Happy Weekend!

It's the weekend!  Wait.  It's THE weekend.  Yes.  That's it.  It's the weekend that my husband and I have been planning for over a year.  We are finally taking a trip, by ourselves without the kids, to Punta Cana!  YAY!  We celebrated 10 years this June and decided it would be best to wait until the fall to go away, when my Mother-in-law (God bless her) could come and watch the kids.   So this is it!  We leave tomorrow. 

And of course, I got a call yesterday from Olde Towne Hall Antiques to let me know I sold a huge desk, one that really holds a lot of smaller items (aka smalls).  What that means is that I have to find time in my day today, aside from putting up the Halloween decorations at my home, doing my laundry, making lists for Mum and packing to get to the store and replace a large item which will be picked up tomorrow and fix the booth up.  If this sounds like a complaint, it's not.  LOL!  I really am happy that I sold that desk and I don't think there is anything that can spoil my mood today!  It's all good! 

Did you get stuck on "putting up the Halloween decorations?"  Yah, I know, it's a bit early.  However, I know that when I get back I'm going to be slammed playing catch up and decorations will not be on my priority list.  And since Fall is my favorite season and I have just as many Halloween decorations as Christmas, I like to see them out for at least a month.  I don't get back until the 6th.  It makes perfect sense to me....  

 

 

Well, y'all have a great weekend, now - y'hear?   ;)

The Vintage Bazaar at Pettengill Farm

Wow!!  What a weekend!  For me, the weekend started a few weeks ago, when I began serious preparation for The Vintage Bazaar at Pettengill Farm.  I've never done anything like this before and it was quite an experience.  It is an upscale, outdoor, bazaar of multiple dealers, artists and food vendors which runs twice a year - in June and in September.  Oh what fun!

 First of all, I was extremely blessed to be able to pair up with a veteran of the bazaar, Kim Wilson of Vintage Chic Boutique.  If you haven't been to her shop in downtown Newburyport, you must get there.  It is, in my opinion, the most beautiful shop in Newburyport, MA.  Kim specializes in painted furniture and has so many unique and beautiful items of furniture, gifts and home décor in her shop, you'll want to live there!  At least I do.  Which is how I ended up meeting this wonderful person.  If you know me, you know I'm a "people person."  I love to talk.  To everyone.  And Kim found this out every time I stepped into her store. And the rest is history.

The Bazaar began on Saturday morning, with our furniture items being soaked with morning dew, even though we had covered it the night before.  Soon the early birds were peeking around and deciding which of the 130 dealers were going to win their business.  And shortly after that the early birds turned into hundreds and hundreds of people slowly making their way around the entire beautiful tent filled bazaar on a lovely flower farm near the water with sun and clouds intermittently warming and cooling us. 
 
Sunday morning began too soon with rain, rain, rain!  But guess what?  It didn't stop the shoppers!  There were some true die hards out there.  We got a late start on Sunday after wrongly assuming that the rain would keep people away for a bit.  But it all worked out well.  We were so busy that neither of us remembered to get pictures!  What a BUMMER!!  I do, however, have some pictures of a few items that I had there:



Before

 

After



 

 

 

 

 









 



Gentlemen's Chest Before
 



Gentlemen's Chest After
 

Ok, I can not get these pictures to line up the way I want to for the life of me.  Sorry for the mess!


Tea Cart Before



Tea Cart After
 

I'm afraid of adding more pictures, because it took me about 3 hours to do this much!  I don't know why - but I've had problems with this program today.  I'm sure it's something I'm doing but I can't figure it out, so I'll quit while I'm ahead!  More later!! 













       













 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 











Pebbles in the Sand

Having been a stay-at-home-mom primarily for the last 10 years, and then some, I feel it is my responsibility to add to the household income now that my children are all in school full time.  The youngest is in first grade and that means no more kiddos during the day to stay home to take care of.  It's a tough transition for me.  This is "what I do."  I don't know how anymore to work a full-time 40 hour-a-week job.  This has been my ONLY job forever!  That being what it is, I am quickly filling my time with many different things.  Not only do I still have the responsibility of running the house, and many of us know what that entails, but I also must now learn how to run a business.  Have I mentioned that I merely have a high-school diploma? Not an easy thing to do.  However, I feel it is "doable."  And I have been proving it.  Albeit, slowly.

As many of you know, I have a booth at Olde Towne Hall Antiques in Stratham where a wonderful woman named Natalie Healy runs a multi-dealer shop.  I find old things and make them new or find a new way to use them, give them new life, etc.  It's no "get rich quick" scheme, for sure!  It's work!  But, as it has been called before, it is a "labor of love."  It's rewarding to me to be able to take some inexpensive (for lack of a better word) item found at a yard sale, thrift shop or some other unspecified place that has been discarded and give it a new chance at being loved again.  Hmmm, kind of like an orphanage for all things used and unwanted.  I like to call them American treasures. Although sometimes they are most definitely NOT American.  That's ok - they need love too.

Having the chance to do this has opened many doors for me and I can not say enough how thankful I am to Natalie Healy for allowing me the chance to feel like I am more than just a housewife and stay-at-home-mom.  And I can't forget to praise the One most worthy, God.  Please don't get me wrong - I am in no way, shape or form taking away from the importance of those jobs or the value of the women who do them!  They are America's foundation, but too often are left feeling like pebbles in the sand whose beauty and importance goes unnoticed.  Well ladies, I haven't forgotten you.  I love you all!  Thank you for doing what you do, and thank you ladies out there with full time careers who balance that with being a mom as well!  You all are amazing! 

Here's to opened doors, career women, and stay-at-home moms everywhere!  Salud!!

 

 

Doors Opening

So much is going on lately, it's very exciting!  I should be becoming a great aunt today for the - let's see - 7th time.  We've got a very big, always growing and changing family. Good luck and best wishes to Melissa and Allen!  Can't wait to meet your new baby boy! 

Next, big things are happening with "A Place for Everything."   Bernadette and I started this together over a year ago and it's been slow.  We live enough of a distance apart that it makes it difficult to actually "be" together often - whether it be to talk about marketing or  new ideas, etc.  So we realized that we need to do this together, but separately.  Does that make any sense?  We will be creating new business cards, each with the name "A Place for Everything" on it, but with only our own name and number on it.  No riff, no business disagreement - just time and distance separating us.  We can and will do organizing jobs together - but we each have our own specialties. I love painting furniture - whether it be pieces I have on hand or custom painting for a new customer, and Bernadette also does furniture and has a beautiful hand and eye for custom signs.

Aren't they beautiful!!!  She's in high demand with these signs.  And I might add that she does an awesome job with furniture as well.  Bernadette just completed her own dining room set.  She painted her dining table and chairs and reupholstered the seats.

 



I don't have a picture of the seats yet to post... I'll get back to you on that.

Things are changing for the better!  If you don't already know of it, there is a fabulous boutique in Newburyport called Vintage Chic Boutique where we like to go and get our inspiration and Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.  We've become regulars there.  The owner, Kim Wilson, is such a sweetheart and does such a wonderful job there.  We've become very friendly with her and have gotten to know her well enough that she asked us to do "The Vintage Bazaar" with her - yet another new thing!  The Vintage Bazaar will be on September 21st and 22nd and will have over 100 vendors and artists there from I think it is 10 different states!  How cool is that?!  I'm so excited!  It's at Pettengill Farm in Salisbury.  You don't want to miss this! 

That's all for now, gotta run - working at Olde Towne Hall Antiques this morning!  Hope to see you there!

Repurposing

Many years back I was an HGTV hound!  I couldn't get enough of it, but didn't have enough time to put anything to use that I had seen there.  Anybody out there remember Design on a Dime and the Trash to Treasure segment at the end?  Yah, I remember it!  Living in New Hampshire has somehow opened up a love in me of all things old.  Or maybe I've watched too many Tinkerbell movies with my girls and ended up being a little tinker-er myself.  I don't know.

Pinterest has been a great source of inspiration too!  I don't know what it was about old shutters that made me like them so much, but I came across a pair long ago and hinged them together, kind of making a corner stand of some sort.  Not a very beautiful thing, but I used it as a backdrop, if you will, of another self made little table made from an old wooden milk crate and a square cast iron grate.  I'll have to dig up a picture of it.   

But for now, here's another little creation:

I

 

 

I went to this great place near downtown Exeter (NH) on Mill Street called Architectural Salvage and they had tons of shutters.  I had this idea in mind, so I also got the brackets there.  They are cast aluminum - gorgeous! 

 

 

 

With the help of my husband, we put this together and although the color isn't my favorite - I'm still trying to decide if I want to paint it and keep it or what - it was a handy item to have.  A great place for the kids to drop hang their backpacks during school (two more days!) or just their coats.  Whatever.  OH!  And lest I forget the hooks:

 

 

 

Some may say "boring" or "eww", but I say "MORE!"   Love love love the old stuff. 

 

So there you have it.  A fun project for your mudroom.  On a smaller scale, this kind of a unit would be great in any room!  Taking orders!

 

Thanks for coming to visit my blog.  Please leave a comment below, I'd love to hear from you!



 

 

 



A total room redo

I'm constantly trying new things in my home.  We had four kids living at home and every year seems to bring so much change with their wants, styles, personalities.  It's never boring!  So, my two little ones are sharing a room, and the two big kids have their own rooms, leaving one room empty.  Why not make a guest room/office?    Here's a look at the "before." 

Can you tell it had previously been my girls' room?  Ya, bye-bye Disney Princess, we're getting bigger now.  *sniff*

 

My mother's old bedroom set from the 60's was ready for a redo.  Before:

 The purple walls changed to a nice subtle shade of green which I actually mixed myself from some paint remnants I had in the garage.  (Word to the wise, do not mix paints unless you mix enough to make two coats, at least!)    I used Annie Sloan chalk paint on the dressers in Old White and got some new handles for them.  The old holes were filled and new ones drilled to accommodate the new handles.  I distressed them to complete the "old" look, and did the nightstand in an alternate color to give it some interest.  I used another Annie Sloan chalk paint color, Provence.  The finishing touches were some great finds online; the chandelier painted with the same paint I used for the dressers, some fabulous accents from Arts An Tiques in downtown Exeter, and a new chenille bedspread on sale at Bed, Bath and Beyond, and burlap from Joanne's Fabrics.  The whole room cost me no more than $250.  Not too SHABBY!  CHIC.   ;)

The moral of the story:  You don't have to spend a fortune to transform a room in your house.  Be creative!  Use things you already have and give them new life.  It can be done.  There is "A Place for Everything!"

A Work in Progress

Well, I think it's time to get myself better at this blog thing.  Now that my youngest is going to be in school full time (YAY!!)  I should have more time to make updates.  Let's hope I can organize my time as well as I organize physical things! Something for me to work on, for sure!

As many people know, I have a little booth at a wonderful shop called Olde Towne Hall Antiques, in Stratham, NH.  There I get to display some of the things I "remake." I love to find things and give them new life.  Like furniture.  The French Provincial style dresser below was nice, but had yellowed with time.  A customer loved the style of the dresser but it wasn't quite what she wanted.

 

Look at the transformation once it got a nice new coat of paint....

 



 

Another customer had a fancy for a dresser done in white and gold.  This was a piece I had on hand.

 

It was a nice style, but definitely a bit beaten.  

It too was yellowed with time.   Now it's a beautiful crisp white with a gold trim. 

The handles were painted over in white also and given a gold gilding.   Mmmm, so pretty!

 

I hope this has given you some great ideas for your home.  Those old pieces of furniture don't need to be scrapped, they just need some new life!