All Settled in Illinois

Just got done setting up my new shop in the State Street Market Shops Mall.

I love this little mall located in Elgin, Il west of Chicago. 

It is so quaint and full of all kinds of great little shops.

Here are a few pics of the new set up...

This corner has my fishing/ocean stuff in the corner and the pretty white display shelf me and my hubby just made out of an old brown wanescoat closet. I painted it white, added the crown piece I had and put in new white shelves. My hubby created a new backing and I wallpapered it and added a small flourescent light in it.

This corner is my New Orleans/Paris look. I'm finally selling my awesome Royal typewriter with all the keys and the key caps. Makes me sad but just don't have any more room for all these pretties! Check out the hanging ornamentals. Me and my grandaughter spent one night making a mess creating these black and white yarn balls with startch. They turned out ok, next time I'll use glue though. The startch was just not stiff enough for the weight of the yarn.

Also selling the one of the first pieces my hubby made out of a shell of a cabinet I picked up at Lakewood, in Atlanta. He basically rebuilt the entire cabinet.

Check out the top, I did a little music decor using old player piano scrolls. So cute. I did this in my new home too. Will have to post pics later.

In this front part I have this cut out with shelves and that is where I am going to put all the cute little bottles I'll be decorating later. I'll post them at another time.  Also the little table I have holds the sales slips and I decorated it for St. Patrick's day and just to the side of that is a few little Easter goodies.

For more information on the mall go to:
State Street Market Shops

New Booth

We just moved to Chicago and my trips to the antique malls leaves me missing Florida already. Not that they don't have great antiques, but the just don't decorate thier booths like we did in Florida.  Well that has to change and who do you think is the one to do it? Why me of course! If nothing else I seem to be a trendsetter. ha ha

So I got a new booth and began with a complete overhaul with paint of course. A nice coat of warm sand on all the walls, the bottom of the trellis, and the floor.

I can't wait to get in there and start decorating! I need to tone down the windows a bit and I got these great thermo drapes from Target on clearance before I left! They are gold and I think will look very tres chic. I also love that little built in shelf unit. I have been wanting to create little vintage bud vases and with a lace curtain behind I think that will be just the spot! 

Here are a few pics of what I intend to bring in to the shop with a lot more unpacking still yet to do. My booth will be full in no time!

Wonderful old door my hubby turned into a hall tree. I love it!

Some of my treasures. The house is too small so I have to part with them. So sad.

Check back on the progress of getting the shop up and running and later I'll be selling via internet so definately stay tuned!

The new shop is located here:
http://www.statestreetmarketshops.com/index.html

Vintage Valentines

Valentines day was a big day at school. I remember the week before we would use our arts and crafts time to bring in a shoe box and take all the lovely construction paper and heart doilies to decorate our box. Then on that very special day we would collect up all our cards and hoard them in that prized box and show all our friends just how many we got and all the special little ones from special friends that meant so much.

Remember these great little Valentine cards when you were a kid?  Boy Valentines day was always so much fun for me. I just loved getting the boxes filled with these little cuties and coming home and sorting them out one by one as to who would be the luck recipient.  I took my time and wrote very neatly their name and my name on the back. Carefully sealed up the envelope and wrote their name on the front. Then I'd anxiously wait for the day at school when we could pass them out.

I remember that some were so corny - ha ha pun intended! I saved those for the kids that I did know very well. Seemed appropriate and very logical at the time.

Then there were those card specific kinds. They would only fit one person in the class. The cowboy type, the girl who only wore pink, the boy that loved rockets and so on.

Then you had those risky ones that, if you dare, you would reveal your feelings to someone as a tester. It was fun to see the boys blush at some of these cute little cards.

Then you had the nuetral valentine. This would work for anyone. It was a good thing too. I had lots of platonic friends and didn't need for anything to be misinterpreted.  See I told you I took a lot of time considering the recipients of these little beauties!

Last but not least, there was the one mushy gushy card. Oh how I adored that one. I held it to my heart and dreamed of a big beautiful wedding some day, my knight in shining armor at my side and all the little people bowing with flowers laid at our feet. OK so I was 8 now I know better!

Well, I hope the everyone out there has a special Valentine that they take the time to either buy or create that special little Valentine card for and that it puts a smile on both your faces!

Happy Valentines Day!

2010 Year in Review

2010 Our Year in Review

I just love shutterfly. They have great products, good quality and excellent prices.
Check out our year in review!  What a big year 2010 was.

Vintage Christmas

I just love the Vintage Christmas look. The pretty pastel colors, the old colorful tinsel trees, and old pastel hand blown ornaments.  I had so much fun at my favorite antique mall, Mixon's, in Pensacola, FL I thought I'd share it with you all.



But, most importantly let's not forget the reason for the season...

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

Happy New Year!