on the painting bandwagon

The Junk Bonanza is over, the kids are back in school, and I am preparing for winter hibernation....this means that I need to get those last nagging projects around my house DONE.

First, an admission.......

"Hello, my name is Jill, and I have black furniture from the 90's in my house."

Yep, I do.

I actually had the nightstands in our bedroom custom made this way, yes, I did! I love the proportions and the roomy drawers and was not just going to give them up {although a couple mismatched vintage pieces are on "the list"}, at least right now.

So I did what any good blogger does, I painted and distressed these babies, replacing the knobs with some Anthro beauties.

Hello black box nightstand!

Oh so much better!

I am a knob-lovin' girl!

The vintage clock was a bedside must!

And my many, many necklaces hang close by!

No longer do I have black painted furniture in my house! {It is purely a personal choice as I know so many still dig the black painted furniture, but for me, I was SO over it}.

Have a splendid day!

.....my loot.....

Many of you asked me to show you what I purchased at the Junk Bonanza this year and I am happy to oblige. However, I must attach a disclaimer.... I was a pathetic shopper. Most of my shopping took place while I was rushing around like a junker with my head cut-off!

The weather vane thing pictured above was my first purchase and something I had "been in the market for" for a long time. I loved it's grey/rusty/imperfect qualities. It was the first thing I purchased from vendor and friend Pam Curry.

Funny story - after Pam put the 'sold' sticker on it, she continued to have lots of people inquire about it. On the second day of the Bonanza Pam asked if I could take the weather vane out of her booth so she would not have to tell anymore shoppers that it had SOLD. Because I had parked quite a distance and needed to get to work, Pam suggested I put the weather vane in her white van that was parked in the dealer loading area. Sure! No problem! I took the weather vane out and put it in the back of the first white van I saw - which just so happened to have a very cool old sign in the back. On my way back to my post, I passed Pam and commented on how much I liked her sign....."What sign?" was her reply. OH NO! I had put the weather vane in the wrong white van {who knew so many dealers drove white vans}! I quickly ran back to the loading area only to find my weather vane had been driven away in the wrong white van!!! Well alls well that ends well...and after putting out the word that their was a missing weather vane, my prize was recovered by a very nice and honest Junk Bonanza vendor!

Yes, the weather vane is sitting inside my house, for now. I don't know where/if it will stay but for now, I am enjoying it right where it is - much to the amusement of my family!

I purchased this "Park Here" sign because......well, because I liked it. Later Heather Bullard told me she was going to buy it because her anniversary date is the 15th and she collects things with that number - I offered it to her because, after all, she is Heather Bullard and it was such a sweet reason to want the sign but she graciously refused....I still feel bad.

I very often see these pull carts at flea markets but this is a child's size version. What is it about child-sized anything that I seem drawn to???? Still trying to figure out what to display in it.


I love old maps of places that are meaningful to me. Both my girls were born in Oregon and it really is our favorite place that we have ever lived so this map had to be mine!


Remember my green-antiqued painted frame for my botanical print? I never really felt the green went along well with the two botanical that hung below it {found many, many years ago at now defunct mall store Bombay Co.}. I found a great vintage frame that really coordinates so much better!

This year, I seemed to buy lots and lots of jewelry - many, many necklaces with charms and rusty keys - right up my alley!

If you want to see what else I was up to at the Junk Bonanza, sweet Margo, the Flea Market Style magazine's blog writer was very generous with my "face time" on the FMS blog post! You can go check it out here!

life goes on....

My friend Jane Hall sent me an email about a week before the Junk Bonanza and asked if I would make some burlap banners for her to sell in her occassional shop, Mustard Moon ......

"Sure!" I replied way too enthusiastic-like.

All kidding aside, this has been a fun project and has made me begin adding some Fall touches around my own cottage. {cause you know what they say, "nothing says Fall like burlap"}

I know "nest" does not really speak to fall, but it speaks to me! I also did "spooky", "halloween", "boo" and "gather". If you are local and would like one, head to Jane's sale tomorrow thru Sunday in Carver, Minnesota {300 N. Broadway}.

If I have any left, I will let ya'all know!

**and because this post shows my most favorite hutch, I am linking up with Jennifer Rizzo's little hutch show-off linky party today!

...just ONE junk bonanza post....

Oh, the pressure I felt this morning....

knowing that I must write this blog post...

describing all the fun and energy that WAS the Junk Bonanza 2010...

then, I opened my camera and said, "sh**", I did not take many pictures!

So, may I suggest that you head to the Junk Bonanza blog and see the post I did over there, using the beautiful pictures taken by Junk Bonanza photographer Traci VanWechel. THEN you can look on the sidebar of the Junk Bonanza blog and click away on the links of the MANY, MANY bloggers who took far more pictures than yours truly and wrote lovely thoughts about their junking experience!

The reason that I did not take many pictures is that I was workin' my butt off! {that's my story and I am stickin' to it}. I styled a menswear inspired tablescape with purchases exclusively from Arc's Value Village, a local thrift store. A drawing to win the table-top was held and the lucky Bonanza shopper was announced on Saturday.

I helped with a Bonanza promotion on Friday called "Lucky Friday" - we drew winners every 20 minutes or so for gift certificates for specific booth spaces - so fun!

THEN, the best part of the weekend for me happened on Saturday.....I got to 'assist' the amazing and talented {and super sweet} Heather Bullard with a shoot for the upcoming issue of Flea Market Style magazine! Can you say DREAM.COME.TRUE? Amazing.

Yes, I also was able to meet some celebs {get ready for some serious name dropping here}....Layla Palmer from The Lettered Cottage was as sweet as can be, I can't wait to see where her talent takes her. Serena Thompson, my favorite Farm Chick was also on hand shopping the Bonanza. Friends from my Farm Chicks shopping excursions, Celeste {owner of the fabulous Chaps and giver of the best hugs!} and Lisa Souers {extraordinary jewelry designer} were also there!

My table!

Sure, there was lots of great vintage treasures to be had. And yes, I did my share of purchasing! But for me, it was such a pleasure and honor to be in the company of creative people who share my love of fluffing and primping my nest with the unusual, the crusty, the chippy, the quirky.... These are MY kind of people and they come in all shapes and sizes, ages, from the country, from the city {some all the way from Australia}. It's the JUNK that binds us and isn't that fantastic!

This is me {looking as tired as I felt} with fellow Minnesota bloggers, Becky from Farmgirl Paints and Suzanne from Privet & Holly. Can you believe this was the first time I met them "in real life"! Both of them were so nice and sweet as can be!

The Junk Bonanza really has the some of the most fun, friendly and talented vendors. Pictured above are two of my favorites, Pam Curry of Pam's Picks and Jane Hall of Mustard Moon.

I hosted an evening get together for bloggers and vendors - it was so fun!

Pictured above are bloggers Tracey from French Larkspur, Mary from Urban Farmgirl, Traci from Traci Thorson photography, Becky, Suzanne, yours truly, Amy from Whisperwood Cottage, Beth Quinn from Beth Quinn Designs and Jen from Sanctuary Arts.


The weekend was exhilarating and exhausting all in one - I felt so lucky to be a part of such an awesome event. I had the opportunity to have a front row seat to all that I admired and dreamed of being a part of. I have Ki Nassauer to thank for allowing me to play a small part in her multiple endeavors! Besides being super creative with loads of energy, she is one of the kindest and most decent people I have ever met.


For those of you who could not be there, there is always next year!

Junk Bonanza 2010

Hello Friends!

It's Sunday morning and I finally enjoyed a long night's sleep. It has been a crazy, busy, inspiring four days. I met SO many friends, vendors and bloggers from near and far....creative people who share my love for all things vintage. I helped the talented Heather Bullard with a photo shoot, what a dream come true! Our blogger party was well attended and fun - with giveaways and gab!

I am going to take today to digest it all, go through my pictures and compose a post to share it all with you!

Happy Sunday!

m.i.a., a party, a flea....yippee!

i have made lots of promises lately...

to blog more...

to go to yoga on a regular basis...

to cook my family dinner every.nite.of.the week.........

to share more of my projects with all of you....

but to be perfectly honest, and for some strange reason i feel like i can with all of you....

i have failed miserably at many of these....

life has been uber-busy....

kids back to school.....

church commitments.....

and my work with the Junk Bonanza ....

no excuses.... but i am calling for a time-out....for just a week.....

Junk Bonanza, a midwest antiques show and flea market hosted by the multi-talented Ki Nassauer {editor of Flea Market Style magazine} begins next Thursday! In addition to styling a table-top with items shopped for exclusively at a local thrift shop, I happen to write the Junk Bonanza blog. The blog highlights the talented vendors and, in the last couple weeks some latte-lovin', Anthro obsessed, French wanna-be, blogging friends who plan to travel to Minnesota to shop at the Bonanza.

And you know that when bloggers get together, there must be a party. I am planning a get-together for bloggers and Junk Bonanza vendors and shoppers at a local coffee house {which just so happens to serve adult beverages in the evenings, thank you very much}. If you are interested in coming, please leave a comment so I can get you the details. I promise a few surprise 'special' guests, perhaps some giveaways and definitely lots of fun!

Please, please, please stop by and see me at the Junk Bonanza - when I am not shopping, I will be hanging around my table top and would love to meet you!

Be back next week with lots of pictures......promise!

Good, clean, fun.....

Happy Labor Day! Or as I like to call it - "hip hip hooray, the kids go back to school tomorrow Day"!

So what did I buy at the Queen of Tarte's Flea Market sale, you ask?

Well, first, remember I was restricted to purchasing only items that would fit into the little bit of suitcase space I managed to reserve....cause a girl can't travel with just one pair of shoes!

Inspired by a recent idea from Country Living magazine, I purchased an old canning jar (from Barn House) that I {well, actually my handy dad} turned into a soap dispenser!

How adorable is this!

This is a 100% repurposed project as the pump was formerly used in a shampoo bottle! Oh my goodness, I feel so *green*! It sits nicely next to my kitchen sink on an adorable tray (from Anthropologie) along with a candle, a necessary kitchen item, because who doesn't find cooking by candlelight enjoyable!

Back tomorrow with "my Labor Day weekend in pictures".... oh, it's been one of those weekends!