Pieces Plucked From Horror Monster

Regular readers know how I fight tooth and nail with my beloved craft stash affectionately known as Horror Monster.  He has managed over the last few years to creep his way into nooks and crannies throughout the house.

I began an all-out campaign to corral him last October, but to be truthful  I just crammed everything into bins.

This year I am serious.  

Horror Monster will become a gentle beast.

Here are a few of the treasures I found hiding behind doors and under beds and deep in the attic.

A large fresh fish tin filled with Octagon laundry soap labels.  At a distant time in the past you could redeem these for household items.  There must be a hundred of them.  I vaguely remember them, but never used them in the laundry closet like I dreamed.  I am keeping the cool tin, but the labels are going to the booth.

Once I had a hall of other people's relatives, but these have been living behind the bedroom door for years.  They need new homes.  Off they go.

I have a thing about numbers and game pieces, but does one person need hundreds of them?

The correct answer is "NO!"

I gathered up hundreds of French flash cards, vintage school supplies, game boards, and boxes of dominoes.

Out the door!

Wait - I kept the Sucrets tin.

 A wreath made from a rolled up clothes line with old clothes pins clipped to it.  I took this from my neighbor years ago before she put it in the trash.  It hung in my laundry closet.

Yes, she did think I was crazy.

I never changed a thing about it - it is exactly the same as when she rolled it up - pins and all.

How in this rusty, crusty world did I forget about this wonderful tin box!?!

I am keeping this beauty.  He will be washed and waxed and go to work in the new room.

Even a hoarder like me would be so ashamed to show how many vintage sewing boxes and bags I have found.

Here are two filled with goodies.

Scat, sewing notions before I have a notion to keep you!

 Who doesn't love a button jar?

I needed to muster some strong tough love and weed out those I really did not have room to display.

Even an obsessive collector like me did not go through each and every button.

Though now I am wishing I had.

No, better to cut the apron strings cleanly and quickly.

Off they go.

These cranberry crate labels with a Christmas theme went back and forth between keep and sell several times.

Now that I have them scanned I will let them go.

I think.

No, I will.







This week I will be digging for more treasures and will post about what I find.  I guess I am lucky.  I have not found any dead critters among the bags and boxes.

Got to go buy another large box of trash bags.

I promise I am not throwing anything away that has any life left in it.

Contrary to the neighbor's belief.

I am not crazy.

See y'all!

Fabulously Creative Friday at Jennifer Rizzo's!

Party Junk #210 at Funky Junk Interiors

The Cottage Market Presents Junkin Joe  

sunday show off party at Twigg studios 

Bookcase Boogie

 I had to do a bookcase boogie last week in order to have a place for the coming Christmas items for my booth.

This 1960's bookcase was one of the items I bought from a sale for a mission trip.  The price was right and at the time it was a workhorse in our formal living room which during the spring and summer doubles as a holding area for items needing to be painted.

The trouble was I did not want it brown.

The floors at Riverfront Antique Mall are painted dark brown so brown furniture disappears from sight.

 I decided on Rust-Oleum Fossil - a greenish tan.  

To speed things up instead of the usual painting, drying, sanding, waxing, I would just blot the paint as it dried.

Worked like a charm.

 Here it sits legless drying.  I lucked out with a low humidity day so the paint cured enough to shove the bookcase in the back of the Blazer in a couple of hours.  

Yes, I have put something spray-painted in the car in the heat and had all the paint fall off.  

Haven't you?

I learned my lesson.

I left the legs natural wood.

I did forget to style the bookcase and show pretty pictures of it, but I was in a hurry to get it over to the store and fill it up.

Plus I needed to put the painted cupboard on top.

Next week the Christmas items are going to be out and about.





I just want to know one thing:  Are the days of the year flying by so fast you can barely catch your breath?  

They are here.

I need some breathing time.

With two dogs and a book and a sofa.

Maybe a kitty or two.

And a soft, soft pillow.

See y'all!

Party Junk #210 at Funky Junk Interiors

A Boast About My Booths

 This is not really a boast about my booths because they have been a total wreck for the last few months.  The issues I have had with my shoulder and finger have prevented me from keeping my booths as appealing as possible.

I have decided the shoulder and the finger are gonna hurt anyway so just forget it and do what I want. 

I spent eight hours last week pulling everything out of the small booth and cleaning.  Then rearranging and adding new items.

This booth is only 10 X12.

 In the larger booth (12 X 20) I was able to move the front displays and to clean about a third of the inside.  I plan to finish next week.

You will notice a distinct difference if you ever come to visit me at Riverfront Antique Mall in North Augusta, South Carolina.

The small booth is all about the shabby and the chippy and the cottage-y.

The larger one is primitive, vintage, and totally eclectic. 

 Since I keep holiday-themed items all year round, I really do not decorate for fall.  I add rustic elements and some vintage fun ideas for Halloween.

Like these legs with turquoise torn ribbons as anklets.

Sweet baby dresses and blankets with an old wicker high chair.

Baby books and decorated spools of thread.

I am more about the colors than the items.

 My screen doors are no longer for sale.  I have two left.  Vintage screen doors are so hard to find around here, I keep these two for displays.

Turquoise, pink, green, white, yellow, and gray - these colors dominate this small booth.

 I took all my gray benches and the not-so-square table and added them into the mix.

 Maybe a fur-trimmed sweater for dress-up on Halloween?

Maybe a vintage purse for a trick-or-treat bag?

Prints and trims share a space with linens.

I had saved this dress for this season from an estate sale earlier in the year.

I had forgotten all about it until I was cleaning out the craft room and found it in a bag of pillowcases.

It would definitely make a great costume.

Marie Antoinette?

Martha Washington?

Little Bo Peep?

So almost all is in order.

It almost did me in - all that activity - I had to come home and take a nap.




What do you plan to be on Halloween?  

I plan to be myself.

A distressed painter with a ton of stuff to do.

See y'all!

Party Junk #210 at Funky Junk Interiors

The Cottage Market Presents Junkin Joe