Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Ease on down, ease on down the road ...

That is exactly what I'm doing, easing on down to a new location! I am moving from Nellie & Nico's to Le Fou Flea, a lovely place in Kansas City's West Bottoms. I have always had this area in the back of my mind but I thought it was out of my reach. Over the last few months I have come to the realization that I need to either get out of this business or take a big step forward. And while I am glad to have gotten to this point, thanks to the support of my clients and friends. It was a semi-agonizing decision. That is, until the first time I went down to check out the West Bottoms. The clouds parted, the sun shone bright, and it felt like I had finally found the mother ship! I needed to be here. So, I am hoisting up my big girl pants, taking a deep breath and doing it.

I will spare you all of the wonderful things about this move and leave you with pertinent details. I have a space to be moved into by Saturday, after all.

* The icing on the cake, so to speak, is that I will be able to sell fresh pastry in the Flea's Knees' pastry case. I will be doing this on First Friday weekends.

* Part of having a space is that you work a certain number of hours a month, so I will be around to see all of your pretty faces. I will post updates on my shifts on my Facebook page.

* Le Fou Flea is not just open on First Friday weekends, but every Saturday and Sunday. Missed First Friday? No problem, come on down!

* Le Fou Flea's Hours:
First Fridays - 9a - 7p
Saturdays - 10a - 6p
Sundays - 11a - 4p

Again, thanks to you all for supporting me in this exciting adventure!
                       

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Put a Kinda-Cork in it

As an avid gardener, I keep coming back to the issue of plant markers. I have tried the purchased variety, with limited success. I love the look of the cast, etched "rocks," but I find that once the plant expands and grows, you can't see the marker anymore. That leads to the other problem, out of sight, out of mind. If you leave these markers out during our midwestern winters, they crack and crumble. I also like the printed/engraved/embossed metal stakes. But again, for taller plants they are soon hidden. Plus, I like to grow different varieties of the same plant. I have four different types of thyme - red, creeping, lime and lemon. I would eventually like to make flattened, embossed spoon markers. I have all of the supplies, but I find that this project works best with more than 2 hands and I haven't had any extras around lately.

So, I did a search for DIY plant markers. There were a lot of cool ideas out there, but the one I liked best for form, function, time and cost was found at mychiclife. I have a large jug where we throw our wine corks, I chose to use the now-prevalent rubber corks instead of actual cork. The wine we drink most is Barefoot Moscato, so the corks all had little bare feet on them, which I think is cute for the garden. I started out using an ultra-fine sharpie, but ended up switching to the fine tip, which I was much happier with.
I used a combination of bamboo skewers and tall, salvaged, wire stakes. I didn't drill them, just jammed them in to the corks. They've been outside for 2-3 weeks and the writing has faded a bit so I'll probably go over them again. I might try putting clear nail polish over the writing and see if that helps with the fading. All in all, I'm pretty happy with them.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Ideas For Antique Flower Frogs

Tonight's sale includes 2 antique metal pin-style flower frogs. I have seen so many cute ideas for using these in new and not-so-new ways.

I love using them to display photos, quotes or other ephemera. A word of caution - these buggers are sharp!! So why not put a cloche over the whole thing? Protects fingers and keeps the dust at bay. Brilliant! I also love the look of a collection of frogs in a bowl or artfully stacked.
The above photos came from the following sites: Top left - froggoestomarket; Top right - mamiejanes; Bottom left - skitzoleezrastudio; Bottom right - cheryl-comfort.

They can also have a practical use, holding place cards or individual letters to create a message.

Check out vintagemellie for more shabby/vintage inspiration.

And, of course, you can use them to arrange flowers - how novel!
Top - rootstobloom; Bottom - nadiaknows.

That's just a few ideas for these fab little pieces of history. Got more ideas? Please share them in the comments below!

There will be 2 available tonight, one green and one bare metal. Get more details after 9:00 at facebook.com/kateandeugene.

Tonight's Facebook Sale *** July 10th

Here's a peek at the items that will be available at tonight's Facebook sale ...




I start listing items at 9:00 at www.facebook.com/kateandeugene. See you then!

Saturday, June 22, 2013

To the Boulevard


My junior picker and I checked out the Boulevard Flea Market/Swap-n-Shop this morning. I had never been but had always wanted to go and check it out. I am working on some outdoor pieces, bird feeders, yard art and such and I thought that maybe it would be a good venue for selling them. It was not quite what I expected. I was expecting a little more flea, but it was a little more swap meet. It was kind of like a bunch of people having little garage sales. Most stuff was not priced and when I would ask, things were overpriced, closer to retail than swap meet. Plus these are items that were in need of cleaning. I don't mind getting my hands dirty for a great treasure but if I'm paying retail prices, it had better be clean.

The highlight of the morning is when mini-me found some Legos that she wanted. She asked the price and the lady said $9. Mini-me's reply? "Would you take $8?" I about fell over, I guess she has been paying attention!

It was a good recon trip, but I don't think it's a good fit for selling and not sure about shopping either. On a cooler day, it may have been a fun treasure hunt. However, this morning, with 76% humidity, it was a lot of over-priced junk. Of course, the nature of the swap meet is that it changes every week, so we may try again at the end of summer.

Have you been to the Boulevard Swap & Shop? What did you think? Tell us about your experience in the comments.


Thursday, June 20, 2013

Repurposed Storage

I like to reuse jars for storage. I have a few requirements as to what jars I will use. Above all, they cannot have any lingering food odor. Pickle jars are a fantastic size and shape, but I can never get the pickle smell out of the lid, so they go to the recycling bin. My favorite jars for reuse are the pasta sauce jars that look like mason jars, I think the brand is Classico. If you purchase the sauce at Costco, the jars are nice and fat, but the regular one work, too. I also like jam jars. My second rule for reuse is that the label has to come off easily. Both Polaner jam and the Classico jars use an adhesive that comes off easily just by soaking them in hot water for a few minutes. Some jars have a date stamp on the glass, which comes off with a little rubbing alcohol.

I do not like my reuse projects to look junky. I like to look at them and forget what they once were. I did not like the assorted lid look in my studio, so I decided to paint them all the same color. I started by priming them, inside and out. My favorite primer for metal is Bullseye 1-2-3. It cost a bit more, but it is so worth it for hard-to-paint surfaces. A large spray can cost about $10 at Ace. I use generic Jenga pieces to elevate small items for painting. You can usually find them at the dollar store.



I thought about doing a cute, bright color but then decided to go with a neutral color, to put the focus on the jars' contents. I chose RustOleum's Painter's Touch in dark grey. Make sure and let each coat dry completely, which can take a while in this Kansas humidity. After the paint dried, I finished them, again inside and out, with a coat of clear gloss sealer. Again, make sure the lids are absolutely, completely dry before you put them on your jars!

All finished! I am using this batch of jars to store/display my game piece stash. Now, instead of a hodge-podge of jars, they have a sleek, uniform look.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Facebook Sale Tonight!

Here's a peek at a few of the items in the sale tonight. See you at 9!