The Post I Never Wanted to Write

 
Three months have gone by since I last posted. A week after my last post my dad had to go to the hospital. He was weak and could not walk on his own. We thought he just needed to get some fluids and he would be back to normal in a few days. We were pretty shocked to find out his kidney's were failing and three days later we lost him. He was the most amazing man, and it has taken a great toll on our family to say the least.
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To make a long story a little shorter, we have moved my mom. and I have spent most of my time the last few months getting her settled in a new apartment. She is in a different senior living apartment where meals are supplied, so it much better for her. She has macular degeneration and cannot see well enough to cook for herself.

The good thing is my mom loves to go antiquing, so we have done a lot of estate sales to keep busy. It has been a big help. We have been taking all of our finds to our booths at Sentimental Journey and keeping them stocked.  We have actually had some record months this winter. I will try to start taking pictures and posting our finds. We love to go the last day of the sales to get in on the markdowns.

 

We sure miss you Daddy, but we are making the best of things.

Love, Ann

 

 

2015 and New Beginnings

A New Year, A New Look and a New Beginning

 

I guess you can see I have changed the blog's name and look. I wanted to update and felt like I was really more into my Flea Market phase and less into the furniture updating. I still will have projects to redo, but I really want to focus on my antique mall booths and shopping for them.  I have really had a good couple of months at the antique mall, and I want to keep it that way.'The Flea Market Home' is more fitting to where I am with my home and my antique mall journey at this point in my life.  'Stylish Once Again', truly focused on restyling furniture and makeovers. I still want to do some of that, but have found the time is just not right, or available.  For now, I am enjoying the hunt and decorating with flea market finds.

 

 I am currently in three booths at Sentimental Journey, an antique mall in Olathe, Kansas.

 I am really enjoying having everything in one place. I have actually moved two of the three booth locations since my last post and am really happy with where I am now.  Moving around has taken a toll on my old body, but I think they all look great.

I love going to Estate Sales and will share my finds with you as I shop, but I also love shopping in the antique malls.  You can get some great buys, especially when other vendors are moving on to a new phase in their own life.

I have been starting to sell a few things on Ebay, and my husband has turned into a Ebay buff as well, buying vintage WWII aviator jackets.  I will be sure to link up those items as I can.

Here is looking forward to a great year with many new adventures.

Fall at the Mall (Antique)

       Well, so much for posting in a day or two. I was already to get back on a regular posting schedule when my Dad ended up in the hospital. He is 92 now and it doesn’t take a lot to knock him off his feet. He was there for 5 days and came home with visiting nurses. I am the only child that lives close, so I spend a lot of time over at their place helping out with lots of things. I love my mom and dad dearly, so it is my blessing to spend time with them.

      At the Antique Mall, I have three booths now.  Fall is starting to wind down and I am hoping to get a lot of the Christmas décor in this weekend. I wanted to share some pictures of the booths as they are now before the festive decorations go in. I am not a huge fall decorator, but I did have a little in there.

The enormous silver birdcage has sold and so has the  cape and mask hanging to the left. You can see a couple of tiny pumpkins on the dresser, but not a lot in here for fall.

A couple of pumpkins in here and some fall throws.  It is amazing how a picture lets you look at your display from a different perspective. This booth seems awfully messy to me. Can’t wait to clean it up for  Christmas.

This is the newest booth and it is my favorite.  The armoire and china cabinet/desk are both gorgeous. Again, very little fall, but I can’t wait to deck the halls for Christmas!

I will do my best to be back soon with some beautiful Holiday Booths.

Thanks for visiting, I would love your comments and if you have any suggestions for my booth spaces, I would love to hear them. I would not be insulted, I truly want to improve my spaces and become successful at the antique business.

Have a blessed day, be back soon.

Ann

Turning 60- A New Chapter

 

 

 

Life has been hectic for me for the last two years, I keep thinking things will settle down and get back to normal. My husband and I sold the business we had for over 25 years in 2012. Then my parents moved to a retirement center, then our daughter sold her house and moved home for 6 months. Then we had a precious new granddaughter, then my parents moved again.  Then our daughter found another house and we needed to help her get moved. Then my husband started a new business and I get to help keep it running smoothly. During that time we rescued two more dogs and now have three crazy big dogs running the house.  My mom and I went from antique booths in one mall to three.  Whew! Craziness that will not stop. I kept thinking I would get settled and life would return to normal, but I think this is my new normal.

Last month I turned 60 and finally said, this has to change. I moved all of my stuff back into one antique mall. I do have three booths, but at least only one building. That’s a huge relief. Everyone is finally finished moving and I have decided that its time for me to take care of me.  I have a problem with feeling selfish, I have always been the one to help others, but at some point it hit me, I have to take care of myself first.

So, I decided to come back and write again. Share what I love to do, and that is create and collect. I am not only going to write on this blog, but also on another blog I started a long time ago, Stitch Daily. Be sure to check it out if you love to sew.

I know that I am not the only one who has gone through such big changes in life. I would love to hear how any of you have survived  big changes like these.

I’ll be back tomorrow with a post about something fun. In the mean time, I’ll be browsing Pinterest. It’s been my me time.

Ann

Restyled Sundays 65

Welcome back to Restyled Sundays!

Another week gone by! Between work and the antique stores, I feel like I am meeting myself coming and going. On top of all of that, my Mom and Dad rented a storeroom last year when they moved into senior living. Its time to get everything out of there since they aren't ever going to use any of it. I learned the art of being a pack rat from two of the best, so this process has me really looking at simplifying my life as soon as possible.

Well, enough about me, let's take. Look at last weeks party.

Barbara from Decorating with Barbara has a great tutorial on makin your own Mercury Glass.

Denise from Denise on a Whim created a cute chalkboard with shelf out of an old chair back.

Thanks to everyone for following and sharing. I love hearing from you all so please leave a comment and I will get back with you!

The Painted Hutch

It's a miracle, I finally finished a project! The china cabinet/ hutch that was sitting in my antique booth for over a year decided to come home for a makeover. Sorry, this is the best picture I could find. At least you can see how dark it was there in the background. Actually, my son painted the cabinet a while back. We had so much furniture in the antique store, I had just never gotten around to distressing and waxing it. And, of course, life gets in the way and things just sit 90% done.

We used homemade chalk paint with the unsanded grout recipe. The paint was bright white.

This cabinet had lots of details to distress. I love the way it came out.

I changed the wood knobs that were on it to some ORB knobs that I had found

on clearance at Target over a year ago.

These photos are at my booth at Lone Elm antique mall. 

I thought I would get in the Valentines spirit  with the red and white.

More of the same detail at the top!

Turns out, somebody else liked it as much as I did. It

sold the third day it was there!

Thanks for visiting, be sure to come back tomorrow for Restyled Sunday's!

I am showing my hutch off at these parties, check them out!

Restyled Sundays #50

Welcome Back to Restyled Sundays

It's so great to be back and get on a schedule again. I was talking yesterday to a friend about

how much we love January!  There is not alot going on, it's a time to reflect and reorganize. And, what better timing than after a crazy, busy, holiday like Christmas. I love Christmas, but I am so glad when it

is over and all cleaned up and put away.

January is definitely a time for refreshing our homes. Once we put all of those decorations away,

things can look a little bare and we feel the need to update. The owner of one of the antique stores

I am in told me along time ago, that January is the month to sell furniture. I guess she is right, because

I sold two dressers and a vanity this week!

 Yeah, we always love a good furniture month.

So, now I am getting new projects finished to refresh the booth. I have
a buffet with hutch just about ready to go, can't wait to share with you.

The only before picture I can find is the dark cabinet in the background. 

But now, I really want to see what you have been up to!

Happy New Year!

We made it! It's 2013 (whoops, almost wrote 2012) and I haven't been so ready for a fresh start in many years. I actually planned to write this post earlier today, but we went out and bought new furniture for our hearth room. That was a fun way to start off the new year :) I have been wanting a change, so we just did it.
The new stuff will be delivered on Saturday, I can't wait to share it with you. I will be fun to add new accents as well.

What I really wanted to talk about today was the dreaded resolutions we all make at the first of the year.
I hate making a list and then disappointing myself in a month or two. Last year, I followed the lead of another blogger and chose a word as my theme. My word was Simplify. It was so much easier than remembering a whole list. And, even though I didn't accomplish alot of simplification, it was always at the front of my mind.
Actually, with everything else that happened last year (selling our practice, our daughter moving home and my parents moving to senior living) I always kept thinking of that word. I really did not buy hardly anything at an estate sale or thrift shop. After all, I have too much as it is. I also didn't eat myself up for not getting more done. I had to accept the challenges I was given and not worry about what I couldn't do.

So this year, I am choosing another word. Actually, its a phrase. Finish one project before you start the next. If you can think of a word to sum that up, let me know.  I am so bad about having multiple projects going at once. My husband thinks I flit from one thing to the next. Don't you love the word flit! Anyway, I am focusing on completing things and I will continue to keep simplify in my mind as well.

I want to really focus on my blog this year, so I am committing to posting 3 times a week. I want to continue our Restyled Sundays parties,  and  I would love to hear what you all would like to see or learn about. I am also spending more time at the antique mall, so maybe we can share experiences about running an antique business.

I am very excited and can't wait to hear what is motivating you as we start 2013.
God Bless you all!

I Think I Am Alive and My Son Is A Painter

Whoa!  Ican't believe how long it has been since I last posted. I feel like I fell off the face of the earth.
In the last six weeks, we moved our daughter out of her house and temporarily into two storerooms and she is staying with us. She and her dog are so fun to have around, but there is a lot more chaos with them here.
We have been actively looking for a house for her, while continuing to try to organize and unload things from our office move and my parents move. I am going to do my best to get back on track with the blog here, I am sure life will eventually get back to normal, whatever that is, haha! I have missed posting, but it is amazing how hard it is to get started again, after you have been gone for a while.

Today, I am sharing this amazing wicker bakers rack that my son just painted for a lady at the antique store.
Brent is 27 with Asperger's Syndrome and has trouble working for someone else. He had worked for me at my office, and when we sold the practice, he was unemployed.

Of course, I forgot to take a picture before he started, but I found a similar one on the blog, Designs By Pinky .  The lines are a little different, but it shows the same dark wicker and rattan.

He has helped me paint before, but this is the first time he did a project by himself.

 He used homemade chalk paint that I taught him how to make.

I helped with the distressing and waxing because he was busy trying to

 finish another piece he is painting for the same lady.

I think he has found himself a new job!

I feel like a really proud mama!

Were Out!

I am so sorry there was no Restyled Sunday last week, but I was buried deep in packing and moving. But, the good news is...

We are out of our office!!! After working tirelessly for the long weekend, we ended up til 9:00 Wednesday night getting everything out of our dental office. A week ago, we still didn't know what all we were going to do with all of our larger dental equipment. Fotunately, we were able to donate most of it . We had 8 dental chairs and 5 x-rays that were still in good shape and working well. I had found one low income clinic in Topeka, Ks that wanted three of the chairs and all of the waiting room furniture. We still had 5 to go. In the next 4 days, we found another free dental clinic in Kansas City that wanted 3 more chairs and all but one of the x-rays. The big pano x-ray went to a doctor who was a class mate of ours, and the last two dental chairs went to a tatoo shop. Yeah, we didn't have to take any of the big stuff to storage, but our living room is stacked floor to ceiling with boxes of small stuff.
I was able to sell a bunch of stuff on Craigslist! Refrigerator, washer, dryer, desk chairs, etc.

This is where we had worked for the last 21 years.

We had planned a trip to North Carolina a year ago for this weekend, so after we got home Wednesday night, we did a few quick loads of laundry and headed out for Banner Elk, NC.

So here is where we are for the next few days. It is actually cold and rainy today, but should be nicer tomorrow. My husband is having a great time at a car show here. I have spent most of the day trying to

get online, but now that I am on I can hardly stay awake.

Tomorrow, I will try to take some real pics of the area and share the beautiful mountain views with you.

I also hope to go to an antique store down the road.

Have a great night and I'll see you alot more shortly.

Estate Sale Treasures

 Saturday, my Mom and I happened across a

fabulous Estate Sale about a block from her house.

I found these amazing ship pictures and I had just recently started

scouring the antique stores for some for my family room.

 There were 7 of them, so I bought them all,

and decided to keep these four for myself.

I really love the colors in the ones I have chosen for myself.

I am going to paint the frames off white. They really don't look as

good up close as in the picture. Plus, my walls are kind of dark.

This is an 1893 edition of Gray's Anatomy. I have a much newer one that

I studied from while in school, so this one was just too cool to pass up!

My mom found this amazing Duncan Phyfe buffet that she is going

to use for her big screen tv in their new place.

(I can't wait to show you how we decorate her new smaller home.)

I guess you can see where I get my traditional style.

We also got lot's of pictures and lamps and stuff at the sale, but I  

want to show you my favorite buy of the week.

I found this beautiful mirror at Lone Elm Antiques where we have one of our booths.

It was their 1st anniversary and everything in the store was 15% off, so I had been

keeping my eye on this mirror for a week or so. It was still there when I got to the sale,

so now it is mine.  Just look at that sweet bird on top.

 I don't even think I will paint it. It is just to perfect.

I will be sure to show you where it ends up when I find the right spot for it.

I hope I am not the only one who buys things without knowing

where I am going to put them. :)

Don't forget, Restyled Sundays is still going on through Friday.

I would love to see what you have found or restyled lately!

Linking to the following parties: