It's Official....(and a bit of a story)

I absolutely cannot tell you how excited I am to write this post and tell you some VERY exciting news.  I finally have a logo...yeppers, I'm officially official now!  I've been buying and selling things my whole life...I mean I literally started this buying and selling business when I was about two!  I've always been a side-of-the-road-trash-picker-upper.  My Dad will vouch.  And honestly, it's provided quite the side income.

It wasn't until about 4 years ago, I started doing it a bit more intensely.  I would buy anything that I knew I could sell somewhere...E-Bay, online classifieds, newspaper classifieds, base thrift shops...I mean, anywhere!

Not to boast in any way, but I have a Master's degree in Business Management, so I've always had a "good job".  About 2 or 2 1/2 years ago, I was working a good job that paid well.  I gave it my all but my heart just wasn't in it.  Either way, I had no intentions of leaving it, but I was doing a bit more and more of the buying and selling, re-creating, etc on the side. 

Then in September that year, we found out my Mom had a brain tumor, quickly followed by surgery, and then the devastating news that she was terminal and had only a few months to live.  It just so happened that at that same exact time, Justin was set to go to a 6 month training course.  At the time we were stationed in Utah.  We knew that as soon as his training course was over we would be PCSing (moving bases).  So, I quit everything and moved to Oklahoma to live with my Mom and Dad during that time. 

I am so blessed that I as able to spend that time with my family...we made such wonderful memories.  In May, Justin finished his training course, and we were going back and forth from Oklahoma to Utah to finish up things there and prepare for our move to Florida, and spend as much time with my Mom as we could.  Then in June when were on the road, U-Haul and all, from Utah to Florida, we lost my Mom.  So, we went to Oklahoma for a few days and then on to Florida. 

Once here, I just really wasn't in the best frame of mind for jobs, but nonetheless I started looking.  Getting ready to go through the usual "find a new job and leave in a year or two routine".  I looked for months.  All the while I was still buying and selling and refinishing furniture, and selling it out of a couple stores.

Justin and I have ALWAYS kicked around various business ideas, but have always known we would be small business owners at some point down the line.  It just hasn't been extremely feasible with our every changing address with the military, because we just aren't anywhere long enough.

However, God made it clear that this was the time.  We couldn't yet have a brick and mortar store (which I can't wait until I do), but we would make THIS my full-time business/job.  So, I dove it full force.  God has provided so faithfully and I have been blessed in my endeavors.  I sell my furniture, wholesale items, and re-purposed goods out of various booth spaces that I rent throughout Northwest Florida, I sell items online, I get a good bit of furniture makeovers for individual clients, I have a part-time Co-Manager job at the Thrift Shop on base here, I do some personal assistant type things for a couple people, and the list goes on...it has definitely become full time.  And I am absolutely loving it.  This past year and half has been an amazing journey for me.

We know that God is preparing us for the day that we do have children so that I will be able to be flexible and keep them at home with me.  He is also preparing us for a store down the line.  So, this brings me to the point of the post...my new logo.  I wanted something that would work with what I do now and would still fit as things evolve over the next 5, 10, and 20+ years.  Something that would not limit me.  Something that would also fit an actual store front one day.  So, thanks to the ever so talented Rhonda from Vintage Birch Designs (www.vintagebirchdesigns.com), I present to you  my new logo for The Junktion:

 

This is the official logo and I'm completing a supplemental logo, business cards, a website, and much more.  As soon as it gets going a bit more, hopefully I can use all of my non-techy skills to figure out how to make this blog look cute! :)  It's so beyond me.  But, for now, I'm just happy to have the logo!!!

Thanks to all of the support of my husband, my family, my friends, and my customers for sticking with me and encouraging me!

Spring is in the {Ch}air

 Hello Friends!  I got a little tied up because our Thrift Shop is moving, so I've been helping out with packing/painting/and much more!!  So, that is part of my MIA excuse! 

Here's a wonderfully springy makeover I just completed. 

 Here it was before:

 I picked this piece up at a local thrift shop a while back, but wasn't really wanting to paint it with a brush because I didn't want to mess with getting it in all the crevices (aka...I was being lazy).  So, I decided to pick up some chipper colored spray paint when I was at the hardware store.   I used the air compressor to blow the dust off this piece and then got out the spray paint and mask.

 I started by turning this piece upside down, so that I would get some of the areas that you might not think about.

 Next, I turned it over and gave it a light coat of spray paint....keeping my arm swaying, while my hand is spraying.

 And he helped out too...providing me breaks to throw his frisbee.

 Let me just say that this spray paint covered EXCEPTIONALLY well.  Like, this was quite possibly my best spray paint experience ever.  Not sure if it was the paint, the color, the weather, the furniture, or a combination, but the coverage on this piece was great.

 After two thin coats, I called it good.

 Just a close up.

 This piece is all ready to make a spring statement on someone's porch. 

This piece is currently for sale.

Home-Made Spray Paint

Today was so incredibly gorgeous here.  I wanted to spend every minute outside.  I started my morning early.  I put some pre-emergent down on the yard at 7:00 this morning to try to tackle the losing-battle I face with the weeds in the yard.  Watered it in and left it to dry while I went and worked at a client's house for the morning.  Then, I worked outside all afternoon...finishing up some furniture projects and a few little projects of our own.  Now if I could just get over this sinus/allergy c-rap that I have, life would be grand.

I'm super excited, because I sent the final tweeks of my new logo to my designer (www.vintagebirchdesigns.com) this afternoon.  I should have the final logo very soon.  Then, it's on to tackling this blog and making it look presentable!  Let me just say that after you see the logo, you're all going to want her to design something for you...she is simply amazing! :)  Can't wait to share it with you all.

Now on to something really fun for today.  Turns out they had gorgeous weather in Texas too.  My nieces are on Spring Break, so some of my nieces and nephews got together and had some fun in the sun with home-made spray paint.  Yeah, my sister, Holly, is pretty genius!!!  She's always coming up with AMAZING ideas for the kids.  In fact she's putting together a book right now that will hopefully be available soon with some of her ideas, tutorials, and pictures.  I'll let you know when it's available.  So here's the after shot of the spray-paint extravaganza:

To get started, she got some cheap spray paint bottles at Wal-Mart and Tempera paint at Hobby Lobby.  She took a board that they had at their house and wrapped it in a canvas (aka...old sheet) for the little artists'

 For the spray paint, she simply mixed the Tempera paint with water in the spray bottles.  It was a fairly running consistency...couldn't be too thick or it wouldn't have sprayed through the bottles.

 Artist Jordyn working on her masterpiece:

 Kyle Joe intently focused and making his artwork perfect:

 Little Avery cheesing it up while she painted her canvas:

 Double time:

 Here they are presenting their work of art.  Beautiful work my little angels!

 To get an additional project out of this, they will be cutting it into smaller pieces and framing it for the kid's art wall at my sister's house. 

How's that for cheap, easy, fun, entertaining, and getting two projects out of it??  As I said...my sister is pretty much like superwoman (actually, all of my sister's are!!)

And just so you can put some faces with my sisters that I talk about, here's our "sister" picture at my youngest sisters outdoor wedding this past summer at my Dad's house in Oklahoma.  The 4-H club: Hilary, Hannah, Holly, Heather

DIY Old Wood Hanging Rack

Old chippy wood and rusty hooks...what's not to love.  Put them together and I'm even more in love!  This is obviously super easy.  Feels too easy to even call it DIY.  So, to start, I simply took a piece of old wood from the fabulous pile of wood we have on hand.  All I did to this piece was dust if off a bit and go over it with a coat of Minwax Paste Wax in natural.  Wipe on a thin coat and rub/buff off.  (Buff gently to keep the chippy paint patina).  The wax sorta seals it and keeps the paint from further chipping off.

 Next up I screwed on 4 hooks from Hobby Lobby.  Oh how I wished there was a Hobby Lobby closer to me than an hour away.  My hook stash is getting low.  I've got a girl picking some up for me though.  She gets them on sale, I buy them from her...and it's still cheaper than paying full price.  Score!

 On the back, I nailed in two sawtooth hangers.

Seriously, DIY doesn't get any easier (and cuter) than this!!  This piece already sold out of my booth at Smith's.

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 Savvy Southern Style