The New Booth: What Have We Done Now

Last week when I shared the small booth that Lara and I share, I mentioned that I have never been upstairs and that I wouldn't want a booth upstairs.  That very night, Lara texted me that the owner had offered us a booth - UPSTAIRS.  Ugh.  We talked it over and decided to wait on the list for a booth downstairs. Well, guess what, they just happened to have one right next to our shelves.  Hmmmm.  I think they were trying to pawn off that upstairs booth first.  I am glad we passed and were offered this new booth.  It was full of stuff, so really hard to tell how big it was until it was emptied out.  It is about 9 x 6 plus it has wire grid racks, a plaster wall, a rock wall and a wooden beam in it - so lots of display opportunities and nooks and crannies to fill.  

Sadly, Lara is currently out of town with her Dad in the hospital who is having some very serious issues.  She could use all our love and prayers right now.  Such a hard time for her.  Since she is gone, I went in yesterday and set up the new booth in a temporary fashion.  It actually looks better than some of the booths do in there (cough SOCK BOOTH cough), but I know it is just a temporary fix until we figure it out together.  

I had the whole thing set up when I was told that the outside of the wire rack was ours too.  Most flea markets would sell that outer part as it's own entity.  I think this will be great with Lara's unframed prints and maybe my flash cards and such.  Maybe a clothes line or just pin things on the wire with clothespins.

We sell a lot of stuff to Frat Boys, which isn't our usual clientele, so I am always looking for bar and game things.  Here's my ode to that.  

There is a shelf up high with a clothes bar on it.  We don't typically sell clothes, but if some vintage clothes or aprons find there way there, we have a spot for them.  

There is a cool old bean that is part of the history of the place.  I hung a lampshade skeleton on it with horse ribbons.  I am trying to fill space in a big way with small stuff until we get more shelving and things to fill it up.  

I use those boards and milk crates for The Junk Ranch, so they will have to come out soon.  Also, I was warned that occasionally a lady that works for the local dairy will come in and take the milk crates out of the booths and declare them stolen property.  Talk about not having anything better to do!  These were given to us by an employee, so they are mine, but how I would prove that is another question.  

The far side wall is rock and has that 2 x 4 frame on it.  We need wood or doors or lattice or something to make that more attractive and usable.  I like the rock, but you can;t use the space the way it is right now.  And, that is the wall you see when you come down the aisle.

  

There's even a short wire grid rack on the side we can use for things.  More prints or extra things.  

This giant spinner rack was given to me by a lovely Mother-Daughter duo at The Junk ranch last year.  It has been sitting in my back yard (classy, right) since then waiting for the perfect spot.  Well, Hello, perfect spot!  I ordered cellophane bags (God, I love me a cellophane bag) that were just the right fit for the sections.  Then I filled them with all sorts of things - flash cards, Bingo cards, tickets, dictionary pages, kids cards, greeting cards and on and on.  I put book cover clipboards on one side and then hung my pendants and yearbook magnets on the pegs that run down the side.  I have a ton of stuff in a small footprint.  It's awesome!  

So, for now, it works.  But it will look completely different before too long.  

Lord, I hope the junk gods keep letting me find the junk.  I've got spaces to fill up!

The Week In Junk: Blowmolds and Bambi

Friday The Bean and I ran away from home to go to a local outdoor festival.  It was a beautiful day to be out.

On the way to the festival, I detoured to a Rummage Sale at the Senior Center in a itty bitty town. There was very little there, but I spotted two items of interest behind a door.  $7.50 later they were in the car and we were on our way.  My blowmold storage shed it getting kind of full at this point.  I have had good luck finding them this Spring.  It's not a bad problem to have.  

The festival ended up being more commercial stuff rather than arts and crafts, so we just walked around and looked at the pretty greenery.  

We have had major amounts of rain lately so the trees and grass have just gone nuts.  It is SO green and lush everywhere.  

This tiny town has three parks that run adjacent to one another and run along this creek.  Normally it is a quiet place to walk and reflect.  With the festival, it was crowded and reeked of BBQ smoke and Onion Rings.  

Loved these old steps that lead up to the street above.  Moments after I took this photo, a lady walked up these steps carrying a cat.  I don't know why.  But, she did.  

The Library is near one of the parks and I spotted this BOOK SALE sign.  I didn't expect much.  

Bazinga!  I was wrong!  Plus, there were twice as many inside the library as well.  I bought some sheet music books from 1889 which were in disrepair.  They were only 25¢ each, so I dismantled them into sheet music ephemera bundles for the booths.  At least they are being saved in some respect.  I also bought a beautiful 1940's copy of Snow White that I thought might be good for framing, but the majority of the color pictures show Snow White lying of the floor poisoned, dead on the ground in the woods or laying in a glass coffin.  Whomp Whomp.  Not really great for a kid's room.  Unless you don't really like your kid. :)

We spent some time at this mobile fish tank admiring this very large and very old catfish.  He came to the glass and looked at me while I looked at him.  I spoke of my love and admiration for him and then we left.  

We went to the casino where not more than twenty minutes later, I was eating a huge plate of catfish. I didn't even think about what I was doing, but The Bean was quick to point it out.  I'm sorry Mr. Catfish.  I also turned a twenty dollar bill into a hundred dollar bill......and then I lost it.  *SAD FACE*

Saturday I hit about seven yard sales and the Super Cheap Thrift to boot.  I bought a bunch of stuff, but it is all already in the booths or on the way.  I don't think I bought one thing to keep. SHOCKING.  I stopped at one Estate Sale that had a box at the end of the driveway with a sign that said FREE STUFF.  I went on up the driveway to the tables of things and the ladies told me, "Everything is free."  I said, "Not just the stuff in that box?"  Nope - everything that was left was free. I got some books, some old Cracker tins, greeting cards and cookbooks and some more things. Nothing spectacular, but when it's free, game on!   

I bought this huge old bottle at a sale - it's about 14" tall.  It had some thick old oily stuff at the bottom that I cleaned out.  I need to research it a bit.  Bottles are not my forte, but this one was unique.  I bought a chair from the U of A library which isn't that wonderful, but it is useful and cost 50¢, so why not!  A baggie of old metal cookie cutters, THREE Scrabble games and a few other random things from here and there.

These are just a few of my favorite things from the day. I bought a dozen of the Niagara Starch boxes.  I think they would be great in a laundry room so they will go to the Junk Ranch.  A cute vintage Bambi, a melted old Coke bottle that I guess is a spoon rest(?), a set of tiny vintage Merry Christmas plates, a bowling brooch and a sparkly flower brooch.  I might keep the brooch and the plates.  But, maybe not.  I'm in more of a selling mood lately.  That is until I come across a hoard of tablecloths or vintage Christmas at a sale then my hoarder instincts will take over.  :D  

I'll be back to tell you about THE NEW BOOTH.  (What new booth, you ask???)

Landscaping Junk

About a week ago we stopped in Lowe's to pick up a bag of potting soil.  They were having a sale, so in the end we bought 10 bags of black mulch, weed block, three flats of flowers, a fern and two bags of potting soil. It all sounded like SUCH a good idea at Lowe's.  But at home - wow - what a job!

We brought it home and stacked in it the front yard, right where I could see it all week long.  We have had a ton of stormy rainy days as of late which has prevented us from getting out there and getting it done.    

Sunday we got out in the yard about noon and hit it hard.  We pulled out all the "junk" I have in the landscaping, then raked out all the old wood chips, pulled up the ratty old weed block and started with all new fresh things.  Our house is white with gray brick, so I thought the black mulch would look nicer than the red mulch we had previously.  Did you know that the dirt in Arkansas is red? There is no black dirt here unless they truck it in from somewhere else.  Anyway, I think that is why I dislike the red mulch because it looks like the red dirt.  

After we put the mulch down in one area, I got to put all my treasures back while the boys moved on to the next section.  We knocked the whole job out in a few hours and I was SUPER proud of us!  No fights or anything.  (This is a major improvement for the three of us.  Well, one of us.  You will have to guess which one...)  

My idea of landscaping is not cookie cutter and some people would not like it.  But, I like it and I get to use all my found treasures.  A bunch of junk in the yard is a bunch of junk.  But place it selectively, use like pieces and like colors and I think it works!  And flowers - lots of pops of colorful flowers. 

Every time we go somewhere - a vacation, a day trip or even just walking on the creek - we find one special rock to bring home.  Sometimes we find many rocks, but we really try to find one special rock.  We like rocks that are shaped like things (bonus if they are heart shaped) or have unique features.  Fossils are great, quartzy rocks are good and colors are great too.  

Each rock is a memory and is special.  I do remember where a lot of them came from and the ones that I don't - well, I still know it was a fun family day.  Behind the gnome, there is a huge piece of petrified wood that has been in our family since the 1920's.  

I have a lot of things out there.  Each one found at a yard sale or better yet, curbside.  We even scrounged the bricks from a dump site when they built a house behind ours.  A storm came up before we got the bricks reset straight - that is a job for another day. 

See that cone bucket on the Shepherd's hook?  I never knew what that was until we toured a Trolley Museum and I saw one in a display.  It's a fire bucket for trains and Trolley's.  When you throw the water, it goes out in a big circle to cover more area than a normal bucket.  Cool, huh?  I got mine at a yard sale for $2.00.  I've been buying old junk since before it was the cool thing.  

 

I'm always on the hunt for old watering cans, but those three are the only ones I have ever found.  The big iron wheel weighs a ton.  I found it at a barn sale.  The man told me it was $2.00 if I carried it to the car or $10.00 if he carried it.  Guess who carried it?  

The Bean's old wagon full of flowers.  I don't know why, but this particular variety of flowers were all in the markdown section for $3.00 a flat.  They were still beautiful too!  

I like pops of blue in the yard. The Dutch kissing couple was thrifted and meant to be resold.  But they are heavy and they look cute there so I guess you can figure out the end of that story.  That poor, poor bunny.  He is on his last summer, I think.  He is so very old - bought from under a table years ago - but so much older than that.  One summer I looked out and HE WAS GONE.  Someone has stolen him while he was still in his prime.  I put a sign on the mailbox saying he had been STOLEN. Two days late, he magically reappeared - missing a foot, but not harmed otherwise.  I never did know the rest of the story. 

 

Whenever people walk by on the sidewalk, I see them stop and look at things.  They might be thinking it's a glorified junk heap, I don't know.  But, I think they like my things.  At least, I hope they do.  And if they don't - phooey on them.  (Did I ever tell about my new neighbor that moved in last fall?  He came and cleaned up the trash in their yard that the previous tenant had left behind - but continued on into our yard across our property line and threw away my park bench, birdbath and the giant toadstools I had made plus he ripped out all my flowers and a big grapevine I had cultivated on our fence.  After a call to the Police to report the theft, I approached him and he said......wait for it......he said that I should THANK HIM for cleaning up all my junk. Never apologized once. He is not my friend.)

Okay now where was I?  :) 

If you're ever in the area - stop on by and sit a spell!  Then we will get up and make both the back yards and the side yards look pretty too!  Bring your work boots!  :)

Let's Go To The Other Booth Now

I don't think I have ever shared any photos of the booth that Lara and I share.  It is located about one block from the University of Arkansas campus.  It's on the bike trail and a new brewery opened up in the same parking lot this last week.  The building itself is very old and historic.  It is located on the railroad tracks.  I don't mean near the tracks or close to the tracks.  I mean, like when a train comes through, you better hold on to something.  Thatclose.  It must have been a warehouse that loaded or unloaded on the tracks umpteen years ago.  There are two cats that live in the building - Faye and Funky.  They are very used to human contact, so much in fact, I have seen Lara stare at them trying to make sure they are still alive.  They just plop on a table and conk out and you can rub on them and they do not wake up.  Apparently the customers pet them all day long and they are over it.  

The store offers a range of booths from one that is stocked to the rafters with....socks.  Nothing but socks.  And they sell those socks like crazy.  There's an incense booth.  There's a booth that has big jars of pickled pig fetuses and sheep entrails.  There's a record album booth.  Jewelry booths, candle booths, frisbee disc gold booth and on and on.  There are the junky kind of yard sale type of booths - kids clothes, toys, kitchen things, etc. where they are selling stuff cheap and making some money instead of just sending it to Goodwill.  Then there are the booths like ours - a mix of vintage and handmade.  Set up so it's attractive and appealing to the eye.  We only have a set of shelves - five feet wide, I think and only three shelves plus the floor space.  The shelves are wide set, so when you place a bunch of smalls on them, they have a lot of empty air space.  So we are working on finding crates or shelves to use within the set wooden shelves to fill up the blank space and make more room for more stuff.  

Bless Lara's heart - her other booth is all white and sweet with her cute signs and prints and vintage wares.  Then she hooked up with me - 'Miss Fill 'er Up With Junk'.  I try to show restraint - I pull things before I put more out. I try to bring in an assortment of things because we really are just starting to get the hang of our clientele.  I sell a lot of barware, beer glasses, mid-century and Razorback things - stuff I never really buy or sell.  But, we've both started picking it up.

Lara has started making more quirky hip prints for the college crowd.  Her Star Wars and Super Heroes are quick sellers.  

She carries her sweet thoughtful prints too.  

We both mix in some vintage around them.  

I took my Cookie jar and Cracker Barrel to this booth.  Somehow I think this is a good place for them.  The cards are for The Junk Ranch.  Because we like to have junk spread out in as many locations as possible.  :D

I took this cart in today to hold small, unbreakable things.  I don't know if it will stay, but I think it works for now.  The back part of the floor has thins weird drop off so we can't really put much back in there.

There used to be a yellow brick road in the whole store, but these weird squares in front of our booth are the only pieces of it that I have noticed. 

Our booth is in the middle of a long line of shelves and there is a chicken wire divider in front of it which the seller has clothes hanging on it - so the visibility for our booth is really low.  A lot of people come to the end of the aisle then just peek around the corner and then turn back around.  There is actually another row of big booths back behind our shelves.  It's set up in a very back tracky roundabout way in there.  Today a lady walked passed me with big eyes and said, "I think I came through here?" like a question, not an statement.  She was totally lost.  

Even though our section is kind of hard to see, we still do pretty well.  We split our rent which makes it affordable then we add up our individual tickets minus commission.  It takes very little time to do this booth, so I figure anything I make is just gravy.  I drive passed it several times a week just out running errands.  I have to make a special trip to the big booth in a different town.  

Lara goes in once a week and puts in new things and straightens and rearranges everything.  

Then I go in a few days later and do the same.  I think it keeps it fresh since we are always moving and rearranging things.  We are on the list to get a booth whenever just the right one opens up.  We had an offer to take one in the upstairs section, but I couldn't imagine either one of us schlepping furniture up a huge flight of stairs.  Heck, I've never even been upstairs!  I have a bum knee and I prefer to not wreck it just to look around up there.  Besides, that's where the pig fetuses are!  Aiiieee! 

Well, you've been to both booths this week!  Thanks for coming along again.   You've been a total pleasure!  :)

The Week in Junk: I'm Cuckoo for Buttons

I had four days of pretty good junking this past week.  Wednesday I hit two thrifts, Thursday I hit up the Super Cheap Thrift on the way out to the booth, Friday I found a few yard sales, Saturday brought me even more yard sales and a return to an Estate Sale from last week and Sunday I returned to the Estate Sale one more time (third time!) and to Goodwill.  I spent more on things than I normally would, but apparently that lottery money was burning a hole in my pocket.  

Some of these photos are good - taken in the sun and easy to see.  On the other hand, some were taken in my house on this rainy dark day.  After taking them and looking at them - they suck - but I've already put the stuff away, so sucky photos you must endure.  I apologize. 

Wednesday I popped into of my last remaining Little Old Lady thrifts and was surprised to find a lot of older things.  They have a knack of putting big prices on older things and putting them in the glass display area up front.  I had found a good amount of old stuff at super cheap prices (and this is NOT the Super Cheap Thrift!), so when I found myself in the area again on Saturday, I stopped.  I only found one thing.  But, OH, OH, Oh!

Vintage spice boxes with the sweetest redbird graphics on them.  No chips - just perfect.  I hesitated to get excited because the price could have gone either way.  Sticker said $2.00 and I clutched it to my bosom.  :)  M-I-N-E.  I should sell it.  I might sell it.  I kind of love it though.  (Kind of proud of this photo, too).

Here we go in no particular rhyme or reason.  I stopped at a yard sale just as rain clouds were moving in.  A very pregnant lady was trying to box stuff up.  I grabbed these Chinese figures when she said they were 50¢ each.  I thought I would throw them in the booth.  When I got home, I googled the signature and they seem to be worth more than I could ever fetch at the booth.  Hedi Schoop.  Ever heard of that?  Not me.  

Sitting on the same table were all these old plastic Gatorade, juice, jam and jelly jars and bottles full of buttons.  They were all sorted by color, which intrigued me.  They totaled $17.00, but she said I could have them for $10.00.  There ended up being more than I even saw on the tables - I ended up with nearly ten pounds of vintage buttons.  I have a great deal of sorting ahead of me.  It was great they were already color sorted though.  That's half the work.  I found Bakelite, celluloid, bone and shell buttons already.  

Yesterday I stopped in at Goodwill and spotted a Cuckoo clock in the back of the store by the TV's - I grabbed it, but it wa plastic and battery operated, so I put it back.  But when I got up front, there was a real German Cuckoo Clock!  It's huge  - it plays music, there are dancers, there's a waterwheel, there's a cuckoo and on and on.  It's a dandy.  I need to research it and then most likely put it on ebay.  

The same Goodwill stop brought me this sweet little deer planter.  Her sad little ear had been broken off and re-glued.  I added a tiny bouquet of vintage millinery and now I like her more than ever.  

Friday yard sale find-  Pyrex Cookie Jar and Pyrex Cookie Barrel.  These will sell at the booth pronto.  I was surprised to find them late in the day less than one block from the street where all the flea markets are located.  You just never know what you will find.  

Sixty five wooden doll heads for 50¢ total!  Shoved in a baggie under some old patterns at the thrift.  

Set of six vintage shrimp Cocktail glasses.  I guess they will go to the booth.  

Package of NIP Rabbit Balloons.  Love that funny rabbit all out of breath.  10¢

And now, the crapola photos.  

All old stuff from the LOL thrift.  The mailbox is missing the pieces, but for 50¢, I think it is cute. The other things were all in the 25¢ box.  Vintage Spock for a quarter?  Uh, yes!

Aiieee!  Nekkid dolls.  The sitting ones are The Sunshine Family dad(s).  and the bendy dude is Evil Kneivel.  This whole photo is just wrong and sorted, isn't it?  The Sunshine Family is wholesome and good.  Ha.  Ruined that, now didn't I?

This is just so tacky, yet I am in love with it.  It's a Gibson Dinner plate with a plastic flower arrangement on it.  It looks like cake icing decor up close.  I think I will hang it in my kitchen as a happy pop of color.  

My self imposed pottery rule was not only broken this weekend, but I drove out of my way just to get that pink McCoy elephant.  

Vintage glasses - two are from the Centennial of the Civil War, which I have never seen on anything - kind of odd.  But my booth is located near the Civil War Battlefield, so they seemed fitting.  Third one is from the 1972 Indy 500 and the last one is just about Automobiles.  

This huge bronze seashell is interesting.  It weighs a ton, literally.  Okay, not literally, but it is heavy.  That is a tall picnic basket behind it so it's big too.    

Folk art carving, patriotic trim, a couple owls, a pencil sharpener and a handmade pin cushion.  The monkey is missing and ear and a leg, but he is collectible, so surely worth more than the 25¢ I paid.  Ever since the $500 Blythe head, I am certain that anything missing clothes or limbs is still worth a fortune.  HA.

Vintage Checkers, vintage inspired calendar, some toys, a glass basket and four tiny cross stitch samplers.  The witch had a barbie head and was super ugly, but I fixed her up with a spun head and now she is super sweet!

Three EXIT signs for The Junk ranch.  Except I already hung one over my front door.  

Lastly, a bunch of handmade wooden cars and trucks for The Junk Ranch.  I like having vintage-y stuff for the kids that they can afford to buy on their own.

So, that's a lot, isn't it?  I didn't realize it until I saw it all here.  I guess I had a pretty good week after all!  I hope you had a good week of junking too!

*Lest you think I hoard- the pink elephant, flowery plate, rabbit balloons, pottery deer, doll heads and the VW Van are keepers - the rest is to be sold.