... he loves things of all ages, shapes, and sizes! The man has stuff for days and we get something new just about every single day! The shop is packed full, the storage room is packed full, and he is shopping all the way to Miami as we speak!

Susan and I know what we need to do the next 2 weeks. We need to get the chaos in the shop under control all while making room for Heaven knows what!

Our shop has two (what I like to call) cubbies. One had vintage clothing crammed on racks and the racks were all crammed together. There were things in baskets, things in paper bags... The clothing had no rhyme of reason. We rearranged the racks, put away Summer things, brought out Fall things, found a place to hang our purses, ties, and scarves... We hung a mirror and dressed our dress form up really nice and cute!

My goodness, how I wish we had thought to take a "before" photo!

We even made up Halloween costumes from some of the vintage things in the back. We have the moonshiner, the gold medalist, the butcher, the grocery checker, the tennis player... We put those things on a rack and put them out front with a "Halloween Costumes" sign on them. This morning, soon after the doors opened we had our first customers and they bought 4 of our "costumes" - how is that for marketing!?

Then we tackled the other cubby. It was so jam packed full of things that people could not walk into the cubby at all. You could not see the furniture! I am telling the truth when I say you couldn't even walk in there before! Now look:

...and that little baby bed - would you believe I have worked there for 4 months and I had NEVER seen it? It was in the corner of the clothing cubby covered in quilts and blankets! It is adorable and I bet it will sell quickly now that it can be seen!

It is amazing the things I have seen for the first time in the last couple of days! If a person who works there hasn't seen everything, there is no way the customers are seeing everything. Speaking of things I had never seen -- this book caused me to do a double take and made me giggle just a little more than was probably polite:

I wonder what I will discover tomorrow...

Don't forget - I am giving away a $25 credit to my shop on October 31st!! Go here for details on how to sign up!!

The Land of Cotton

2011-10-04T19:29:00.006-05:00

Fall is my favorite time of the year. One of the things I love about Fall is the cotton fields. The last few weeks I have admired the fields of white on my drive to work.

Yesterday, I noticed the cotton pickers out in the fields and field by field they were turning from white back to brown.

This morning I decided to find a good healthy yield and snap a few photos. The cotton will be gone in a few days... off to make shirts and jeans and other soft things.

So, I spotted the perfect field on my way to work and crossed my fingers the cotton pickers wouldn't beat me there by this afternoon.

Then, I thought about the times in college when our big group of girls and guys would find a huge trailer full of picked cotton to climb into. We would wedge ourselves down into the warm soft cotton on a brisk Autumn night and drink beer and talk about the future.

I also thought about how some years, the cotton will be the only fluffy white stuff covering the fields since we can't really count on snow here. It was a nice, quite, drive to work. Just the sound of my own car and the cotton pickers.

2 People, 1 Truck, 28 Yard Sales

2011-10-03T18:17:00.014-05:00

Saturday was a very unusual day in my town. There were 28 yard sales! 28 yard sales! On Friday night, I jotted them down in order I should go to them:

Then, I set my alarm for early the next morning and went to sleep. When the alarm went off I was confused. My first thought was: "I thought I went to work yesterday." Then, I remembered it was Saturday and then I remembered why my alarm was going off so darn early.

I nudged Aubrey who told me the night before he wanted to go with me. He wasn't budging so I left him in a deep sleep. I could not find the first sale on my list and it was pitch dark and pretty cold. I gave up on that one and went to my second one. I knew right away I was going to score when I made out the outline of 2 old school metal rockers in the driveway. I purchased one and she threw the other one in for free because its rocker was cracked... I also got a matching set of brown luggage complete with tags hanging from the handles. The next thing I reached for was a bedspread but someone else reached just a little faster... and I lost the queen size Pottery Barn spread that was being sold for five bucks. Oh well.

Since the truck was already full of rockers, I swung back by the house to drop them off. I convinced Aubrey to get up and enjoy the day with me. I haven't seen a day so beautiful in a long time.

With Aubrey in tow, we continued to mark the sales from the list one by one. Here are a few things we brought home with us this time - and boy, I hope my name hurries and comes up on the antique mall list because my finds are getting bigger and bigger!

(Please excuse the cell phone photos)

I have had quite the luck lately. Not only did I find all of this on Saturday but my boss and I went to a yard sale on Friday and I scored a rusty baby bed spring (the nice lady kept trying to give me the one that wasn't rusty and I kept telling her I wanted the rusty one!), a hot pink (!) train case, and 2 metal prescription boxes! You just never know what you will find when you venture out in the morning. I think that is what makes my job SO MUCH FUN!

****Also, don't forget to enter for a chance to win a $25 credit to my Etsy shop!! Go here for all the details!!****

Hello, Libra

2011-10-02T10:50:00.004-05:00

I know a ton of my blog readers share my astrological sign. I am a Libra. You know, the well balanced one ;)

Sometimes, being a Libra causes problems for me. We do have our bad traits. Here are a few:

Indecisive and changeable
Gullible and easily influenced
Flirtatious and self-indulgent

Being indecisive is a big one for me. (eh hem and I may be just a tad gullible and self-indulgent as well -- see, it's not my fault I can't lose my last ten pounds!)

Here is where being indecisive hurts me:

I could be at an estate sale and see something I really like but then I may become instantly indecisive about it. I will think: "Do I want to spend that much on it?" "What if I find something even better?" "Will it take up too much room?" Then, I will decide to "think on it" -- Do all you other Libra "think on it" too? If so, here is a little story you will relate to:

Just yesterday, I was at a yard sale and I saw a very long teak Danish Modern dining room table with 6 teak and black leather chairs in PERFECT condition. I have an Interior Design Degree. I took 'History of Furniture' and I surprisingly have retained a bit of what I learned way back in the day. This table was marked $75 but the couple (who said they had just gotten a new table and this was the one they got when they first got married in the 60s) told me to "make them an offer." My mind started thinking - "$75 is a chunk of money when I have so many more sales to go to...its so big..." The other part of my brain was thinking: "You fool. Dutch Modern! They are giving this table away! You need a new table, buy it, use it, then decide if you want to resell it..." So, I told the couple I would "think on it" and maybe come back. Well, about an hour later, we were still out and about when we passed a pickup truck pulling a trailer with THE TABLE on it! Of course, then I REALLY wanted it!

When we got home, just to rub salt in my own wound, I looked on eBay to see if any like that one had sold recently (If you want to know how to look sold items up on eBay, let me know and I will post about it one day)... and yes, one sold just a couple of days ago for $2250! Darn it Libra personality!

Do you believe in Astrology? I do as far as I think your sign has a ton to do with your personality. I am not so sure I believe in a Daily Horoscope though. They are fun to read from time to time. I try not to read them very often because I don't want it to influence my day or how I feel about something. You know, I am gullible.

If you are a fellow Libra, (If you are not, you can go here to read about your sign) you might enjoy reading this:

Libra is the only inanimate sign of the zodiac, all the others representing either humans or animals. Many modern astrologers regard it as the most desirable of zodiacal types because it represents the zenith of the year, the high point of the seasons, when the harvest of all the hard work of the spring is reaped. There is a mellowness and sense of relaxation in the air as mankind enjoys the last of the summer sun and the fruits of his toil. Librans too are among the most civilized of the twelve zodiacal characters and are often good looking. They have elegance, charm and good taste, are naturally kind, very gentle, and lovers of beauty, harmony (both in music and social living) and the pleasures that these bring.

They have good critical faculty and are able to stand back and look impartially at matters which call for an impartial judgment to be made on them. But they do not tolerate argument from anyone who challenges their opinions, for once they have reached a conclusion, its truth seems to them self-evident; and among their faults is an impatience of criticism and a greed for approval. But their characters are on the whole balanced, diplomatic and even tempered.

Librans are sensitive to the needs of others and have the gift, sometimes to an almost psychic extent, of understanding the emotional needs of their companions and meeting them with their own innate optimism - they are the kind of people of whom it is said, "They always make you feel better for having been with them." They are very social human beings. They loathe cruelty, viciousness and vulgarity and detest conflict between people, so they do their best to cooperate and compromise with everyone around them, and their ideal for their own circle and for society as a whole is unity.

Their cast of mind is artistic rather than intellectual, though they are usually too moderate and well balanced to be avant garde in any artistic endeavor. They have good perception and observation and their critical ability, with which they are able to view their own efforts as well as those of others, gives their work integrity.

In their personal relationships they show understanding of the other person's point of view, trying to resolve any differences by compromise, and are often willing to allow claims against themselves to be settled to their own disadvantage rather than spoil a relationship. They like the opposite sex to the extent of promiscuity sometimes, and may indulge in romanticism bordering on sentimentality.
Their marriages, however, stand a good chance of success because they are frequently the union of "true minds". The Libran's continuing kindness toward his or her partner mollifies any hurt the latter may feel if the two have had a tiff. Nor can the Libran's spouse often complain that he or she is not understood, for the Libran is usually the most empathetic of all the zodiacal types and the most ready to tolerate the beloved's failings.

The negative Libran character may show frivolity, flirtatiousness and shallowness. It can be changeable and indecisive, impatient of routine, colorlessly conventional and timid, easygoing to the point of inertia, seldom angry when circumstances demand a show of annoyance at least; and yet Librans can shock everyone around them with sudden storms of rage. Their love of pleasure may lead them into extravagance; Libran men can degenerate into reckless gamblers, and Libran women extravagant, jealous and careless about money sometimes squander their wealth and talents in their overenthusiasm for causes which they espouse. Both sexes can become great gossipers. A characteristic of the type is an insatiable curiosity that tempts them to enquire into every social scandal in their circle.

In their work the description "lazy Libra" which is sometimes given is actually more alliterative than true. Librans can be surprisingly energetic, though it is true that they dislike coarse, dirty work. Although some are modestly content, others are extremely ambitious. With their dislike of extremes they make good diplomats but perhaps poor party politicians, for they are moderate in their opinions and able to see other points of view. They can succeed as administrators, lawyers (they have a strong sense of justice, which cynics might say could handicap them in a legal career), antique dealers, civil servants and bankers, for they are trustworthy in handling other people's money. Some Librans are gifted in fashion designing or in devising new cosmetics; others may find success as artists, composers, critics, writers, interior decorators, welfare workers or valuers, and they have an ability in the management of all sorts of public entertainment. Some work philanthropically for humanity with great self-disciple and significant results. Libran financiers sometimes make good speculators, for they have the optimism and ability to recover from financial crashes.

Libra governs the lumbar region, lower back and kidneys. Its subjects must beware of weaknesses in the back, and lumbago, and they are susceptible to troubles in the kidneys and bladder, especially gravel and stone. They need to avoid overindulgence in food and especially drink, for the latter can particularly harm the kidneys.

****ALSO - Don't forget to "like" Ginger's Girl on Facebook for a chance to win a $25 store credit! Go here for details.****

Blogtoberfest - Let's Give Something Away!!

2011-10-01T17:37:00.004-05:00

It's October - my favorite month of the whole year! The weather is never as perfect here as it is in October- today was fabulous!

So what is Blogtoberfest? It is committing on October 1st to blog every .single. day of October. I thought this might be a good thing for me. Since taking the job at the antique shop, my blog and my Etsy shop have taken a back seat. I am going to change that and I think Blogtoberfest may help accomplish that goal.

So, here is what is going on today:

Aubrey and I went to 28 yard sales this morning! 28 people! Whew.
Now, I am kicked up on the sofa watching HGTV - heaven!

So, I have decided to do a little giveaway. One person will win a $25 credit to Ginger's Girl (if you are not a regular reader, that's my vintage shop) You can go browse by clicking the link over on the right if you want. Okay, normally I wouldn't make you work for this but hey, why not?

I just started a Facebook page for Ginger's Girl and I have like 4 fans...that's no fun. So to qualify for the giveaway, you HAVE to 'like' Ginger's Girl on Facebook. Just "like" GG and then come back here and leave a comment.

Click here!

Then, if you want some extra entries you can do these things for "extra credit"

1. For one extra entry "tweet" about the giveaway then come back and let me know.
2. For two extra entries blog about the giveaway and link back to this post.
3. If you already follow my blog you get one extra entry - if you are new, follow along for an extra entry.

Kicked To The Curb

2011-09-29T12:30:00.010-05:00

Here is our latest GREAT find that someone decided to kick to the curb:

I saw this on my way home from the Post Office on Tuesday. As soon as Aubrey got home from work, we discovered we had BOTH seen it! We were both thinking the same thing when we saw it:

We had just browsed West Elm and Anthropologie online the night before and admired the wooden tables. It had to be fate, right? It was super heavy so we payed some random teenager on a bike $10 to help us load it. Even with the $10, we saved $189 on this piece! I even like the shape of ours a bit better.

So, we finally decided what to do with this:

I loved the idea of using baskets but since it has a rounded front, I just didn't think the baskets would quite work. The top two drawers are smaller than the bottom ones and we were missing a drawer, a couple were broken, and one was missing a handle. We decided to chop the top off and make it into an shorter piece, great for an entertainment center or baby changing station. This is how it looks right now:

We were able to scrap enough of the bigger drawers together to fill the spaces. One of them is missing a handle but we will take a handle from the extra small drawer. This piece is already painted a creamy white and it is very worn and chippy. I think I am just going to clean it up and leave it "as is" as far as the paint goes.

Then, the project I thought was going to be super easy has turned into a nightmare.

This $2 coffee table:

(notice the medallions on the corners - that is what has caused the problem) I covered the tops of the medallions with wood filler and sanded them down nice and smooth. I did not use primer because I wanted to paint the table a barn red but then distress it a bit. Well, the red would not cover the wood filler.... so I decided to go over it in black. When that didn't work -- I decided you couldn't go wrong with turquoise...but I was very, very wrong:

So, I have lots and lots of sanding in store for this weekend.... but it is going to be a beautiful 70 degrees outside!

Fall Wardrobe

2011-09-27T13:58:00.002-05:00

I am so ready to put together and wear Fall clothes! I was happy to wake up to 65 degrees and rain this morning. I put on layers - jeans, a hot pink tank top, and a thin black cardigan and my new favorite shoes:

Aren't they cute? They are so comfy too. You will never guess where they came from. Here is a hint: It starts with a K and ends with a Mart. Can you believe K-Mart would have such a cute pair of shoes that don't kill your feet? Well they do and the best part was the price - $24.99. I went back and got a pair of brown ones this morning.

Too bad it is close to 90 degrees now and I am down to the tank top and jeans again. Maybe next week Fall will get here.

Are you loving or hating ankle boots this year? Apparently I am loving them but I despised them just a couple of years ago so who knows?

I am also loving Aztec and Ethnic inspired prints like this one which someone has up for bids over on eBay. This is also strange to me because I normally hate an Aztec/Tribal print. I think Anya from "Project Runway" is rubbing off on me. Funny that last year's winner Gretchen used tribal influences and I HATED everything she made.

I am also liking faux fur and short capes... with all of this going on, I will hopefully get through Fall without looking like (for lack of a better term) a "hot mess." I will just have to decide which trends to embrace and which ones to erase.

So, let me know what YOU think. Which of the following do you love and which do you hate:

ankle boots
Aztec prints
faux fur
capes

Estate Sale Success!!

2011-09-25T18:36:00.013-05:00

Aubrey was "on call" this weekend but he got his co-worker to cover him while we drove across the state for a once in a lifetime huge estate sale. We decided to go to bed early on Friday night because we had to wake up at 4am in order to get to the sale on time. Poor Aubrey got called out of bed 3 times though because the crazies were burning the town down again! Once we got on the road he was fine and we split the drive 50/50.

When the sun finally came up, the fog rolled in and the drive was a bit stressful. Combine that with the fact that the GPS had never heard of the street we were looking for and we were on pins and needles that we would even make it in time after such a long drive. After getting lost for a few minutes, we decided to backtrack when we saw the red and white sign big as day right in front of us - I guess the fog was covering it the first time we passed. So, we ended up there with 30 minutes to spare and that put us pretty far in the back of the line.

While we waited, we decided to split up. I was going to take the barn while Aubrey conquered the house... I walked down to the barn and started finding things right away. I cheated a bit and started shopping while everyone else was standing in line up at the house ;)

So, here are a few of the big things I got (I have not unpacked all of the small things yet) -

I just loved the blue wood on this box (the top is wet in this photo)

I got this piece for the base.

...hmmm, I don't know. I just liked it.

...again, I was just feeling this for some reason....

Aubrey's big find was a dirt scoop from a tractor. Yes, he has watched "Picker Sisters" with me a couple of times ;)

Look who found an industrial cart! See the little wheels? We saw a couple of these in Alabama at the chicken farm but they were holding up fire wood and we couldn't get to them. I was sad to leave without one but now I have my very own. I think it is a railroad cart...but I could be wrong. We have been flipping it over and over in the backyard and I think we are liking it this way for an end table:

I think we will add a glass top so all the rust and chippy paint can still be seen and enjoyed.

Rusty old bed springs? Yes please.

This old metal will find a way into one of our projects.

Old house paint can - adorable.

I also found a ton of old blue prints:

I think they look great framed and used as art. These are from the 1940s. I am sure with all of the computer aided drafting, blue prints will become a thing of the past if they aren't already. Blue prints remind me of my very first "real job." It was the job I had when I met and married Aubrey. I would have to go in and "warm up" the blue print machine sometimes so it would be ready to go when we needed to send a design though.

We got other odds and ends like some factory wheels!! I scored 8 - just enough to make 2 coffee tables! We also found odd table legs and just random bits and pieces...

When we got our truck all loaded this one guy commented that it looked like we just got "scrap metal." I didn't get offended though. I just thought about Tim Gunn from Project Runway and thought the guy just needed to use a "design eye" to see it as more than scrap metal. Besides, I am glad other people see what I like as junk, leaves more for me and the price is normally right because they look at it as a service that we are hauling away the big rusty "junk" for them. Heck, maybe I can even start convincing them to pay us to take it ;)

Tomorrow-

2011-09-23T08:12:00.000-05:00

I am going to this estate sale tomorrow. I am too excited! The top photos were not doing anything for me then I saw the photos from the barn!! Four AM is going to be early but I am ready to pick that barn apart!

A-Z of Angela

2011-09-22T17:15:00.003-05:00

I am an uninspired blogger today so I borrowed a post from my blog friend - Erika!

A. Age: 37 for a little while longer
B. Bed size: Queen.
C. Chore that you hate: Dishes
D. Dogs: Lucy and Todd
E. Essential start to your day: The Weather Channel. I HAVE to know the weather because my wardrobe, hair and mood revolve around it.
F. Favorite color: To wear - black and grey. Right now I am loving turquoise for home decor
G. Gold or Silver: Both
H. Height: 5' 7" When I met my blog friends Darlene & Christina they said I was taller than they expected :)
I. Instruments you play: None, I can read music but can't play. I am too impatient and we only need one musician in the family anyway, right?
J. Job title: Head of Online Sales
K. Kids: Love them but don't have them.
L. Live: Mississippi
M. Mother’s name: Ginger
N. Nicknames: Oh boy... "Tah-toe" (by my uncle - it's a long story), "Rummy" or just "Rum" by my college pals (an even longer story), "Lude" by my friend, Joey (a really long story and no I am not and have never been on "ludes'), "Angie" by my niece and nephew, and "Shug" by Aubrey
O. Overnight hospital stays: Nope
P. Pet peeves: People who text instead of drive - Watch the road, people!
Q. Quote from a movie: " I hate her crooked teeth. I hate her 1960s haircut. I hate her knobby knees. I hate her cockroach-shaped splotch on her neck. I hate the way she smacks her lips before she talks. I hate the way she sounds when she laughs. "
R. Right or left handed: Right.
S. Siblings: Yes, an older brother - Richard
U. Underwear: Black but cotton, what does that say about me?
V. Vegetable you hate: tomatoes!
W. What makes you run late: Everything. I am always late. The only time I was ever early was the day I was born.
X. X-Rays you’ve had: My wrists. I have broken both.
Y. Yummy food that you make: I have been told that I make the best Chocolate Chip Cookies, ever... but to me they just taste alright. I think my Chicken Spaghetti is killer but Aubrey is not a chicken spaghetti fan so I never make it.
Z. Zoo animal: I have not been to the zoo since I was a child but I think I would enjoy the giraffes.

Redo A Redo

2011-09-19T21:44:00.006-05:00

I have been working on my $2 coffee table all weekend! It started with a whole day's worth of sanding, followed by a day of painting and sanding and painting and sanding. I just couldn't get it right. I started out wanting to paint it a color called "Pimento." I painted it and every knick and place that I filled with wood filler showed through the red. So, I sanded the spots and repainted only to have it show through even worse!

I had to go to work today and could not wait to get home to work on my piece. I had decided on a solution - I was going to antique it with black paint. That didn't work. So I decided I would paint
it black and then scrub off some black to expose some of the red....

Yeah, this is what I have now:

Obviously, I have not finished. I am not even sure I want to at this point. I am not sure where this is going. So, I am either going to sand the top back off and paint it solid red again, continue with the black down to the legs, or take my blog friend, Katie Lake's advice and upholster the top and turn this into a bench....

Here are a few things we have found lately:

I was excited when Aubrey came home with this one night -- BUT turns out it is missing 2 drawers....So What do you do with a dresser that is missing drawers? Its a great shape and I don't want to scrap it but I honestly can not come up with any ideas.

Maybe we could chop the top two drawers off and turn it into an entertainment center....oh I don't know....

We found this sweet little baby bed -

We also found a cute china cabinet...which I will share at some point.

Right now though I think I need an early night to bed and a well rested mind and fresh eyes for tomorrow's projects. Aubrey and I have decided to take a break on the furniture rescues until we get caught up on all the things we already have -- plus we are dying to design and make some things from scratch.

Another One Bites The Dust

2011-09-14T20:24:00.005-05:00

Do you remember that song or am I making myself old right now? Every time we finish another piece of furniture, I think: "Another one down." Then I can't help but think "and another one down and another one down, another one bites the dust. Booda boop boop da da da da da dant..."

Okay, so now that I have that song in your head (hopefully not) let me show you our latest before and after.

This is the ugly desk we found on the side of the road:

The top was made of particle board and it was all gross and nasty. The worst part - the air brushed gold claw feet.

After:

...and our happy first client:

We replaced the top, gave it a good sanding, priming, and paint job. We purchased new handles but could not get them to fit right. So, our little niece suggested we paint the old handles. That kid has a brain on her - hee - I think it turned out really cute and most importantly - McKenzie has a nice place to do her homework.

Total cost of this project: about $10

Hundreds of Photos & Four Outfits Later -

2011-09-13T22:06:00.007-05:00

Aubrey took hundreds of photos of me today. I narrowed it down to 4 that would work. We agreed on the one we liked best but I would love an extra opinion or two before I send it to the magazine.

#1

#2

#3

#4

Thank you for all the suggestions! As you can see I did wear long sleeves but it was just too hot (plus there are two other outfits that didn't make the cut) I also took the scarf suggestion to heart! Thanks!!!

We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Post

2011-09-13T11:57:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone! I am interrupting last night's post early to share some good news and ask for a little advice.

The good news -Last night I was contacted by a regional magazine and they want to add me to an article they are writing about Etsy sellers. (At this point I am not sure if I am supposed to share exactly what the article is about or any other info so I will just wait a bit on that)

Okay, here is the hard part: I need to send a photo of myself to go along with the article. If all else fails, I will use my standard Facebook/Etsy/Blog photo...but since I don't really look like that now, I thought I should update my photo.

Aubrey came up with the concept of pulling all of my stuff outside and making a sort of "junk yard" or "junk shop" setting to use as the backdrop of the photo. Here is where you come in (and my sweet friend "ChinaMommy" has texted some pretty great ideas already)-- I need suggestions on all sorts of stuff like what I should wear, how I should fix my hair (which is at the unfortunate in between stage), and just general good ideas from all of my creative friends!

If you know of any cute "junk yard" photo shoots, send me a link. (I have Googled a few) I am normally the one behind the camera so this actually has me a bit rattled. ....and this all has to be done this afternoon! I have already answered the interview questions and reviewed my answers so I feel pretty good about that part of it -- now, I just need to get a photo together. All I can say is thank goodness for Picnik!

Weekend Finds

2011-09-12T22:08:00.015-05:00

It's only Monday and I am already counting down to next weekend. This past weekend was so fabulous I can't wait to have another one! Here is a quick rundown-

I saw an interesting sign stuck in the ground on my way to work on Friday morning. It said: "Huge Yard Sale with Antiques and Collectibles (or collectables- did you know you can spell it either way? Unlike the word shutters which my brain keeps spelling as shudders - so if you see it spelled like that in my blog -sorry- I try to correct it when I see my mistake;) Anyway, back to the sign. I saw it but I could not stop because I had a 45 minute commute. So, I thought about it all day. Tried to commute back home as quickly as possible and I made it right when he was covering things with tarps for the night. Darn. The things he was covering - KILLER!! Plus, it was my favorite "sale guy" and he always has low prices and gives me a deal on top of the low prices because he says I am "one of his best customers." So, I purchased a couple of things -

An industrial stool for $3!

A cream bucket (Aubrey's pick) He even took the photo for me and I just love his styling! The white washed boards in the background and the gingham fabric was all his idea!

A huge farm funnel -

This would make a very cool light fixture, wouldn't it?

I got this little side table for a buck- I figured if nothing else, we could use the legs.

We promised the guy we would be back bright and early the next morning and we were. The things under the tarp were just as fabulous as the things we saw the day before:

I got all of this (with the exception of the horse paint by numbers) at the same sale.

Do you know what this is? I didn't. I just thought it was a cool industrial shape and I could see it as a lamp. After I consulted with Aubrey on if it could be turned into a lamp or not, I decided to get it.

That is when he stated the obvious- It's a Christmas tree stand. Of course! I grew up with the fat short red and green ones....

Here is a little something neat we found:
A tax return form from 1929! (and it is in fabulous condition!)

Then, we went to the sale where I got the paint by numbers. I also scored this table there for $1.00!

Can't wait to paint it a cute color!

Next, we went to a sale at a storage unit place. We were a little late so I missed a couple of great pieces that already had "Sold" signs on them. But, I did get this BEAUTY for $2.00!!!! Yes, two bucks!

(Our niece used it as an art station this weekend so that's her little rainbow painting on top)
Now, I just have to decide what color I want to paint it. Right now I am thinking a barn red color.

Next we went to a furniture store that was having a yard sale inside. The yard sale didn't exactly strike a chord with me but some things they were getting rid of at the furniture store did. I got this:

and this:

Because I felt like I needed some metal, industrial pieces to balance out all of the wood we have been bringing home.

After all of that we started sanding and priming the desk for our niece.

On Sunday, they went and picked the paint and brought it over to our house. I LOVE it!

We put a second coat on this afternoon and tomorrow we are adding the handles. McKenzie will be doing her homework on it by tomorrow night! It is so cute and I can't wait to show you guys the "before and after."

Speaking of "before and after" - this is the thing I am most proud of accomplishing this weekend. I don't have a before but it pretty much looked like a pile of junk thrown into this small storage area. You seriously could not step one foot inside. I pulled everything out and organized it all:

Now instead of spending half of my time looking for stuff, I can go right to it and use that time for fun things like painting furniture!

More Before & Afters

2011-09-08T09:06:00.013-05:00

We have completed a few more projects and actually have our very first custom order to work on next!!

My sister in law saw this desk in our pile (or should I be more professional and call it our 'stock' -LOL) and knew it would be perfect for our niece. She is going to pick out the paint but I do know it will be a shade of turquoise blue. So excited to have an actual order!

So now for the before and afters-

I found this lamp at the Salvation Army store for $4.00:

After:

I gave it a coat of paint and Aubrey recovered the shade for me. I fell in love with this fabric!

Here is a closer look at the fabric:

The second piece is almost finished - all I have to do is add the knobs - but I couldn't wait to share so just imagine it with hammered black metal knobs.

Here are the pieces before:

and

We combined the shutters and the chest to make this:

I think it sort of has a nautical feel to it.

Our plan was to leave the shutters on the front "as is" with the original patina. We took one with us to Lowe's to have the paint professionally matched. When we painted the chest and put the drawers in they were two different colors. So we painted the whole thing the same color, losing the patina :( So, I turned to "the blogs" and found a few tutorials on how to antique furniture. I spent the day on Tuesday antiquing this piece with black glaze (I learned to make my own glaze by using 1 part paint, 2 parts water) Then, I took on the task of dry brushing (with a little tiny brush) every slat on the front. It was quite an enjoyable task.

Today I am working from home. I will work on eBay listing for my "real job" and then start to tackle our next project - the desk.

On another note, we accomplished something we have been working on for years. Our dog, Lucy, is the sweetest dog you would ever meet. When we take her photo she always looks mean or just plain. We can never get her cute looks on camera. So, Aubrey and I have been trying to capture what we started jokingly referring to as "The Essence of Lu" for years. This has resulted in hundreds of photos of a sweet dog who looks mean. Finally though I think we have gotten "The Essence of Lu" (yeah we are weird) on camera:

Have a great day!

Before and After

2011-09-06T08:27:00.010-05:00

We finished our first piece of found furniture! We thought we were going to finish 2 pieces but ran into a bit of a "paint matching" problem on our second one -- after a late night decision on a solution, we should get the finishing touches on that one this morning.

Okay so let me show you what we made out of the old stereo we found on the side of the road.

Here it is before:

Here it is after:

*The paint is actually more avocado than lime*

My original plan was to incorporate the front face plate into the design.

When we took it apart and realized the front plate was made of plastic -not wood- I had to quickly change my plans. This is the first sketch I made after deciding to scrap the plastic front:

Aubrey made it look JUST LIKE my sketch.

Total cost for this project: about $4.00 (we had to buy some wood filler) The rest of the materials were salvaged and we already had the green paint!

Ahhhhhhh!

2011-09-05T09:08:00.001-05:00

Finally, a little relief from the heat!! Even if it did come in the form of a tropical storm we FINALLY have temperatures in the seventies and we are LOVING it! I know it will not be long until the heat comes back so we are enjoying our days off outside. We finished up our first piece of furniture yesterday, we will finish our second piece this morning, and we will even get started on a third!

Tomorrow, I will FINALLY show the "before and afters" -- If only every weekend was a long weekend!! So we are staying outside (under our carport because it has been pouring rain) and working on furniture projects.

Do you have the day off today? What are you doing with your 'extra' time if you have it? Is anyone else dreaming of sweaters?

Random Thoughts

2011-09-03T00:44:00.003-05:00

Here are just a few late night random thoughts.

1. I was exhausted when I got home from work this evening so I decided to take a nap. Only problem - I woke up from the nap at 10pm!! Now what? Looks like it is going to be a long night!

2. I purchased a radiator cover from a 1930s Ford truck today. I have officially gone junk crazy!

3. I made a really big mistake in my Etsy shop today. I shipped something that has not been paid for! I have never done that before... Ooops! Here's hoping I get the payment before they get the package :[

4. For the second time in about 3 weeks, Aubrey and I realized we were wearing the same tee shirt when we were out and about this evening. OMG - that is so embarrassing to me for some reason! (Am I weird?)

5. Aubrey is the worst diet partner ever. Since he started Nutri-System with me, I have not lost a pound! He likes to cheat too much and I go down in flames with him! (Not that he has to twist my arm or anything!)

6. Long weekend -- we are going to go furniture crazy and FINALLY get the time to finish up our first 2 projects!

7. My Dad is going to Hong Kong for 2 weeks and I am going to totally take over his big nice garage while he is gone! (He'll never know - plus, I am driving him to and picking him up from the airport (3 hours away) so I will think of it as an even exchange)

Have a glorious weekend!!

Rethinking Old Furniture

2011-08-31T22:40:00.006-05:00

Aubrey and I are still smack dab in the middle of our furniture redo projects. As you know by now, we started with this piece --

We thought we would be finished with it yesterday but it needed some tweaking. We had to fill some holes which meant the wood filler had to sit for at least four hours to dry. Instead of taking it easy during that time, we decided to start on another piece - a less complicated one. We decided on this one:

The reason we picked this one to be next -- it would be an easy fix. Give it a little light sanding, prime it, and paint it blue. We picked blue because we already have a can of blue paint. Simple, fast project -

or so we thought-

I am not sure whose brain complicated this easy task but we ended up combining that piece with these:

So now we have 2 half-way finished projects that I will hopefully get to share with you very soon.

Aubrey took a vacation day from work yesterday. We spent the entire day going out to eat (Mexican for lunch, Sushi for dinner) and working on furniture. It was his birthday and I told him we didn't have to work on furniture at all - but he wanted to. He is really enjoying these furniture projects and our minds are racing with ideas for more and more projects.

I also made "Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes" for his birthday dessert:

They were much easier than I anticipated :)

We are not the type of couple who has to talk to each other all day. Our usual routine is a "Good-bye, love you" in the morning and then the next time we talk is when I call him to tell him I am about to start my drive home from work. Today, he called me 3 times before lunch! He kept finding furniture on the side of the road while he was trying to work. He said he was trying to concentrate and just do his job (his job involves a lot of driving around in his car) but he kept seeing great pieces! I had driven his truck to my job today and he could not wait for me to get home so he could go pick up the things he found this morning.

So, we ended up with ANOTHER truck load of things this afternoon! This time we found a wooden outdoor sofa that is about the coolest thing I have ever seen!! (it is too dark to take photos tonight) and some chippy painted green wood!!

I have to admit that we were seriously so embarrassed to come home with more stuff that we rode around until it got dark and then attempted to sneak the things into our backyard! We don't want our neighbors to think we are crazy! We have gone crazy over these projects though. Both of our minds are racing and each night I fill more and more pages of my sketch-book with ideas.

Anyway, I promise to share our creations as soon as we get one finished.

Diving Deeper

2011-08-29T21:46:00.010-05:00

If anyone would have told me a couple of years ago that I would spend 2 Saturday nights in a row "dumpster diving" I would not have believed them. Nope, not me. Aubrey and I were actually just getting out of the house for a minute on Saturday night when we decided to take "one quick drive around." We ended up staying out till after midnight and we brought home 3 truck loads of other people's JUNK!

Why? Because we had spent the bulk of the day on Saturday working on our first project and it was fun and we were motivated! We got this old stereo from the curb last Saturday night:

We spent Saturday, Sunday, and a little bit of this evening working on it. I can't wait to show you what we have turned it into!! We are almost finished and so far we both love it!

I am sure we will have it ready to share by Wednesday. Tomorrow is Aubrey's birthday so we are taking the day off from working on it. Tomorrow will be sushi for lunch and later on in the evening I am attempting to make the birthday dessert he requested - Individual Chocolate Lava Cakes. Wish me luck on that one.

I have already given him his gift:

...and it has gotten quite the workout this weekend. I love it and it is lightweight enough for me to handle easily. It makes sanding a breeze. I have requested a paint sprayer for my birthday :)

So, let me show you all the curbside finds for this week:

The first thing we found were four metal table legs:

Then we scored pretty big with a desk:

We will have to replace the top. What color should I paint this piece??

Next we found more old shutters:

Then, a kitchen table:

It is upside down in the photo -- All we have to do to this one is clean it up, add a new top and paint it. Colors???

...and if our backyard wasn't starting to look enough like a junk yard --

We found this chest of drawers:

It somehow also ended up upside down on the lawn :) That kind of thing happens when you are trying to quietly unload the truck in the middle of the night. This one just needs sanding, paint, and knobs.

I would LOVE to hear any suggestions on what colors I should use on these pieces. Also, if you have any suggestions on turning them into something other than what they already are -- would love to hear that too!!

I feel like I must say one more time -- I promise I am not a hoarder! We just sort of hit the curbside jackpot and felt like we needed to take it all :)

How To: Antiquing a Mirror

2011-08-25T11:30:00.020-05:00

If you like the look of old mirrors but don't want to pay the price for an aged one (have you seen what these things are selling for?!) you can make one yourself!

Here's how:

What you will need:

A mirror
paint remover
Muriatic Acid (found in the swimming pool section of the hardware store) or Metal Remover (BONUS since it is the end of the Summer I got a bottle that is normally priced $14.99 for $1.45!)
A can of spray paint or scrapbook paper
gloves
a mask
protective eye gear

Step One:

Take your mirror out of its frame and turn it mirror side down. Brush on paint remover, following the directions on your bottle. This will remove the layer of paint from the back of your mirror.

When you get it stripped, the back of your mirror will look like this:

Step Two:

I will admit that I made a mistake on my next step -- BUT I will show you so you will not make the same mistake. When I went to get my muriatic acid, I could not find any. I DID find a product called "Metal Remover." I knew the muriatic acid was for removing the metal from the back of the mirror so I thought this would probably work.

I poured the Metal Remover into a squirt bottle and sprayed the back of my mirror.

When I didn't see anything happening right away, I assumed the product I got was the wrong thing. I sort of half wiped off the back of my mirror and decided I would look for muriatic acid again this morning.

BUT, when I looked at the mirror this morning, the product had actually started removing the metal!

So, we are moving on to the next step:

Step Three:

Gently rub the back of the mirror (remember to wear your gloves!) The metal will rub off in spots revealing clear glass.

It will look like this:

Since I second guessed myself and left mine over night, mine is a little more "spotty" than I would have liked. BUT now we can all learn from my mistake. I would suggest leaving yours for about 30-45 minutes.

Step Four: Decide if you want to back yours with scrapbook paper or paint.

Here is what it looks like with scrapbook paper behind it:

(you can see here how mine is a little too spotty)

I decided to use paint instead of scrapbook paper. I chose a muted gold:

Then I sprayed the back of the mirror and the frame:

Step Five:

I decided that I didn't like how shiny my frame was so I decided to antique the frame as well. I used regular black craft paint and mixed in a tad of water:

Just brush the watered down paint on and let it dry:

Step Six: Put it all back together and enjoy!

Before:

After:

I got my inspiration from Mandi @ http://vintagerevivals.blogspot.com

Here is a photo of her antiqued mirrors:

She put scrapbook paper behind hers -- pretty, right? Here is a link to her tutorial in case mine is a little hard to follow: click here!

If you decide to make your own Antiqued Mirror, I would LOVE to see it!!

BONUS HALLOWEEN TIP: If you decide to back yours with scrapbook paper instead of paint, you can change the paper to a scary skeleton face for Halloween for extra spooky decor.

Online Shopping -

2011-08-24T20:05:00.002-05:00

So you know how I live out in the middle of nowheresville, right? If not, let me remind you - the closest Starbucks, Target, Red Lobster, Olive Garden, and Old Navy (just to name a few) are a 2 hour drive away. So when I saw the commercial for the $15 Old Navy jeans I started planning a shopping trip.

Then, I remembered the joys of online shopping!! (Remember how I sat in my jammies on Black Friday and ordered all of the things I wanted from Belk and Old Navy while the rest of the world got out of bed and stood in line at 4am to get the same deals?) So, I sat in my office and went on a virtual shopping trip. I loaded the cart with jeans, sweaters, shirts, blouses, coats, and boots. Then, I looked at the total and unloaded the boots, the coats, the blouses, a couple of sweaters, and a couple of shirts. When I got the cart under control and to a lower amount, I checked out.

Not only did I get our jeans on sale from the comfort of my own home, they also had a coupon for an extra 30% off! (plus the shipping was free!) If you are like me and live in the middle of nowhere don't despair -- remember the store is always just a couple of steps away.

***Oh and the extra 30% off ends today -- just use the coupon code "Thanks" to get it***

DIYing

2011-08-23T18:58:00.003-05:00

Today I decided to pull a little last minute DIY project out of my brain files. I am DIYing a project that I will finish up and share later this week.

So, if you want to learn how to make a new mirror look old, come back on Thursday and I will show you how. If you want to play along here is what you will need:

A mirror that you can take out of it's frame
paint remover (I like the gel kind)
rubber gloves
a mask
goggles, we do not want to go blind in the name of crafting
newspaper
a scraper
and some muriatic acid
optional supplies: scrapbook paper, fabric, or antique gold spray paint

This is what I started with:

Come back Thursday and we will get crafty together :)

Dumpster Diving

2011-08-22T19:45:00.009-05:00

Aubrey & I spent our Saturday night a little bit different than normal. He didn't have a gig, I had not gotten up at the crack of dawn for an estate sale, so we went out on the town.

We went dumpster diving...seriously. We drove around with flashlights and our little video camera and recorded our own "picking" show that we named "Midnight Divers" -- LOL... (the theme song is "Midnight Rider" with 'diver' in the place of 'rider' -- silly, I know but we amused ourselves and I guess thats all that matters on a Saturday night.)

**Speaking of video camera, I have lots of video to share from "The World's Longest Yard Sale" -- but I seriously over did it and I am having to edit, edit, edit. I will share one day.***

Here is what we got (of course it was all free because we picked it up out of trash piles)

1. This old stereo-

Ugly, I know. It still had the 45 for "Shake Your Booty" on the turntable --hee hee... But just imagine it with open shelves where the speakers are now and the stereo equipment completely gone. Also imagine it painted turquoise or yellow.... Can you see it?? I am still working on drawings and ideas but so far it will either become a bar, a baby changing table type thing, or a laptop, cellphone, docking station that will also house shoes, purses and a place to hang keys... You know, something that would go in an entry way so you could store all the stuff that you need every day. Please hit me up with any ideas you might have for this jewel.

2.I didn't get a photo of it, but you can see it behind the stereo --a big door! It is barn red on the other side. The windows will be turned into chalkboards and corkboards and this will be a message center. Again, if you have any other ideas, I would LOVE to hear them.

3. Huge old shutter doors. I am going to remove the slats and replace the open space with fabric. Then, I am going to hinge them together to make a room divider. Any other ideas? Let me know.

4. More pallets: we were going to work on our pallet projects this weekend but it seriously decided to be 102 degrees. So, we are going to wait a bit.

Then, at work today I saw something that I see every single day in a whole new light. I got these:

I normally see these for what they are but today I saw them as this:

They are going to make killer industrial style lights!! I was inspired by "Design Star" on HGTV - did y'all see the lights in the "Farmhouse Kitchen" a couple of weeks ago?? To die for.

They have a black plastic coating and I want to get them down to the wire and rust them up a bit. I asked Aubrey for some wire strippers but he told me it would be easier to just burn the plastic off. Good idea and it totally excited me at how quickly I could get the plastic stripped off but then he wouldn't let me burn them. He is the Assistant Fire Marshal after all :( He told me it was against the law and wouldn't let me do it! Boo.

At work we turned a wooden stool with a peach colored vinyl seat into this:

I totally took a "before" picture but apparently left it on the computer at work...but trust me - it was hideous before. Anyway, I have laundry to fold, and Pickers and Design Stars to watch.

Perfect Thursday

2011-08-18T14:25:00.005-05:00

I love Thursday. Things just seem to be a bit slower, a bit more calm on Thursday. Here is what is going on on my Thursday:

1. Butternut squash soup. Last night I made and froze enough soup to keep us stocked up through Fall.

2. Pallets. Aubrey and I picked up a truck load and have big plans for them. Can't wait for the weekend!

3. Finally finding time to work in my Etsy shop. I have been listing things and then putting them in the corner of my office. I like the little vignette I made (even if it was an accident):

4. No make-up and bad hair. But I don't have anywhere I have to go today so I am perfectly okay with that...

5. Tonight - Project Runway!!

What are you doing today?

Four A.M.

2011-08-16T05:25:00.002-05:00

Am I the only one this happens to? I tried to be a responsible adult and go to bed early last night. I think I was asleep before ten. The plan was to be well rested so I could have a very productive day today. BUT, I found myself wide awake at 4AM. Now, 6AM is quickly approaching and I am getting sleepy...so I will probably be sleeping in today.

If I need to wake up for work or to go to an estate sale, I can't drag myself out of bed. If I go to bed early so I will be well rested, I wake up in the middle of the night every time!!

Does this happen to you? What helps you go back to sleep?

Today's Treasures -

2011-08-13T16:10:00.006-05:00

I was up bright and early this morning for what I thought was going to be an hour and a half drive to an estate sale. It turns out it was TWO and a half hours away so my plan of getting there 30 minutes early turned into getting there 30 minutes late.

I had my boss' list and found just about everything on it. BUT the prices were higher than what he told me he wanted to spend on most items so I ended up bringing home 4 chippy mismatched kitchen chairs and a washboard from his list (plus a frame and a couple of cabinet doors for a project my co-worker and I are working on) and the rest of the things I got were for my shop! Here is what I found today:

2 wooden clip files, a small suitcase, a wooden turquoise shelf, a tiny globe (so cute!), a set of vintage mismatched wooden alphabet blocks, a lantern, and a white metal canister with a red lid.--like I needed more stuff. I still haven't listed one thing from "The World's Longest Yard Sale" in my shop. I just can not find the time...or I guess I could find the time but just haven't yet.

This is what the end of my dining room looks like:

I promise I am not a hoarder :D

Here is what my coworker and I have been working on:

We have SO MANY frames in our shop and we decided to spice them up a little. We have gone spray paint crazy!! The pink and green one have been turned into chalk boards and the big yellow one is a magnetic message board or jewelry holder. We are too excited because we have only worked on them 2 days and have already sold two! The two days we have been working on them have flown by - we have really been enjoying ourselves.

As for now, I think I will take a nap and then try to get the house in order a bit- once that is done, I will be in the mood for photos and Etsy.

The Loot-

2011-08-11T10:43:00.036-05:00

Okay, we have been home for a few days now. Everything from "The World's Longest Yard Sale" has been cleaned (some things bug bombed -you know- just in case) and is in my dining room floor. The house is MESSY and upside down but I am trying to focus on one thing at a time.

Tonight, Aubrey has a "gig" at the local antique mall - how cool is that? They are celebrating one year in business so I will get to go to the antique mall for a while this evening. I'm telling you - I just can't get enough!

On Saturday, I have a work assignment of sorts - I am going to an estate sale an hour and a half away to buy things for my boss. I am armed with a list of the things he wants and some cash. Now, that's what I call a fun day of work! He will be in a different city this weekend so I am in charge of handling the Kosciusko sale.

***Side note about Kosciusko - not only was Oprah born there, my brother was as well. This is a town my parents lived in for just a couple of years in the early seventies. When my Mom passed away in 2005, she was buried in a town about an hour from Kosciusko. When we passed through Kosciusko that day going to the burial, there was a sign on the marquee of their Wal-Mart that said "In Memory of Ginger Fedrick" - (my Mom) That was so touching to me that a town that my Mom had not lived in since 1972 would remember her. There is something really special about a small town like that.***

Okay, okay, so let me show you the things from the "yard sale"

I got 2 sets of these fabric tags from a dry cleaner. (AL)

Lucy, my junkyard dog

2 rubber stamp holders - (AL)

Metal box (AL)

Mailbox (sorry for the sideways photo) (GA)

Faucet Knob (AL)

This will be turned into either a message board or a jewelry holder (TN)

Reversible dart board (TN)

Stainless canister set (TN)

Mirror (TN)

Mint green camera (TN)

Shoe Lace rack (will be used as a CD holder) (AL)

My $35 bed! (will be turned into 2 benches) (TN)

Globes (one AL one TN)

Bull (will possibly be painted a different color) (AL)

Baskets (GA)

Letters (AL) Car parts (will be tuned into candle holders) (GA)

Gear oil bucket (AL) When I bought this, the man told Aubrey: "The lady has an eye for gear oil buckets." - LOL I can see this chock full of fresh flowers.
Receipt Files (to be used as message boards) (TN)

Letter and gear (AL)

Milk Jug Basket (AL)

Fan (AL)

Wrought iron - could be made into a table, pot rack, or used as wall decor (TN)

Rusty chair - I got this for FREE (GA)

General Store Sign Holders and various machine parts (AL)

Chicken coop (AL) -- has been scrubbed and bug bombed. Will be used as a bench (I am thinking a great place to sit and take off shoes - then put shoes in coop) -- or a farmhouse fab entertainment center or coffee table.

Tub (AL)

Gas Station sign (AL)

Interesting photo (GA)

Locker door (GA) - will add a chalkboard to the bottom and use as a message center with the top being a magnetic message center.

Wire cloche (AL)

I think I left a few things out...so much stuff! I am going to start the task of photographing and listing things in my Etsy shop this afternoon.

The World's Longest Yard Sale - The Final Day

2011-08-10T18:30:00.005-05:00

Okay, so today will wrap up our adventure at "TWLYS" We ended up driving all the way to Gadsden the last night and staying in the same hotel as the first night. We had plans to get up really early and get going but we were very sluggish the last morning.

We ate breakfast at the hotel (I'm telling you - Roger Patel at the Super 8 in Gadsden makes a mean waffle) and then tried to pack quickly but couldn't get moving. We finally got on the road around 8:30 or 9:00 am. It's lucky that we were "late" though because the sales weren't even started yet in most cases.

We made stops here and there along the route. We were looking at things that we missed the first day because of the rain. We had a little luck but it wasn't looking great.

That's me in the green shirt...

Then, we saw the one booth I had thought about the whole trip - and everything I wanted to buy was still there waiting for me! I could not believe it so I really racked up there. Then, I was running extra low on cash so we had to go find an ATM... on the way to the ATM, we scoped places that we wanted to stop back by - there was no use in stopping with a mere $7 left in my pocket.

One place we spotted had several out buildings with old gas station signs on them. We pulled up and at first didn't see anyone. We got in our car to leave and realized that there was another gate. We pulled up and saw and older gentleman with things on his lawn. I love sign letters and he had several for me to choose from at a price I could not resist. He and Aubrey started talking and that's when he told us that everything on the property (with the exception of his dogs and a lawn mower were for sale) We asked him if we could take a look around and he said we could go anywhere on the property and that he was just going to sit in the shade.

That's all we needed to hear. We climbed in trailers, in storage rooms, walked down dirt trails, and all around a bunch of chickens and dogs. It was a free for all and we were the only ones there!! Needless to say, we racked up again!

The man was 76 and named Robert but by the end of the day he said we could call him "Pop." He also invited to stop by and visit if we were ever in the area again. Not only that, he stopped the ice cream truck and bought Aubrey and I fudge pops while we were there! How sweet! Fudge pops really hit the spot on such a hot day too!

Here is a photo of Mr. Robert and Aubrey:

Poor Aubrey was drenched!

Then, we stopped back by Darlene's house for a few minutes to show them our haul and drop off her "happy." We wanted to stay and have dinner together but we had to get on the road - Aubrey's brother and sister were at his parent's house and we had to pay them a visit.

Overall, we had a fabulous time! We are already talking about going back next year! We will focus our attention between Gadsden and Signal Mountain next time and skip the area between Signal Mountain and Kingston. I was happy that Aubrey had such an enjoyable trip and actually said he felt like he had been on a little vacation.

Tomorrow, I will show you all the loot!

The World's Longest Yard Sale: Day Three

2011-08-09T11:54:00.008-05:00

On the third morning we woke up in Kingston, Tennessee and decided to start back toward Gadsden. Since it started raining the day before and we took the interstate to the hotel, we decided to drive back on the route to see everything we missed the day before. We also got to enjoy The Smokey Mountains again:

Just beautiful!

We made a few stops in some of the same places so I could pick up some things I wanted to ponder over night and a few things that were not priced the day before and I couldn't find anyone to price them while I was in the booth... BUT everything I wanted was gone by the time I got back to it. So, I learned 2 lessons:

1. If you see it and you want it, get it then. Don't ponder. It most likely will not be there when you get back.

2. If you are running a booth, be in your booth. I passed up at least 6 items in 4 different booths because the person had either stepped away or in a couple of cases, they had not even gotten there yet. One guy was on his cell phone and I didn't want to interrupt him to ask for a price so that was another reason I missed out on one item.

Now, this is when it gets good -

We were driving along somewhere in North Georgia...we were on the Interstate through Georgia the first time through so this is the first time we saw anything along the route in Georgia. It was looking sparse and junky and there were just tables set up in yards here and there - no big areas with lots of booths. Aubrey took the lead and decided that we should just stop at a few random ones. We stopped at a couple and it was all junk. We got back in the truck and started on our way again...that's when we both saw a red barn and said at the same time: "That looks like a good one." We busted a quick U and drove up to the barn.

Right when I got out of the truck this light fixture caught my eye. I noticed a few other very cool things by the light fixture and then I noticed a lady in the barn digging through a box. She was dressed in a sundress and cowboy boots and looked as cute as could be. That is when I realized that the pile of cool stuff was probably hers and that we had the SAME TASTE. I asked her if the stuff belonged to her and she confirmed it. So, I have to admit my first thought was "Game On!" and I felt like I had to beat her to the good stuff! That is when the digging through the piles in the barn started...

Me and the lady kept "eye-balling" each other's stuff. Then, I thought instead of seeing her as my competition, I should see her as a potential contact- we did have the same taste after all. I introduced myself to her and we talked about our obvious same taste. I took her to our truck and showed her all of my stuff and she took me to her van and showed me all of her stuff. We exchanged business cards and then got down to the nitty-gritty of "picking" We pulled things off of old trucks, from behind bushes, out of the grass. I found things for her, she found things for me. Aubrey hauled heavy stuff for me and heavy stuff for her. It was so much fun!

Then, we all took photos in front of the barn:
Karen and Lu in front of their pile of finds. Karen is a designer and owns a shop in Birmingham.

This is the man who owns the Rock City barn:

His name is Walter and that is his Grandson (who is a Junior Picker) named Jacob. Really, really nice people. Walter was wheeling and dealing and sold us things dirt cheap!

...and then here are Aubrey and I posing with Karen and Lu's pile:

By the end it was just one big love fest with us taking pictures of them, them taking pictures of us, us taking pictures of Walter, Walter taking pictures of all of us, Aubrey taking pictures of Walter taking pictures... so much fun!

We stopped a few more times only to find closed shops. - one neat but scary one that I will show you when I get my videos put together for my "vlog"

We drove all the way back down to Gadsden that night and checked back into the same hotel we stayed in the first night. (If you are ever in Gadsden, Alabama I highly recommend staying at 'Super 8.' Roger Patel is a very nice guy, your room will be clean and the air is already going full blast for a nice cool room after a hot day, plus Roger will make homemade waffles for you the next morning and they are very tasty.) We did our new routine of quick shower and early to bed. We still had some looking to do in Gadsden since it rained us out the first day. Plus, there was one booth (you will see it on my vlog) that I wanted to shop at but nobody was there on Thursday. I thought about that booth the whole trip. Plus, even though I befriended Karen and Lu, I knew they were also going to be in Gadsden on Sunday as well and I needed to make it to that booth before they did!

The World's Longest Yard Sale Part Two

2011-08-08T20:10:00.023-05:00

We arrived home last night from our big adventure - I wanted to post all along the way but the "Free Wireless Internet" provided by the hotels was spotty and I couldn't stay online long enough to write a post....

So, I will pick up where I left off on Thursday but mostly just show photos...and there are a TON of photos - plus, I made a "vlog" which I will have to edit but I will share that as well just to give you a better idea of "the yard sale."

We left Gadsden, Alabama and drove to Chattanooga, Tennessee to spend the night. That night I woke up at 3:30am and could not go back to sleep. I was too excited! So as soon as I saw Aubrey move (around 5:30am) I said "Let's Go!" and he jumped right up, we packed our bags, checked out of the hotel and drove up to Signal Mountain, Tennessee.

By 9am I had purchased a bed, a little "happy" for Darlene, and Aubrey had a big, plush recliner that he paid $5.00 for - perfect for his studio!

Here he is giving it a test run:

This chair would become the butt of many jokes along the way--

Here is my bed:

I didn't need a bed but I could not resist when I asked the lady if she would take $35 for her $50 bed and she said YES!! It is metal and I am thinking of turning it into 2 benches (in case I ever get my spot in the antique mall)

All of the photos above were taken in Signal Mountain on Friday morning. We saw all of this and more before 11am!

Then we moved along to our next stop which was Kingston, Tennessee. There was one little town that was very gung-ho about the "yard sale" and it seriously looked like the whole city was involved - but I am not sure the name of the town - Here is a peak from Tuesday afternoon-

Even though the traffic was bumper to bumper, it wasn't bad at all. In fact, you wanted to drive slowly so you could scope things out before you stopped:

Then there were several more stops along the way...but it started to rain again so we got on the interstate and headed to our hotel room. We got there early and I was showered and asleep by 7:30 that night!

We picked up several interesting things on this leg of the trip but I still did not feel like I had "struck gold" -- that would happen on Saturday!

The World's Longest Yard Sale

2011-08-04T20:15:00.016-05:00

Our trip has been quite an adventure so far. We left home yesterday afternoon. This was the temperature when we left home:

We drove about six hours to Gadsden, Alabama. Since we couldn't heat up our NutriSystem, we HAD to eat dinner at Arby's. While we were there, someone held a gun to our heads and made us also get dessert.

...30 seconds and 3 bites later:

3 bites, no lie.

We arrived at around 10:45 last night. This morning I woke up before the alarm, worked on my hair until it was really, really straight and put on a cute dress and a pair of sandals. Then, I looked out the hotel window and saw this:

RAIN! A friggin' drought all Summer and this weekend, it rains! So, I changed into tennis shoes, shorts, and a tee shirt. I pulled my already-increasing-hair back into an elastic band and we were ready to go.

We were going to my blog friend Darlene's house to meet her and her daughter (who also is my blog friend) Christina. We were delighted to also get to meet Ray (Darlene's husband) Jenny (the other daughter) Rachel (the family friend) and Kavi (Christina's adorable son) Darlene was so gracious and had breakfast and coffee waiting for us.

...and Darlene's house - beyond ca-yoot! Here we are chatting it up:

(that is me in the front with my elbows on the table, Jenny in the stripes, Darlene, Rachel, Kavi, and Christina - who BTW has the prettiest skin!)

Here is Kavi - ready to go with his umbrella:

Me, Christina, and Darlene. (Yeah, my face is orange. I'll explain later)

...and then we shopped!

...and I bought a bull head, sure did.

I also bought two rubber stamp holders and a horse trophy. Why a horse trophy? Because it spoke to me. It said naaaay.

I thought this was cute and a steal for $30 - but too hard for me to ship.

But now that I am looking at it again, I should have just gotten it for myself. SO cute. Maybe it will still be there when we go back through.

Darlene and Christina with their goodies:

Then Darlene's umbrella suddenly passed away:

Umbrella fatalities crack me up for some reason.

So we hugged, said goodbye a million times, and made a potential lunch date for when Aubrey and I pass back through Gadsden later in the week. What a fun morning!

Then, Aubrey and I were on our own and the bottom fell out of the sky! I think I only purchased one more thing (a globe) and then we mostly saw people-less booths covered in tarps the rest of the day. We found this VERY cool booth with SO MUCH STUFF I WANTED! We looked and looked and looked but we never saw another person. I guess the booth owner is very trusting because everything was just sitting out. It was almost painful to have to walk away with nothing.

We ate BBQ for lunch - so yummy! But, smoked meat is not my friend. I almost had a mayday moment with a padlocked porta-potty. Okay, TMI - right?

Here we are in our new ponchos - which saved the day. Notice the dark sky in the background? It was thundering and lightning like crazy! This is right before we got our feet soaked. We stopped at this one yard and the guy had a bonfire going. I was a little in front of Aub and the guy looked up at me and didn't say a word or smile or anything. I swear I heard the dueling banjos.

After that we enjoyed some beautiful mountain views, laughed a ton, and dried our socks on the dashboard.

Tonight we are in a hotel in Chattanooga, Tennessee - home of the Moon Pie - tomorrow will be another day full of adventure. Hopefully, a dry adventure.

Score so far:

2 rubber stamp holders
1 Globe
1 bull head
1 horse trophy

103 In The Shade

2011-08-02T23:58:00.003-05:00

So we have made it all the way to August and believe it or not I didn't whine about the weather all Summer this year. This being the first Summer in five years that I wasn't working in a poorly air conditioned restaurant next to a giant brick oven all day, I would say it has been quite nice.

Here is a little something - about 6 years ago Aubrey and I spent a week in Louisville, Kentucky. He had been invited to perform at this outdoor festival and there were lots of events leading up to the big day and boy was it hot! We kept hearing from everyone how it was NEVER that hot and that it was "unseasonably warm" and that it was "the hottest it had been in years..."

Last year, we went to Chicago and again - boy was it HOT! We also heard that it was normally not like that and that it never gets that hot there...

So we about figure it must be us. I am leaving for Alabama tomorrow and even though Alabama and Mississippi are neighbors and I am sure it is as hot there as it is here - there will probably be a record broken while I am there - just because. I am prepared though - lots of water and comfy clothes should let me shop till I drop!! But I am hoping being in the foothills of the mountains will allow for a little drop in the temperature.

Okay, so enough about the heat. Let's talk my guilty pleasure - Reality TV

The Bachelorette - Ashley picked JP. What did you think? I picked JP from the beginning (do you remember me picking JP from the beginning?) but I did feel totally sorry for the other guy. Poor guy. Maybe they will let him be the next Bachelor.

Project Runway - OMG! How much do I love this show?? Okay, I don't know all of their names yet but here is who I picked from the beginning... The girl who was a beauty queen, the older guy, and the young black girl who was wearing that fabulous hot pink dress. The older guy won the challenge last week and the beauty queen was also in the top so my skills seem to dead on. Maybe I should find a horse to bet on :)

(Speaking of betting - and I will not name names- I had this friend in college who actually worked for a bookie. I dropped him off at work once and it was like this shady place with foil on the windows. - no kidding. Okay, tonight I was reading the alumni magazine and they have this section where they put promotions and my friend is now the regional president in charge of 7 banks! That cracked me up.)

Okay back to reality TV. Did you see the new show "Picker Sisters" tonight? Loved it. I think the blonde girl is the designer from Extreme Makeover, not sure because I don't watch that show very often but I am pretty sure I have seen her on there before. The only thing I didn't like is that now that means even more people are going to get into rusty junk and they are going to be getting up in my way! I just want to say "Sshhh! Don't tell anyone that old rusty junk is cool." Now when I go to estate sales I will have other women out in the shed with me instead of in the house :( I want the women to stay inside with the frilly stuff and leave me out in the shed with the old men. I'm faster and more agile than the old men :) I have a plan that works well for me and these shows put a kink in my plans sometimes. Plus, I don't really understand how they are trying to get sympathy for being new business owners and not having much money to spend all while driving a shiny black Mercedes SUV. But I am sure when the long legs and short shorts get out of the car, the junk dealers aren't thinking much about the Mercedes anyway. They are cute girls though and if thats what works, more power to them! Heck, if I had those legs I would be wearing short shorts too!

Okay, one more sleep and then my adventure begins!! I will be dreaming of junk tonight! I will try to check in along the way with photos!!

Best Week Ever!

2011-07-31T23:16:00.002-05:00

This week promises to be fun!! On Wednesday I am leaving for Alabama to meet 2 blog friends and go to "The World's Longest Yard Sale." I seriously can not wait!! I am so ready for a little adventure!! I have switched work days around and worked all day Saturday just to make up work time and squeeze an extra day into my paycheck :) Now, just 2 work days to go before I can start on this adventure.

This week will be full of list making, bag packing, and shipping packages before I leave. I am also trying to get a little extra exercise and stick closely to my diet since I know I will probably "cheat" a little bit while we are on the road. It's hard not to sometimes when you are traveling, right?

I am keeping the camera fully charged and taking the laptop so I can (hopefully) blog along the way...that's the plan anyway.

What are you looking forward to this week?

Ten Things Tuesday - Summer Lovin'

2011-07-26T21:53:00.010-05:00

Summer is speeding right on by! It has been a while since I listed 10 of my favorite things so I thought I would do a Summer Edition before it slips away into Fall.

1. This dress from my favorite vintage shop - Call Me Chula.

Love it! Want it!

2. I can imagine this next dress with some cute sandals, a long turquoise necklace, and tan legs wouldn't hurt it at all. It is from this shop.

3. Love this hat from BKM Hattitude

4. How much fun is the show Sweet Home Alabama on CMT? Are you watching?

5. My new favorite flavor of Sparkling Water is Key Lime by Smart Sense (this brand is available at K Mart and Sears) It is SO yummy and almost makes me think I am eating a snow cone!

6. Outdoor living! I love to see beautiful outdoor living spaces. Unfortunately this is not an option where I live. We have mosquitoes the size of birds here and they pretty much ruin all the outdoor activities but I do love to dream :) This one is by Martha Stewart.

7. Braids!! I can't wait for my hair to be long enough for braids again - maybe next Summer.

8. As much as I love braids - I also love a cute, cropped Pixie Cut!

9. My favorite scent this Summer - Sea Island Cotton from Bath & Body Works
10. The last thing is a Summer tip for ice tea drinkers - Make your ice cubes out of tea and when the ice melts the tea doesn't get watered down :)

What are you loving this Summer?

The World's Longest Yard Sale

2011-07-25T23:22:00.007-05:00

I can't believe in just a few short days I will be meeting up with two of my blog friends - Christina and Darlene - for The World's Longest Yard Sale. You see this is something I have wanted to go to for a while. I have drooled over Darlene's blog posts of "The Yard Sale" for a couple of years now. I could never work my schedule around going and this year things just worked out!!

I am not only excited about the sale but it is always a fun and exciting thing to meet a "blog friend" in real life! I just know we are going to hit it off perfectly because we LOVE thrifting and bargains. I also think we all have sort of eclectic tastes so I think it will be fun to see what all of us pick out!!

Aubrey is going as well. I am not so sure he likes the thought of it but I know he will enjoy himself once we get there - he always does. Here is a neat tidbit - I randomly selected the towns we will stay in along the way. One town in Tennessee is called Signal Mountain. I had never heard of it before I booked the room. I was talking to one of the "regulars" who comes to the shop where I work and I found out he sets up a booth at "the yard sale" every year. Guess where he sets up? Signal Mountain! Isn't that totally random? I am very encouraged by the stories he has told me of how many booths are in that particular area. He said I made an excellent location choice - and it was just by chance!

Here are the things that are always on my list:

Globes
Typewriters
Signs
Industrial Things
Metal Chests
Interesting Suitcases
Sign Letters

I will also be on the lookout for a few new things like:

Antique Fishing/Hunting Badges (Something we have had luck selling at work)
Brass Trains
German Cameras
Gas Station Numbers
Anything Carnival Related (I want a raffle wheel like nobody's business!)

Hopefully I will also find:

Vintage Outdoor Faucet Knobs
Old Postcards
Glove Molds

What things are always on your list? What are some new things you are loving? What things would you have normally passed by but now see the value in them?

Pickles On Pizza

Feeling Horse

Since I'm Being Honest--

Being Authentic

The Happiness Project

Maybe Next Time...

Friday The 13th, My Lucky Day!

Stood Up

Just Thinkin'

Alphabet Soup

Literary Lessons

Diving Into The New Year

Recipe For Cream Pralines

One Resolution

Any Book Suggestions?

A Look At The Last Few Weeks

Last Minute Shopping

Randoms

Day Off!

The Christmas Breakdown

Photo Overload

Cold, Wet, and Smiling!

What's Up.

Randoms-

A Closer Look At The Flea Market

Blogging, It Can Be Hard Work Sometimes

Day One @ The Flea

11/11/11/11 and The Flea

Just When Life Couldn't Get Any Better

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

We're In!

The Waiting List

Blogtoberf...........blah

Shut Your Mouth, Pinterest!

It's Here! Well, Sorta...

Handmade goes high-tech as a new generation of Mississippi crafters shares wares with the world.

Starting From Scratch!

Win A Dress From Shabby Apple!

Saturday's Treasures & A Flea Market

Can You Say Honey Hole?

Don't Forget The Giveaway!!

Picking Karma

Just Chillin'

GIVEAWAY!!!

yeah...

Sales Report - October Looking Great!

Good Job, My Young Grasshopper

Tale of Two Plantations

Guide To Picking

You Don't Even Want To Know What I Wore Wednesday

Yay or Nay?

18 Minutes To Spare

What's In The Truck?

Giveaway!!

The Big Day

Now, I Get It!!

When The Cat Is Away, The Mice Will Clean Up?

The Land of Cotton

2 People, 1 Truck, 28 Yard Sales

Hello, Libra

Blogtoberfest - Let's Give Something Away!!

Kicked To The Curb

Fall Wardrobe

Estate Sale Success!!

Tomorrow-

A-Z of Angela

Redo A Redo

Another One Bites The Dust

Hundreds of Photos & Four Outfits Later -

We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Post

Weekend Finds

More Before & Afters

Before and After

Ahhhhhhh!

Random Thoughts

Rethinking Old Furniture

Diving Deeper

How To: Antiquing a Mirror

Online Shopping -

DIYing

Handmade goes high-tech as a new generation of
Mississippi crafters shares wares with the world.