Member Junkers {not so} Anonymous

Last week, when we had a conversation with one of our friends and customers at the Mineola Antique Fair. Their family has come 4 shows in a row and even came twice last weekend (and they won two of the door prizes being given away.) 

As they were leaving they said "we'll be back next month, it's like Junker's Anonymous... We have fun and can't stay away!" 

Junker's Anonymous... It immediately hit me that it had to be a graphic and most likely it's a new shirt in the works! 

Are you a member of the 

Junker's {not so} Anonymous Club?

You know, we can't keep it a secret that we have junk everywhere...the back of our trucks, yard, storage sheds, house... we love junk and we aren't afraid to show off what we do with it! 

We aren't really anonymous at all!! 

Whatya think? Should it be on the back of a shirt????????

It's Time for the Mineola Antique Fair!

It's almost time for the Mineola Antique Fair July Show, so I thought we should share some of the things that Angea from Rooster Tails and I will have available. You can find us at the fair Friday and Saturday - July 13-14 from 9:00-5:00 at 115 Lankford St. in downtown Mineola, Texas. (Located right behind the Sonic off Hwy 80 or just a couple blocks from the train depot on Hwy 69.)

Before we opened last month, I was trying to figure out how we could make signs with our business names on them and some way to hang things from the building rafters. Jeff used his ingenuity and created hangers that hook over the rafters easily and we can hang things from them! Love that creative man of mine! Still we needed signs that could be seen across the building...I've had the large heart with wings hanging in my yard for a while, and decided to paint GypsyFarmGirl on it. Then I decided that I would make Angea a Rooster Tails sign. I free-handed this chicken weather vane and cut it out of tin (very similar to the image she has on her business cards.) I love how it turned out, other than when the light hits it a certain way, you can't see all the letters. 

Angea's got a vintage bicycle and I found this cute tricycle recently. Aren't they a cute pair?

 We went on a fabulous junk pickin' trip a few weeks ago and we love this chippy metal cabinet. It's one of those things I hate to give up, but I don't really have a place for it at home.

 The chippy cabinet is setting on top of a vintage metal bar cart. Enamel pans, a kettle, vintage tin ceiling tiles... we loved that load of junk we found!

 Speaking of finding things - I was cleaning a closet a few weeks ago and what I thought was a tub of lace was actually a bunch of vintage quilts! I guess it pays to clean after all ;)

 Pretty in Pink - Some of our vintage farmhouse finds.

 You might have noticed we have lots of glass jars. Let me add that they are very reasonably priced and would be perfect for storing items in your home, gifts, messages in a bottle, herb tonics / tinctures, etc. A couple remind me of the jars my Grandmama always put the peanut brittle and peppermint patties in at Christmas time! If you saw the square jar with a lid on the counter, you knew she had been making treats!

 While we love summer, we are starting to dream about fall pumpkins and scarecrows.

 Need vintage door knobs? We've got some!

We've still got to take another load of items to add back to our booth before we open up on Friday. The following pictures were taken at the last show. I bring home the clothes, tin signs, tumbler wraps and other items that are in my etsy shop and take back each time. (It's about 30 miles from my house and the building is only open occasionally, so I can't leave all my online inventory over there.)

Most of these clothing items pictured below is listed in my etsy shop, so I can ship them and the tin signs almost anywhere, if you're unable to make it to the show in Mineola. For all of you who can't make it, there is FREE Shipping on Clothing right now! If there's something else you see in our pictures that you are interested in and can't find it in my online store - please send us a message (email/facebook/etsy/instagram) and if it's able to be shipped, we will be happy to send it to you! 

In fact, if time permits, Angea and I might even go Live on Facebook to have a preview and sale from the fair, giving everyone an opportunity to shop, no matter where you are located! 

Vintage Queen! 

Welcome Y'all mason jar tin signs. Display on your door, add to a wreath, on a wall, on the porch, etc.

Denim and lace vest / kimono - the lace is from a vintage wedding dress!

Hay Y'all!

In Rust We Trust - Live Love Junk

Reminder - the sale is the Second Friday and Saturday of the month. Although, if your passing through at other times of the month and see the doors open, you'll find some vendors working and you can do some shopping. Some of our stuff is there all month, while I do bring home some of it, including anything that's in my online shop. Make sense? I hear there's a food truck that's suppose to be there, someone with fried pies, and several new vendors will make their debut this month.

The Mineola Rodeo is also happening this week or you can stop by the nearby Mineola Nature Preserve (click here to see my blog post about our recent visit to the preserve.) There's lots of other fun shops to visit in Mineola or the Lake Country Playhouse and Historic Select Theater is a good place to take in a movie (and the vintage style billboard sign out there is photo worthy and one that I need to photograph.)

Hope you can come out and see us! Please introduce yourself if you are a follower, because I would love to meet you in person and thank you for being a part of this journey!

Looking back on this week...

It's been a busy week on the go, with lots of pretty flowers, a little bit of junk, and some cows and farm work thrown in! 

Monday started off with me picking up flowers and creating wedding bouquets for a Tuesday wedding. Yes, you read that right, the wedding was on Tuesday, but I'm not sure the significance of that day. I was sent two pictures of the gorgeous stained glass windows in the church and a couple of screen shots from pinterest of flower crown ideas. The bride said she wasn't picky, wanted something to coordinate with the stained glass in shades of red, blue, purple, green, and a touch of gold. 

This was her bridal bouquet! Red roses, blue hydrangeas, blue thistle, delphinium, purple larkspur, millet, hypericum berries, scabiosa pods, bronze amaranthus, and assorted greenery comprised the bridal bouquet and alter arrangements.

The bride was gorgeous and I hope to be able to feature her pictures here soon. 

I think this was the first flowers crown I have made with fresh flowers! I  was a little nervous about it, but think it tuned out great for her. 

The bride definitely wore it better than me...The flowers were delivered Tuesday on my way to some appointments.  

Tuesday also brought about a surprise share from Junkyjoey on facebook and lots of new faces on my page! So to all of you I say Welcome and Thank You!

Hurricane Irma brought cloud cover and cool weather to East Texas on Tuesday as well. I did some mowing at the farm, while checking on the cows and horses.

Homecoming time for the Gilmer Buckeyes! I took some special request for mums and delivered on Wednesday, along with getting my yearly haircut, meeting with other customers and shipping out flannels and more tin pumpkins.

Thursday of course is junkin' day with Angea! We restocked our Uniques and Antiques booth and did a short video discussing some of the items in our space.

This suitcase is in our booth now and it describes this week! Lots of wondering and wandering, but we aren't lost! 

Checking cows Thursday and all the babies had to gather around my truck and attempt to wash it! Ha! Between the dirt roads, summer ending on a dry  and dusty note, and driving in the pasture, this truck can't stay clean.

I finished up some more wedding flowers, including this sunflower and burlap bouquet with feathers and dried wheat.

When I filled out my planner on Sunday night, I thought my key events for the week would be over by noon on Friday and I was going to be a "hermit" on Saturday and work on new items, spend extra time at the farm, or just hang out, without makeup or fixing my hair. Well, plans change and I was asked to design flowers for a couple of funeral services this weekend, so I went to pick up more flowers and created tributes for them.

The fall flowers are just the prettiest and I think most elegant of the year! I love the rich and deep colors... These kind clients simply ask for fall flowers and said "we trust you." I went to the wholesale floral supply and hand picked all the flowers for the arrangements. Saturday they told me the flowers were "more than they ever could have imagined" and received so many compliments. 

Now for Saturday, the day I was going to be a hermit! My friend called me and said there was some barns she was helping a friends clean out that had my name wrote all over it. That most of the stuff was going in the trash or burn pile if I didn't come rescue it. Well of course, I had to go pickin' through the barns and rescued a couple of truck loads of treasures!

I got my first load early, went home to unload, change clothes, eat a sandwich and then make and deliver more flowers for another service, have more flower consultations, and then I went back for another load of junk.

For this service, the family wanted bright colors, with sunflowers, blue, red, purple, and white flowers. 

I came home as the sun was fading lower in the sky, with another load of rusty treasures. From farm implements and tractor parts, to old chairs, shelves, bricks, chicken crates, cages, and all kinds of rusty buckets, tools, and that huge mailbox! We've got a little surprise project we are working on and some of these new found items will surely find new life with it. 

It's been a super busy week and I am thankful for all of you who allow me to be a part of it! May all of our new friends find it welcoming here at GypsyFarmGirl and Janice East Designs (my fresh flower site)! I appreciate all of you who allow me to be a part of your weddings, events, or ask me to create tributes for your loved ones, the friends who pass along your referrals,  the ones who share your junk with me or share my post with others, and those who wear something I've made or decorate your homes with some of my hand made items. Thanks for being a part of my tribe! Y'all are the BEST!!!

Gone Junkin - Wooden Nickles, Chandeliers, and Snakes!

All in a days work - finally getting around to sharing our Thursday Junkin' adventures and let me tell ya, this is one we won't soon forget! Angea and I started met up at an estate sale Thursday morning. We found some vintage lace and a few items there. There was this bucket of wooden nickles that was used as advertising for the company the family owned. It led me to telling the story of what my Granddaddy always told me. When parting ways, many people say things like "after while crocodile" or "see you later, alligator." Not in my family! Granddaddy always told me "Don't take no wooden nickles...Don't kill any dead snakes."  

Well, I did take a few of the free wooden nickles...

While we at the estate sale, Angea talked to a friend and she alerted us to an unadvertised garage sale, so we decided to go check it out and found some gorgeous blush lace panels there, although its what we saw between the two sales, that we won't forget! 

We see this huge chandelier in a dumpster and of course we decided to stop and grab it up! I start to grab the chandy and Angea hollers "there's a dead snake!" I had to get photo proof and snapped a couple pictures before we loaded the chandelier up. Thank goodness it was a dead snake and we followed Granddaddy's advise and did not kill a dead snake!

It has a couple of bent arms, but just look how big it is! I can see visions of it hanging from an old oak tree with flowers, battery operated candles, and fabric intertwined in it for an outdoor wedding. 

We then ventured on to another estate sale on our way to add some new items in our booth at Uniques and Antiques in Mineola, Texas. We had lunch, restocked our booth, then met up with another vendor friend.

Angea's fabric pumpkin patch keeps growing and she adds new styles each week!

That's a square crochet table cloth on the hutch. Prices have been marked down on some items in our booth, so be sure to check back on some of the items. 

I love that denim and lace jacket that Angea repurposed! Embroidery is suppose to be a hot item for fall and this shirt has vintage embroidery and lace adorning it. There's several different styles of shirts and jackets to choose from. 

Our farmhouse mantle... Can we just say those white pumpkins are  fantastic! 

I've been working on some new tin signs and created some rustic pumpkins. (A larger selection of pumpkin and Mason jar signs are available in my online shop and available to ship worldwide.)

After getting back to Angea's house, I then decided I should run to Longview and get supplies for some weddings and events happening next week. I needed to secure the items, so me and my chandelier took off to Hobby Lobby.

Then it was time to go feed the horses and donkey. This is the boss horse, who has never let another animal eat with him or even come near him while eating. Somehow, someway he lets Ronnie D, the donkey, eat with him. Ronnie came to live on the farm last summer and was considered a "wild sh!t" by his previous owners, although now he loves attention and being petted. They have separate troughs, but end up eating together. I shake my head every time I see it, because I just can't believe my old horse will let someone eat with him!

The heifers were checking out what all was in my truck, while I was checking on them... or maybe they said it needed cleaning! If you missed the "What's in a Junker's Truck" post, you can check it out here.

Ah, finally home after about 10 hours on the go and unloading my junkin' finds!

I bought a petticoat at one estate sale! My mannequin needs a skirt for her next modeling gig! I got a ladder, a large frame, several vintage lace pieces, doilies, and some brooches.

I mean how could we pass this baby up?

Pretty doilies and an enamel bowl...

Talk about pretty blush lace!

It was a fun day with some neat finds. I went back to one estate sale today (Saturday) and found a few more goodies! I found a tv tray and orange mason jar pitcher top that is just like the one Grandmama had. We would carry dinner to Granddaddy in the hayfield on that tray and eat on the back of a truck or trailer bed. She would also make him lemonade in a mason jar and the orange handle / lid would allow you to pour out of the jar. (I'm sure it has an appropriate name, but I don't know it.) Those are a few finds that I intend to keep for myself...

 Have you found anything good while out junking recently or have a crazy tale to tell?

Just remember - Don't take any wooden nickles or kill any dead snakes, but do take the gorgeous chandy in the dumpster!