Candy & Kathy's EXCELLENT Junk Adventure!

JUST A NOTE: I've been catching up from our trip, and reading everyone else's awesome posts (by Candy, Gretchen, Amy, Lani and Sue - just click on their name and it will direct you to their blogs and you can read their tales of Oronoco, Minnesota and see their great junk style)...

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But now it's my turn to get started...

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A couple of the girls have posted a kind of a day-by-day review - I'm going to do kind of the same thing. We did so much in our few days out there - our heads were spinning - but part of that may have been due to sleep deprivation - but we followed our itinerary...and got-r-done! (thanks Sue!). I remember reading her email, and I thought "WOW"...we'll never do all that...well, we did - and it WAS amazing - start to finish!! And, when she threw in camping - that just took it over the top (and I wasn't sure if it would be a good or bad thing...)! ha ha

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This post is covering our drive out to Minnesota, our first night, and our first FULL (and I mean full) day of our adventure.

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My next post will cover Oronoco - flea-ing, camping and blog party-ing. OH MY!!!

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And, finally a post on my "finds" - which I'll post on the JunkMarket Style site too...(Just trying to get my thoughts in order as I type. ha ha).

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So....here goes......................................

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Well, the countdown was over, our bags were packed, and we were up and at 'em early in the morning on Wednesday, August 12th - and so excited I know we both could hardly stand ourselves... Leaving our house at about 5:30 a.m. - my hubby drove me up to meet Candy at about 6:30 a.m. (we may have been a few minutes late...) - and, it was definitely "friends at first sight" - we had only chatted through emails, facebook, once on the phone, and of course through the JunkMarket Style website! So after a quick good-bye kiss from my hubby, and a pic of me and Candy - we hit the road!

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Here are Thelma & Louise, I mean Candy and Kathy ready to hit the junking trail.

I think they're/we're going to have a fabulous time!!

It was about a 13-14 hour trip, and we saw a few things along the way...mostly we were talking/laughing - so a lot passed us by...! HOWEVER, this heavily packed car was ahead of us, and I had to get a pic. I told Candy I thought it looked like a couple kids heading to college, and when we passed them...that's exactly what it looked like (wonder if their Dad helped them pack that monster???)

Well, here we are...driving into Minneapolis (quick trip, huh??). I said that a lot passed us by...(even a toll booth...oops!)

Our arrival at Sue's (just a few minor glitches in the stupid GPS in the last 5 or 10 miles, but we made it...). You can see the "W" at the window - I'm pretty sure it means "WELCOME'...and we were!!!

It was more like a reunion than a first meeting - and walking into her home felt so familiar and comfortable (lots of things that we had seen posted as "projects" on the JunkMarket Style site...) Sue knows how to make a person feel right at home - feeding the weary travelers - AND to top it off...it was slumber party night - (you're never too old, right girls???). We also met Amy and her talented junk hubby, Ron, Gretchen ---- oh...and Sue's trusted watch dog...Lily)! We shared junk and laughed until we dropped - which was after 4:00 a.m. - not thinking we had more than a full day coming up on Thursday - oh heck - it was already Thursday - guess we'll just call it a power nap then!!

The first day began with a visit to mine and Candy's very first occasional sale at The French Fleamarket, where Gretchen and Lani sell their junk finds (and Gretchen's beautiful redesigned vintage jewelry). We were a little behind schedule, but we didn't waiver from our appointed rounds (sounds a little postal... :) It was a great shop, and so fun to see Gretchen's jewelry in person - and of course, we bought a couple things!

Oh...and ya gotta have a "group" photo (actually we had quite a few of them...)

And, see those smiles...they never left our faces the ENTIRE time!

(Left to right: Gretchen, Me, Sue, Lani, Candy)

Some of Gretchen's beautiful jewelry - and she displays it all so well!

Here's our happy jewelry designer! Hi Gretch!!

Sue and Candy checking out the garden area - lots of rusty cool stuff...

Well...we have a schedule to keep - it's off to Lani's! This sign was hanging just inside the door - "hello" on the front side and the back side of it said "good bye" - I thought it was so clever!

Just a peek into the kitchen (the sign said "EAT" - and we did). She had a wonderful lunch set up for us - and cheesecake for dessert - everything was perfect - thanks Lani!!

Sue & Lani...talking "decor" I'm sure!

Her home is beautiful and such clever, creative touches in every room!

Lots of oooohs and aaaahs AND "didn't I see that on one of your posts???"!

Seventh Heaven!

This mantle was way cool - iron spacers (I forget what they were used for...but she's reused them beautifully).

And a lamp with a musical touch...

Cloches, we know Lani loves her cloches (me too!!)

Alrighty then...time to have lunch - and some tasty lemonade...with a little help! :)

And, away we go............to Hunt & Gather.

No need for signs...we know exactly where we're going!

The sections of old bed springs were cut to hold pots - and they could be used in so many different ways (why didn't I buy one of those????).

What no dressing room???

No worries - this cute dress was a perfect fit - and the bestest color of vintage pink!

It was like stepping into Disneyland for junkers - so this little guy looked right at home!

And some great French Country style...

M'aam...there's a bird in your hat...

Alright - stop right here...I thought these squares of vintage lineoleum were so cool - scattered across the floor in one room - they're on my list of things to buy...next time! I found some (the next day) at Oronoco...that had been framed - and I loved them! It also reminded me of the floor of my Grandma's back porch...

AND away we go...again - ha ha!! (yes, that is the reflection of Candy's car in the window...)

To see more on this great store - visit their website - Hunt & Gather, AND - Candy did a great post on our visit (click here... http://junksophisticate.blogspot.com/2009/08/hunt-gather.html - You'll want to visit this store if you're ever in the Minneapolis area - it's on Candy's list of "things to do before I die"...and it is like "junk heaven"!!

We really could have spent hours and hours scouring the rooms (two levels) - but, our next stop was back at Sue's to get ready for our sunset pontoon cruise on beautiful Lake Minnetonka with Kimberly and her mother-in-law, Lisa... (and we got stuck in a little 5:00 traffic - that wasn't on our agenda...)

Here they come - can't wait to meet Kimberly!!

Now, how did we take off without Gretchen?

You can see she's patiently waiting for us to "back up"!

Ahoy matey!

This little maneuver made me a bit nervous...a great Kodak moment, don't ya think?

This was our Captain, Kimberly's mother-in-law, Lisa - thanks for the ride!

And, Lani's daughter, Rebekah (putting up with us silly ladies) :)

Again...friends at first sight! Kimberly is a sweetheart!

There were snacks and drinks to share - and again...lots of laughter!

The ride over to the restaurant was beautiful - and a perfect end to our day

(well...almost the end)!

I think this is my favorite picture of our happy group!

Cheese!!!

More fun...


Junk Sisters!


Here we are...at Lord Fletchers.
I think most of us had their famous walleye sandwich with sweet potato fries - yummo!!


Beautiful Minnesota sunset...

A few unexpected visitors (3 to be exact) at the end of the evening...scared us for just a moment - Sue was able to calm us down, and then the cameras started snapping (I'm pretty sure we "scared" them away!)...

Don't get too close Lani!

We're sailing away now...see ya!

A ride in the dark - but there were no wrong turns made.

Lisa skippered like a pro!! Thanks!!!

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At the end of Thursday, it was time for another "power nap"! We were "scheduled" to leave Sue's by 7:00 am on Friday (well...that was my prediction - ha ha - thanks Sue, for bringing me back to reality!!)

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Stay tuned for BIG fun in Oronoco.......

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Thanks for visiting my blog and sharing in our adventure!

Hugs, Kathy

P.S. Candy - I'll be your junking, traveling partner anytime!! :)

A few of my favorite things - from Oronoco with LOVE!! - JUNKMARKET Style

There's MUCH more to come on my new friends, my finds, and all our fun... Thanks to everybody who made this a fabulous junking adventure - it was the best time - seriously!!!!!!

Click below - and visit JUNKMARKET Style for the scoop - and a few other great posts as well!

A few of my favorite things - from Oronoco with LOVE!! - JUNKMARKET Style

Hugs, Kathy

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Cottage Elements: An Amazing Weekend in Oronoco!

Here's a sneak peek at our BIG trip - courtesy of Lani of Cottage Elements - one of my bestest junking buddies in Minnesotas (there are a few of them) - so thankful for new friends and fun junk!! :) I'll have a post ready soon - but Lani's tale definitely gets things going! Enjoy!

And thanks girls for such a memorable, fun, crazy, junking, AWESOME time!! Hugs!!

Kathy

P.S....be sure to check out www.junkmarketstyle.com - there's lots of details popping up over there too!!

Click here!! Cottage Elements: An Amazing Weekend in Oronoco!

Me and my girls... A girls' night at the workshop!

I've got the best friends...and one of our favorite things to do (besides junking together) is having our project nights!

Me, Robin, Terri and Carol

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Me and three of my bestest friends, or is it three of my bestest friends and I...anyway - us girls (Carol, Robin, Terri and I), had one of our "Girls' nights" at our workshop the other night. It's a great place for us to play (aka create fabulous projects and have lots of fun) - and not have to worry if we make a mess, make too much noise, or act too silly (not that we worry about that a whole lot anyway)! (or partake of too much chocolate...oops...)


We had two projects in mind, and I'll share one of them for now... It was a junky/rusty wreath we had seen at a friend's house and we wanted one of our own! So.....over the last couple months we've been collecting pieces and parts (garden tools, tiny watering cans, and other miscellaneous pieces of metal paraphernalia) to make these rusty creations! Some of the pieces we found were those old coppery wall decorations (from the 60s??? - kinda cheesy looking by themselves...) - they made perfect focal points for our wreaths.

We used a wire wreath form for the base, and loosely wrapped some wide burlap trim around to hide some of the wire. We then tried to decide what to put on first...decisions, decisions (we had too many that was the problem...!). So, starting with the larger pieces first (on mine, it was the coppery flower cart), and then added the garden tools and cans, and etc........ I had gotten a large spool of perfectly rusted wire at a garage sale - and it worked great in attaching everything. One nice thing about this project was that we didn't have to worry about hiding the wire - it was part of the "trim"!

Another good thing about this project, was that perfection was the furthest thing from our minds...a bit of a test for Carol (the perfectionist in the group) - but she passed with flying colors!!

After we had them all together, we added a little moss here and there (with a glue gun) to fill in some gaps. The final step was making it all "look" rusty (some pieces were galvanized metal, copper, or too "new" looking) - so I had a can of brown Rustoleum primer that we lightly sprayed on the pieces that needed some age added - that really made the whole wreath come together in rusty perfection!

I'm going to hang mine on my front porch, and may even make a couple to sell (maybe even different "themed" wreaths...the sky's the limit). This was a really fun project -not too difficult to do - and an awesome look...AND best of all BIG FUN with my girlfriends!!

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Now some pics to share (of course):

Here's Carol attaching her first pieces...it was a little slow going at first, but we picked up the pace! So many decisions....

I found this great spool of old rusty wire at a garage sale...it came in pretty handy!

Here's just a small sample of our junk lineup... We had no problem at all coming up with MORE than enough stuff to play with!!

More stuff...and here's our little junk "muse", Petra - and she is SO "amusing" - and pretty darned cute!! (she knows it - ha ha)

Get busy girls...we don't have all night! :)

Here's Robin's wreath...

A close-up look - great junk!

Here's Carol's version...

Don't you love the little potted "plant"?

Rusty tools galore

Here's pieces and parts of Terri's wreath (I cropped the picture and saved it - so lost the picture of the whole wreath - trust me, it very cool!!!)

Another view - with a cute little red bird perched on a tool!

Here's my version - I just love it!

A little bench with a tiny watering can - I can envision a butterfly stopping by to rest on it...

I love the hanging pieces - lots of little details...

(and by the way...I was the last one done - which is normal...I just "fuss").


The flowers were part of a coppery wall decoration... But, with a spritz of some faux rust (primer in a can) - it all goes together so well!

Just another view...some tiny garden gloves (for munchkins I think) add a little texture.

I love the flower cart (it's one of those coppery things too...) - a great "centerpiece"!

And finally, for just the right amount of faux "garden dirt" on my tiny garden gloves, I had Petra bury them in the driveway, and rough 'em up a little! She was happy to help!! (just love her!!!) She was having fun...and didn't realize I was putting her to work! Kids... :)

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Thanks for stopping by - I hope you have a blessed day, enjoy some sunshine (and a sunset) - and find lots of great junk at your nearest garage sale, thrift store, etc... Gotta keep the economy going, right?

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I'm looking forward to my upcoming trip to Minnesota - and meeting (in person) some of my fellow JUNKMARKET Style Contributors (who I feel like I know already...), a bunch of wonderful bloggers (I know you're out there!!!), and making new friends from near and far (mostly far...Minnesota is a bit of a drive from Ohio)!

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Take care! Kathy