New York, New York!!!

Our trip to New York was AMAZING!!! Even though at times it was warm, no, it was downright HOT all of the time, we still managed to have fun. We rented a penthouse apartment for the week which we found to be a bit less expensive than a hotel room. There were five of us so we had plenty of room to spread out and not be stepping on each other, plus we had two bathrooms, an absolute must with that many people. On our second day there we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge with Riley's class, in fact we walked a lot with her class that day, just don't remember a whole lot of what I saw because we were going so fast and they didn't stop much. Not Fun. Our feet were not the same after that day.

Ground zero, where the towers are being rebuilt.

After our long walk with Riley's class, we went on a harbor cruise with them and got to see some beautiful sights and have a nice dinner.

Empire State Building seen from the Hudson River while on our cruise.

On Sunday, on our way to Central Park to meet up with Riley, we just happened to walk by The Dakota apartment building where John Lennon was living when he was shot. It was at this very entrance that it happened. I will never forget where I was at that very moment I heard he had been shot. It's like when Kennedy was shot, we all remember where we were when it happened.

For a moment please try to IMAGINE that you're seeing this turned the other way. This Imagine memorial to John Lennon is in Central Parks, Strawberry Fields, right across the street from The Dakota. 

 Oh, and Central Park, let's just say I could live there, just beautiful!

Times Square, of course. Spent way too much time here. Just set me down and let me watch the people.The first time we walked into Times Square was at night and it was completely overwhelming. We just wanted to stop and take it all in. There were so many people that was not an option, we had to keep on moving or get run over by the masses of people. New York is everything that you have ever seen on t.v. We had such a good time and would love to go back someday in the spring or fall when it is not quite so hot. We have so much more to share about our trip to the big apple,so we will be posting more over the next week or so. Really, we will! I know we have been a bit slow at times, but we promise we will be back with more adventures from New York soon!

Our Journey to Farm Chicks...

 This was our booth at The Farm Chicks show this year. We always have so much fun when we do this show, it is kind of like a really BIG family reunion only Farm Chicks style. We get to visit with friends, some of who we see only once a year. Our customers were more than awesome, they were so patient waiting in line, while I know they were thinking "oh, there's so much more to see and here I am waiting and waiting in line." We are so grateful we have the opportunity to do Farm Chicks, and that takes me back to how it all began. Once upon a time, Jen and I used to do, oh, I can't say it, it's so hard to get it out....craft shows. Really. That was how we got started. We had been going to yard sales for years and had STUFF. A friend suggested we do the Shadle craft fair, which we did and were amazed at how much we sold. At one point in doing that show I left to go to the restroom, when I returned about fifteen minutes later, I could not get in our booth to help Jen, it was packed with women. We had so many people ask if we had a shop and if we had a card, as in business card. Seriously??? Someone wants our card? But of course, we had no cards, silly girls, we hardly knew what we were doing. By the end of the show we were hooked, we realized we could do this, make a little money, be creative, and have lots of fun. Soon we went in search of other shows to do. We continued to do the Shadle show for several years in a row, we did the Mt Spokane craft fair and we actually did one real antique show which was put on by Jennifer Henry and was held at the Bigelow Gulch Grange. One year, while doing our second Mt Spokane craft fair, Jen and I were sitting there trying to keep ourselves entertained and awake, when a lady came into our booth. We didn't know who she was, but she had on a cute coat. She looked around a bit, taking it all in and finally decided on a couple of things to buy. While she was paying she ask if we were interested in doing any other shows, of course we said "YES".

Well, then she laid her card on the table and I couldn't believe my eyes, by golly it was a Farm Chicks card and the lady in the cute coat was Serena Thompson!!!! Oh, my heart be still, we were being asked to do The Farm Chicks Show. We had heard and read about The Farm Chicks, but we had never been to a show, much less ever even thought about doing the show. All we had ever done was the lowly craft fairs and one REAL antique show, we never thought we could make into The Farm Chicks. We will be forever grateful to Serena for asking us to be in the show, she saved us. Every year when we first drive up to the fairgrounds and see The Farm Chicks Show banner we cry, honestly we do. We feel so very blessed to be a part of The Farm Chicks Show. Thank you Serena.

Yard Sale Boys

Okay, I know, I know really bad picture, but it's the only one I have and I just wanted to share this with all of our yard sale friends out there. Jennifer and I encountered these guys at their sale this morning. They were hilarious, bright-eyed and bushy tailed for being so early in the morning, kind of a refreshing way to start the day, don't you think?? In all of our years of yard sales I really don't think we have ever come across anything quite like these boys. They each wore a hat as you can see, the one on the right with the crown on was the quiet one, I didn't even notice him until I was paying. That was when I KNEW I had to get a picture of the three of them. Anyway, they were a little bright spot in our day and we found some good deals at their sale. Thanks guys for the laughter and the deals. Hope you have another sale real soon. Oh yeah, cute refrigerator, huh?

What Silly Girls Do

I wear reading glasses and I have at least one pair in every room of the house, but sometimes I think they party when I'm not looking because they end up in rooms where they are not supposed to be. I think maybe I should attach a stretchy cord to each pair so that when I start to walk out of the room the glasses would be snatched out of my hand or right off my face. Hmmmm, might hurt the first few times, but after that maybe I would remember to put the glasses down, kinda like Pavlov's dog and the bell. Anyway, I'm sure you get the message. The glasses above quickly became my favorite after I bought them in Texas last year at Canton, the HUGE flea market southeast of Dallas. I bought two pair, the pink ones and the other a sweet periwinkle (such a wonderful name for a color) blue. I immediately started wearing the periwinkle blue ones. I loved those glasses, they just made me happy.

A few days later after Canton, we stayed in Brenham which is close to Round Top. Everyone knows about Round Top, right?? A REALLY BIG ANTIQUE SHOW takes place twice a year. Ok, the glasses, the periwinkle blue ones, you can't see them in the picture, but they are laying on the ground by the car. When I got out of the car to take a picture of the local Piggly Wiggly sign I heard them fall on the ground and thought, oh, I'll get them in a minute, just a quick picture. BUT, I was in such a hurry, for whatever reason I don't remember now, I forgot all about those sweet periwinkle blue glasses. There they lay, in the parking lot of the Piggly Wiggly in Brenham, Texas, never to be seen again. Of course, I still had the cute pink ones, so I wore those until one fine day I lost that pair, too. They had fallen into a bin while we were at This Old House removing the old stuff and putting out new. I thought that was what had happened to them, but I looked and looked and never could find them. I thought they were lost forever. Anyway, about six months later while going through one of the bins, I opened one up and right there on top were the cute pink glasses. The moral of the story is don't let yourself get so excited when you see a Piggly Wiggly sign that you forget to pick up your glasses. Silly girl.

 

Funky Junk Antique Show

At this very moment we are madly dashing about, painting, sewing, crafting, digging through our junk pile, oh, and painting and painting some more. We could probably paint in our sleep. I'm sure the Wizard wouldn't mind waking up to a few paint splatters on him. We are looking forward to being a part of the world famous and wildly popular Funk Junk Antique Show & Crafts Market, which is coming upon us faster than a speeding bullet. This year it will be held at the Spokane Public Market which is downtown at 24 W 2nd  Avenue. Must go now, have to get back to work.....so much to do!!! Hope to see ya'll there!

Easy Peasy

This bread is so easy and quick to make, no kneading involved, only have to let it rise once and then it's off to the oven. What's better than hot from the oven bread with butter and jam??!! I love to have this bread toasted for breakfast. Yum! The recipe makes one large loaf or two smaller ones and can be found here. Do you have a favorite jam? I make most of our jams that we eat, such as raspberry, strawberry, huckleberry, etc. Recently, while we were visiting relatives in Seattle, I had some marionberry jam that I fell in love with. The Wizard and I also discovered key lime marmalade.....so good!  

  

Hoarders With a Cause

At last, we just crawled out from under this mess we have been collecting all winter.  It has been way too long since we last posted on our blog. We made some changes to our blog and yeah it took a while longer than we thought it would, but such is life. Now, we are ready to get started on getting creative with some of this stuff. We have two shows in April, Funky Junk Antique Show and Romance Your Home. Then, of course, is The Farm Chicks Show in June, and this year we have a DOUBLE space. YIKES!!!!!! What am I doing sitting here typing on the computer!

Do you see that cute little three-drawer chest there on the right??? Well, recently The Wizard and I went to Utah to see sweet little Jackson, our grandson, and his Mommy and Daddy. It was imperative that we stop at every thrift store we could find along the way. You know how it is, the magnetic pull of the junk floating around in the atmosphere is nearly impossible to resist. That's the way it was when I saw this chest, it screamed at me, Hey, Lady, over here!!!! Aren't I something???! I was smitten, this chest was going home with me, but when I showed it to The Wizard he didn't quite see it as I did. You see, our car was full, packed to the top, almost. I knew there had to be a way to get this beauty in our car. I don't give up easily, The Wizard should know that by now. We measured, we talked, we measured again, we made several trips out to the car in the rain, back inside we looked at it awhile and talked some more. We had several things that we thought might fit in the bottom portion of the chest, but then we realized the shelf inside the bottom portion did NOT come out like we thought it would. Nope, it was nailed to the sides. So, we ask for a hammer(we had already told the lady we would buy it). The Wizard pounded lightly on the bottom of the shelf, but NOTHING HAPPENED, the shelf did not move. The Wizards next move was an act of brilliance, I love what this man will do for me! He said, I can step on the shelf. I thought about that and finally gave it my ok, only with reassurance from The Wizard that it would not tear up the sides too much. He did it, the shelf broke in half, he removed the nails and the other half of the shelf, all right there in Savers, all for ME! He is my Hero!

 

 What you see here is only a small part of what fills our two car garage. Cars have not been seen in here for several years now, and no I'm not saying that we have cars buried under this junk and we can't find them, it's just that cars won't even begin to fit in here. Although, it would be lovely to someday walk out to the garage and get in my car without scraping the snow and ice off my windows. In my dreams, I guess.

 

 

This is the loft in The Wizards shop(we let him think it is his space)

 

I'm sure when people drive by and see what we have in our garage and not knowing what we do, must think we are hoarders, just like on that TV show. It's what we do, it's what we LOVE, we find it and share it with the junking world.

It's time for the Vintage Finds and Handmade Treasures Market!

It's that time of year again! For four years we have been organizing the Vintage Finds and Handmade Treasures Market. We are so pleased with our fabulous vendors and the great response that we have had over the past four years. We could not have asked for anything better! We are so looking forward to seeing everyone and their new creations and finds.

We are excited to announce our wonderful line up of vendors for this years show....

Sisters Creed

Paint in my hair

Angel's Attic

Isabelle Paris Vintage

Mad Cow

Something Beautiful

Lexi Lou Jewels

Open Eye Consignment

Born in a Barn

Unexpected Necessities

June Bug Co-op

This Old House

This Old House Old and New

From the Cottage

Tiny Bells Boutique

A Country Hen

Vintage Trunk Show

Rustic Wings

Shannon Leanne Photography

Cast Away Clutter

Eclectic Collections

Iona's Antiques

Ladybird Creations

The Lunch Box lady and Spence Design

Cedar House Soaps

Lady Robin's Nest

Maple Street Bistro

Gimme Some Sugar

A Brush Stroke Away

Jessica from Paint in my Hair will have plenty of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint on hand for you to purchase. She will also be giving demonstrations. If you have never used it before you will want to, it is amazing!!! Shannon from Shannon Leanne photography will have a charming vintage style photo booth available for photos. Mark you calenders, you won't want to miss this event! Hope to see you there!

Saturday November 5th 9am~4pm

Nine Mile Falls Elementary
10102 W Charles Rd
Nine Mile Falls, Wa

Be On The Lookout For Wild Women!

Yes, there are Wild Women running around the Spokane area. They are the ones gathering up all of the rusty,chippy,shabby and vintage goodness they can get their hands on. So I suggest you get your little cowgirl self up to the 5 Mile Prairie and graze on the beauty of it all. Jennifer will be there with her boots on, I mean flip flops and she will be looking forward to seeing all ya'll. I wiil be in Portland looking for more vintage goodness for our next show, The Mad Hatter.

This weekend we will on the road to Sandpoint to see our friends Hollie and Jennifer at the Funky Junk Show, which will be Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 3rd and 4th. I'm so excited, we get to be on the other side this time and SHOP!!!!! Hope to see everyone there!

Happy Fourth of July!!!

Thank you to all those who have gone before us and those are still fighting for our freedoms!
Wishing you all a happy, fun and safe Fourth of July!

THE GLORIOUS FOURTH

By Cora S. Day

The bright flags wave,
The big drums beat,
To keep the time
For marching feet.
We love our Country's
Flag so gay-
Not just the Fourth,
But every day.

We all will try
our very best
To be good patriots
With the rest.
For then the Fourth
Will glorious be,
When we all love
Our Country free.

The Greatest Show On Earth!!

I love doing The Farm Chicks show!! Every year as I drive to the fairgrounds I think how lucky we are to be able to participate in this show. We are so thankful for that opportunity. We have been vendors at the show for the past four years and every time I first see this sign announcing The Farm Chicks I get goose bumps and then the tears follow. Really. Silly I know, but it is so awesome to be a part of it. People come from all over the world to attend the show.

These ladies (sorry, I don't know their names) came prepared to wait in line. They are devoted Farm Chick fans. We love ya'll!!

A little corner of our booth and our home away from home for two days. We spent many long hours cleaning, painting, sanding, stapling, gluing and glittering. We stayed up late, very late, finishing our projects.

Unexpected Necessities



Junk Salvation



Retreat

Junebug

These lovely ladies are sisters who drove from Salt Lake City, Utah just to come to The Farm Chicks show. We had so much fun getting to know them. We had to take a picture of them with the Pink Lady they bought from us. I hope we see them next year!

Cute red boots, huh??!! The lady that bought these from us wanted to try them on, but didn't have socks and they were hard to get on. I suggested she put one of our sweet pink bags on each foot and then her feet should slide right in those boots. And slide they did, they felt so good she wanted to wear them, so off she went boot heels clicking on the concrete floor and pink ruffles of plastic flowing out the top each boot. We do whatever it takes to make a Farm Chick Girl happy!!

Paper Lollies for Farm Chicks!!!

A while back I found these adorable Paper Lollies made by Rhonna Designs. I decided to make a few for Farm Chicks this year since it is a candy theme. They were pretty easy to put together and really fun to make! I have attached the tutorial for you so you can make some of your own!

Rhonna DESIGNS: DIY paper lollies video tutorial....sweeeet!