Vintage wooden shoe forms



With the addition of old clock springs and bits of hardware, wooden shoe forms become photo holders, book holders or business card holders in a few easy steps.



Brilliant transformation

Had any of those "wish I'd thought of that" moments lately? This was a mega one! I doubt I could have ever come up with the idea of taking this mid-century-modern "not exactly my taste" piece to the unique master-piece created by our own Keren Jackson, aka KJaxnDesigns - my very talented booth neighbor at Flowery Branch Antiques Market.

Although even I am growing to embrace retro furniture styles, this one totally beckons for a creative touch.

Vintage ceiling tin from Maine....deer antler handles....Annie Sloan chalk paint in Duck Egg Blue?

Brilliant!!  (BTW, it sold quickly!!)

Tidbits

Someday I'll finally run out of baking tins!



The chicken wire cloche was a simple addition to this tall metal stand - and I didn't even have to paint it

 

Found the perfect birdcage for adding a light kit 




Rusty junk stems in old bottle



Thrift store stand-out

This 100 year old beauty is currently docked at the Habitat Re-Store in Athens. Quite a surprise to come across -- she hails from the south Georgia coast, and has a killer aqua patina that the photos don't do justice. Maybe not so seaworthy anymore, but deserving of a place in someone's mansion, store, or restaurant -- she's much larger than it looks here. (with glass across the top, this would make a fabulous dining room table base....or hang with large ropes from overhead beams for an amazingly cool bed -- perfect for floating away into dreamland)

Current pickin' musings

As a dealer, long gone are the days of buying what might sell. Now, purchases have to meet a stricter criteria (mostly to do with price, condition, functionality and overall appeal) to even get considered, which eliminates most of the stuff I view in my travels (people still have the idea that their very average stuff is worth a fortune -- around here, anyway).

This meager group is an example of one day of hard ( but fun) work pickin' some thrift stores, yard sales, flea markets and antiques stores (a really long day). Is this the coolest stuff I saw? No. (except for the little case of plastic containers with chains) Is this the only stuff priced reasonable enough to make a profit on? Yup. (Since I  mainly sell on-line nowadays, I don't buy furniture or large items anymore)

One amazing observation was seeing several identical vintage items in both thrift stores and antique stores, and the thrift store prices were DOUBLE the prices of the same item in the antique stores! Really?

 I almost always pick antique stores more efficiently (picks per time invested) than thrifts, fleas and yard sales! (Of course you can't beat these for kids toys, household goods etc, and I love my Habitat Re-Sale shop for hardware!)

Anyway, pickin' times are tough, and the thrift stores have caught on and seem to be taking full advantage of it! 

A little wander

finally squeezed in a long-overdue Georgia backroads wander -- it's been too long (thanks to exorbitant gas prices my trips have been greatly curtailed)

today's wander eventually led to downtown Conyers, a place i have never visited before

and the adorable little antique shop "Sadie's Antiques and Uniques"

which is filled with exceptionally cool vignettes

and also filled with true 'uniques' like this upcycled gas pump nozzle lamp

and....this "alien life form detector"!!   (really?)

the biggest surprise was stepping into this pretty booth and seeing one of my own creations!!  i made (and sold) this chicken wire dress form several years ago

of course it can't be a backroads wander without a little southern architectural dereliction (complete with chipmunk on the front step)

 this faded beauty sits quite near town

in all her shrouded elegance

favorite pick of the day? this wonderful old fiberglass speedboat! love it!

desperately seeking

but the greatest of these is

Booth Evolution

25 x 10 feet is a big space - I feel like a contestant in a design challenge

 wondering how to make this stuff work together

getting the old swing to hang from the post/tree branch arbor took  for-ev-er

 focal point in the back of the booth

I painted this large wall pale gray - perfect for my wallflower lights

such a cool sink

one of my lamp base wire flower ephemera holders

 new wall hatstand

the brass stencil letter lampshade made a good focal point in the front

by far the hardest part was climbing a shaky ladder to hang chains from the 12' ceiling to hold my rusty chandelier collection