Sellers Cabinet with a Story

The stories she could tell! If only this old Sellers Cabinet could talk.

In fact, she did tell me a bit of her story.

See the wood attached to the side on the right? It should hold a wooden shelf.
There was a shelf there, covered in dirty pink paper.
I pulled it out to clean it, and when I took the paper off, it wasn't wood.

It was a folded up heavy cardboard calender.

From 1956!

That makeshift shelf has worked for a long time!
Love the resourcefulness of whoever came up with a solution using whatever they had laying around the house.

The cabinet had another story that is a mystery.
The pull out table part was in bad shape.
It's not enamel like most, but rather some kind of wood.
Maybe its the underlayment for enamel, and the enamel is missing?
It was all stained and nasty looking, so I painted it black.

My own version of resourcefulness.
😄

He Finally Got His Sleigh

First off, you have to understand.... George has always wanted a sleigh.

It comes up every Christmas. And throughout the year.
In antique shops and estate sales.
Around the dinner table, and riding in the car.

He has admired many, but sleighs, REAL sleighs are expensive.

So, he has just dreamed.

A couple days ago, I saw this picture on a local auctioneer's Facebook page.

I texted the picture to George, with the comment, "Boy, she's rough."

He agreed, but said he was interested.
Hmmm...

I went to the auction, and he stopped in for a few minutes on his way to an appointment to get the tires rotated on our car. He looked the sled over, then came over to me with a very excited look on his face.

"Don't let it go for less than $150."

My response? "BOY, SHE'S ROUGH.'

"She's fine, I can work with her".
Hmmm....

So, he left for the car appointment, and I stayed at the auction, rather hoping that the sleigh would go for $160. Don't get me wrong, I want George to have a sleigh. And a fixer upper is fine. But, BOY, SHE'S ROUGH.

The sleigh finally came up on the auction block. The auctioneer tried to start the bidding at $100.
Silence.

$75.
$50
$40
$30
$20
$10

I held up my bidders card.
And no one else did.

SOLD!!!

When George got back to the auction, he sat down beside me. I looked at him and said, "don't ever think I don't love you", and he broke out in a grin.

"You got the sleigh?"

"Yep"

"How much?"

"10 bucks."

"WHAT? Only 10 bucks?"

Apparently he is the only one that didn't notice that BOY, SHE'S ROUGH.

"Yes, she's rough, but she's perfect. That makes her easier to take apart and fix." he said with a huge smile on his face.

He looked like a kid on Christmas morning.

Wish him luck!

A Box Trailer Would Have Been Nice

Our October event has now come and gone.

Thanks so much to all who came and supported us!

Whew! We're tired! But, we are already preparing for the next one.

In fact, we bought a truckload for the November one a week ago.

We went to the special Saturday flea at Roger's Ohio. They usually are on Friday, and we don't get to go because of George's work schedule. But every so often, they hold one on Saturday, and we took advantage. 

We did put a couple things in the October event: the tea cart and the tall primitive cupboard. 

And they both have already sold.

We didn't take the trailer. It was a drizzly day, and we figured we wouldn't find much.

We figured wrong.

It took some serious stacking skills to get everything loaded in the truck. 

By the time we were done, we started thinking more seriously about buying a box trailer. We have a couple trailers, but always have to use tarps.

By the time we were home a couple hours later, and had driven through a couple SERIOUS DOWNPOURS, we were looking box trailers up online.

The rain didn't hurt anything. As soon as we got home, we got everything dried off. It had all needed a bath anyway, and Mother Nature gave us a helping hand. But honestly, we would rather do it ourselves.

And yeah, we are looking for a box trailer. 

Our next open date is November 23 & 24, which is Black Friday & Small Business Saturday. 

It's going to be a busy month getting ready. No rest for the weary! 😊

October Open Weekend

We are on day 2 of our October open weekend, and day 1 served up another example of this important tip for our shop:

It happened again. 2 people wanting the same thing at the same exact time. If the one who missed out had pulled the tag, she would have got it. As shoppers, we tend to look at something, then wander around looking at other things before we go back to get what we came in for. But with our one of a kind pieces being promoted on our Facebook page, chances are good that more than one person will be coming in for the same thing... at the same time.

So, if you are sure you want something, pull the tag and bring it to either me or George at the counter, and it will be yours to buy.

What was the piece that both wanted so badly this time?
This:

This old primitive cupboard. So prim, so sturdy, so cool.

We set several things outside before we open, and the lesson applies there too. If you are one of the folks who come early and stand in line waiting on us to open, and you see something you want outside, pull the tag.

See that plow leaning against the corner on the right? The customer who wanted it was waiting in line to get in, but didn't pull the tag. She told me as soon as she came in that she wanted it, and I told her to hurry and pull the tag. She was just lucky that no one else pulled it ahead of her, or she would have missed out, even as she stood there in line.

This is the only downside to the unique pieces we work hard to find. Only one person can buy them!

Some of our other cool pieces this month...

A metal dental cabinet. It sold as soon as we opened.

Barn gates, straight out of a sheep barn in Ohio. The corn sheller was from the same barn. The sheller and some of the gates are still available today.

The blanket box is still available. Love it's dovetailed corners!

Some of the ladders have sold, but we are actually bringing more in today.

Still have the iron wheels. This set is in great shape. We have more that are in a bit more used condition.

These chairs are screwed together, making a bench.

The large whiskey barrel with the green bands sold yesterday, but the shorter one is still available today. It still has it's wooden spigot.

We have lots more... old windows, lots of enamelware, signs, wooden boxes, old chairs, kitchenware, goats milk soap, WV decor, the list goes on and on.

Open today (Friday, October 13) from 10-5. Our next open weekend will be November 23 & 24, which is Black Friday and Small Business Saturday. After that, we will be open each Friday and Saturday until Christmas.

Hope you can come! 318 Jefferson Avenue in Moundsville, WV.

September Open Date

We are in the middle of our September open weekend. Whew! Another busy month getting ready! 

The pumpkin sign is painted on a large crate side that we took apart. Love the wire running across it.

These doors! So perfectly chippy!

The first thing that sold? This dresser. I could have sold it several more times, if only I could have twitched my nose and made more appear.

Quilts. Need I say more?

The white mantle went quickly too. We still have the brown one behind it.

Almost heaven!!!

This table is a marriage of an enamel top table, placed on a table that had issues with it's top. That's a post for another day...

Iron wheels. Awesome.

Another marriage. A child's roll top desk, placed on a cast iron sewing machine base. Truly one of a kind!

The black dresser/buffet sold as I was uploading this picture. Love the rockers!

I do believe the coolest thing in this display is the 3D horse picture.

We will be open again tomorrow from 10-5. Actually, we will probably open at 9, because the street in front of us will be holding our towns annual Fall Festival. Always a great day to visit Moundsville, WV!

August Summary

Our first 2 occasional shop weekends are under our belt.
Maybe for our 3rd one I can post blog pictures of it BEFORE instead of AFTER!
Here's to getting more organized!

Our July weekend (the first one) was better than we hoped. We were so excited by a line on Friday morning! The rest of that Friday was much slower. Saturday was slow, but steady, and we were happy with the turnout, with it being the first one.

August? Longer line on Friday, then the afternoon slowed considerably.
Since the July Saturday had been slow, George made other plans and didn't go to the shop with me.
Big mistake.
We had another short line on Saturday, then it slowed for just a bit. But around 11, folks started coming. And coming. And coming. For a couple hours, we were quite packed. I texted George a HELP! plea, and he came. It stayed busy most of the day.

WHEW! It looks like our leap of faith is going to work out! We are humbled and thankful.

Our theme for August was Old School, and we had 2 small classrooms set up.

From the time we made the decision to switch to occasional, I knew the August theme would be Old School. What a fun way to feature old school desks! Unfortunately, we only sold one desk. We plan to take the rest to an Antiques Fair. It's funny, I used to sell school desks easily, but the last few years, they have been a tough sell. But that's ok, they made for a fun theme.

Also fun was the outhouse display. That outhouse was a big hit! Maybe too big!
It taught a valuable lesson... if you want to buy something that is too big to bring to the counter, PULL THE TAG! We had a few people wanting it all at the same time. I won't go into the details, but the lesson is clear, pull the tag, so it's spoken for if you are sure you want something.

The funny thing about the outhouse is that we bought it a few years ago with the intent of using it as a pattern to make more. We put it beside our garden and kept garden tools in it, and never did get around to making more. The tree that was beside it was crowding it out, so I suggested we go ahead and sell it, and George agreed. Since so many customers wanted the outhouse, (I was still getting messages about it that evening), George took several pics of it, along with measurements. Looks like we will be making more after all! We hope to have a few made before the September open weekend.

We weren't sure whether to put out the clay pots we picked up recently or not, but since several customers showed an interest in them when I asked, we did put them out. The remaining ones will now be stored in the back until spring.

Crocks! Enough said. Love crocks!

The chicken wire front cabinet was one of the first items sold.

Vintage kitchenware always brings back memories.

We decided to sell these white cupboards for $10 per piece. Yep, they all sold.

Both the wagon wheels went home with the same customer. They found a great new home!

Another hit was the $2 clearance corner. I got rid of lots of smalls that I no longer wanted. Obviously we can't do that every month (some of those items retailed at up to $20. or so), but we may do it again sometime at some dollar level. For September, I'm planning a jar sale, which will include the old blue ones, as well as jars I have upcycled into various craft projects.

Another lesson learned is that we need to put the things we want to display outside out there BEFORE we open at 10. In July, we were putting stuff out as the line was coming in. That didn't work very well. This time, I had it all out well ahead of time.

Starting today, I will be tearing down the Old School set up, and starting on the next one. The basic theme will be Fall Is In The Air. The main features will be vintage treasures (as always), and lots of fall decor. We are kicking around some ideas for some fun displays and we will try our hardest to make it worth your while to come again in September on the 14th and 15th.

Several customers told us with big grins on their faces that they are loving our new occasional shop status, because of how much new stuff we have every month. (We are loving it too!) We can't begin to tell you how much we appreciate the support. This could have failed miserably, but thanks to our great customers, it is going much better than we could have imagined. You all rock!!!

Piles of Goodies

These new occasional shop hours are keeping me busier than ever!
Lots of auctions and flea markets add up to lots of new stuff!

Stacks of enamel ware and/or granite ware.
I'll be honest, I don't know the difference.
Shh, don't tell anyone.

Old chairs. LOTS of old chairs.
Some can be used for sitting.
Some can be used for decorating.
All are all kinds of awesome.

Old boxes of all kinds, and all sizes.

Even old puzzles. That one wasn't planned, they came with a table I bid on.
But they are cool, country scenes, so sure, why not?

We are getting ready for this weekends open date.
August 10 & 11.
That's a Friday & Saturday, 10-5 both days.

Country Life = First Time with a Paintbrush

"Mimi, can I help you paint"?

So I put on old T-shirt of Pappy's on over his clothes, and gave him a worn out paint brush and a stool that had a split in the leg that I was going to take apart for the pieces.

He already had on his barn boots, which are pretty much his favorite shoes.

That smile!

That concentration!

I don't have a picture of the finished stool, because as 3 year olds do, after a while he was ready to move on to something else. But this kept him occupied for a good while, and gave him a healthy dose of confidence and accomplishment.

A couple days later I heard him telling Pappy that Mimi had a great idea and let him paint a stool.

He's not the only one who thoroughly enjoyed that moment in time.

Grandchildren are the absolute best.