The Finish Line - At Last!

 The finish line - I cannot believe it!  I have officially moved into my two new booths and I have survived!!!  

I deserve a ribbon, no a medal, no a GOLD medal!!!

This is going to be mostly pictorial because my hands are too tired to type and my feet are killing me.

 First the bad and ugly.  You will see in these first pictures that I just stopped even trying to establish some kind of order while lugging all that stuff.

I just piled it up.  If I was not there, I blocked off the entrances with something, but customers came in anyway.  I really did not mind because they were buying.

I just did not want a door or something falling on them.  Not a way to begin anew!

You will see that I keep seasonal items available all year round for those collectors who wish to buy Santas or bunnies.

This will be the red, white, and blue corner.  Closer to Christmas I will add some green to the mix.

 I bought an old twin springs from another dealer who was not going to use it.  She bought it from a previous dealer who had Christmas lights and fall flowers woven through it.  I thought it would be a five-minute job to take all that off the springs.

Boy, was I ever wrong!  I worked and worked and finally just grabbed the wire cutters from my toolbox and cut those suckers off!

 My books are a mess still - not like this, but I have not yet categorized them.

Now for the pretty pictures that show I actually did work my butt off.  (Literally, I have lost seven pounds the last two weeks.  Maybe I will write a diet book about hauling junk in shopping carts up and down a sidewalk!)

Here is the front (I call it my porch) of Booth B-6 which I have named Natty Tatty's Bits and Pieces.  I am currently making a sign for it.   I went for browns, blacks, golds, and other similar colors. 

This is the area between Natty Tatty's and Booth B-5 which is Plus Encore.  I have hung all my tags, art papers, and embellishments here.  There is empty space because I have not finished bringing everything from home.

 This is looking into Natty Tatty's through the door.  I try to have something to attract folks to come into the booth.  This weekend most were drawn in by the idea of the springs used to hang things.

 After you walk in, turn to the left and this is the view.  Look at that shiny clean floor.  All that space is waiting for the perfect primitive table and chairs.  No, I have not found them yet.  I start looking next week!

YAY!  SHOPPING!

 Here are the springs complete with baskets and chalkboards and whatever else will hang there.

Thank goodness for drapery pleater hooks - they are perfect for hanging things on chicken wire and springs!

 Turning to your right is the short side of the booth.  I keep a supply of old windows and cabinet doors and other miscellaneous things here. 

 Booth B-5 is right next door and has a different sort of vibe.  While Natty Tatty's is more primitive and quirky, this side is the shabby, French, cottage-y, whatever side.

 I have used this name for my past booth and pulled out the sign for this one.  I like this name.  "Plus Encore"  means "even more" in French.  I like that it rhymes when you say it out loud.

 The inside right side of Plus Encore.  There is a bridal veil on the dress form right now because I have some vintage clothing I want to bring in, but there is still saw dust floating through the air.

 Across the aisle looking in.  I am not completely satisfied with the way this looks, but I will always be fluffing and moving.

 The inside left side of Plus Encore.  I had a stack of creamy white tables here, but they sold before I could take a picture.  I filled in with the big suitcase which is my treasure item that no one has discovered yet.  I always put an item with a ridiculously low price ($20 for this) somewhere in the booth for someone to find.  Regular customers know this and search for it.

A couple from out of town found the suitcase Sunday, but it would not fit into the car with all the other stuff they had purchased.

 It looks naked here without those tables.  I have got to get back to painting!  This is inside the booth looking out on the left side.

This is the inside looking out on the right side.  This side looked pretty good when I left Sunday.  I plan to go tomorrow to drop off some things from the living room.

Today the mall was not open to customers - just to dealers wanting to work.  I took the day off and slept!

I know you are saying to yourself, "Does she really think this is orderly?"

No, I don't, but I like to keep both booths looking like someone's attic.  My customers expect me to have stacks of items in baskets and piled on tables.  There is probably room for about two hundred more items!  And I plan to put them all in here.


I promise I will not bore you any longer with booth expansion photos, but I had to show you why I have not produced any blog-worthy projects!  I promise to get back to work on Wednesday and to have something special by the weekend.  If it ever stops raining!

See y'all!



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A Raven and His Pumpkins

I am finally ready to start on Fall stuff.  Danni Baird over at Silo Hill Farm has already completed a ton of projects.  She even has added a countdown to Autumn clock to her blog! Just go over and check them out.  Here are just three of them:

Pallet Shelf 
Fall Wreath 
Autumn Centerpiece

I started with two baskets:  a gold round hefty one and this double sided handmade basket.  Remember the day I was using up all the black spray paint?  I included these.

 I lightly sprayed the larger one so some of the gold would show through, but sprayed the heck out of the other - someone had painted some tacky flowers on it and I wanted them completely covered.  I put the small one aside for later.

Everywhere I go in blogland, people talk about the deals at the dollar store.  So I finally fought the traffic to get to ours.  I found several items that are more expensive at other places (I am so sorry Hobby Lobby - I did not visit you last week!).

I love it when you are shopping at the dollar store and someone asks how much an item is.  All the customers and the clerks shout ONE DOLLAR!

I bought these pumpkins and some other Halloween-y stuff.  You have to be careful - those dollars add up quickly!

 I painted all the pumpkins Rust-Oleum Ivory Silk. They were the foam kind - you can do whatever you want to them - they don't seem to mind.

I attached a raven to the handle.  So cute.  And I especially loved that the raven and the pumpkins and the basket were of proper scale for each other!  That I assure you was a happy accident.

Look just behind the basket.  That is my sweet autumn clematis blooming.  I will have to get some photos.  It is in huge drifts of white all over the yard!

The raven looked lonely like he needed a little tag.  So I made him one from a walnut ink stained shipping tag stamped with "Quote the Raven Nevermore" (of course!).

Here he sits in my living room (which is almost beyond redemption) - a raven and his pumpkins!  I love how the afternoon light highlights the pumpkins!  Sometimes your pumpkins just need to be highlighted!

I am almost through with setting up my booths.  I wish to apologize to those I usually visit on a regular basis for not coming by to read your posts.  I have a day planned for just me and my computer to catch up with everyone.  You just better have great projects for me to enjoy!

See y'all!



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