2009 Pumpkinfest

The 4th Annual Pumpkinfest was at my place this past weekend. Good times in Poetry! This event included the making of Junk Pumpkins, a Scavenger Hunt, roasting hotdogs and marshmallows, and reading ghost stories by the campfire at my pond. Fun! There was a good turn out of friends and family.

Here is my very own mother's junk pumpkin.

David's aunt & uncle (left) and mom (right) were quite creative:

David's junk pumpkin wore "glasses":

Here is a group shot. As always, click on the picture to see better.

Have you ever made a Junk Pumpkin? I collect junk throughout the year. Hardware, wire, nails, screws, buttons, random junk. I put everything out on the work tables and then it gets really, really quiet as everyone begins creating. I bet you could go through your junk drawer right now and find enough "junk" to give your pumpkin personality.

Here is my sister's junk pumpkin. It's a double decker.

If you'd like to see all the pictures from the party, go here. And here is last year's Junk Pumpkin post with more fun creations.

Happy Monday!
~Mindy

I won!

The lovely ladies, Diana and Donna, at Annie, Fannie and Abigail Antique Studio, had a drawing. Guess who won. Moi! Me! I did! I did! When this package came, I got so giddy! Did I mention that there were 101 goodies in the box? Oh, yeah! Wanna see?

Crystals. Buttons. Stamps. Shoe buckles. Stickers. Ephemera galore!

Lace. Ribbon. Pictures. Game cards. Dominoes. An old key.

Did I mention how much fun it was going through all these goodies?

Thanks for picking me Diana and Donna!

If you aren't a regular reader, you do want to check out these fun ladies. They happen to be twin sisters. Who doesn't love twins???

Happy Thursday!
~Mindy

ps. Thanks to all of you for your birthday wishes yesterday. I had a wonderful day with friends and family.

Dining Room Changes

My dining room. Not as cluttered as the kitchen was. But, there are plenty of smalls on those shelves. See that cash register in the corner? Neat piece. It's home has been the back right corner of my dining room for years.

This white shelf has been in the back left corner of the dining room for quite some time.

I hung the chain last Christmas. The balls were removed shortly thereafter, but the chain has remained all year. Also, note the mismatched ladder back chairs.

So, now. Not all of the chairs match, but I changed out the red chair pads for chocolate brown chair pads.

Oops! Need to remove the white tags now that I've settled on the brown. I removed the chain from the windows and replaced it with pearl swags over sheers. No. The sheers don't match. I'm not that grown up! *wink* I also removed the cash register and the white shelf from the corners.

This old, gold floral container now holds old metal "twigs". I think the metal pieces came from an old, mattress box spring.

I realize the blue stripes on the old gym floor aren't the soothing neutral I might prefer. But, I am not real hip on sanding down the floors.

I removed most everything from the wall. Maybe I should have taken it all down and started over. Who knows? I am probably not finished with this wall. Just waiting for inspiration.

The sheers actually puddle on the floor, but me and my cats like to see outside, so a knot keeps us all happy.

I hate that I didn't have better "before" pictures. The semi-matching chairs are a good thing. Removing the corner clutter and the wall stuff also opens the room up.

I may be in the market for 8 matching chairs in the near future. But, in the meantime...Whew! This room looks much better!

Happy Tuesday!
~Mindy

Changes

On November 2, 2008, I blogged that I wanted to make some changes in my kitchen. It took almost a year, but the change bug bit me this weekend and change happened. Here are some pics of how it's been: I'd call it an Old Country style kitchen. Old utensils. Old salt & pepper shakers. Egg scales, cracker box, thermos. You get the picture. Old kitchen. The shelf over my windows was cluttered with it. The hutch was cluttered with it. Over the sink, there was another shelf with an old s&p collection. I liked it. For years.

I didn't take before pictures, so I had to dig some up. Ignore the people. k?

So, here's what is happening now:


The shelf above the windows? Gone. The wood table was traded for a glass top table. A small metal bench was brought in, along with the white, chippy metal chair. I'll bring in one more metal chair to round it out. White sheers were added. They were knotted, since they are a touch short. I'll switch those out soon.

The clutter in the hutch was replaced with silver.
Talk about change! I keep walking in there and staring. Of course, I move a silver piece or two every time I'm in there. It's not just right, yet.

What do you think about it so far?

More changes are happening in my house, but this is all I have to share today.

Happy Monday!
~Mindy

Roll Call

Look me in the eye and tell me you are ready for a little game.

It's the Who's Who among Blogging Shoppers at my space at Zapp Hall. Here's how you play. Peruse the pictures. In the comments, you get to either identify yourself or you get to identify someone that you know. Nope. There is no prize. I just thought it would be fun. If you don't know anyone, well, just watch the comments and then, get your booty over to their blogs and visit. You'll see that there are several new bloggers who made the shows this fall. The number precedes the picture.

For the record. There are a couple of you whose picture was taken, but I don't think you want it published. So, this is me doing you a favor. ha! I'll name you, instead. Zita came to see us. MALisa and Lurch stopped by. Mayron and Marcie swung through. Oops! Denis from Ruby Grace's popped by. The Patina Green gals swung through. Susan and Andy came to visit. Can you believe I am still remembering folks and adding them? Cher was there with Juan. Shelly from Sweet Pea sauntered over. TOT bopped in. Donna from Reinvented Style visited. Also, I'm sorry if we missed taking your picture or if I have failed to mention you here. If we are there in the spring, we'll have a photo session and you will have to sign my guest book. And to give credit, as we should always do, most of these photos were taken by David.

Ready? Go!

1. Janet from Sweet Talk

2. Anne from Fiona and Twig
3. Angelique from Six in One Hand

4. Colleen of Saffron and Genevieve

5. Adrienne from The Flying Bee

6. Teresa from Attic Rat

7. Kristi at Junkology 101

8. Amy from WhisperWood Cottage and Junkologie

9. Lauri from 2chippys
10. David from Student of Life

11. Amy from Gypsy Chix

It's kinda like getting to know you, isn't it? Y'all have fun meeting new folks as they leave their comments. And be sure to stop by and say hi to 'em.

In case I have not made it clear. I really appreciate all of y'all (pictured or not) who stopped by and said hello during the show. Being our first show, it was so nice to have a warm smile and an "I know you!" from all you friendly bloggers. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Happy Thursday!

~Mindy

ps. As soon as you identify yourself, I will add your link to your picture. Isn't this fun?!

Warrenton...WOW!

As you know by now, David and I enjoyed, and I mean enjoyed, our first antique show in Warrenton at Zapp Hall. And might I say, WOW! What a great experience to have under our belts. We enjoyed meeting lots of folks. We even remember some of those folks names (*sigh). We took lots of pictures, but sadly, they are mainly of our immediate surroundings, which would be my space, Debbie and Danny's space, and...um...not much else. OH! And we snapped a few pics of some of the people who came within that area. That will be another post.

Stories. Wanna hear stories about the show? Well, by now, you know it rained some. And you know it was hot some. You also know that the blog party was a fun gathering. But, here are a few stories you haven't heard:

As one shopper perused the goods in my space, she kindly held something up, made eye contact with me, and said something to me...in French. I had to confess that my Spanish was much better than my French, and then we both had a good laugh. She kindly told me in English that she wanted the item she had held up. Yee haw!

Another shopper came into my space, looked me in the face and said "Oh, look! You sweat, too!" I have to admit, I know that I sweat. And I know that others can see that I sweat. But, being told that I sweat threw me a touch. Thankfully, the kind lady and her friends stayed awhile and made all my sweating worth while. Yee haw!

Oh! This is cool. The Blue Tape Man came by one morning before we had reported for duty. He tagged a table with blue tape, on which was written a note "I am interested. Please call me" and he left his number. I called. I quoted. He came and loaded. And then he blue tagged a few more things and loaded them prior to departure. I like the Blue Tape Man. Yee haw!

The last story is about Danny and Debbie. They were so gracious to us newbies at the show. They shared show secrets. They introduced us to some nice folks. Danny and his 2 wheeler kept us entertained on a daily basis.

Now, here's a little secret about them. They share magic. Somehow, I don't know how other than magic, they make things happen in that tent. One minute, the tent has good stuff in it. The next time I look up, the good stuff has splashes of nature's colors all over. Hydrangeas. Bittersweet. Pumpkins. And there Debbie sat visiting with someone, as Cat Daddy walked back and forth with the 2 wheeler. Who did that? I never saw them splashing nature here and there. But, it happened. Magic. No question about it.

I guess that's about it for stories, unless David reminds me of a good one. Wanna see more pics? By clicking here, you can view what photos I took. If you click here, you will be able to view my pics in slideshow format. Here are David's pictures in slideshow and here they are for your own perusing. Enjoy!

Happy Wednesday!
~Mindy

Party in Pink

Tricia, aka FringeGirl, at the Domestic Fringe is hosting a party today on her blog. We are celebrating her blogiversary, as well as observing National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

You too can participate! Here are the simple rules...

1. Link your specific ‘Party in Pink’ post to Mr. Linky located on FringeGirl's Party in Pink blog.

2. Take a picture of yourself wearing pink.

3. Honor a woman or many women who have or have had breast cancer. If you don't know anyone who fits these qualifications, honor women in general with this disease.

4. Be an encouragement to others with your post!

5. Somewhere in your post, link back to The Domestic Fringe. This will allow your readers to come and read other tributes.

Sooo, here I am in pink. I would like to honor my grandmothers, aunt, and cousin who fought breast cancer. My cousin continues her battle to this day. Our dear blogger friend, Cher, was recently diagnosed. We are all moved by the candid stories of her journey thus far. Prayers continue, Cher.

I'm supposed to be an encouragement? hmmm If you are healthy or want to get healthy, check out the Avon 3 day Walk. I would encourage you to consider being a part of this amazing event. I walked this walk twice. It was a personal journey, walking 20 miles a day for 3 days and raising over $2000 in donations each time. It's not an easy journey. But, wouldn't you agree the cause is worthy?

Please check out Mr. Linky on Tricia's blog to share in this celebration of life and FringeGirl's blogiversary.

Happy Pink Day!
~Mindy

Home Again, Home Again

Yup. We're home. Antique Week in Warrenton was amazing. David and I had some good times at Zapp Hall. I don't have all my pictures ready for viewing, but, felt like I needed to come up for air between laundry, 2008 taxes, unloading, etc. So....

Hi y'all! I missed you. I hate that you've been posting on your blogs/facebook and I've been missing out. I'll see what I can do about catching up with you in the next few days.

In the meantime, here are a few pics of our space at the show at Zapp Hall.




And that's all I've got for now. More pics and some Who's Who among Great Shoppers coming soon.

Happy Tuesday!
~Mindy

For Sale in Warrenton

Hello to all! David and I are still in Warrenton, making friends, shaking hands and selling stuff. We've enjoyed meeting many of you bloggers face to face. What fun, this land o' blog is!

Tomorrow at 4pm, in the rain, we will be packing up and heading home. Here's where you come in. Who needs a store front sign? It's here. It's heavy. It's amazing and we promise to help you load it. There is a wonderful moving company here that will gladly load it up and bring it to your destination. See how accommodating we are? We are here to help you. *smile*

You might recall this blog I did about it. I just love it! Come see us, holler, and let's wheel and deal. We don't want to take this sign home (or anything else home for that matter)!

It was originally marked $475. It's is priced today at $295. Blog Special, for you only, mention it when you get here, and it will be $225. Holy Moly! Wow! Bring your trailer and come see us!

More pictures and stories to come.

Happy Day!

~Mindy