Been Busy

I feel like I'm really out of the loop. But I've been trying to get as much done as possible during the Christmas season. As I mentioned on a previous post, I have extra space (the unit next door to mine) just for the holiday season to try to boost sales. But I would be thrilled to do so well that I could keep the space permanently. So far not the case. But I'm working as fast as I can to make the space nice.

More pictures to come soon, but I thought I'd give a sneak peek of what I've been up to so far.

This display sits right outside the door to greet visitors to my shop.

It started out as this "cooler" I bought on an online auction. I say "cooler" because that's what the description said and I pictured something more take-with-you-camping-ish. This is quite big.

So I decided to place it atop a stand (I had seen one my friend Laurel had made that I loved!).

The stand I found in my stash was ALMOST perfect -- but it was just a little too long. When I was explaining my dilemma to a customer, she pointed out that it was merely bolted together "you could just undo it, cut it down, and rebolt it" (I appreciate my customers having such faith in me). So that's just what I did.

Then I just attached the cooler to the stand. Viola!

Here's a shot as you step inside and look to the right. In the background you can see one of my latest projects.

This is a screen door I bought this summer. It was dirty and needed minor repair, but the color was so awesome that I knew it would be perfect for Christmas. I cleaned and repaired it as best I could. I thought it would be a great way for welcoming guests so I went for a hall tree of sorts.

I added some mismatched, old hooks. Then I added an old handle at the top and hung an oval mirror from an old chain. Lastly I made an oval wreath and placed it to trim the mirror. Viola!

If you walk a little farther into that same room, you couldn't help but notice this project. A great big map in a great big window pane topped with J-O-Y. Get it? Joy to the World? (I'm in trouble any time I have to ask "Get it?").

The J is an upside down top of some cheapy shepherd's hook kind of thing. And the O is of course a little wreath from some greens I grabbed from my yard. And the Y is a folding yardstick.

Here is a shot of the back of my new shop. I'm still working on it, but I did get up a Christmas tree filled with vintage ornaments. And the tricky job was hanging some stars I made from yardsticks or those boards from snow fencing. Being only 5' tall in a shop that's 15' tall, I wasn't quite sure how I could make it happen (I work alone you know!). But I've learned a few tricks over the years and I did get them hung up.

So now I'm just adding more products, and adjusting things. It's starting to look good. My goal is for it to look MAGICAL. That might beyond my abilities -- but I'll give it a shot and I'm sure I'll learn a lot along the way. If I fall short of magical, I'll be happy with it looking nice and neat -- a first for me. Now on to my workshop..... that's another story.

Peace,

Midge