Antique Alley- April Show

  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.  

The results are in....

I apologize for being so slow to report the results of the recent (well not so recent anymore) Flea Market Flip.  I'm sure ALL/some/1? of you have been sitting by your computer screens for weeks just waiting to hear the news. Well here it is..... Team Thompson...... LOST.  But only officially- REALLY, I feel like a winner- and that's all that counts anyway....right?!?  While Team Sewell successfully sold all 3 of their items for a great profit, my team sold all but my favorite piece- the tufted ottoman. 

Now I'll be the first to admit I had this baby priced a little high but I think, subconsciously, I never really wanted to sell her because I knew how much Sister would LOVE and appreciate her.  This thought became more evident to me by the twelfth time I overheard a shopper declare "Oh what a cute dog bed."  A DOG BED!!! Are you kidding me!!! Who in their right mind would allow a dog to sit on a cream linen TUFTED bed! It hurt my heart to think this O.T.T.O.M.A.N. I had so painstakingly birthed could be ripped to shreds in a mater of seconds by some spoiled Fido (I mean really, who would spend $225 for a DOG BED!?!).  So needless to say I was relieved when the final minutes of the Flea Market Flip ticked away and I knew she was safely going home to me and Sister.  

Overall both teams had a very successful event.  Here are the before and after pics of our booths:

Team Thompson

Before

And the After

Update: Since the event the lockers, desk, and 123 headboard have sold!

Team Sewell

Before

And the After

 Update: Since the event the vanity has sold and the few items left can be found at the Rusty Gold Antiques and Flea Market in Vilonia.  Angela has also recently started a facebook page "The Tatty Chic Cottage" where you can follow her adventures in restoring, upcycling, and repurposing furniture.  

While it was very rewarding to watch our handiwork being appreciated and purchased by the shoppers I would have to say all the hard work was worth it just to get to hang out with these folks:

From Left to right: Team Thompson, Rory and Me, The Bentons of Waterhouse Market, Joey and Donna and Team Sewell, Angela and Matt.  

Oh my goodness I had a permagrin on my face the whole weekend!!

And after our space was cleaned up and cleared out I was able to find a new home for a few of my leftover items with Sister: 

Seriously!

Flea Market Flip

A couple of months ago I got a phone call from a friend inviting me and the hubs to go on a road trip to Canton Texas.  My friend explained that she and her husband had caught the "junkin" bug after watching HGTV's Flea Market Flip and were wanting to find their own treasures on a dime they could refinish and/or repurpose; and Canton, Texas' monthly First Monday Trade Days was the perfect place to go hunting.  Personally, I try to make the 5 hour pilgrimage to Canton at least once a year, but the Mr had never been.  You see, Rory is a buy the clothes off the mannequin, in-and-out in 15 minutes, 1-2 store limit per outing kind of shopper; NOT a dig thru the fields, thru 1000s of vendors junk, from sun-up to sun- down kind of shopper.  But with another couple around to help entertain him, I thought this would be the perfect time to introduce my husband to one of my favorite places on earth.    The trip was on!!!

To spice up the excursion, we decided to have our own flea market flip competition modeled after the HGTV program.  For those that have never watched the show I'll let HGTV.com explain how the flip works:

Flea Market Flip puts two teams to the test--challenging them to find diamonds in the rough to rescue, recycle, and re-invent into decorating gems and resold for a profit. Hosted by Good Morning America Co-Anchor Lara Spencer, a flea market fanatic, the teams are given 500 dollars and a limited time to hunt for pieces with potential and haggle for the lowest prices. Once purchased they'll head to the workshop to rebuild, refurbish or completely re-invent their finds, in hopes of creating treasures that will bring them a bigger profit. Then it's off to the next flea market, where the buyers are now sellers, trying to flip their finds in this winner take all competition. Whichever team makes more money with their re-imagined design pieces wins a cash prize.

In our version each husband and wife team had a budget of $150 and exactly 3 hours to find 3 specific items that would meet the following 3 challenges provided by an impartial 3rd party:

1) Use a found item and incorporate it into a piece of wall art.  You may add your own construction materials and artistry.

2) Find an item that can be repurposed or refinished for storage.

3) Turn something that is not a seat into something that is a seat.  Finished product must incorporate some type of upholstery.

Once we found our 3 items we would have a little under 1 month to get our treasures ready for resale at the quarterly antique show hosted at our city's expo center.

Well let me tell you, this little competition was more challenging then I thought it would be.  It was so hard to stay focused on finding items to meet our 3 challenges when we were amongst so much glorious junk.  I'd catch myself shopping for Sister instead of the challenge items, or we would find something that might work but would be afraid to purchase it for fear we might find something better.  In the final 15 minutes of the challenge we were in such a panic to find our last item that we ended up paying much more then we would have normally paid outside the competition.  But by noon o'clock both teams had all 3 items and we were able to slow down and enjoy the next day and half we spent scouring the flea market.

Now at this time I would love to show you some jaw dropping before and after transformation of both teams 3 challenge items but I can't. I can't because number 1) I forgot to take before pictures of all our finds (Rookie Blogger mistake); and number 2) the majority of my 3 challenges completely flopped, failed, flunked.  Here is what I can show you:

Team Thompson

1) Wall Art: An old pull down world and US map.  This is the item I found in the final seconds of the competition.  I had originally planned to get all crafty on this vintage treasure by painting over one of the maps with chalkboard paint and then painting on a skeleton map of the USA- very Restoration Hardwareish...in my head.  But once I got it home I got nervous that the paint would cause the paper to crack PLUS when I looked up similar maps on ebay I saw that these babies sell for anywhere between $60-$300 as is; so after doing some quick math in my head I decided 0 work + a little profit = the obvious way to go.  So the only change this find got is a slight change in price tag.  Wha Wha

Antique Show Price: $75

2) Storage: Ok this was the one project I already had a plan for before I hit the flea market.  I had recently visited a high end boutique where I had seen a ridiculously priced over sized wicker basket that was set on casters so that it could be rolled around.  Of course when I saw the basket the wheels on the casters weren't the only thing turning- I was thinking I could easily recreate the same look and then I would be the one collecting a ridiculous amount of cash- (it all seemed so easy in my head....). So when 30 minutes into the competition I found a large wicker laundry basket complete with a lid, I thought I struck gold!  Fast Forward a week later I discovered that some ideas are best left in my head.  It just looked stupid- sorry for the foul language but there is just no other way to describe it.  Not only did it look stupid, it acted stupid by tipping over when pushed- sigh!  So if you were hoping to purchase a ridiculously priced basket on wheels at this weekends Antique Roadshow your out of luck from this vendor.  The only thing this basket got was a cute burlap ribbon weaved in and out of the wicker- another sigh.

 mid-tilt on casters- boo!

Sitting stationary on the ground.

Antique Show Price: $20

3) Seat: ahhhh! This project had the potential to cause the most grief but in the end it is my one source of pride and glory. Even though I had no idea what it was, I was drawn to this metal contraption with its curvy legs and beautiful blue and grey patina.   The vendor informed me that in its former life it had been the base of an old cast iron stove.  One leg was broken off the base and we had no idea how we were going to reattach it but with the old adage "Where there is a will there is a way" in mind we paid for this beauty and crossed find #3 off our list.

Once home DH informed me that our broken leg dilemma could only be solved with the help of a welder.  Luckily, we have a friend who is quite the talented welder and he agreed to help us out with the  project. After tufting the cushion I left the fate of project #3 in the hands of my friend and his blow torch.  Not only did he manage to reattach the leg he also figured out a great way to secure the cushion to the base.  Thanks to our third party help I am so excited to tell you that our seat challenge was a HUGE success.  I love it so much I'm tempted to keep it for Sister!

Antique Show Price: $225

Team Sewell

I can't tell you much about the actual transformation process for Team Sewell's projects but I can tell you the finished products look amazing!  Once again, I regret I don't have any before photos but here are the after shots of their 3 challenge pieces:

1) Wall Art: Pretty quick into our treasure hunt team Sewell picked up this great old chippy window.  To add to the vintage loveliness they added an old black and white poster with a pop of red white and blue.  I'm thinking Sister would look mighty cute with this sitting on her mantle around the 4th of July, hmmmm.

Antique Show Price: $50

2) Storage: Ok, I have to admit Team Sewell knocked it out of the park with this one.  I am in awe of the transformation- trust me, this dresser was R-O-U-G-H when they found it.  But look at it now!  Don't you just love the curvy lines and the teal blue stencil detail they applied down the side.  They also found the perfect mirror to complement the dresser and painted it a teal blue to match the stencil.  Super cute!

  

Antique Show Price: $275

3) Seat: In the seat challenge the Sewells took an ordinary box and embellished it with a removable upholstered cushion top and ornate metal handles to turn it into a super functional stool.  This little beauty will more then likely go quick once the doors open for business because I heard several oohs and ahhs from neighboring vendors as team Sewell was setting up.  

Antique Show Price: $75

So there you have it- 2 teams, 3 challenges and 3 days of stiff competition!  And guess what? You can get in on the fun.  Come by and mention that you read about our challenge on Two Story Sister and you will receive 10% off any item in team Thompson and/or team Sewell's booth!  Here is a quick sneak peak into our booths as we were getting set up for this weekends big show:

 

Team Sewell was just starting to set up when I was snapping pictures so I was not able to capture all they have to offer for your viewing pleasure.  They were just unloading some really cool lighting fixtures when team Thompson left for the night.

We couldn't be in a better spot for the show.  We are surrounded by some of my junkin heroes- I share a booth border with Waterhouse Market whose home will soon be featured in a national home magazine, and just down the aisle is the Seed Box Antiques booth- both Ah-M-A-Z-I-N-G! Oh! and then there is my new friend, Tina's booth that is overflowing with fun stuff; and my neighbor has a booth with the coolest piano bench/coffee table that she painted.  I'm telling you- you won't want to miss it!

Jenifer's Antique Show

@ the Conway Expo Center

Friday, July 26- noon - 7pm

Saturday- 9am - 5pm

Sunday-11am - 5pm

Admission: $5 for adults (good for all weekend)