Let's Talk Vintage: We Picked the Pickers in Nashville!

Well hello my vintage lovin' friends! It has been AWHILE since I have posted for y'all.  

Today's "Let's Talk Vintage" post is not really a

link party... being that it was the Pickers I was blogging about, I just had to give this post an LTV title.

Feel free to leave a comment so I can

click on your blog and comment back!

We were in Tennessee for my Step-son's wedding.

It was a beautiful no, make that GORGEOUS wedding!

And I do have to tell you I may have picked up a slight southern accent ever since we took a side trip to NASHVILLE.

We had a day with extra time to kill so The Hubs

thought we should try and see Mike Wolf's store. It was a little bit difficult to figure out, 

I have to tell you. Once the GPS told us we had 

arrived, we still couldn't tell which store front

it was from the car. We heard a bus tour going through

and the driver announced "Antique Archaeology" so we

knew we should just find a parking spot and walk around.

 Bebe and the Hubs checking it all out. Mike's store is two or three shops down from here.

It was located in some old brick buildings that were 

the industrial factory type. 

We knew we had arrived when we saw the 

car door pointing the way!

This is what you see when you first walk in.

There is cool stuff everywhere,

 even Mike's trademark bicycles, 

hanging from the ceiling.

It didn't take me long to notice this checkered shirt and "matching" guitar.

Also really cool was a dress Loretta Lynn wore onstage.

There is a photo next to it with her wearing it. You can 

kind of see it at the bottom of this photo.

Then there was this awesome Dolly Madison Ice Cream and Soda sign. It was picked in NJ. (Rootin' for the home team!)

And who wouldn't love an American Icon like this. Seeing it

made us remember we have one made of heavy duty cardboard that we've always wanted to frame.

This collection of apothecary jars caught my eye.

It was neat because I started remembering different episodes where these items may have come from.

And if you look real close, you may even think Elvis is in the building. I love the old microphones.

This is the check out desk. So much to see!

We ended up with some fun touristy items... a t-shirt for Bebe and I, a hat for the Hubs and one of their PICKERS license plates. Total touristas! 

We really enjoyed our quick stop there and then headed off to Broadway St (Ave?) in downtown Nashville for something to eat. I highly recommend the restaurant Merchants if you are not in the mood for loud Honky Tonk.

 Plus, you can watch everyone go by on the Beer Bar pedal Trolley cars next to Honky Tonk Central. 

It was totally crazy and worth a view!

(And the food at Merchants was delicious!)

Shop Updates: Custom Orders and My Latest Paint Project

Hello friends!
I hope you are all enjoying the season of SPRING...

Soon to be SUMMER!

 

We have been super busy. It was the end of school, Bebe

performed in her end of the year Ballet Gala, and we were

busy with the shop. 

 

They say when it rains, it pours, and it did.

In custom orders, that is! We had six pieces to paint.

I'm just sharing the last two, they were gorgeous!

 

 

This was a piece a really sweet lady from NJ found in another shop. It was a consignment shop so she wanted us to give this beautiful piece and updated look. Plus, some of the scroll work was missing from the secretary desk door.

 

 

After the Hubs repaired the scrollwork using wood putty, he painted it with Country Chic Paint in "Sunday Tea."

 

 

After it was all finished... of course I just loved it and had to start filling it with beautiful things.

 

And our client really liked it as well.

But we weren't done just yet.

 

 

She also had this piece for us to paint, from the same consignment shop.

 

 

Gah! I could have sold this sweet little cabinet about ten times over! So many customers were asking about it while it was in the shop, being worked on.

 

 

She is going to use it in her bathroom for towels.

Great idea!

 

 

And now, I'm working on this vintage French Provincial desk for a girl's room. It was a mess!

There were so many old stickers on the top,

scribbling, etc. I peeled off each sticker and attacked that baby with a spray cleaner.

Even though it was looking 100 times better, I still decided to paint the top.

 

What do you think?

I wanted it to be elegant looking in a Princess kind of way, without over doing it. I mixed Country Chic Paint in "Vintage Cupcake" with their "Vanilla Frosting" to achieve the light pink. I used gold metallic cream to highlight the hardware and around the desk. Then just a small addition of "Vanilla Frosting" on the edges.

So far I think I'm on the right track. I'm thinking minimal distressing, if any on this piece. Instead of a wax I may use the CCP "Clear Coat"  with "Tough Coat" on the top.

Thanks so much for stopping by and catching up with us!

Enjoy the day!

 

Our Much Needed Scenic Getaway

Hello friends! It is so good to be back to my Bella Blog...

it means things have slowed down enough

that I have time to write!

 

We took some much needed time to be together as a family to our scenic getaway in the Adirondack Mountains.

A place where we can enjoy the outdoors

and dine "al fresco"... 

Where we can see nature in all of its beauty...

 

And hear the call of the loons...

And enjoy the new crop of ducks and their ducklings...

 

 

 

Where the only important thing that needs to

get done is to go fishing...

 

 

Where we can feel right at home in this quaint little town that is right out of a story book set in the 1950's...

This is our favorite parade to watch, every year.

 

 

Where we can put all of the hustle and bustle of daily life out of our minds for a few days, or maybe even a week...

Hope you've had some relaxing days too, and if not, that you'll be still for just awhile...

We enjoyed our time at the lake. This year we took my Dad along. He loved it so I'm glad he was there. Alzheimer's is a difficult disease, the dementia and confusion are tough to deal with, for him, as well as for us, but we are getting through it day by day. Some days are better than others.

The weather is great now so we are working on a few projects for the shop, now that we are back! We picked up a couple of custom orders and in my next post I will share them with you.

Thanks so much for catching up on what we're up to! I'm trying to post at least once a month. After I get through the last days of school, Bebe's "Gala" dance recital, and a quick trip to the beach ... I'll have more time.

Summer is here! Yay!

Updates on Our Vintage Shop and Furniture Repurpose Projects!

Hello friends!

Spring is in full bloom here in the North East

and we have had some GORGEOUS days!

 

Nice weather makes it much easier to work on

furniture projects and the Hubs and I have been

getting a few new pieces in the shop.

 

Since we are Country Chic Paint retailers we have an ample supply on hand at all times, which is a great benefit!

 

I finally ordered some CCP aprons and have my extra apron on one of our dress forms. Why not use it as advertising, right? And "she" looks so cute!

 

'

 

I worked on this small desk (or vanity) and in this picture I hadn't had a chance to distress or wax it. I ended up giving it a moderately distressed look and added the Country Chic Paint wax in gray. The tinted wax gives it a

textured look and it was beautiful! I hightlighted the hardware with silver metallic cream (also by Country Chic Paint) and I was happy with the results. The next day was our Spring open house and we ended up with two gals wanting the piece at the same time. A little tricky for us as shop owners to handle, but in the end we navigated it well. It ended up going home that day with a happy buyer! So needless to say, it all happened so fast I didn't get a final picture of it.

 

 

This table has a cool feature.... flip the top up and over toward the back and PRESTO, you have much more tabletop space. This just sold this past week. The weather is giving people fresh motivation for "spring cleaning" and decorating, I think! Why start guessing? I'll just have to keep painting!

 

The Hubby worked on this piece. It is very big and long... with 12 drawers for storage! I love the look of the French provincial pieces.

Here is one of my "Up-cycle" projects. We had an antique wooden ironing board that I was planning to make a "LAUNDRY" sign out of. At the last minute I decided to make it a laundry room cleaning caddy, that hangs on the wall. I found the baskets at one of our local wholesale malls and they fit perfectly! (The small white laundry sign was just being displayed there, it wasn't part of the completed project.) Anyway, I was happy with it and it also sold.

Now that Spring is here we are able to find more vintage goodies at decent prices (as compared to auctions) so  I'll be posting our latest finds in my next blog post.

For now I'll leave you with some of my favorite "Farmhouse" finds that are made to look old.

 

I see these awesome galvanized file folder bins and I

envision them in my office. They still might end up in there!

Most people like this saying because someone said it to them or they say it to their children.

It is just too darn cute. It sold so I'll have to find another.

 

 

This piece is SO COOL! It was expensive for me to purchase wholesale but the right buyer came along and it has sold.

It would have looked great in my craft space...

And last but certainly not least, I was looking for these tobacco baskets for the longest time and I finally found some! That and the cotton wreath.

 

Well, I have several custom orders coming up this week so I have to keep this short and sweet.

 

I will TRY to remember to take pictures of the "BEFORE and AFTER" so I can show and our projects better.

 

Thanks so much for staying in touch and for reading my blog posts! Like I said before, I miss my little 'ol blog and the friends I have made here.

 

Enjoy your day! 

 

A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of LuRay!

Hello friends!

 

Spring has SPRUNG! Finally.

 

 Flowers have bloomed, the temps are rising here in the Northeast, and I always bring out my LuRay dinnerware for y'all!

 

 

 

This year though I am totally swamped with all kinds of things. The store, painting projects, up-cycled projects, and now, yes, now I am sewing costumes. Actually, just alterations, which is pretty huge for me. Bebe is in her school musical, Cinderella and I dove in to help!

 

I love being involved with theatre, shows, dancing, etc. But the list of "To Do's" have grown immensely!

 

And this weekend is our Spring Open House at the shop. When it rains I pours!

 

Busy yes, but I wanted to share a

couple of our latest furniture repurpose projects:

 

This is our second "Farmhouse style" china hutch.

I love how they look with the white and the stained counter space area. We did a smaller one and it sold the same day we advertised it on Facebook.

 

 

This French Provincial buffet was a wonderful transformation. It went from vintage sixties maple stain to this rich black color (Country Chic Paint in Liquoric) with gold hardware.

I also transformed a vintage wooden ironing board into a laundry/cleaning product caddy. I'll grab a photo of that later today and add it  to this post. Right now I am working on a small secretary desk and a folding top table... it is so cool for smaller homes or apartments!

Now I must dive into the rest of my day... but I wanted to wish you a "Happy Spring!"

 

I do miss posting more and I miss y'all...

Enjoy the day!