A Touch of Black

A touch of black in every space....  a decorator's bit of advice given to us years ago

We had fun adding some bits of black this week.... bagged up some vintage dominoes, scrabble letters, and spools of thread. 

Had a little helper with me today who did great just sitting and watching Mama "fluff."  Can't believe our Little Mr. 58 will be one this weekend!  

Monday at the Mall

Our Neighbors

Here we go again with Monday at the Mall.  I'm still doing pretty good - 3 weeks is a good record - right?

Today, let's tour some of Booth 58's "neighbors" back in our cluttered corner of Antique Company Mall.

Cindy (we call her the "Plate Lady") is our neighbor.  She has the coolest selection of dishes... all kinds- along with other great accessories for the home.  Cute stuff!  At first glance you might think that her booth is a "no-no" for little shoppers. BUT her booth is Sister's favorite because she also has a great selection of Beanie Babies!  We always visit her animals.

Another Cindy calls our corner "home" too!  Cindy Gilstrap's cheerful booth  has a variety of vintage treasures.  We also love her handmade goodies.  I've purchased several for girlfriends.  She creates cool stuff... check out her Junque Art in her Etsy shop.. or come see them in person.

Eileen is new to the "neighborhood."  This summer she moved from one of the back rooms to our wall.  What a sweet lady with sweet finds!  Come see her well loved goods.  She has done a great job setting up her booth.

Barbara and Angela have a cool display of fashion options back in our corner too.  Barbara "resides" in the front right window of the mall also, and Angela has a great booth upstairs too.   They joined efforts and added one more booth with an awesome clothing and jewelry selection.  I always peruse through the frilly vintage style tops and dresses... and even bought one of Angela's handmade necklaces this summer.  I wear it all the time... and get lots of compliments!

Are you a fellow antique mall vendor?  What is going on at your mall on this Monday?  Leave a comment and let us know.  Happy Monday!

Wie geht es Ihnen?

Wie geht's? (How are you?) 

Mrs. 58 will be proud of me for including some German here... She has a minor in German.  My brother and I both took German in high school... but unfortunately it didn't "stick" quite as well as it did with Mom.  Another bit of trivia - Mr. and Mrs. 58 met in German class in high school... Cute....right?

Spent a little bit of time at ACM this morning adding some new treasures. I took a few pictures of the Munich Antique Fair out front on East Virginia. Visited with some dealer friends.... Seems like Oktoberfest is going really well.

Carolyn and Kent have some of their goodies outside today.  They are set up next to Bill and Diane.  It is fun to see everyone's stuff spread out in the sunshine... rust and all!  Love it!  Today, I noticed Carolyn is selling old fry baskets.. She can sell anything!



Pepper has a tent on the side of the street.... in the shade this morning!  She has some great stuff.  We are always amazed at how much she fits into her booth inside.  Looks pretty in the daylight too.



Cindy from "Old Friends" in the mall has a tent up today.  Her daughter has included some incredible jewelry too... and Cindy has some beautiful fall clothes too.

 Lots to do and see.  Beth from On the Square has a great list of all the festivities and their locations. 

Some things that caught my eye:

Lousiana Street will have lots going on.  The petting zoo and weenie dog races will be a favorite of our gang. 

Local Yocal Farm to Market will have a Root Bier Garden and will be serving organic sausage and Bratwursts.  Sounds fun for the kids.

The Pantry Restaurant will have a special menu available with brats, sausages, German potato salad, sauerkraut cake and pie.  Now, that sounds interesting!!  Anyone want to meet for a piece of sauerkraut pie?  I might stick to the chocolate cream pie.. but I bet Mr. 58 will try it!


Gesundheit!



One of our Constants

One of Booth 58's "constants"or "standbys" is chalkboards.  We always have several in our corner.  Mr. 58 does an awesome job of keeping them coming!  Our first sell in our upstairs booth, many moons ago, was a red chalkboard.  Mom and I had just finished setting up our little bitty inventory for the first time....We were new to this whole thing.  We had no idea what we were doing...so we were proud of this first accomplishment:   " The red chalkboard just makes it all come together!" 

A lady immediatly walked over to the chalkboard and picked it up.  I thought I might just cry right then.  Mom reminded me that we want to sell things.  It isn't just about staging a cute vignette.    If you are attached to something, keep it for yourself (like this scale... I don't think I can part with it yet!)

Mrs. 58 has struck up many a conversation with new friends while "fluffing."   Recently, a young lady mentioned that she has always loved our chalkboards, but she wasn't real sure what to do with one in her house. 

Some of our thoughts.... menus, grocery lists, kids rooms, love notes, fun quotes....I keep one in my kitchen with verses that I want to keep at the front of my mind in the middle of my busy days.

(From Old Painted Cottage... I've always loved this chalkboard wall Jennifer has between her living and dining rooms.. Cool!)

Jennifer at The Old Painted Cottage  had a wonderful post full of insipration for "chalkboarding."

Monday at the Mall

Make plans to come to Oktoberfest this weekend in Downtown McKinney.  The Antique Company Mall will have a sidewalk/street sale again.  Vendors will be bringing out their treasures to the street.   We all plan to have great deals for you... some fall sales throughout the Mall and outside too.

We loved the festival last year.  The petting zoo and the train were favorites.  We also loved the bands and food! 

The Mall was crowded this weekend.  Great to get to chat to lots of customers.  Mom was making deals left and right... "Tell me what you like... I will make you a deal!"  Lots of folks took us up on the offer and took home some great stuff. 

What a Hoot!

Another decorating trend we haved spotted...  Owls.  Have you noticed?

Photo of girl's bedding courtesy of Design Bedazzle

Come by Booth 58 and see what a "hoot" we're having with some of our own vintage owls.

Everyone Could Use One More Junk Drawer

Two of my sweet friends recently moved into new homes.  I wanted to give them something unique as housewarming gifts... Something that only their "Junkin' Sister" would come up with... more "junk!"

I found these sewing machine drawers recently....

Filled them with new kitchen towels

Tied them up with some cellaphane wrap and a pretty bow

Embellished them with a button tag

Scribbled out a "Happy Home" note

No matter how wonderful a new home is, everyone can always use one more JUNK DRAWER!

One of them is now being used as a note cadddy in the kitchen

It is always fun to repurpose some old "junk" and make it useful again.

Other ideas for a sewing drawer?  remote holder, recipe box, hand towels for the bath, or a magazine/book caddy.... Lots of ideas!  Can you think of any more?

Monday at the Mall

Excited to hear this news for Antique Company Mall!  We were voted Best Antique Store in McKinney!

 

We also are mentioned in Flea Market Magazine as one of the Readers' 80 Favorite Antique Malls.

Two more reasons to come visit!

I have a little idea cooked up, friends.  I would love to share with you some favorite parts of our beloved ACM... Each Monday... a little peek into our cluttered corners.  Mondays at the Mall is what I am gonna call it.  Great intention on my part... now we will see if life will allow me to keep it up! 

So come back each Monday to see what is going on at the Mall.

Boo!

Glass Glittered  10 inch "Boo".... Fun bold addition to our Booth 58 plate rack (actually- a book rack right now)

Added a few more things this week.... also spotted some other Halloween tricks and treats throughout the mall.

Carolyn Brooks brought out her Halloween goodies this past weekend. (she has the large booth at the back right side of the store... and another one upstairs)  Lots of great orange and black... Love that stack of orange vintage books leaning under the black chair.

Nancy from Ella Elaine glittzes up her front booth with a mercury glass punkin'.  Fancy Nancy!

 

The Rules - Part 2

Started filling you in on Dad's garage sale rules on my last post.  I will wrap them up today.

A backseat view of Mr. and Mrs. 58 early on Saturday morning.  She "navigates" well.

When many men were welcoming the opening of dove season this weekend, Mr. 58 was doing some hunting of his own.  So much fun to go junkin' with him... He has learned the ropes quite quickly over the last couple of years.  I remember hearing him say, "I just don't get it" while Mom and I scooped up cool finds and he just stood back carrying all of our treasures.  Now, we all split up, and he comes back with just as much loot as we do!  Way to go, Daddy... You are "getting it" now!

Rule #4 - Be quick and decisive
"If you touch it, it's yours."
Garage Salers are quick little folks... kind of like a flock of hungry buzzards... when they see something that looks good, someone's gonna swoop in and grab it.  If you see it and it is a possible jewel, GRAB IT!  Pick it up!  Don't stand there looking at it just thinkin' about it.. One of those buzzards is gonna grab it... CLAIM IT!

I had an old buzzard "circling" me at the flea market where I grabbed this.  I think he was waiting for me to put it down..No Way, Buddy!  He kept talking to me about it... asking me where I found it.  Dad, said it was funny to watch me grip the old rusty scale under my arm... ready to fight the old guy off!

Rule #5 - Always try to make a better deal
"It doesn't hurt to try."

I've learned alot about wheelin' and dealin' since Booth 58's birth.  It usually pays off to ask for  a better deal... and a few kind words with a pretty smile usually work to our advantage too.  Can't tell you how many times I've heard, "Oh you can have that, Honey."  Now, that's a better deal!

Rule #6 - This is a rule that I'm adding... Empty car seats are best!

They are much quieter filled with junkin' treasures than my other little treasures... my babies!  On Saturday, Hubby watched the 3 sweeties so that Mom and Dad and I could hunt.  We love our entorage, but some things are just done better without all that "help."

The Rules - Part 1

According to Mr. 58, there are garage sale rules.  I treasure hunted with him two mornings this weekend.  On Friday, Mom watched my little sweeties so that Dad and I could venture out alone and that's when I began to get "schooled" in Garage Sales 101.

#1  Hit the road early
"All the good stuff will be gone!"
With our coffee cups in hand, we were bumping down the road in the Big Red Truck bright and early.  Mr. 58 would have preferred earlier, but I couldn't get the ol' cobwebs dusted out quick enough.

#2  Know your route
"Don't back track.  It wastes time."
Dad researches the sales the night before and has a plan before he pulls out of the drive way.  If he sees a new sign pop up along the planned route, he says, "Stop now... Don't waste time and try to come back to it later.  Back tracking wastes good huntin' time."

#3  Play the numbers game
"It's all a big numbers game.  The more sales you hit, the more likely you will find treasures."
We try to hit as many sales as possible each day.  Don't get discouraged after a few bum sales... keep going!  Miss Mustard Seed helped us coin a phrase - "drive bys"(yard sales that aren't worth getting out of the car for).  We had several of those too.  Dad has a harder time judging the sale from the street and he wanted to stop at more than I did.  I stayed in the truck for a few and let him go scout it out.  I was right... they should have been "drive bys" - There we go again, Dad... wastin' good huntin' time.  Dad,  I'm a quick learner....You know me, always an "A" student..... You should have trusted your student!

Come back later for "The Rules - Part 2!"  There is more to learn!

Pumpkins and Pencils

We moved the pumpkins in.... next to the back to school pencils.  Pumpkins and pencils look good together, we've decided.  We made our Sept 1st deadline...Actually had it done August 30.  We think we might be the first in the store to have Halloween out!

This beach sign waited to be moved into someone's booth, on the loading dock... At the same time, our pumpkins were waiting their entrance too.  Funny sight.  The beach sign seemed more appropriate as we fluffed our warm corner.  Mom found a neighbor's little plug-in fan to borrow while we hung our new fall merchandise.  Some of our fellow vendors teased us and said that it was already feeling cooler in our booth, since we moved the fall in!