Our doodles were gifted some fall scarves to wear and surprisingly have kept them on. Typically, those things get pulled off in wrestling matches.
Molly wanted me to see how cute she looked in her new accessory while holding a special toy. Yep, pretty durn cute, Molly!
After our October’s First Friday weekend, Halloween needed to be taken down at Juju. I take clear plastic tubs with me to be packed up properly and brought home to store. No use tossing it into a box, then putting it away later, right?
My process is to use as many clear tubs as I can, and to label solid ones. They are all sorted into either season or color and stacked along the walls of my garage ready for the next time Ineed them.
Because no matter how good the weekend goes, there is always inventory left. And I like to shake up the look of my space so, I switch up what I have there.
Not everything got stored this time. I pulled some of the stuff to add to my displays at home. This year, I have seriously enjoyed my haunted cocoa station and turn the lights on every morning when I get up. Just like I do with my Christmas lights.
A little extra twinkle around the cottage makes me smile.
There were a few floral umbrellas spray painted black hanging from the ceiling at the mail. I brought two of them into the kitchen to add to the existing decor.
And kept one of my brooms inside too.
I have plenty of orange stuff and dollar store decorations that Sugarwings and I have used for parties in the past. If if set them out, it’s usually for a short time use or in the kiddo’s area. But this black and white? It hasn’t gotten old for me, even though my kitchen has been rockin this look since the end of August.
Funny, I debated adding to what I’d set out earlier, telling myself it was kinda late to be doing that just to pack it up again after the 31st. Then I reminded myself it’s only mid October, and I have a couple weeks left to enjoy it.
After that, it took some willpower to stop myself from unpacking all the stuff I’d brought back from the antique mall. But I managed. This is plenty to keep me entertained, and I did such a good job of packing up the rest in my clear tubs… but they are calling to me, like a ghostly moan. “Oooohhaaahhoh, savaaave us from this box, let us cooome innn!”
Jackpot!
At an estate sale, I bought tub of dirty, dusty jewelry, but could tell at a glance that it was worth washing. What I didn’t see was that it was vintage new stock, still in original packaging, never worn!
Some even had their display stand. I was thrilled with this find, but had some more complicated cleaning ahead of than I had planned. It was important to leave them on their cards, but most were paper and all were dirty. I gently cleaned each with a toothbrush, paper and all.
Some of the cards were a bit torn up, but most were in decent shape and looked great once I washed them.
In total, there were 155 old clip ons, maybe half of those are bead clusters. The other half are nicely varied. I also scored a couple dozen singles or broken bits to use in crafting. And a pile of eighties pieces that I personally don’t care for, but which might be to someone else's taste.
Here’s a bonus! Heavily tarnished, chunky silver pieces that have a nice glow once polished.
Overall, it was an exceptionally good garage sailing weekend. I tended to buy a lot of project pieces and filthy stuff, but all worth the effort. I’m not afraid of a little cleanup when it comes to bargains.
The Northern Lights were visible in Kansas again!
From what I read, we weren’t supposed to have a viewing here, but when I heard that my family in Indiana was seeing them, I stepped out to look and was thrilled to catch the show.
Tree and I had an adventure together, driving to darker spots to get a better look. A quiet gravel road nearby was an ideal spot to lay on our backs and watch the skies through our phone cameras. We even saw a shooting star!
I felt doubly blessed.
After an exhilarating shopping experience at Good Juju, the clock struck 6pm and the day ended for Cinderella. As she raced across the parking lot to her carriage, parked under the I70 overpass, her shoe flew off in the rush.
I scooped it up and remade it. You can see it pictured here next to her carriage. (Pumpkin)
Cindy, I am sorry if your Prince never found you without this shoe, but hey- finders keepers, right?
It was first spritzed with bronzey-gold paint, then misted with a can of black spray paint. I covered the soles, inside and out, with vintage paper.
The ruffles are dyed coffee filters, and her wings are from a cicada. After I took this photo, I thought it looked like she was missing something, so I gave her a glittered, white pumpkin to hold.
Trouble with that was that her arms don’t bend. So I had to snap them at the elbow and glue them in place with the punkin resting on her sparkly tutu.
No one bought this doll from Beth at Juju, so she placed it out in the parking lot where we have extra space for either clearance goods or overflow. She told me to take it, and I said, only if it’s still there at the end of the sale.
At the end of the day, there she was, forlorn and left in the gravel, overlooked by hundreds of shoppers.
Poor Ani.
Was it the “substance” congealed on some parts of her? Or possibly her crunched in chest? Probably that look on her face.
I redid her face in the style of vintage, French sitting dolls.
After vigorously scrubbing off the uhm, substance of some kind.
Next was a new hairstyle made of angora. I brought the hair forward onto her throat so she no longer had a neck like a WWE wrestler.
I don’t sew, her delightful princess gown is pieced together from other doll clothes and bits of lace then glued into place.
The only thing missing? Maybe a crown? She deserves one to feel better after all the rejection she faced.
Oh, and maybe a bouquet of flowers to hide her muppety looking (but freshly painted) hands.
Yep, it’s that time again.
I am all set up and ready for First Friday Weekend in the Old West Bottoms of KC.
And for October, many dealers have taken on a range of holidays. We are still featuring Halloween, and autumn, and there is some Thanksgiving decor here and there too.
And for everyone who thinks it’s too early for Halloween, here’s a lil bit of Christmas for ya. It seems way too early for me too, but in the past couple of years, I did not get on board with early Yule tide wares and my October sales were lacking. I don’t know why I didn’t just go whole hog holiday, xmas is my absolute fave and I have a ton ready to go.
Fall is not my best theme, well excluding Halloween, that is
I love the Romantic Gothic, spooky stuff. So I have a combo booth with a different theme on each wall.
Plus my regular jewelry set up and some pretties to go along with that.
These are some of my witch’s brooms. I still have a big selection of those. Actually even though my Halloween sales last month were good, there is plenty left of it. I tend to go way over the top when creating for the seasons. In my mind, as I’m crafting and collecting, my booth must be full sized, not a tiny little half space.
It can look a little crowded, with so much inventory in an 8 1/2’ area. I’d love to have more space!
But knowing me, I’d just overcrowd that too.
Come and see us if you can, like I said, this month- there is a little bit of everything on top of our regular wares and vintage goods. Say hi and wish me a Merry Halloween if you come by.
To be ready for Christmas crafting, I ordered 50 mini deer. Preferably, I’d like to use vintage, but for how I use them the cost is just too high. And I doubt my shoppers would notice if they were old or not.
The order came and the little guys were pretty cute, just what I needed. But I did think the color was a little flat.
So I got out the warm, brown Stays On ink and rubbed some on with an old brush. I felt like that helped give them some dimension.
Most ended up coated with glue and a fine, snow-like glitter, so I didn’t replace the white spots. I’m pleased with how they turned out, it was an easy fix, and so far I’ve used lots of them in my projects. Yep, I’m full speed on Santa Season decor and have already been building up the sparkly inventory.
Pictures to come, and boy, will there be tons of them.
Where can I find a chandelier crystal this size? I was mesmerized by it.
Although that exceedingly large, rainbow filled, spectacular prism of light was not the only detail that caught my eye at this old, Victorian home.
The gardens were charming, too and made an ideal location for the wedding of the homeowners. Both of their personalities shone through each design choice.
Especially the sentimentality and love for family that they both share.
One corner of the dining room was filled with photos of the couples’ families. This is the bride’s great grandmother.
The bracelet the bride wore was also worn in that portrait. And her ring? It is two wedding rings from their parents melted down and recreated into this new piece by her mother, a metal smith.
Constant reminders of the pair’s love of art, are sprinkled through the house and grounds. Paintings from professional artists who are family members and friends, collections of hand crafted coolness, and creative DYIs done in preparation for the wedding and to fix up the home.
Their dedication to an artful life stood out to me in the small things too. Like placing star shapes around the picnic table as a resist before power washing it, leaving a two toned, star sprinkled table afterward.
Hydrangea booms tied together into heart shapes lined the driveway.
Centerpieces were constructed of bowls of moss with figurines perched on top.
At the lovebird’s table, the moss was topped with- lovebirds. Tiny, and subtle, but fitting in with the theme of the night.
And did I mention that she made her skirt? It had major sparkles going on, with 3D flowers that don’t show up well in my photos, but sure did in person.
While I was busy oohing and ahhing over the multitude of great ideas, sweet details, and artwork that caught my eye, I still noticed one big thing that stood out more than anything else.
Happiness.
It was a crowd full of people that loved Mark and Allie, people who were so happy for them.
My friend, Mindy, came by to purchase some mushrooms for her online shop, Myrtle and Mo.
Since I believe that most occasions should be parties whenever possible, I told her to bring the kids with her for a spooky cocoa party.
Instead of having the inventory packed up in the studio, I used it as a centerpiece, and Sugarwings set the table with our Halloween themed cups and teapot.
We were ready to welcome a couple of adorable guests.
Dessert was scary cherry pies.
Their mom was a good sport about all of the sweet treats before dinner time. We also had fruit skewered onto witch leg picks, and a cauldron full of guacamole to dip pretzels in. So, maybe that counter acted some of the decadence.
The tarts were in silicone teacups made to bake in, lined with crust, cherry pie filling, then topped with a circle of pie dough that I cut faces into with a knife. I added noses and eyebrows from the trimmings.
But the big hit of the party was the henhouse.
The ladies are some of the sweetest chickens we have ever had, and seemed happy with the attention.
There was plenty of snuggles to go around, and those birds got lots of attention.
Mindy went home with kids filled up with sweets, tired from chasing chickens, and a nice selection of mushrooms.
If you are one of the people who have been asking me to list schroomies in my poor, neglected boutique to sell online, uhm, you might be better off checking out my pal’s store. I do not seem to be filling that shop up, am I?
It’s still open, and I’m paying fees for it, although I sure haven’t used it much this year. But Mindy has a full shop, with a few dozen mushrooms along with her fantastic vintage goods.
You can find her (and my velvet mushie creations) here:
https://www.myrtleandmo.com/shop-1/artist-spotlight/karla-nathan