Moving Day...

 As many of you know, as of May I have stepped down as part of Funky Junk to spend more time with my family. 

 I am so grateful for Jennifer, who asked me to join her dream in that spring of 2007 and for all of the friendship, love, and lessons I have been priveleged to add to my life as a result.

 A huge, huge thank you to my sister Heidi, Mom Gail, as well as my whole family, sister Angela, brother-in-law Mike, Dad Jerry and countless friends and family who have stepped in over the years to make this dream a workable reality for me. 

 Thank you Mark.  You know what for.=)

I pray blessings for Jennifer and her family as she continues the dream of Funky Junk and joy to all of you...

love. fun. junk.

you can follow jennifer and her funky junk journey on http://www.funkyjunkjennifer.blogspot.com

my new blog

http://www.holliejoyinthemorning.blogspot.com

all the good pics are by Cary Burnett Photography.  The one of Mark and I with the peeps is form my camera.=)



love.

 I love Valentine's Day, it's true, I'm a romantic at heart.

I also LOVE this amazing huge vintage honeycomb heart at Pink that a certain Miss Celeste Shaw got to before me=)

 I love vintage valentines. 

Especially this one nestled in old pattern paper, under glass at Pink.

 Love this wrought iron piece and the paper heart garland hung with twine at Pink.

I finally felt Valentine-ish after I visited Pink with friends this weekend!!

 I love I Do.

(Again at Pink)

 I love this bed and the vintage love letters.

And yes, pink and Pink.

 I love weathered painted chairs and old sheet music hearts.

Crazy talented ladies at Pink!

 Love the tulips Heidi wrapped in sheet music and tied with a pretty ribbon for Mom.

 I still love vintage Valentines.  Especially when they are written on and dated on the back~

This one just had a name, Dennis Mc., written in a childs printing.

 Love my boys home made Valentines

This one was from Haden to Oma: "I'm nuts about you, but these are not peanut M&M's because I'm allergic."

 I love the repurposed sewn Valentine's Heidi created, especially the chapter of this book,

"A Story Remodled".

 Love cupcakes from Sweet Frostings Blissful Bakery in Spokane, WA.  Especially the salted carmel.  But I need to try the French Toast one that my brother in law said tasted like "breakfast". Yum!!

 I love this man.

 I love red glitter.

I love this old ruler and the handmade Valentine with old jewlery from Heidi last year. 

I love all the embellishments on this handmade Valentine from Mom.  Especially because she made it.

 Love this honeycomb vintage Valentine decoration in my kitchen.

 Love chalkboard and "Be Mine".

 Love this frothy creation by All That Glitter girls Becky and Holly, at Pink.

 Love the painted ads that still survive on brick buildings in downtown Spokane.

 Love my mom. And my dad. And my sisters and brother in law. I love my family.

 I love candy heart messages.

 I love these three guys. 

Love.

Happy Valentine's Day.

Love One Another

~Hollie

About A Boy's Room

 While January takes it sweet time to wind down, I will take this opportunity to share the bit I've done to decorate my boy's rooms.  I don't get much space, just the walls, and I know in a few years those will be off limits to me as they grow older and more picky. This dog canvas however is a fan favorite.  I picked it up at T.J. Maxx in December and added the Dog & Boy vintage letters I brought home with me from Hunt & Gather in Minneapolis this September.

 I've edited my vintage displays and changed out elements as the boys have grown; the cowboy pattern and plastic cowboy & horse figure, block and tin whistle and Modern Boy book have stayed for several years, they are just way, way too cool!  The moon globe actually sits on a crater-like stand.  It was in my booth way back until I realized I was never going to find another 1960's treasure like it, so it is staying, always.  I grabbed the deposit sign also at Hunt & Gather for a steal while trolling through the basement with
 my friend Celeste Shaw.

 Ah, the pirate ship paint by number art! It is by far one of my most special pieces.  I had three of them in one of my first booths at The Farm Chicks show in Fairfield.  Two of Serena's youngest boys bought the other two (which I think they still have) and I decided to keep one for my boys.  I love globes.  They make any room look amazing, and are multipurpose because they are not only 3D art, but they are interactive too.  I pick them up whenever I can find them for a decent price.  My mid-century Space coloring book is in perfect condition, sorry boys, no coloring allowed in that one.  And I ordered the white wood BOY letters three years ago when I was on bed rest with my youngest boy, with the intent to paint and hang them.  As you can see they are still white but I love the differing fonts.

My boys begged for glass Ball jars this summer and since I always pick those up when I see them too, to use for anything and everything, I gave them a couple.  They use them for marbles and saving up their coins.  Old blocks always rock; these particular ones are numbered so I made a math problem out of them. 

 One of my favorite things to display as wall art is vintage and antique game boards, the colors are always bold and the graphics rock. 

 My business partner Jennifer (http://www.funkyjunkjennifer.blogspot.com/) knew I was looking for a new storage cabinet for my boy's room at our Fall Funky Junk show.  So when she led me to this A-MA-ZING find, I immediately purchased it. The inside was clean and the shelves are orange and huge, so it holds all the necessary but messy looking things I want to hide in their room.

 Moving on to my baby, who is now almost 3 1/2; I've filled his shelves with vintage letters and number finds and antique vehicles...

 books and records and retro toys (special thanks to Robyn Pirie of Scout Vintage for Mr. Pony),

 and way up high on his bookshelf is my awesome blue metal child's toy high chair and yellow squeaky giraffe, both of which I've had since my oldest was 1.  The other giraffe was Finn's favorite chewing toy from Land of Nod, and the horse and rider was a toy of mine from the 70's.  Funnily enough, giving credence to the phrase, it's a small world, I had spied this particular toy on a favorite blog of mine http://shabbyvintagejunk.blogspot.com/ written by a delightful lady in Australia!

 A shelf of favs; a mix of reproduction (O Boy pop bottle flower and Do Not Disturb birdy sign) and vintage retro glory (fin card for my Finn boy from Hunt & Gather; plastic truck 49c tag and red and blue plastic toy oil truck).  Finn has singlehandedly broken the most of my collections, so everything too special has to go up.  Way up.

 I moved the boys smaller white medicine cabinet from their room to the bathroom to accomplish two things: first and foremost, to put my amazing vintage bath inspired collections up and away from water and boys (a dangerous combination) and second to hide away a few things like scissors and band aids (again, you have no idea what boys can dream up when you think they are playing quietly). 

The ducks are all vintage, the star clock is from Pottery Barn Kids 9 years ago, (we color matched the yellow for our former home's boys bathroom and I painted a cute dresser this yellow-which will be at Funky Junk Spring show in Spokane).  I added the amazing packaged toothbrush that I've had as long as I've been junking, a crossing guard patch from Hunt & Gather (where you can hunt & gather super cool things!!) my wood blocks which actually I realized have double meaning put in a bathroom (not my real intent and I'm hoping the boys don't figure that out), a car hood ornament and oil cans from my summer farm pick.

Going up the stairs to the bedrooms is a wall where we decided to add a homework desk this fall.  It has functioned perfectly, but the desk is 1970's wood and gold pulls so it is a painting project I will share this summer when the weather is painting worthy! 

I hung this shelf and put my three favorite breakable vintage animals from my collection.  Many had to go when we moved, but these three remained.  I found the incredible 3 (like the incredible E I have in our TV room) from one of my favorite stylists/artists/Farm Chicks vendors/friends Nia Sayers of http://www.summerlandstyle.blogspot.com/.  My vignette makes me smile and take a deep breath whenever the yellow and white wallpaper is on my last and I mean very last designing nerve.

So much more to do and so much more to share! Till next time~stay warm and keep creating!

Hollie

An Update on the Update...

 As January slowly winds to a close and we spend cold days inside our cozy home, I am taking down and packing away the remaining winter decorations that adorn my house. I thought it would be a good time to show you what I've accomplished this past year on our updating projects....not much.  But each project my husband and I tackle (we've been watching ALOT of football in this boy-full home lately) feels like they make monumental differences.  Maybe because we live with the old style so long, it just feels so good when we finally make a change!

 I've featured this pic several times because it really is one of my favorite small scale/big impact projects I've done.  It's in the kitchen eat in area, but you can see it from the front entry, and through our large window out front so that you can even see it as you drive up and walk up to the house.  The basket is also for homework and papers due during the week, so it's really functional too.  I love typography, vintage and new made letters and metal/wire baskets, so this combines so much of what I love; plus the sentiment is what it's all about for me:  home sweet home.

Here is the infamous wallpaper in the bathroom inside our laundry room.  It was a shock to my system and was one of the first things to go.  One day last winter when I just couldn't take it anymore, I peeled if all off.  Then in the fall, I sold the brown storage stand and....

The reveal!~I am just so happy with the how the color turned out on the walls.  It is Brook Trout from the Martha Stewart collection at Home Depot, which we had color matched for the Behr paint my husband loves so much.  The cabinet is one I purchased from my mom at the fall 2011 Funky Junk show.  She had acquired it from our friend and fellow junker Ann Caster.  Mom painted it, distressed it and added the mirrored birds.  I just adore how it looks; and how it hides my bathroom necessities so prettily!

 I still have my white painted antique frame perched on the 1970's vanity, which serves us fine for now.  The simple metal and mirror storage actually has grown on me. 

 I love, love the Windex bottle my mom gave me last December for my birthday, quite a find!

 And my old soaps in their amazing graphic packages (did I mention I love old advertising, packing and graphics!!) are in a vintage metal sink container, also a find from Ann.  I do miss that lady.

The only projects left to do in this room are to either build or repurpose a wood cabinet around the great sink and replace the faucet, or to replace the sink with an entirely new vanity set. What do you think?

Oh, and obviously replace the flooring (which to my dismay, extend all through the kitchen and eating area).  Flooring in the entire house (except for the four bedrooms my darling mom got us new carpet for as housewarming gift) is our number 1 priority. Just is also the most expensive, disruptive and labor and time intensive, so it keeps getting pushed down the list.

 Moving up to my master bedroom, I had this chalkboard and white painted antique frame left from my last show, and I decided it would be perfect to frame the lovely 2012 calendar from the talented Barbara Schriber, also from the fall show!  http://www.barbaraschriberdesigns.com.

 One of Mark and my favorite projects this past year has been our chalkboard wall in our eat in kitchen area.  We framed out the entire painted wall with old wood rulers (another fav. collection of mine)...

 ...as well as the all house retro radio/speaker command center in the middle of the wall.  I post our weekly schedule old school style in chalk so there is no missing what's up for the week.

 In our TV room, the MOST distressful (not distressed, which would be a good thing) room of all, I have a collection of all white vintage E's.  We've added another large lower case "e" since this picture, thanks to http://www.funkyjunkjennifer.blogspot.com.  We also have had a few brainstorms for the room which we will be super excited to start on and showcase later this year. We hope.

 My kitchen/eating area has a wall that is shared with the living room, and for now, I like the wall.  I don't enjoy not being able to join in conversations during get-togethers, but the wall holds three large cabinets of storage space and for now, that is priceless.  It also is the perfect space to display some of my favorite vintage finds, like this sign...

and this green antique shelf filled with some of my favorite kitchen collection items.

Our floor to ceiling rock fireplace, which apparently you can spray with water and it will grow moss, is loved by some and not by others. Thankfully we love it because it is a home improvement project far too large for now. I have three E's on the three ledges and rotate out decorations depending on my mood and the season. The best part of the fireplace?...

A real fire warming our holidays and winter nights...

~Hollie