But They Don't Fall Down

I haven't done my Week in Junk posts lately.  Oh, don't you fret - I've still been junking!  I just have been taking the bulk of it to the Flea Market instead of dragging it home.  This morning, on the way to work at the Flea Market, I stopped by the Super Cheap Thrift for about fifteen minutes and managed to pick up a few treasures.  Since I am at the Flea Market all day, I have time to price anything I buy that morning and put it out right then instead of bringing it home and waiting a week to put it out.  I can't believe I hadn't figured that out before today.

Today I only brought home three things.  This stacking glass jar with three separate jars.  I bought it for the booth, but I decided it just had too many possibilities for displaying things at home.  

I was very happy to find the flower brooch.  I have a collection of these, but I bet I haven't found one in a couple of years.  I love that this one is red, white and blue.  I never wear them, but Hazel has been known to sport one.  

That watermelon potholder.  Well, you know about those and how I have to rescue them.  The thing is about this particular one is that is is bright, bright garish ORANGE.  I mean "Don't shoot me in the woods, I am not a deer" orange.  Not sure why anyone decided to make a bright orange watermelon.  But, since the rule is, I must save all Watermelon potholders, here it is.  I will have to bury it in the bottom of the basket.  :)

I bought this great old University of Arkansas Catalogue at Goodwill earlier this week.  It's from 1905 and interesting to read.  

Look here - a year's tuition - $50.00.  That was a lot of money back then.  But, what a drop in the bucket that is now!  I think I will put this on ebay later in the year.    

Yesterday I drove across town to pick up something that I bought on our local Facebook Yard Sale page.  Something a woman of my age really needs.  Really!

A vintage toy truck and camper.  Isn't it fabulous?  I love it even though I have no use for it.

The camper folds down flat.  It is missing a boat and some furniture, but I don't mind.  It's a Weebles set made for Romper Room in the 1960's.  I'm not a fan of Weebles and I don't remember Romper Room all that well so none of that matters much to me.  But, oh how I love this silly toy!  I think it will sit under my Christmas Tree with my tin dollhouse.  'Cause that's how I roll.

Have you bought anything silly, frivolous and unnecessary lately that you LOVE?

WINNER

Congratulations to HEIDI ANN of Gold Country Girls!  She won my big old box of junk.  Well, not junk - GOOD STUFF, I swear.  Shoot me an email at monkeybox at juno dot com with your address and I will finish up gathering up goodies to add to it.

Thanks to all that entered!

What Are The Odds?

There is a major craft fair in my area Labor Day Weekend.  And, it happens to be in the very tiny town where I have my Flea Market Booth.  From here to there along eight miles of highway there will be yard sales galore, a big tent sale, yards full of junk and collectibles and tables full of new things too.  In that town there will be even more sales and activities going on plus the actual craft fair.  Downtown is a long quiet small town street with nothing but flea markets and antique stores stretching down both side of the block.  Downtown is always bustling with bargain hunters, but on that particular weekend, it is crazy, crazy busy.  So, we are all stocking our booths in anticipation.  I got my booth pretty well set up last week, but, and this is a GOOD thing, a LOT of it has already sold.  So, I am hunting and gathering more and more to get it FULL.

Since the bulk of the people are there for the Craft Fair, it is the perfect time to make some things and cross your fingers that they like them.  I have been making and creating a LOT this past few weeks.  My house has glitter in the air and glue gun drops everywhere.  I have made my Kitschmas Wreaths encrusted out of vintage ornaments. Not Shiny Brite breakable ornaments, but old flocked and wooden ornaments.  I cram those wreaths full of stuff, put them away for a few days, then get them out and cram even more on them.  I mad two wreaths completely out of old Christmas bulbs too.  I made glittered cookie cutter ornaments.   I made a dozen of my "Little Ladies" for Halloween, Christmas and the 4th of July.   

I made vintage Birthday corsages like the one I made for my Birthday.  I love them.  Will anyone else?  Who knows!

One thing that is a certain sell is anything with a Razorback on it.  Now, much to the chagrin of the Season Ticket holder in the house (NOT ME), I do NOT like sports, football, the Razorbacks or red hogs decor.  Spit-tooey.  But, I kid you not, that stuff SELLS.  Like proverbial hotcakes.  One lady makes these wooden cutouts of the state of Arkansas, paints them with a Chevron design (anything Chevron sells like crazy too,  I just don't get it) and then puts a little heart over our part of the state.  People buy them out of her hands when she walks in to display them.  So, even though Razorback stuff isn't my "thang," money is my "thang"!  So, I figured out how what to make that was still "me" but still Razorback.  I used Wordle to make a bunch of different Word Clouds featuring all things Razorback related.  BTW, it says right on the Wordle website you can sell them and get rich if you want.  (It actually says that!).  I only printed the words in black, gray and red.  I framed them in black frames and they look great.  I just hope other people think they do too!

After I made those Birthday corsages, I thought that maybe I could make some red and white corsages and make them football themed.  I think they would be adorable.  I have a ton of boy and girl spun heads, so I am going to incorporate those into them as well as some sort of a Razorback emblem Modge Podged onto a wooden disc.  I bought a lot of 75 Horse Ribbons on ebay.  When I mentioned to the seller that I was happy to have found the red ones, he told me that he had over 200 more ribbons he could sell me.  So, I now have about 300 horse ribbons coming to repurpose, sell and swap!

I needed something "football" to add to them, so yesterday I looked on ebay and ordered these FOUR vintage football charms.  I think they will be just the perfect touch.  They are perfect and what are the odds that I could ever find anything just like that around here on such short notice anyway.

Well, after my trip to Goodwill today, I would say the odds were pretty damn good.  I spotted a bag of 85 silver footballs in the jewelry case.  Eighty five!  And for three bucks.  What are the odds of THAT happening? Now I can add multiple footballs to each corsage.

I'll put some photos up after I get all my things displayed at the Flea Market.  I'm renting a new space just for my creations.  I'm nervous but excited!

***Thanks for all the Birthday wishes.  I had a good day and I had a BUTTERCREAM cake.  Mmmmmm!

Winner will be announced on Monday.  Good luck to everyone!

They Say It's Your Birthday.....

It's that time of the year again.  My Birthday.  Woo-hoo.  Not overly excited about the number this year, but I can't let that get me down.  Presents and cake.  That's the ticket, right????  I've decorated with my vintage birthday collection.  I leave it up from my birthday to The Bean's birthday September 6th.  He'd rather have skulls, Ford Mustangs and Vampires decorating the house, but I guess he can wait until Halloween for that.  Not the Mustangs, of course.  That would be just silly.

I really just sort of threw it up in a hurry one day.  I forgot to add in my vintage Birthday Candle collection.  Oh well, mix it up a bit, I guess.

I made this wreath in a hurry.  I envisioned a wreath just covered in cake picks, but I couldn't bring myself to use them all up.  So, I used some old cards, candle holder boxes and flash cards to fill it in.

The shelf beneath it holds all sorts of random items.  

Vintage baking cups, cake toppers, cake cookbooks, party blowers, etc.  Is that PINK Buttercream on that cake?

Crepe paper rolls, more cake cookbooks, party boat candle holders and more.

I love this old bottle of silver decorations.  I remember getting these on Christmas cookies but being told that we COULD NOT eat them.  Well, duh, don't put them ON cookies then!

 See that fabulous single cupcake stand made just for me by Heidi?  It is made of spools of thread and a GIANT bottle cap with a milk cap bottom.  It is adorable!  Thank you, my friend!

I love old boxes of baking cups.  I use the actual liners in my creations and shock of shocks, in actual cupcakes too.  Those little cake toppers have a special spot in my heart.  I wish I could find a truckload of them.  :)

This vintage wooden Party Boat is new this year.  I found it on ebay for only a couple of dollars.  The US Flag fits in the front boat, but it makes it to heavy and it falls over.  I think it would stand up if it was sunk in deep thick creamy Buttercream.  Mmmmmmmm........Buttercream.

Window #2:  Let's just pretend we don't see those numbers.  I thought it was clever when I did it.  Now it just depresses me.  

I love the graphics on this old box of Numbers and Letter Cake picks.  It's complete inside too. 

 I like to use my Baker's twine spools whenever I can because they make me happy.  The Big Bird and Bert are from The Beans cake when he turned "2".  The little chicks - well they are just fun.

More Baker's twine and Cookie Monster with a cake.  Hey!  That looks like Buttercream icing on that cake!

The infamous shelves full of vintage Birthday goodness.

A mishmash of things.  An Annalee mouse with a cake in her hands.  (Buttercream, I thtink?)

Cake picks, The "Best Birthday Book", nut cups, crepe paper, a wee banner (Made by Heidi too!) and some other goodies too.

Party Cups, vintage birthday cards and two suicidal babies round out the top shelf.  Those babies, as you might have noticed, are sprinkled throughout my decorations.  I bought a big sack full of them on Etsy for future projects, but couldn't bear to put them away just yet.  One of them has two left legs and breaks my heart/cracks me up every time I look at her with her upside down foot sticking in the air.

Lastly, a Birthday Corsage I made.  Not sure if I will have the nerve to wear it or not.  I have a fear of strangers singing to me and making me wear a giant Sombrero.  I have made up a bunch of these corsages to sell in my booth.  I think it's cute, but not everyone gets the same things I do.

So, Happy Birthday to ME!  But one of you gets a gift!  Don't forget to leave a comment and a way to reach you and I will pick a winner on Sunday afternoon and post on Monday.  What will you win?  Well, a cigar box packed to the gills with treats and surprises - birthday related and fun in general.  Once the box if full, I'll put it in a shipping box and probably add a bunch of stuff to that too.  Goodies GALORE, I promise!  Just for fun, when you comment - tell me....Which do YOU prefer?  Whipped or Buttercream icing?  I think you KNOW my choice.  Lots of it and and a corner piece to boot!  But, only on my Birthday!

The Crazy Cat Lady Post

How would you like to meet my cats?  No, I'm not kidding.  Would you like to meet them?

For the first time in ten years, I was able to get a photo of all three of our cats together.  It took some distraction with some treats to do it, but I got it!  Our cats aren't the buddy buddy type.  The two at the top, Little Lady and Tiger, they get along well enough that they sleep on the bed together - but not touching or anything.  The one at the bottom, Pity, she sleeps in The Bean's room or anywhere I happen to be. 

Pity is a loner.  The first year we had her, she didn't leave the bedroom.  Then she slowly moved into the hallway and, for a short time, she only stayed in the bathroom.  That was a fun time.  In fact, she liked to sit in the shower most of the time.  She is not normal in any sense of the word, but we love her.  Now she has taken over the house and goes everywhere and LOVES to sit on The Breadman's chest when he comes home from work.  He isn't really happy about that, but I say she's lived here nine years he better give her some lovin'.  

Little Lady, the sweet little Tuxedo in the top - she came to our porch one cold, cold January day.  She was just a litle kitten at the time.  It took me a few days to gain her confidence until I was fianlly able to grab her one day and bring her in the house.  She ran into my Office and climbed into the closet and didn't come out for nearly 48 hours.  I finally dug her out, assuming she had died or something,b ut she was curled up on a teddy bear fast asleep.  She was finally safe and warm. About three years ago, she had a seizure completely out of the blue.  She still has them from time to time, but she always comes out of it and is herself again.  I can usually tell when it is time for her to have one by her behavior.  We call her our baby, even though she has been with us the longest.  

Tiger weighs 22 pounds and is one huge cat.  Funny because he looks small in that photo.  We don't truly know how old he is, but he gets around great and eats like a horse despite having three of his big teeth pulled.  He could be as old as 17 according to our Math.  Our neighbors "think" they had him for about eleven years, but I think it was more like six.  They moved away and had plans to take him to the Shelter.  I told them I would find a good home for him.  I planned on finding him a good home, I just didn't think it would be OUR home.  We already had three cats back then and I thought four cats might be bordering on "crazy cat lady".  One day I let him in and he stayed.  He is our Big Galoot.  I hate obvious pet names like Tiger, but he really does look like a Tiger since he is so big.  He came with his name, so he is what he is.  Tiger.  

He loves to lick plastic bags.  Anytime I come home with sacks, he runs out to lick them.  I have to be careful whenever I pen the fridge because he comes running in and licks the tortilla packages.  I looked this up because I was afraid he had a vitamin deficiency or something.  But, apparently cats that were taken away from their Mama's too early like to lick plastic because it is like nursing.  That sill old cat is fifteen+ years, but he still misses nursing on his Mama.  It makes me sad, so I just let him lick away.  

So, you've met the cats.  Do you still like me or have I officially crossed the "Crazy Cat Lady" line?

*For the record - the "Crazy Cat Lady" term was actually referring to the fact that I was crazy enough to be blogging about my cats.  Not the amount of cats we have - three is a fine amount for a three person house.  I'd have more if they would allow it.  But, they are set in their ways and so are we.  Kudos to all of you that love your cats too!

The Week in Junk 8/6/12

I already posted about most of my finds in my last post.  But, Saturday I found myself in the direction of the Super Cheap Thrift and had to pop in for a look around.

Playthings were on the docket today, it seems.  A wee little high chair that I really MUST sell (as a grown woman, I already own four toy high chairs and I have no little girls, nieces or grand daughters.)  A wonderful older Fisher Price Rattle Ball or Popcorn Popper.  I love the wear on the yellow handle.  That toy has been played with and enjoyed for many a child.  The doll I am still researching.  She looks like and feels like my very own Baby Tender Love doll from my childhood.  But, she has a string in the back of her head and when pulled not only does it look like her neck is breaking, but she is supposed to talk.  Sadly, the voice box is sprung and she doesn't talk like she should.  She's still quite sweet and life like.  If you've ever held a Baby Tender Love, you know what I mean.  

In the back whatyou see is a spoon rack.  I have had a spoon rack on my thrifting wishlist for quite a while now.  Whenever I mention what I want one for - that person goes out and finds a spoon rack almost immediately.  But, I have never seen one anywhere since I started longing for one.  I don't collect spoons.  I wanted it for my vintage handkerchiefs.  

I want to plaint it white and distress it.  Then I will go through my collection and carefully choose which hankies I want to display.  Until then, I crammed them all in here very hastily just so I could see that I DID IT!  It actually works perfectly!  I think you could almost put two in each slot if you have a lot of them.  One of my Facebook followers deemed me "Genius" for this idea (Thanks Barbara), but it wasn't my idea.  I saw it on a blog long ago and it stuck in my head.  

Now, if I could just find that darn metal laundry basket on my list!  :)

Thrift Therapy

Thursday afternoon I decided I needed some Thrift Therapy.  Too many days of being worried, scared and sad.  Too many days of thinking about money and expenses - car down payment, sales tax (nearly $1500.00!), my citation fine :( and many other high dollar tickets had me having sticker shock.  I needed to see some prices like 25¢ and 50¢ - not $22,000.00!!!!  

Our Goodwill usually has mostly newer things with a smattering of vintage items occasionally.  Lucky for me, I can smell vintage a mile away so if there is anything in there - I will find it.  And, I did!

 I found these great old vintage Japanese dolls.  I think it is a wedding couple, but I can't be sure.  They have the same face, but I'm pretty sure the one in the hat is supposed to be a man.  They are about 15" tall, so they are substantial.  Not sure if they will go to the booth or ebay.  Probably ebay.

This old paper mache Santa has been there about a month.  Well, exactly a month in fact because he finally hit the 50% off BLUE ticket week.  He was $5.00 and I had been on the fence about him.  He is old and made of paper mache.  

His face is a bit, well not the jolliest, but not too bad either.  I decided that at $2.50 he was worth bringing home.  Besides, next week, if he hadn't sold, he would be headed to the Blue Hanger Bins in Little Rock and I would be out of luck.  So, he is with me now.  I'll most likely put him in the booth at Christmas time.  

 I found this great old box of pencils dated 1936.  It must be from an old store.  

 Inside the big box there are six smaller sized boxes.  

 And inside those boxes there are twelve un-sharpened drawing pencils.  I did a little research and old pencils sell well.  Like a couple of hundred dollars good.  Not sure about these, but what the heck, I'll give them a try.

I spotted a Ziploc baggie full of colored shiny things in the craft supplies.  It was only $1.00 and I was in a hurry, so I just grabbed it.  I wasn't sure what it was, but it looked like I could use it in my wreaths or something.  

 When I got home and opened it, I saw MERCURY GLASS BEADS.  Oh my!  And vintage tinsel.  Oh my again!  Gold tinsel with gold beads!

 Red tinsel with gold beads!

 Silver tinsel with gold beads!

 Turquoise tinsel with gold beads!

 A bevy of tinsel and mercury glass beads.  Twenty seven ornaments in all.  Sigh.  

Such a happy find!

And, as I was walking to the check out, I spotted this fat round olive wood ball full of horderves forks.  I have a thing for these little forks.  I have a drawer full of them.  Do I ever use them.  Uh, no.  Does that stop me from buying them?  Uh, no.  This set might actually make it to ebay though.  To me it is midcentury modern, but not completely sure.  I'll let the bidders decide.

I'm off to map out my route tomorrow.  It's still way too hot to be out, but I need some JUNK.  Good luck to you and good luck to me!

Good Bye Old Friend - Hello Gorgeous

It's been a long week.  The insurance company decided that our car was a total loss.  Which came to a complete and total shock to all of us.  In actuality, only about the front nine inches had damage, but due to parts, labor and the age of the car the totaled it.  We were devastated to say the very least.  We had the car for eight years and that is a nice long time for a car to serve us well.  But, we weren't done with it.  It only had 60,000 miles on it and we had kept it in pristine condition.   We knew the time was coming for a newer car, but we were trying to budget it in down the line.  Plus the VUE would go to The Bean.  So, when they announced it wasn't going to be ours - were were crushed.  I know it's silly to be so attached to a car.  But, we loved that silly thing - we were so happy with it and so very proud of it.  We bought it brand new off the lot with 22 miles on it.  The Bean really only has only memories of the VUE - the drive in, trips, junking, our adventures, etc.  He was really, really sad.  I know he's practically a grown up, but he's so sensitive and can get really emotional.  His dad and I can be big weepy dopes, so what could we expect in any off spring of ours anyway?

When they called us to go clean it out, I swear to you - it was like going to a funeral.  We were a mess!  We got all of our things out of it and said our good byes.  And we might have popped off he Saturn emblem from the front bumper as a souvenir.  Maybe.  It's not like the bumper was actually attached anymore or anything.

 It's really a shame we live in such a disposable society where it is cheaper to junk a really nice car rather than fix it.  It went off to the salvage yard and that is breaking our hearts.  The repair shop said someone would most likely buy it and do the repairs themselves and fix it.  That made us sad.  But, then again, it made us happy that maybe someone else could enjoy "Stu the Vue."  We still have one of the keys with the remote  - The Bean wants to drive by the salvage yard every day and set off the alarm just to show it we still care and to give the mean old salvage yard a kick in the seat.

So with that, I must put my sadness behind me and tell my Pretty Car that you were special to all of us.  You took us fun places and helped me transport so much junk.  Some days we just needed to get out of the house and take a ride.  You were a part of our family and we will always remember you!  Whenever we see another red Saturn VUE on the road we will think how lucky the people in it are to own it.  Thanks for everything you did for you and the places you took us.  We are forever grateful.  :(

Thankfully we had good insurance that paid us a fair amount and we were able to go buy this lovely today:

It's a 2011 Ford Escape and it is gorgeous.  It is just so nice - I think it's too nice for me to own.  I said earlier I needed to wear a tiara when I ride in it.  It's got things like heated leather seats, blind spot mirrors and somehow you can magically hook your phone up to it and talk to people through your steering wheel.  Or something like that.  So far I can make it go forward and backward and run the Air Conditioning.  And, that's all I really need on this 105 degree day.

Mama's in charge of the payment so I gotta buy lots and lots of  JUNK and sell, sell, SELL!   Off to read the ads for tomorrow!