Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Scenes from a garage. (And a driveway. And a living room.)


In preparation for this weekend as a seller at my first vintage event, A Vintage Gathering, vintage stuff has now officially spread throughout almost every room, the garage and onto the driveway.

Watch your step.


The good news is I’m feeling pretty organized which can only mean one of two things:

I’m forgetting something really important or I’m actually organized.


 
Mr. Into Vintage and I did a practice set-up of the giant canopy tent in order to get any necessary cursing out of the way.

Everything has a price tag on it.


Except for these white baskets because I don’t know what to ask for them. Do you?



Things have been cleaned, painted, pressed and packed.

And now just a few final details to take care of until the big day.

{ a little sneak peek -- click to enlarge }

I'd love to meet you if you plan to shop at A Vintage Gathering! (or if you'll be shopping at Barn House be sure to check out A Vintage Gathering as well -- these two vintage events are only 4 miles apart).


Here’s how you can recognize me this Saturday in case my previously posted blurry self-portrait is a little too vague.  (I'll be there for Friday evening shopping as well wearing who-knows-what)

Have a wonderful weekend! J



A Vintage Gathering

Friday, July 29   5 - 9 pm
Saturday, July 30  8 am - 4 pm

Free Admission

17414 NE 199th Street
Battle Ground, WA 98604



Sunday, July 24, 2011

Magic goop and wacky cake


If I’ve learned one thing from all of you, it’s that when it comes to collecting, there’s something for everyone. 


Or someone for every thing.
And with that philosophy in mind, occasionally some of those things come home with me from yard sales.
Things not all that long ago I might have passed by.


Exhibit A.  This jumbled box of hundreds of recipes.
At first I thought I would just send them off to my etsy shop but as I started to photograph them for the shop listing, I got caught up in the story they told.


A story involving decades of foods that were once fashionable in the kitchen or at least were in style according to the chef who was in charge of this collection.


What event was this little menu for? I don’t know what Under-the-Sea-Salad is but anyone who serves two kinds of bread AND cake and ice cream is okay with me.


A scribbled recipe for Magic Modeling Goop on the envelope for a sympathy card –  could this be the original Play-Doh formula?


And my favorite of them all, the double secret and highly coveted ingredient list for Wacky Cake.  :-)





Sunday, July 17, 2011

All dressered up



Things are getting pretty tight in the Garage Where Cars Can’t Park.
And yet, I still managed to squeeze in a dresser.



It wasn’t on my yard sale shopping list but I've always believed that when life gives you dressers, you make space in the garage.



This poor thing had a terminal case of the flakes.




Not the sought-after, time-worn, chippy paint kind of flakes but more along the lines of varnish dandruff.



One $4 can of steely-slate-gray 'oops' paint later and things are looking up for this old dresser.




That’s right, Sandy’s back with a vengeance. J

And there's even more transformed furniture here.

Monday, July 11, 2011

This is how I roll with it



I think I may have accidentally brought home a collection.



If rolls of vintage wallpaper can qualify as a collection, that is.



 There were more than three of them.



That should meet or exceed the criteria of the Official Collection Qualification Committee. (I’m still filling out the paperwork for this).



The wallpaper rolls were just the beginning of the treasures found at an amazing yard sale this weekend.



 But I would have been happy with just these.



More inspiring yard sale finds here.




Tuesday, July 5, 2011

With the hope something might sell



My first vintage event as a vendor is less than a month away.

Yesterday involved scrubbing some suspicious goo off of a dresser (Attention: People who sell things at yard sales -- what are you doing to your furniture?!) so today I rewarded myself by making a batch of price tags.

Much more fun than scrubbing goo.

Back in the days when I sold full-time at several antique malls, I made my price tags on my printer using little images of vintage goods.



This is when it pays to never throw anything away.



The 2011 version of those tags. A little less black than the previous ones.

I wanted to find a way to attach the tags that would leave the least amount of mess behind when the tags were removed.

And I wanted to break the chains of the grease pencil pricing cycle.



 This tape seems to be the answer.

I won a giveaway on Amy Cartwright’s blog for a cutetape gift certificate and went on a little shopping spree.

The tapes have fun motifs with just the right amount of stickiness so I don’t think a bunch of goo will be left behind when removed.



This is fabric tape – I don’t know what I’ll use it for yet but I just liked it.



 I hope I’m not counting my MacGillivray’s Warblers before they’re hatched by making these 'SOLD' tags.



Making the world a better place one glob of goo at a time. J