Memorial Day in Small Town America!

Happy Memorial Day!
I just got home from the local parade in our small community. Jamestown is a "suburb" of Hudsonville (pop. 9000). Jamestown is a small area out in the country, but they throw one mean parade!

Ready and waiting!

It's all about these guys.

Every paradae needs a drumline.

Depicting Jamestown's first ever schoolhouse -- an old one-room building still standing today, but not used in years. They hope to convert it into a museum.

Churches are a big part of our community and a big part of the parade. (No, the church that has the float is not the one you see in the background).

Tractors were everywhere and, of course, John Deere rules.

Local businesses had to get in on the act, too.

My favorite float! A guy who lives down the street from me (and coincidentally goes to my church AND we graduated from high school together) has a farm and many siblings. So they decorated one of their trailers and provided their own family band. I think they were playing "Battle Hymn of the Republic" or something. I LOVE SMALL TOWN LIVING!

Anyone wanting to join in was welcome.

Oops, can't forget about the horses.

All done. Time to go home and fire up the Weber grill!

Have a wonderful day. And thank you to all the troops, past and present, and the sacrifices made for our freedom.

Midge

An Award from Kathy!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to my friend Kathy from the blog -- Sylvia's Vintage Daughter. Kathy is a shabby chick who loves going on junking adventures and has a real talent for repurposing and merchandising. Be sure to check out her blog. She received this "Kreativ Blogger" award from the JunkFest gals and has now passed it on to me. I'm very touched and grateful (and excited,too).




The receiver of this award must do 4 things:

1.) List 7 things that you love

2.) Link back to the blog that awarded this to you

3.) Choose 7 blogs to pass the award on to

4.) Comment at each of those blogs to let them know you've given them an award



So, okay, here goes my "7 Things that I love".....

1.) God, the Creator of the Universe, and His Son and my Savior, Jesus Christ -- without them I would be and have nothing

2.) My family, of course -- husband-Chris, daughter-Erin(25), daughter-Becky(21), son-Andrew(18), son-Ben(16)

3.) I wasn't sure if I should include him with my family, but I love my dog, Samson -- Old English Sheepdog (6 or 42 in dog years)

4.) My community -- I live out in the country just outside of Hudsonville, MI. A small town I grew up in with freshly mowed lawns, lots of churchs, was "dry" until last year, a love of football and sports in general, and I've never been to the grocery store without seeing someone I know. I love my town!

5.) Okay, I've got to keep it real here -- I love to eat! Spaghetti, mashed potatoes, Diet Pepsi, Chicken ala King, Mexican food of any kind, steak, Chinese buffet, and ice cream are among my favorites.

6.) A Steamy Hot, Lengthy Shower in the morning -- nuff said.

7.) Last, but definitely, definitely, definitely not least -- JUNKING! That encompasses a lot of things: my shop where I do my junk thing, finding cool junk (preferably free), thinking up creative ways to use junk (usually in the middle of the night when I supposed to be sleeping), talking junk with other junkers, and using my tools (they're NOT junk -- just junky).

And now to pass the award on to 7 other blogs. The 7 blogs I'm passing this award on to are:

1.) chiccottagejunk
2.) theramblingsatchippewacreek

3.) jillruth
4.) prissynprimtiques

5.) redneckchic
6.) thesalvagestudio
7.) 365dayorganizer

These are all fun blogs to visit. Be sure to check them out.

Midge

Glass was the word!

My April sale was the first one post-GR Press article. It was a great success and I was very pleased with the turnout, the feedback, and the sales. But now I had to do it all again for
the May sale -- I really want to make sure I'm offering fresh products at each sale to keep em coming back for more. I was so busy making, that I didn't take a lot of time to blog, so this is catch up time.



The week following the sale, one of my customers brought me these adorable "spring" flower candleholders. She made them using some bed springs I had given her at the sale and said she'd be willing to make some for May. Since time is finite and I wanted lots of items, I thought that was a great idea. And it fit in perfectly with my focus for May's sale: smaller items centered around gardens and Mother's Day.

She even let me keep one for myself. This one was my favorite. But now I had to get busy making things, too. As it turned out, I seemed to have a glass theme going on last month. I started by pulling out all my picnic baskets filled with plates, saucers, cups, and glass in general.

I made quite a few cup and saucer bird feeders. Then it was time to try something new...

I'd seen a few of these posted around some sites. These garden totems are just a fun way of dressing up a garden space. They aren't very hard to make. The hardest part for me is.....

decisions, decisions, decisions. I'm terrible at making a decision anyway, but with a room full of glass pieces everywhere and trying to guess what people will like, well let's just say it was a bit overwhelming. That was true all month since most of my projects were combinations of glass pieces. I felt that I didn't make much progress, but I was so happy with the finished products.

Once I determined what pieces to use, it was just a matter of epoxying them together. I used a LOT of epoxy last month. It's great for gluing glass-to-glass, metal-to-metal, or glass-to-metal.

I get the kind that kind of looks like a syringe. This tube was $2.44 from Walmart.

Then you just push down, goop comes out of each tube, and you mix the 2 together for about 30 seconds. You don't usually need much and it needs to be used pretty quickly, so squirt in small batches just what you need.

I wasn't quite done yet. I also put together several cake/dessert stands using vintage plates and glasses, candlesticks, or misc. metal pieces. Of course, it had to come complete with a batch of "mom"ster cookies.

And I also HAD to have some cloches. I've been seeing these everywhere. They must be very "in" so... you KNOW what a trendsetter I am (and if you DON'T know me, you should know how facetious I can be). I'd never even heard of them up until 2 months ago. And by the way, it's pronounced Closh (long "o"), not Cloe-shay -- I had to do a little research for that one, apparently no one in West Michigan was familiar with the word either.

It's basically a glorified glass dome for showing off interesting things or collections. Mine are quite small, but each has a top knob of some sort and rests on a pedestal of some sort (more epoxying), but I've seen them done in a variety of ways.

Anyway, my glass stuff has been put away for hopefully quite a while. My May sale was last weekend, and it certainly was nowhere near the level of April's, but now I have to concentrate on June's upcoming sale. I'm anxious to pull out my power tools and get back to some bigger and more creative things for that. I'll keep you posted and I'll get back to my Tuesday Tool Schools while I'm at it. Maybe we can get the whole world junking! (Oh, and did I mention I'm also a bit of a dreamer).

Midge

Anyone for a spot of tea?

Okay, so I'm a little behind on my blogging. I've been a bit preoccupied with my junk and trying to get more things made. And on top of that, our women's group at church (W3--Women Without Walls) held a Garden Tea Party this Thursday night which I was involved helping with. But what a fun, relaxing, girly night it was.


The star of the show, of course, was the tea itself. Three kinds were served -- Egyptian Mint tea, Sapphire Earl Gray, and a cool Raspberry tea. I tried them all, but I'm not really a tea drinker. And I don't think I've ever been to a "real" tea party before, just the kind with fake tea (koolaid) and cookies.

The tables were beautifully dressed for the occasion. And we used some of my 3 tiered dessert stands. Who knew junk could be so beautiful! The top tier held scones (course #1), the middle held chocolate dipped strawberries, mini cream puffs, and petit fours (course #3), and the bottom tier is empty in the photo, but shortly afterly I eagerly took this photo, out came platters of egg salad on rye mini sandwiches, chicken salad croissants, and cucumber sandwiches for the bottom tier (course #2).

Even more important than the food and beverages served was the bringing together of the women young and old who were there.

Mothers and daughters reconnected (Amy and her mother).

Young girls had the opportunity to get dressed up, experience new things, and practice their table manners -- naturally, using their best British accents. These young ladies were guests of my daughter Becky.

I finished my latest project -- a ladder arbor -- just in time to include it in the festivities for photo ops. An array of hats and boas was provided and the ladies certainly used them to their best advantage.

Grandma, mom, and daughters had pictures taken together all gussied up. These 4 cuties
(Sally, Beth, Alyssa, and Brianna) shared a table with me that night.

Anyway, the night was really fun and special. Love-a-ly!

But now I've got some serious blogging to do. Tah tah.

Midge

Blessing #7

Dandelions are becoming plentiful this time of year and most people would think of them as anything but a blessing. But when I was a kid, my mom showed me this fun thing you can do with them. So when I see them, it makes me smile.


Pick some dandelions -- the thicker and longer, the better.

No, scissors needed! Just use your fingers to split each end into 4-6 strips.

And drop into a bowl of cold water.

You'll end up with crazy, curly, dandelion art pieces!

Dandy fun!

Midge

Happy Easter

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: "He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. Here you will see him.' Now I have told you."
So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Matthew 28: 1-10,16-20

Just Junk Hunting

Wow, I guess it's been a while since I posted. I've been a bit focused on last weekend's sale. I figured it would be quite a bit busier than I am accustomed to because of the article. And sure enough, it was a very busy and successful sale weekend. It made me even more hopeful for the future of my business and I was excited to get busy this week. So one thing I did was visit a lady who said she might have some things I'd be interested in. Well, she certainly did have things I was interested in, but none of it was junk. I should have taken pictures. Her glorified garage was filled with collectibles and vintage pieces. It looked like a photo spread from a cottage magazine. But I did manage to leave with a few pieces that she gave me a good deal on.



I got this pile for a total of $10. There's 8 pieces of miniature picket fencing, 4 nice size wooden brackets, a piece of natural slate about 18"x18", and 2 iron grate type things. Not bad.


But Thursday was the BIG Day. My online junk friend Sue (ChicCottage) met me at my shop to begin a day of junking fun. First I gave her a grand tour of the place. Ok, so the place isn't really grand, but there is a lot of junk! I think she was a little overwhelmed.



Then we hit the road. Our first stop was Miedema Auctioneering. They are an online auction house so we couldn't buy anything, but we checked out what was currently in their two giant warehouses. I've gotten some cool things there before. Then we hit the GR Habitat Restore.
I got a can of blue paint. No biggie, but since I only buy oops! paints and I don't have any blue right now, it was a smart purchase.



Then we visited Pitsch Wrecking. I wasn't sure what Sue would think of this place as it is pretty dark, dirty, and kinda scary. But she loved it. I was so glad because I love places like that. I usually don't buy a lot, but it sure is fun to look. Sue and I spotted the box of Bingo cards at the same time and in unison declared "BINGO CARDS!" So we ended up splitting the Bingo loot. I also grabbed this pair of beaters for 50 cents hoping to try Cynthia's garden tulips. Sue ended up buying some SWEET pieces of old wood trim. Fun place, good times. Then it was off to Brann's for a late lunch.

After lunch it was time for me to face the new Goodwill Outlet. My precious Goodwill Warehouse Friday sales are no more. The news wasn't all bad however. Books are still a quarter a piece so I was able to buy these 3 Bibles (a guy at my church does prison ministry and is always on the lookout for Bibles). And the glass turned out to be even cheaper -- 20 cents for the 3. They'll come in handy for making garden totems.

And for just $2 I got this big school chalkboard. With the light surrounding it you could almost hear a heavenly "ahhh aww AHHH ahhh".

So after our awesome junk hunt, we had no time left for getting to work in the workshop. We'll leave that for the next time. And there DEFINITELY will be a next time, it was a great day!

Thanks, Sue

Free! -- Music to my Ears

One result of the feature story in the Press was several phone calls from people wanting to pass along to me some things they no longer want. One call was from Judy, the director of a local senior center. They had a player piano that hasn't worked for years, was too costly to repair, and was basically in the way, and did I want it. I said that I did but that I didn't have a vehicle for transporting it or helpers. She said I was welcome to dismantle it right there, so that's what I did.

At first I was concerned that the seniors would be upset, but they all thanked me for what I was doing and said for years they wanted it gone. So I got to work.

I did everything with handtools, not even the cordless. There were many, many screws. Older pieces sometimes need an extra elbow grease to get things loose, but I had no trouble with this one.

And I got a little extra help from my new friend Jack. He just picked up a screwdriver and dug in. I think he enjoyed himself.

I spent about 3 hours there and when I left I was down to the shell -- just the heavy back piece with the attached cast iron and the 2 side pieces so it wouldn't topple over. I didn't want to tackle the rest on my own.

At this point, I had taken off everything still intact. But that was no longer true when I came back in the evening with my husband, Chris, and my son, Ben. It took about an hour, but we left with the last of it in pieces in the back of the minivan.

When it was all said and done, these were some of the pieces I got to make new projects with:

I haven't decided on all the projects yet, but I'm forming a few ideas. I'd like to make a little something, too, for the senior center as a thank-you (maybe a bulletin board with player roll paper?) . Anyway, I've got work to do. I'll post my projects as I complete them.