Rate My Junk, Tuesday Edition.....

Welcome one and all to the decidedly
white trash version of HGTV's  Rate My Space!

This is a follow-up to yesterdays post wherein I bragged shamelessly
about all the swell swag I confiscated for my booth.

Ready for some more gloating AND the opportunity
to tell me just exactly what you think of my finds without impunity??

Alrighty then, let's get goin'!

First up:

Awesomely creepy little girl doll! Not creepy enough, you say?

Hmmmm, okay, tough audience....

Here's some of her kin just down the way:

Now that's what I'm talkin' about!

You know the whole decorating-with -creepy-doll-heads thing 

we've all been doing forever?

Ever wonder what happened to the rest of said dolly?

Well, wonder no longer! 

Fiona and Twig considers it our civic duty to answer these 

vexing questions which keep you awake at night. Here they be!

Oh my stars, you guys would've gone into an apoplectic fit 

if you'd toured this fab Field of Junk Dreams with me yesterday!

Where oh where to begin?

Feast your eyes....

What the hey??!!

Stroller for 4?

Kiddie-park ride?

No child restraints/seatbelts?

Wheeeee!!!!!

In keeping with our slightly macabre kiddie theme, 

walk another row over and you are met with this:

Do you have to ask twice if I'm going back for this???

And just in time for Halloween, too.

I'm wondering if the genteel locals are going to "get" my 

Curious Sofa-esque Halloween vignette?

Round the corner and all of this 

is pretty much ripe for the taking (dirt, dirt cheap prices!):

I'm in serious love with the garden lounger and birdcage.

As per yesterdays post, I'm breaking up my plentious finds 

from this weekend into several posts, but here's something 

on the more kid-friendly end of the spectrum.

Look y'all, it's Muff's Toybox!!!

Beats me who "Muff" is, but Aunt Jane and Uncle Scottie 

sure did think he was swell...

If I divulged just how cheaply I procured this toy box, 

you might just have to resort to calling me naughty names, 

so let's just say it was decidedly non-spendy and leave it at that.

Coming up on my next edition of Rate My Junk:

Life, Death and a Foe Defeated.

Clear as mud?

Good. I loves me a cliffhanger.  ;-)

'Night All,

Anne

Lock and load, baby....

I'm thisssss close to being ready to stock my booth.

Today was like junking nirvana. Seriously.
The capricious junking gods, with whom I have a decidely love/hate relationship,
were smiling down upon me today.

I've been stressing about not having enough big pieces to stock my booth,
but today's finds put those fears to rest.

I have at least a weeks worth of posts AND pictures
just about todays extraordinary purchases alone,
but due to the fact that I'm pretty much toast right now,
I'm only gonna give you a quick peek and rundown.

We hit Trade Days in Fredericksburg,
which is sort of the local mini-version of First Mondays in Canton.
I met a terrific gal named Effie, who will be set up in Bar W Field at Warrenton.
We chatted for quite some time,
and I was totally jazzed to pick up
these two joined theatre seats from her for $20.

Aren't these just ridiculously cool?

Safe at home!

She has loads more, and not only that,
but she recently purchased the entire contents
of an old small town pharmacy building! How cool is that?
I think I'm staying friends with this chica! We exchanged info,
and she's going to show me the best spots to get rock-bottom deals
while in Warrenton next week.
Wow, did I just say next week???
Should we all just let out a big collective squeal?!

I picked up a gorgeous white dresser w/mirror
which will go over huge with the shabby chic crowd.
I also pretty much stole a vintage 1910 white wicker babies crib
which had been marked down to a ridiculously low price.
Pictures to follow when I go back and pick it up on Tuesday.
Add to that a few roadside finds (including a killer desk)
and about a dozen more Trade Days acquisitions,
and this Texas gal is ready to pack it in and call it a day.

Lots and lots of pictures to follow next week once I refuel and recharge.

Hope your weekend was blessed beyond belief!

Until next time,

Anne

A Heartfelt Thank You....

Sometime this afternoon, my humble little blog
picked up its 50th follower.

(psssst, don't tell anybody, but I'm actually lost! follow me at your own peril!)

It amazes me every day when I sign on and see 

the kind comments you have left for me....the handy dandy tips, 

the generous support, the tireless encouragement, 

even a little hand-holding when I need it.

What an amazing community this is!

I know in the grand scheme of things, and compared to many of you, 

the number 50 might seem small, 

but I genuinely feel that each person who visits my blog 

and deems me worthy of following is God-sent.

I take none of you for granted.

I've only been at this blogging business about a month, 

but I just wanted to thank you all for making me feel not only welcome, but like family.

Have a blessed weekend!

Anne

This post was edited to remove

any photos not taken by myself, Anne Lorys.

I'm legit now!

The card says so, so it must be true!

My business cards and my store banner arrived in the mail today,
and I'm feeling an odd mixture of glee and doom.
Is this even the least bit normal?
I mean, they actually look professional!
Yikes, people are likely to expect something from me now.

True, it's not on the level of a tent in Warrenton
or my own brick and mortar store, but it's sort of a big whoop for me.
Baby steps, I have to keep reminding myself of that.

On the agenda for this week....work my day job as an RT
at the hospital for the next three days (12 hour shifts, ugh),
Church on Sunday like the good Catholic I am,
followed by a quick trip to Trade Days in Fredericksburg.
Before ya know it, you'll be seeing my smiling face in Warrenton!

I'm not due to take over my booth until the 1st of October,
so I still have a bit of time to beef up my inventory
and brainstorm some display/vignette ideas.
Does it always feel like no matter how much time you have to prepare,
it's never enough? No? Just me? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

For all of you getting ready for the big shows in just over a week,
my thoughts and prayers are most certainly with you.
God willing, we will be sharing a tent one day in the not-too-distant future!

Happy Trails!

~ Anne

White Wednesday at Fiona and Twig...

Again, thanks to Kathleen at Faded Charm
for hosting the loveliest day of the week, White Wednesday.

I've been burning the midnight oil all week long
in preparation for my new shop,
so I'm going to keep the jibber-jabber to a minimum
and let the images speak for themselves.

I was inspired by these lovely christening gowns I saw
in the antique mall where I'll be setting up shop next month,
and immediately filed them away for our next White Wednesday....which is today!

Enjoy, and blessings to all.

 

Please be sure to visit all the other bloggers participating in
White Wednedsay and see what beauty they have to share.

Happy White Wednesday!

~ Anne

Trolling for tips...or it's gonna be a brown, BROWN booth

Shameless solicitation here....

You see this sorry excuse for a paint job?
Don't avert your eyes, cowards, LOOK. 

You know you've seen worse, albeit not lately I'm sure.
This small dresser started out black,
and had obviously been painted numerous times prior.
No before pics, which officially makes me a dink.

This is pretty much ugliness on a biblical scale.

I think it's 'cause I kept painting over tacky paint that had yet to dry.

I have a surplus of overly brown vintage furniture 

I want to sell in my booth. Catch is, I'm not sure I want it to STAY brown. 

I'd like to give it all a dreamy wash of antique white with a tea glaze over it, 

but for now, I'd just be happy not to have the butt-ugly results you see above.

Here's what I'll be working with....

Brown #1

Brown #2

Brown #3

Just a few of my brown beauties that I'd like to give
new life to and then send off to a new home.

Prior to this afternoon, I'd never painted a lick of furniture in my life.
Tuck that bit of info away into the painfully obvious files. 
But knowing it would be a steep learning curve,
I armed myself with an el-cheapo gallon of paint
from the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store and got busy.

I'm pretty sure the heinousness in the first pic was due to dry brush, 

which not unlike dry socket, produces equally painful results.

Lesson learned, load the brush up with mo' paint.

FYI, I was using a brand called Color Place: Interior Latex Flat Wall, Country White. 

Never heard of Color Place, but I've got a gallon of it, 

so no sense mucking up perfectly good furntiture 

with Ralph Lauren, right?

After some trial and error, 

here's the not-quite-so-heinous side....

Still nothing you'd want in your home or your booth, but better.

Right? Please say yes.

Hooray, I managed to finally get it right
on a sad little lonely plank of wood!

Cut to the chase....purpose of this post is to shamelessly solicit
my infinitely more talented friends for helpful hints
and/or heretofore unshared trade secrets
on how to re-paint old furniture.
In my perfect world, painter extraordinaire Troy from Junk Exchange
would swoop in like the superhero he is and save me,
but I know he's busy, busy getting ready for Warrenton.

So the onus is upon on all of you, my friends. 

Links will be happily accepted, as will prayers to the junking gods.

Off for now, whiteness awaits!

XOXO,

~ Anne

Thrift Store Bonanza....or how my dog offered himself up for the greater good

I don't know about you, but at the tippy-top
of my list of things I don't want to hear at 6am Monday morning is this:

"Honey, you're gonna have to take the dog in to the vet...he had an encounter with a porcupine."

Oh no he di'int.

Hubby would've been more than happy to take him in 

as he has done before, but he was due at school bright and early (physics teacher), 

plus I was off work today. Fair enough. Still, it sucked. 

I had been up until 2am working on the booth and the blog, 

and I had serious brain fuzz going on. You want me to do whaaaaa? 

Handsome husband bid me farewell, and off I went into town.

Got to the vet's office at 8am sharp and dropped off our boy Havok,
who actually came out pretty well, all things considered.
He only had about a dozen quills, which is not bad at all,
if you know how bad it can be. No? You say you don't?
Google "pit bull vs porcupine", but only if you have a strong constitution.

Dropped the dog off with time to kill, 

so I did what any good junker would do: I hit the thrift stores. Yeah, baby!

First up was my fave consignment store 

where I unearthed this sign that I had somehow, 

inconceivably, missed on all my prior visits.

Could you not just DIE?

This baby is gonna (now and forever) have a "NFS" tag on it! 

It's big, about 3 1/2 feet tall and 2 1/2 feet wide. 

I plan on lugging this puppy with me wherever I hang my proverbial shingle.

As if that weren't fab enough, I hit the junking lotto 

with a series of finds that were only $1 each.

The bell: $1

The silver serving pieces: Two for $1

The hatbox? A DOLLAR! I mean, look at those colors! 

How could a day so wrong turn out so, so right???

Bless Havok's heart, had he not taken one for Team Fiona & Twig, 

who knows where these gems might've ended up?

Still no call from the vet, so I ran a few blocks over to Salvation Army. 

Now I usually can't find anything there of interest, 

but the junking gods tossed me a bone (sorry, more bad dog puns) 

and revealed more swell loot and swag.

Badminton rackets, 99¢ each.

Since I've been wigging about wall decor for my booth,
I saw some primo potential in these.

Sconces. Going, going, gone for a George Washington each. I may paint these.

Nifty wicker thingamajigger. What do you s'pose it was?
Check out the pocket sized Flemish art I scored, too.

Sweet little bird (quail?) on silver serving tray.
Second verse, same as the first....a buck.

An interesting bit of framed ephemera....
a speech Herbert Hoover gave to Wilmington College in 1948.

Large wicker basket for $3.

Best of all....a puppy healed and whole again? PRICELESS.

Happy Monday, Y'all!

~ Anne