antiques/junking

After and during our December sale at Good Juju I had a brief window of feeling better from my previous illness before catching another.   I had two parties planned that week then needed to redo my booth.  I got it about 90% done with the work, but started feeling icky, so wore a mask and kept going.

Catching this virus, as well as the one in November reminds me of why I push so hard to do my set up early and not wait til the last minute.  You never know what could come up before the sale.  And I feel more comfortable not having that big redo hanging over me.

I was able to finish that last 10% in time, without worries.  It just isn’t in my makeup to be a procrastinator   And it really isn’t from some sort of perfectionism or obsession, it’s from life lessons learned.

 Stuff happens, so I manage my todo list to be prepared just in case.

After set up I was either recovering or having holiday fun, so my days started running together.  When I put away all the trees from my house (it took 8 hours, I kinda took my time and made a day of it) I got out the calendar that I typically keep on the table (it had been put away due to the houseful of twinkles and baubles) and was stunned to see how close our January sale was.

There was a moment of panic, then plain ole relief.  And maybe some minor back slapping, knowing I was ready for take off.

And seriously, what better way to kick off the new year than to be at one of my favorite places with all of those fun vendors and customers?

Not to mention I get to enjoy a whole new holiday.  Valentines!

Yup, my booth is all hearts and flowers, which makes me happy.  Because I’m a pushover for any sort of festive decor.   I love a celebratory theme.

Because my much put off shoulder surgery is finally scheduled for Feb. 18th, I won’t be filling my cottage with hearts like usual.  So I’m going to soak up as much of this theme as I can at Juju.  I’m looking forward to our sale.

Christmas came early for me this year.

Extremely so.

I spent millions, well maybe just a few, but it felt like millions, of 6-9 hour days packing away Halloween and decking the halls with  Christmas cheer before I flew off to Florida.

And I tell ya, when I got on that plane, I was ready to start my vacation.

People say to me, how nice it must be to only work two days a month.  Hmm, not quite the way it goes.  Our sale is two days a month, but there is a month full of behind the scenes, hunting, gathering, crafting, tagging, cleaning, and displaying that goes into the two days the shopping occurs.

And if I have plans during the month, my work schedule gets tightly condensed into a few days.

Because it’s important to me to have things ready to roll before I leave, that way I can relax and enjoy my trip.

And yup, I sure did enjoy it!  I could kick back, look at the frolicking dolphins from my balcony, and know that when I got home, all I had to do was unpack my suitcase, not my booth.

That made my extra long vacation easy to just be in, live in the moment, not fret about work.

I’ll have more pics to come of the rest of my booth later.  The sale will be Nov 7-8 from 9-6 each day in the Old West Bottoms of KC at Good Juju.

That slappity slap sound you might be hearing from afar?

That is me clapping myself on the back for getting my booth ready for the August sale before hitting the road for our vacation.

First step was removing a lot of the colorful bits I had displayed for summer and creating a neutral  scene.  

Over the years, I’ve learned that people don’t visit my little corner to buy much in the way of traditional fall colors.  

So with a slight nod toward Autumn, I’m mostly focusing on summer’s last bit of glory.  

Most of the roses are packed away, with just a few remaining blooms.

After our Independence Day extravaganza, I only had one week to tear down, redo, and fill in, then pack and leave for the trip.

At first, I told myself that I’d only do a minor makeover.  And I drove to Kansas City with that in mind.

Next thing I know, I’ve moved every single piece of furniture in the space.

You know what I honestly need?  A job redoing booths for other dealers.  

I’m honestly overwhelmed by all the shopping, tagging, sorting, storing of the inventory.

The best part is when I get to play with it all and set it up.

Not as much the hunting and gathering part.

Oh, and making stuff!  I love that.  And the guests, I really enjoy working on the floor, talking to customers about what they are buying and how they’ll use it.

Over all, the great parts outweigh the sucky parts of the job.  I suppose that is typical of most lines of work.

As soon as set up is done for the current month, my mind is flying ahead to the next before we’ve even had our sale.  So, yep, it’s hard for me not to totally redo even when I don’t have time, or even really need to.

In the front, probably little more than third but not quite half, of my booth, I have a mini boutique set up with mostly jewelry.  I carry vintage, handcrafted, and silver, and have displayed eachcatagory separately.  Sorta.

In that area, across from the jewelry, I also have a rack of wedding apparel, and vintage clothes.  

I keep clear totes in my garage that I pop seasonally appropriate finds into throughout the year as I snag them at sales.  Red, white, and blue doesn’t exactly match the rest of my decor, but that was an easy problem to solve by placing the collection on one of my little jewelry shelves along the aisle at the front of my booth.

I have quite a few patriotic items this year, then fill in around them with anything that fits the color scheme.

Festive!  All I need are some firecrackers and a sparkler or two.

On another wall, I’ve gone with a seashore theme.

I’m a fan of beachiness year round and have my bedroom filled with shells and ocean paintings.  So, to me this isn’t exactly seasonal.  I think a pop of beach goes well with the entire cottage look anytime.

As far as the antique mall goes, I usually save it all up for summer to make one big, “splashy” look. 

A few jars got filled with shells and a simply decorated tie was put around their top.

And look at this delightful little sunbather I found.  My sister gave me some beach signage that she was done with and it helps complete the seaside atmosphere.

I am particularly happy with how everything came together this month.

It’s that time again!

First Friday weekend is here.  Having a larger space to work in has been such a joy.  I’m kinda treating it like the back half is my “regular space” and the front half is a jewelry boutique plus a small wall to theme out however I like.

This month, that will is set up for spring weddings.  Which is probably a major indulgence of usable space, because just how many wedding gowns do I expect to sell?  But they are lovely, and make a beautiful backdrop.  I allow myself one corner to simply play with and enjoy, not expecting to get a big profit from the goods.

On the other hand, heck yes, I would like to sell them all!  But being reasonable, I know that isn’t going to happen.  But I devoted the entire wall to them any way, because well, it’s fun for me to do.

The jewelry boutique portion of my set up is right across from the Wall of Romantic Weddings.  It will not get much of a redo each month, because it works so well as is.  I rearrange the goods, of course and always bring in new pieces.  But the shelves and lighting stay the same.

My main reasoning for leaving the set up as is seems valid to me.  My typical goods are cottagey/shabby chic and I figure that if the jewelry is buried in the back amidst that, many people who love jewelry, but don’t like cottage style, might walk right on by and not see the jewelry mingled with the rest.

Having enough space to set the goods up as if I have two separate booths helps get shoppers interested in the sparkly pretties to stop to look at them.  Our mall tends to lean toward primitive and funky stuff, so my jewelry displays could easily be over looked if they weren’t along the aisle.

The same theory goes with the beaded plant stakes and sun catchers I make.  Their appeal is more general, so I leave them at the entrance too.

My Royals display is also up front.   It did well last month, so I’m giving it another go around.  Personally, I’m not a sports fan, but I love the way KC supports its team.   Plus, I love blue, but it rarely sells in my space, oddly enough.  With its own separate area, it did pretty good.  

The sale is this Friday and Saturday at Good Juju in the Old West Bottoms of KC.  See you there?