Saying Goodbye to The Vintage Home.....

What an effort! My bestest friend Michelle decided to close her store after a 2-year gallant effort in May (2009). I partnered with her the first five months or so and gracefully bowed out as it was just not my cup of tea! She carried on and tried so very hard to make a living at it. The economy sure wasn't cooperating! Michelle is so very, very talented and an extremely hard-worker, but it just was not meant to be at this time.

It's August now and Michelle continues to thrive! She has booths of her hand-made pillows, towels, and her "vintagey" items like she carried in the store at Joe's Antique Mall here in Wilkes, Boone's Hardware Store, and she has an online store. She moved all her tools of the trade to her home loft and now works from home.


God, I look so FAT! So matronly! When did that happen? Maybe I shouldn't wear red?!!

Hillsville Flea Market

Michelle, owner of The Vintage Home, a wonderful vintage home decor/gift shop on Main Street in Wilkesboro decided to have a booth at the Hillsville, VA Flea Market and Gun Show. It's an annual event and always Labor Day weekend. Jug and I had experienced it and loved it several years as shoppers--not vendors! Michelle roped us into joining her! It was so much fun! Just a great experience--lot of hard work but we made the best of it--of course! Michelle and I had the most fun people-watching. We couldn't get over all the men walking around packing! Some with rifles and some with pistols ready at their side. What was up with this? Jug just shook his head at us saying, "it's a gun show!" Ah, so? We just did not get it!



And seems most of Virginia did not get us either! Michelle did well with her waffle towels and okay with her fabulous pillows but overall we were disappointed in our sales. I took my latest art project--coasters made from ceramic or stone tiles and only sold two! Scheech! But I sincerely believe the slow sales had as much to do with the slow economy as with folks taste.



Our neighbors on both sides of us had both been coming to Hillsville for many years (the Crockets pictured below have had a booth for 27 years!) and they were both experiencing their lowest years ever. People are just not buying anything right now that they don't really need. It's really a bummer.



Our booth:








A small portion of the Hillsville Flea Market! It is mammoth!

This is (below) Louella and Wesley Crocket, our neighbors. Great folks! They've done this event for 27 years! Thank you, Louella and Wesley for making us feel so welcome!

Jug brought four of his instruments to sell: three guitars and one mandolin. Man, were the men ever interested in those daggone instruments! Michelle and I were continually a bit annoyed by their blocking the entrance to our little booth oogling Jug's guitars! They were four he decided he could live without but were high-end and while many drooled over them, none forked over the money! We had many to pick one up and pick for us. And while it did kinda annoyed Michelle and me, we enjoyed it too. They were such friendly folks!

So their were these three youngsters who were so very talented musicians that came by each day and picked with Jug....

Drooling over Jug's instruments...

Chelly looks pretty even when she's roughing it!!

The three young pickers...

Below--our booth...

The Vintage Home Luncheon

Michelle's hoping to host a luncheon in the store once a month and here's photos from the first one. She also wanted to honor me and my turning the big 5-0 and hence the birthday cake! Can't believe I'm that old!! That's Laura Welborn and Teana Compeau. I didn't get very many good shots...am having some issues with my camera--it won't focus and it's very frustrating! Don't know what's the matter with the darn thing!

Our Annie (Huffman) catered the event. She's one talented young lady! Please visit her website www.huffmanevents.com The chicken salad was wonderful! And I love her yellow cakes--so moist and tasty and much to my frustration she won't give me the recipe! That stinker!

From left that's Olivia, Dee Vannoy and Carrie Hamilton. What great friends Michelle is making via the store! So many folks love and support her!

We discovered another of Annie's talents yesterday--can this girl ever sew! She made the dress she's wearing and showed us online the tinker bell costume she made not long ago--wow!!! That's a lot of talent in a little package!!

The Vintage Home Luncheon

Close up of the cake in celebration of my 50th.

Olivia and Carrie Hamilton. Carrie's moved back home to her roots (she has Hubbard roots) recently after spending the previous years of her adulthood in New York City. She's loving the slower pace of rural living. She says she just didn't realize how hectic and stressful it was to live in the city until she got away from it and now loves it here. And Lord knows, Wilkes County can sure benefit from more metropolitan folks settling here! They provide us with culture and they bring energy and enthusiasm and new ways of thinking and seeing things. It's a good thing!

A really good photo of Annie (Huffman www.huffmanevents.com) I was so frustrated with my regular lens not focusing I used the telephoto for this one and the next one and they turned out nice.

Carrie (Hamilton), our city girl!

The Vintage Home Part Ten

Michelle at work!

What a journey we've had together! What we have learned from each other! It's been a spiritual journey together in which we've both been given a blessed opportunity to have that very special friendship with another woman. I've always wanted a best friend like Michelle! We challenge and push each other to strip off the next layer of our emotional, psychological coverings and with each diminishing layer we just love each other more and the trust builds beyond what I would have ever imagined! It's intimacy! I've known it with my husband and my sister Mel and now with Michelle. We both share journeys in very spiritual (but not religious) 12-step programs and we both know how much these programs have contributed to our abilities and mental health! Doing the store together was challenging for us both--fun, rewarding but nevertheless challenging. Michelle's so much better suited to it than I am--just the facts, ma'am! And that's a fact! I'm an introvert and while it did invigorate me initially, I did find that eventually it just exhausted me. Jug and I intended to step up and get her started but we all thought that I would be able to remain a partner longer than five months! But we navigated through this additionally challenging time too! We arrived on the other side of the partnership only loving each other more! Isn't that just amazing? So The Vintage Home is all Michelle's on paper but we both feel I still belong there! She runs much by me just to get my opinion and then she does what she damn well pleases! Just kidding, I'm just a sounding board. I love watching her and watching the store flourish. She's an astounding talent--truly she is, I know I've said that so many times but it's so true. She just has an eye and a style. And I don't challenge or question it anymore! I love you Michelle!!! Give you five to one odds that Michelle's crying right now!! She's such a softie!! And considering how much we laugh, a little crying now and then is okay!

Let me end this little saga saying that I know The Vintage Home is a fabulous store. Women love it! Michelle has congregated quite a following of very loyal customers that just love her. And more are added every week. The store is a success. That said, realistically, we live in Wilkes County. (Wilkes-By-God-County, thank you very much!!--this is a local saying Michelle and I have pondered over and wondered where it came from!) And Wilkes County, well, there just isn't the population necessary that's sees the vision; that "gets it" as Michelle says. If this store and Michelle were in, say, Blowing Rock or Asheville, well, she'd have ten employees by now! You know, especially considering the economic climate we're enduring, the store does extremely well. She's tough and she's tenacious and she has a ton of energy and I believe she'll stick it out and endure through the challenging beginnings. And it's beautiful to watch!

The Vintage Home Part Nine

Not much to add to these photos...just more good pics depicting the loveliness of the store....

The Vintage Home Part Eight

Vintage alarm clocks. Such a statement when grouped together like this. Love that lamp too!

An absolutely fabulously inspired pillow! Love it! Made by Michelle, of course!

Kim's favorite pillow! Kinda hope it doesn't sell...then I can buy it! That brings up an interesting point about retail. You hesitate buying for yourself the fabulous stuff because you don't want to take anything from the store that adds so much to it! Hmmm....I got a birthday coming up, Michelle...hint, hint!!

Michelle actually did not make this cute little dolls...they're handmade but I can't remember who she said made them. Just precious!

The Vintage Home Part Seven

Another vintage-y item Michelle makes: towels--with scanned vintage image (she scans it on the computer, prints it out on cloth especially made for printers) sewn on and then often adds a vintage button. Wahlah! Very popular too.

There's another post with a close up of that fabulous yellow pillow--my all time favorite Michelle's made. The framed piece beside it is new, just arrived this week as are the bird houses.

The Vintage Home Part Six

These are old vintage medicine bottles that we embellished with pretties--old lace, old buttons, etc. The woman's face and the frame are actually polymer clay pieces I made. They sell well too. Michelle, and occassionally me too, often make things for the store. She makes a LOT of pillows and we've lately been making aprons made using vintage tablecloths--hmmmm....think I forgot to take any photos of them! They've sold very well and Michelle and I planning an apron making day for this week.

A "paper wall". Michelle got this idea from one of her online retail mentors: Curious Sofa (I think). Don't recall the gal's name but Michelle devotedly checks her blog everyday and is so inspired by her. The paper walls Michelle has made have ranged from scanned botanicals to music sheets to vintage post cards. They are just fabulous and a great way to display vintage art and create a seperation in a room. Note more of Michelle's pillows.

The Vintage Home Part Five

All taken May 6th 2008--make note of all the pillows--Michelle makes these. She learned to sew as a child, her paternal aunts taught her. With her great sense of style and sewing talent--wonderful things happen!

Cottage style bed set with original finish. A great find.