Thursday, October 31, 2013

Ready, Set, Go

Ok folks; I have schlepped, hauled, climbed... glued, wired, nailed... unpacked, fluffed, tagged and now its time to let the show begin.


This Friday at 8:30 am, Good JuJu will open its doors to ring in the holiday season and I am excited to be a part of it. I have dusted off my display skills and tried to create a mini shop for you to browse, buy and be inspired. Confession: I have loved every minute of it! The owner, dealers, and staff of JuJu have welcomed me with open arms and have encouraged, taught and helped me prepare for this event. I see now that although they may only be open 3 days a month, they work non-stop to prepare for this show. Each dealer has their own unique look with merchandise to match; from primitives to 50's kitch, to vintage clothing, to painted furniture... to say there is something for everyone is an understatement.

I have visited JuJu a dozen times in the past but mostly on Sundays and now I know this is the stupidest thing I could have done! A line forms at 8 am on Friday to fans that know what they could be missing and by noon the dock is packed with items to take home to customers. I'll never be late again! The good stuff goes fast.

Below is a sneak peek into my space with many of the Christmas items not shown. (Still tagging!) The ornaments, linens, candles and soap are not shown either. PLEASE STOP IN TO SAY HELLO and visit us and all the other shops during First Fridays, Warehouse Weekends.
























Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Monday, October 21, 2013

Christmas Show Announcement

Finally! I am so pleased to announce that Curious Sofa
will be back for the holidays this year!!
Please SAVE THE DATE in Kansas City to shop
during FIRST FRIDAY'S WAREHOUSE WEEKEND.

Good JuJu is a pioneer of the ever growing, First Friday antique shopping in downtown Kansas City. With a new venue and over 25 dealers, they have graciously asked me to be their guest dealer for November 1, 2 & 3 and December 6, 7 & 8. Because of the timely dates, I will be offering many of the Thanksgiving and Christmas items that you came to love and remember from our special events at Curious Sofa.

I have been shopping for months, from Minnesota to KC; cleaning, fixing, creating and unpacking many Christmas treasures for you in preparation for this event.  The November show will feature Thanksgiving and Christmas decor with a rustic feel; then in December, I will switch it up with a different color palette, new furniture, antiques and loads of jewelry and gift items.

Please save the date, make the trip and enjoy my offerings as well as all the vendors Good JuJu and the West Bottoms have. If you have never made the trip to see what Warehouse Weekends is all about, you're in for a treat. Load up the girlfriends and plan to spend the day with 28 different venues (yes! 28!), restaurants, food trucks and items galore.

Pearl and I will be waiting to see all our old friends and customers! Don't miss it!


Sunday, October 20, 2013

Monday, October 14, 2013

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Todays Great Collection


Collections are great. I have gone through a few in my lifetime: It all began with stuffed animals as a child then when I moved out of the house I discovered singer Wanda Jackson and a full-on country western fetish began! My first apartment had a crazy collection of Southwest salt & pepper shakers, cowboy boots, serape blankets, and Mexican tin. Many garage sales later I moved on to my Out of Africa phase with faded floral paintings, trunks and oil lamps. Then Legends of the Fall lead me to my log cabin stage with silver candlesticks, Indian paraphernalia and animal skins!

Although my personal collections have come and gone I still love acquiring items to sell on the website. Some that you all love are: silver candlesticks and picture frames, oil cans, silver or glass salt & pepper shakers, pig cutting boards and always ironstone.

The above image  is certainly one way to display a collection but filling a bowl, lining a wall or showcasing in a vintage frame would work too.

Sunday, October 06, 2013

Friday, October 04, 2013

White Fall Decorating

Loving this giant hand made garland made from paper.
If the colors of orange, rust and black are not your thing for fall, borrow this idea above. Make this oversized leaf garland from old book pages, sheet music, newspapers or even kraft paper. I am making this for myself by gluing leaves on a purchased grapevine from the craft store but heavy wire jute string or any fallen branches would work too.

I found this template online to use for your shapes: Download and resize as needed. (and colorful paper would work too!!) Imagine adding down a large table with white pumpkins, gourds and pale squash.

Thursday, October 03, 2013

Making Your Mark

Make note of where you add a beauty mark!

Wednesday, October 02, 2013

Halloween Memory Lane

From my store circa 2009, hanging over our counter: Old umbrellas, striped stockings stuffed with tissue, thrift store shoes and witches shoe buckles from the costume shop.

Although all of these pictures have been posted to this blog (granted, 3 years ago or more) I felt it was appropriate to post them again for some Halloween ideas. Halloween never started out being the big holiday it was at Curious Sofa, but once I moved to the second location, the Prairie Village neighborhood was clamoring for some haunted inspiration. What began as one dining table with a centerpiece of black crows aitting atop chalk statue ended up being a full-on, front to back display of many vignettes. Take a look around at some of my personal favorites.

One of my favorite displays but such a terrible photo was our witches feast. A giant gnarly log was down the center of the table, covered with Spanish moss and various root vegetables. Black and blood red roses fill a giant urn along with rusty witches hands holding radicchio, fuzzy rats and poison bottles.
Skulls fill a giant clam shell. 
My four mannequins were always dressed for each season: Here, the Brides of Frankenstein wearing antique dresses.
I stumbled upon this giant doll house (originally pink!) and painted it for this display. I glued whispy gauze inside the windows and added a fan behind it.
Ugly brass chandeliers I found curbside, painted white and wrapped with layers and layers of cheesecloth. On the wall: giant spiders I had for sale.
What a challenge: My black crows were always a hit so to showcase dozens for sale I projected this branch image onto the wall then added ladders for display. I always wanted to do this to the side of my garage for October!
Always at a loss over what to have at our entrance, I found this pair of mannequin legs at an antique mall and stuffed them in a giant urn. A golden axe hangs at the front door inside an old frame.

Tuesday, October 01, 2013

Happy October!

Today's Happy Image!
Your Sunday message.
BEST OF LUCK to all my friends and antique dealers in Round Top, Texas shopping and selling during the Round Top Antiques Fair. OH I WISH I WERE THERE!!!
AND THANK YOU Junk Bonanza!!! Elizabeth, Jana and I made the long trek to Shakopee, MN last week and found sooooo many great treasures; we had to rent a 12' U-Hual to get back home! This is such a great show if you have never been....GO!