Oh my poor little neglected blog. I had such great intentions of keeping you updated on a regular but not obsessive basis. But I have failed you. Seems like the only time I pay any attention to you is when I need something from you.....like free advertising. And yes, I confess, that is why I am here today. You see, the reason I have stayed away soooo long is because I have been spending every spare second of the last 9 months trying to get ready for this one event- Antique Alley. And this is the weekend that I find out if all the hours upon hours of hard work pay off! So please, dear blog, if you will allow me to occupy your pages for just a few short pages, I promise to return to you shortly to update you on the happenings of two story sister as this blog was originally intended.
Wow! Sorry about the above; please remember I am writing on the cusp of a major deadline- and I'm tired, so I can't be held responsible for what I write. But I'm not complaining, it has been a fun journey and I am thrilled with the end product. "Journey" is a great word to describe this preparation period because not only have I traveled all over our town, our state, and even neighboring states to gather treasures for this show; I have also moved workshops 4 times in the 9 months.
I started out in my garage but was quickly given the boot when the furniture started migrating into the car's parking space and the hubby found spilt paint on the newly stained garage floors. So then I moved all of my painting supplies and furniture to the mini storage and started painting from our unit (I had permission); but after I told my husband that I felt like it was only a matter of time before I was shoved inside my unit by a rapist and left for dead (I have an overactive imagination) he shut that operation down too. Side note: The upside of the storage unit was I was located right beside the dumpster and boy was that a treasure trove of finds. Next I was moved into an unoccupied, unfinished, no lighting but safe, office space that my husband's uncle had been trying to rent for over a year. Well, I must have been the good luck charm because 2 weeks after getting settled into my new workshop he leased the space- sarcastic yea!! So I was kicked to the curb again. But that eviction ended up being a blessing in disguise because it led me to my final destination- the Boom Boom Room. Oh, this is funny, Hang with me.
About the time I was given notice I needed to move out of the office space, DH (dear husband) purchased an investment property that came with a large shed/barn/workshop. So being the sweet husband he is, he offered to let me use the workshop. The first day I got to see my new workshop was the day the previous tenants were moving out, so while they were packing up I walked around and noticed it had awesome built in work benches complete with power outlets!! ( 2 out of my previous 3 workshops had no electricity.) What I failed to notice until I later visited the empty work space, was the side room attached to the barn that had a sign labeling it the "Boom Boom Room." And inside my newly acquired Boom Boom Room was my very own, are you ready for this................................. STRIPPER POLE!!!! In a million years would you have ever imagined I would have owned my very own stripper pole! And lucky for you, I made sure to snap a picture! But I'm going to make you wait to the end of the post to see it for two very strategic reasons: 1) you will be forced to look at my other pictures on your quest to get to the picture you really want to see and 2) for those with sensitive eyes you have the option of turning off this blog before you get to the XXX rated pictures.
So in an effort to get you to the pole quicker, I'm going to cut my narrative short and get straight to the pics. First up is just a sampling of some of the "before" shots of one of my favorite picking exhibitions. These beauties were lovingly rescued from a dilapidated farm house:
As you can imagine these 50+ year old abandoned treasures needed a lot of TLC to get them ready for their new homes. And not just elbow grease and paint- many needed a complete carpentry face lift to get them to functional form. Lucky for me, I have a newly retired Father who loves his daughter very much and would do just about anything for her. Oh my! May I take just a brief moment to publicly thank my Dad for the countless hours he put into almost every piece of furniture I acquired. Seriously, some members of my family accused me of running a sweat shop the way I worked that man. I wish I had remembered to take a picture of him working to show him off, but I'm sure he is glad I didn't. Anyways without further ado, here are the "after" pictures of the above furniture along with other pieces featured in this weekends Antique Alley:
That, Ladies and Gentleman, is my "almost" very first upholstery job! Now before you go and get too impressed I do feel obliged to tell you that I worked on this chair thru 6 months of lessons and finally ended up having to hire someone to finish the job for me. But there are definitely parts of that chair that I did myself.
The Hutch top was a dumpster rescue during my storage unit days. My Dad made the base. I love this piece and won't be too sad if I have to take this home to Sister at the end of the show.
This Lemonade stand was a bookshelf in its former life before I rescued it from my favorite dumpster. Although not a true antique, I thought it was a cute touch for the Spring Show and made sure to give it an antique price tag of just 5 cents a cup.
Farmhouse Table built from scratch by my talented Dad. Painted and finished by me. Custom sizes and finishes available upon request:)
My little "helpers"
Congratulations! You made it to the end of the photo montage! If you thought that was fun, you should really come see it LIVE this weekend at Antique Alley. In addition to getting to see over 200 booths filled with beautiful antique treasurers you will also earn 45 friend points (50 gets you a prize). And absolutely no obligation to purchase, kind words and your company mean more to me then $$ (seriously, drives my entrepreneur husband crazy)!
And now the moment you have all been waiting for........... my new workshop!
I'll admit she looks a little shady from the outside, but oh I'm so grateful for the space. Peak thru those broken windows to the black door- that is the boom boom room. (sorry the sign was removed before this pic was taken.) And inside that room is the..................
Oh! Oh! and I forgot to tell you it came with a disco ball too!
And the autographs of all those that have witnessed the pole.
Looks like the boom boom room was booming!
I'm sure many of you will be disappointed to know that the pole was removed within the first week of my occupancy and the only stripping that has occurred since has been of the paint variety.
