A Giveaway: Post Road Vintage

Hello all!  Hope you are doing well!  Sometimes (sometimes!) I get a little caught up in the details.  Like I really, really wanted something to put my dish soap in that would look pretty.  And that was 4 years ago... maybe more.  When I finally decided to use the mason jar pumps, I looked around and decided that I wanted to hunt the *perfect* jar.  Well, I found it... like a year or two ago.  Then, I decided to get a crown jar... one of the smokey ones... ahh... smokey grey... anyhow, I realized that they don't take a standard zinc lid like my pretty aqua-y Atlas did.  So, I pulled a switcheroo and now I have a great mason jar pump (with green dish liquid... the Mr. says I have to use it all up before finding something to bring out the beauty in my jar.)   And, this story is to tell you all how I met Heather from Post Road Vintage.

You may know her from her blog, or her popular e-zine Homebound, or etsy.  However you know her, you know this girl has simple, stylish living down pat.  And, she is creative and makes great, functional products.  Her soap dispensers don't get yucky or leak.  She has researched how to make her product better.

So, after "meeting" her and ordering one of her pumps for my very own found jar, I twisted her arm until she agreed to do a giveaway of one of my favorite products of hers....

She puts a special finish on old mason jars to make them look like old white pottery.  So pretty!  I love it... I think I will have to get one of these too!  

So, I bet you want to know how to win... 

* go to Post Road Vintage on Facebook and like it and leave a comment here.

Okay, now I know some of you over achievers like extra credit, so here are some more ways to get an entry

*Subscribe (what do you mean you haven't!) to her incredible e-zine Homebound (it's free!)

*Share on Facebook

*Tweet on Twitter

PLEASE, leave a new comment for each one you do... this makes it oh, so much easier to figure out the winner.

I will announce the winner on April 3rd. 

Good luck everyone!  I will be back soon... I have lots of things planned, but nothing finished!  Story of my life!

bye for now~

Road Trip: Cross Plains

Hello, hello!  Hope you guys had a great weekend!  We had an eventful week last week.  The little hyena fell off a bench last week (chasing a bubble) and several x-rays and a couple of doctors later, we still can't find a break or a reason for the limping.  If the limping doesn't stop, we are getting a cast.  I say we, because baby hughes won't be the only one suffering if he is sofa bound for awhile.  So, keep your fingers crossed the limping is better by Wednesday.

With all that drama, we still managed to fit in a little road trip last Thursday.  We got up early and headed out without a real plan..... sometimes you find the best places that way.  We came across a little town called Cross Plains.

Cross Plains is a tiny town, but what we found there was great!  We stopped at the Historic Corner House.  This sweet store is owned by Teresa and Perry Story.  They specialize in reclaimed barn wood pieces amongst their incredible vintage finds.

Like this trike... I wanted to ride it away!  So awesome!

Their store is located in a historic home and it has all those period details that I love... like chandeliers... there were quite a few... swoon...

They have made this room a Gourmet General Store... they sell all kinds of goodies including coffee.  Many of their products are locally made.

They also have a fun bath product room.  They have their own line of bath products (sorry.. no photo!) called Farm Chic*k.  

I loved the candles... they are in milk bottles!  And Teresa designed this display and the her Mr. built it fr her out of reclaimed materials.

another chandelier... be still my heart!!

They had lots of really unique finds like this scale.

It was so fun meeting them and their sweet pup Pete.  This shoppe had such a homey, welcoming feel to it.  I managed to leave with an English Ironstone bowl, but there are quite a few other things that I really wanted.  If you want to find out more or visit, you can find out more about them via their Facebook page.

Right next door was a little diner and it was lunch time, so we decided to get a bite there.  Incredible place!  It was and still is an operating drug store.  It had everything you imagine old drug stores to have.... a counter with stools... milk shakes.... really cool cabinets.  I decided to try a Salty Lemonade and let me say... I am going to try perfecting it at home.  I wish I had one right now!!  The Mr. tried to steal mine and he ended up ordering one to go.  YUM!  I don't know if I can ever go back to regular fresh squeezed again.

I love fun little road trips like this and finding new spots and meeting new people.  It was a great short trip.  I hope to take quite a few of these this summer.

Okay, I have a lot of new pieces to finish this week for the shoppe... photos of those soon.  A

bye for now!

Some things you can't improve...

Hello all!  Okay, if you are covered in snow and not liking it, then divert your eyes for a few lines.... the weather in Tennessee is GORGEOUS!!!  I am a pretty positive person, but I am still a little worried that there may be an icky cold snap... so I am waiting on those ferns for the front porch.  Seriously, though, it is so nice and I have been feeling more alive!  Now, when it is 100+ with humidity here and you snowy ones have lovely warm, breezy weather, you can gently rub my face in your good fortune!

So, last week I showed the little changeroo that I did to my kitchen.  And here is why... we found a piece that I loved as is... so much, that I was determined to find a place (any place!) for it.

Some things you can't improve on... like that color!  And the aged patina of the paint.  Now, if you really look at this piece, it is obvious that a drunk (or impatient) man painted it (Yes, I said MAN!)   There are drips and runs and the rogue thumbprint.  But, that just adds to its character!  And I love it with all of those things!

I really like how the painter sort of covered the little decorative pieces... like he couldn't decide to leave them gold or paint over them.  Who cares though?  

Now, I think most of you know that I have a little *problem* with ironstone.  But, you may not know that I go ga-ga over mercury glass.  I used to have it all sitting out on a long table and I loved the look.  I had to move it quick when the boy starting walking (and running and ramming...) It was in the industrial cabinet and it looked crammed in there, and I was never thrilled with it.  So, after doing the switch, I was so glad that it all fit on here.  I have a few new pieces and some silver mixed in, but a lot of it is old.  I am still looking for a mirror or something above the mercury glass.  A mirror I bought last week didn't work, so it will go to the shoppe... and it is a beauty!

Now, I know I said I couldn't improve on the piece, but I couldn't resist lining the drawers with some vintage botanicals! So spring-y and happy!  This piece stores all of our downstairs linens and stuff like batteries and odds and ends that we don't have another place for (no junk drawer in the kitchen.)

All this changing has made me move on to the living room as well.  I have some plans for that room and a can of paint that is *begging* me to put it to good use.  That room is going to get a small makeover.  Soon.  Very Soon!

bye for now!

Move this here... and that there....

Hello all!  Lately, I have been so busy at the shoppe, that I haven't really done anything or changed anything at home.  A few weeks ago, the Mr. came home with a piece that I just couldn't part with, so I shuffled some things around to make it work.  I still need a mirror or to change up some wall stuff, so I thought I would wait to show you the new piece and instead show you what moved to the kitchen.  We had a long black table and some shelves that worked, but I wanted to change them.  So, away they went!

I moved my metal and glass industrial cabinet here and piled the ironstone in!  I recently *edited* my ironstone  and this is what remains.  I have a few more pieces sprinkled throughout the house.  I like actually using my ironstone, so the kitchen is the best place for it.

While moving something else the other day (in the living room... yes, that has changed too!) I found this vintage French poster showing the production of bread.  I had seriously forgotten that I had placed it behind a shelf to keep it safe until I found a spot.  Serendipity!  After a few text messages with some friends (does anyone else do that?) it was decided that I would move the bored lady and put this up.  Now, I just have to lovingly nag my husband to mount this big measuring device against the wall.... it stretches waaaayyy up!

 I love the changes so much!  The table was sometimes used as a piling station, and since we have several of those already, I was pleased to get rid of it.  And I also love the patina of the ironstone stacks against the patina of the metal cabinet.

I will show you some other changes very, very soon.  I have new paint in my possession people!  The living room is next *wink*

bye for now~


the black shelves and the table are for sale if any locals are interested.  You can email me at michelle at vintagejunky dot com.  

Meeting Folks

happy Tuesday!  Hope your weekend was wonderful!  Last week I was mopey about my girlfriend moving  (still am *wink*) but she came in town for a short visit, but it was great!  And, I said one of the best (the best!) things about blogging is the people you meet and the friendships that you make.  It is the same way with having the shoppe.

  I get to meet lots of people... most of them sharing the same interests as I do.  And that is awesome, because let me tell you... most of my friends and family don't really understand my obsession with old stuff and constantly moving stuff around... they are supportive, but they don't *get* it.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have gotten to meet in person a few people that you may already know through their blogs.  A few weeks ago, I got to meet Susan from A Vintage Farmwife. It was a short visit (17 minutes) but I am so glad her and her husband stopped by on their way to Florida.  We had a great time chatting and getting to know one another a little bit better.

Then, last week I got to meet Mary from Urban Farmgirl.  Now, Mary and I have talked back and forth via email and comments and all the other social tools we have in our arsenal these days.  I was thrilled to finally meet her in person.  We were able to chat for quite a while on Thursday and then she came back with her Mr. on Saturday.  She is so sweet!  And genuine.  I am glad I like her even more in person than I do off her blog.

I had so much fun!!  I think they tried to leave several times while I was talking her ear off with one more thing I needed to say.  What can I say?  I am a chatter.  I can't wait to see her again!  I wish I would have been able to leave the shoppe and go junk with her.  She did a little for me and my mantle has one more trophy on it now *wink*

And, I was thinking all us vintage lovers need an App for that!  Like the ability to create a wishlist and send it to one another and then snap a photo and send it to the wisher.  I mean, that is what she did, but it would be nice to have it all together.

I was sad to see her go, but I am pretty sure she will be back... maybe soon! Well, I bet she will wait until after tornado season is over!!

Now, you are probably wondering if my photography skills got infinitely better... or maybe you caught the watermark.  Last week I also met Jenny Cruger, who is obviously an amazing photographer.  We had been emailing back and forth about some furniture for me to paint and I checked out her site and loved her look.  So, now she is going to do a little family photo shoot this May!  

That is on my bucket list for 2012, so I am pretty excited about it.  She stopped by again last Saturday and snapped a few of the shoppe.

I think she captured it beautifully.... It is exactly the look and feel I want people to take with them.

It is amazing what a different eye (and lens) can see.

I loved looking through the shots, because even though I arrange and fluff most of the shoppe,  I don't know that I have seen my shoppe in the same way that Jenny did.

You can see more of the shoppe by visiting Jenny's blog.

So, thanks Susan, Mary, Jenny and all the others that have visited the shoppe in person and virtually.  It is with your friendship and support that this little dream is a real live shoppe.

I will be back soon with some home photos... I moved some stuff here... and then some stuff there... and some stuff needs to move out!

bye for now!