I'm back from Round Top, What do you want to hear about first?

You vote, you decide

People,

Places

or Things (I got)

Posts begin tomorrow.

Old Table-New Look Continued

Here you can see it is completely painted, one coat only. Then I took the belt sander to it and roughed it up. The areas that still had varnish sanded a bit different than the areas we had stripped. Oh well, that's why we call it shabby right?


Then I took some dark walnut stain, and rubbed it on then wiped it off to give it this aged look.

I'm currently still varnishing it and it's looking good. more pics when I return from Round Top/Warrenton Flea markets.

In case you are wondering what Round Top/Warrenton is. It's a huge flea market type antique show that occurs twice a year here in Texas. People from all over the country travel to this show and It's been written about in many magazines.It is located roughly halfway between Houston and Austin, Texas.

I have never been, (I know it's an abomination) but have heard lots about it. I'm always asked about it, so I need to go experience it for myself. I'll be on the road really early for the 4 hr drive and then I'll shop and visit all day. Spending the night in a nearby town to wake up and shop some more and drive home on Friday.
It will be a whirlwind, and I'm looking very forward to it.
Illness, weather, and mother nature have conspired to keep me away, but
IT WILL NOT WORK!!!

I hope to report back what I learn and see while I'm there. I'm prepared to have my socks knocked off. Packing my anti-fatique shoe inserts and lots of Advil, and of course wet wipes.
If you want more info go to this web site, it's got the complete 411.

Here are a few Blogger Dealers that I will be visiting while there
Teresa Cano Garden Antiques
Debbie & Danny York, Talking Trash
Mindy of Primitiques
Gloria of Sweet Pea Collection
Virgins Saints & Sinners

And I hope to see and meet many more friends, both old and new.

New Project-Old Table new look

Over a year ago I found this great old oak desk (I say desk because it has 2 drawers) at an estate sale. The price was great and so I snapped it up.

We brought it home, and DH decided to start stripping the finish to re-do it. I thought it was fine as it was and would have just rubbed it down with some Howards wax and called it done.

Before long we realized that this table had been finished with some kind of steroid varnish that was about 1/8" thick and nothing would budge it without lots and lots of work. We tried scraping, chemicals, sanding etc.



So it sat in the barn for a year collecting dust.

Last week I decided that I was going to paint the top and rub the bottom with Howards and if DH didn't like it I would sell it. So I got started.

First I roughed up the remaining finish with the belt sander, and softened some of the edges where we had been able to strip finish and where we had not.

Then I began to put a coat of paint, only on the top. I'll be doing a distressed technique to it next.


I forgot to get a true before pic so this will have to be it. I had already started with the paint.

Right after this my allergies kicked in and it got cold and wet outside. So things slowed down, but I am making progress. More pics tomorrow. Needless to say, DH loves it now :)

This is only the beginning of my painting technique.
I'll be showing it step-by-step all week.

Found a Shade & fun with Junk

Thank you to everyone who made suggestions regarding a lamp shade. Because I am married and my hubby has definite opinions, I try to keep things a bit conservative an conventional, for him. so....

After going around my house and trying every shade I have I found one that worked. I love it when a project comes together after floating around in my head for so long. When I got these springs, I'm sure I was asked "what are you going to do with those?" As I usually am. And my usual answer is "I don't know, but I'm sure something will turn up" and it did. Thank you Judy Hill for the Inspiration.

Ok, so I've got all these sign letters, and as I'm cleaning them up and putting them on ebay .
I decide to get a little silly.

A little potty humor for ya. Hubby would like me to leave it that way...Not Gonna Happen!

I am keeping the ampersand for myself.

I have a thing for punctuation.

Looks like spring left East Texas for awhile and Winter is visiting us again. Last week I actually had to run the AC in my car in the afternoons. Now It's heaters only full blast. We are even supposed to get some snow, go figure.
Hope it warms up for Warrenton next week.

And I'm nursing a sinus infection, but the rain and cold got rid of the allergens at least.

More Great Stuff and a project

As you know if you read my blog, I drove to Dallas (2 hrs west) yesterday to look at some junk and get some personal stuff done.

Thank you to Kelly who contacted me for bringing this great stuff to my attention.

The purpose of my trip was to pick up these wonderful metal letters. Aren't they delicious.


My contact also had some other stuff to sell, these items just got a bath

I love this wonderful old mail box



At another stop I was able to pick up some of these "bubble blankets". I've loved them since I first saw them. I got 1 for myself and 2 to sell. 35.00 ea if you are interested. They look great folded up or thrown on a bed. Drape them over anything for an amazing look, You could even turn them into a cool shower curtain.


At a sale on Wednesday I found these fun ceramic bells. If you find that you need ceramic bell shaped pieces, they are 1.00 ea, or 3 for 2.50 Various sizes.

And some wind chimes, Not sure when I'll be making a wind chime from these, but they are good to have in my stash.



Now for the project.
I've had this idea in my head for awhile, (I saw one similar at Judy Hill's last sale), I was just waiting for the right lamp. I found one yesterday and came home and made this. The trick was to keep the spring stationary, So I fashioned the disk at the top to keep everything in place.

I'm just not sure what to do for a shade, still working on that. I may just get a cool bulb and leave it shadeless. Any advise????

Have a great weekend everyone.

Ruff Junk

Warning, Ruff photo's of Ruff Junk, No artistic photography in this post.

As I said befor, the junkin is full swing again now that the weather is warming up. Here are some things I've picked up in the last week.

Love this old rusty fan, and can always use sewing machine drawers if the price is right. I'm going to use the drawers as a lift in a store display. I'll place them at the ends of a table, and span a piece of wood across the tops to make a shelf.


This is an interesting architectural piece

And there is another type drawer.

Wheels, I have a project for these.


Look at this metal wheels, Can you see 2 of them are hot pink, love it! I am going to use these in my next month's Winnie & Tulula's Window Display. You'll see, it'll be cool. And that is some sort of box lid behind there.


This is the heaviest dolly I've ever seen, the wheels are iron. If you lay it down it'd make a great coffee table. It will be at the Gresham Barn sale in April


I got this display last weekend. And the bird bath will be at the Gresham Sale.


These black hinges are very old and very cool. Along with a box of other goodies.


Aren't these great, I see them as shelf brackets. Imagine them painted white then distressed.


Got this old rusty cabinet today.

Look at that latch, retro cool.


Will be great for display, but also for sale. You'll see it at one of my booth's soon.

Tomorrow I'm off to Dallas, and I can't wait to show you what I pick up.
And Next Week, Round Top, Warrenton, to shop with the Big Girls.

Bottle Cleaning Tips

I love old bottles, but many times they are so dirty inside. What can we use to clean them?
I have some tips that have worked for me.


Pour a small amount of rice inside the bottle with a bit of warm water and shake it. In a perfect world the rice will rub against some of the dirt loosening it.
or
I also have used denture cleaning tablets, break them up, fill with warm water and drop in tablets. Let them sit and work their magic. Do this several times if necessary.


Another option is baking soda and vinegar. The bubbling action may help loosen some of the dirt. Do this in the sink, as it can be messy, but fun!!!!!


Sometimes the dirt just needs to be scrubbed. I use an old mascara brush that I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned the mascara off (no easy task).

You can bend it to go in those hard to reach places near the neck.

Those are a few things I do to clean bottles. Hope you enjoyed these tips.

Blessings,
Margo

TIME For another post

This weekend was lots of fun. There were so many sales. On the one hand that is great, but it's also frustrating as I just can't hit them all. I did find this great lot of old porcelain watch dials (above) and of course I got busy with the creatin'.

I had so much fun playing with all these dials, these 3 necklaces are currently on my Etsy.

I also found lots of other stuff. Some of it is already at Winnie & Tulula's, and Our Little Corner.

I went to Winnie & Tulula's on Saturday and everyone was busy moving around. Ethel has moved back to her old location, Barbara is taking another space next to where she was, and a new gal has moved in with great pet accessories, collars, clothing etc. You'll hear more about her soon over on the WT blog.

I also got a lead on some great junk and hope to get to Dallas this week to pick it up. Can't wait to share it with you.

Spring is here, and it's getting busy!!!!!!

Bachman's New Look-Junk Junk Junk

In January I was contacted by Bachman’s from Minnesota to take Larry Pfarr around North East Texas looking for junk. You see Ki Nassauer has been working with Bachman’s since October, getting them ready for their new look. Larry had a 3 day layover in Dallas after the January Market Show and Ki set us up for some junking. I had fun getting to know Larry and wanted to share with you what Bachman’s is doing.
The italicized portions of this post are quote from Bachman's

For those who don’t know of Bachman’s, it is a retail floral store in the Twin Cities and St. Cloud, Minnesota including Floral, Gift, and Garden Centers,


I was so excited to hear what Bachman’s was doing, I wanted to share it with you, but I was sworn to secrecy until now.

Ok Here’s the official 411 from Bachman's
After four months of non-stop work (literally day and night) we have debuted the new gift and home departments at our Lyndale store in South Minneapolis. Titled: Bachman's Gift and Home, A Surprising Mix of Vintage and New. The store is divided into five very distinct looks." says Larry Pfarr from Bachman's. The looks include: Cottage, City/Loft, Kids, Modern Country and Euro. Pfarr said, "After being open with the new look for just one weekend, it is hard at this point to tell which area is a customer favorite." As far as his favorite?"That would be like asking which of your children is your favorite. I like each area for totally different reasons. There really is something here for everybody", said Pfarr.
Now that their main store in Minneapolis is done, it's time to take the show on the road. During the next couple of weeks, their suburban stores in Eden Prairie and Plymouth will get the new look. The last three stores will be changed starting in late July.


Larry and Ki have traveled Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, Texas. South Dakota and Florida. In their quest for quality decorator Junk (you know what I’m talking about)

This is Larry in January at one of the super secret locations scouting junk in NE Texas

Each room is about 40% vintage and 60% new except for the Kids area which is about 90% new, It's all blended perfectly together. Customers are enjoying the thrill of the hunt and find.


If one of these Bachman's stores is near you , you owe it to yourself to check it out. If not, then like me, we can drule all over our keyboards together and only wish. As for me I'll be checking in on them during the Bonanza next September.

You can read more and see more pics here

More fun with Photo's and Junk of course, and some News

The cool candles in the pic above can be purchased from Gloria at Sweet Peas

The centerpiece above uses an old farm disk at the base, with some old books, zinc seed pots, plant markers and a dried hydrangea

Several of you have asked what kind of camera I'm playing with. It's a Cannon Rebel XS 35mm with a flash attachment. Speedlight 430ES II. It's the camera my Son the photographer suggested my Husband get for better pics. I'm slowly learning about f-stops, shutter speed, angle of flash, automatic and non automatic settings etc. It's a lot to take in, and I have a new appreciation for good photographers.

For every good photo I show you there are 20-30 not so good ones.
And I do use Photoshop to do some color and light manipulation.

Big News-for me at least.
I'm going to Round Top/Warrenton
Got me a place to stay today!!!!! Not an easy task.
Not going to sell, but to shop, scout and photograph.
Can't wait to take you along.
Look for reports later this month.

Need I say More????

What I did this weekend

Time to get something off my list

I had hubby up on a ladder with tools in hand



Put it all back together

Voila!!!!

I've had this awning for a few months now, trying to decide if I wanted to sell it or keep it. Keep it, definitely keep it!!!!

And just to add a dose of reality to the pic, here is the other side of the room

Being creative can be messy!!!!!

Hope you all have a great week.