Heat, lamps and shabby chic

We made it to Round Top and let me tell you that preparing for a big show like Marburger in 5 days is a really, REALLY BAD idea. Things have been a little bit tough for us and on top of our mayhem, the heat is about to melt us. It has been 104 degrees for 3 days. That kind of heat to a gal who had a hysterectomy 4 weeks ago and hot flashes have kicked in equals misery. While all the rest of us are burning up, my Daddy has been kissin' it up with his favorite Texas girl, Magnolia Pearl

It's a good thing my Mom is not the jealous type! Robin is such a beautiful spirit and she always makes the show for my Dad. Thank you, Robin. You are a true Magnolia Pearl.

Despite our moans and groans we have been unloading lamps and lamps and

more lamps.

And in between lamps, my Mom unloaded her dried okra. This stuff is like gold out here for her. She sells enough dried okra to fill her wallet. It does look pretty all tied in bunches and arranged in an old wooden box.

I told you that Jay was going to turn in to a lamp!

The heat got the best of us by lunch time and we had to take a break. We decided to ride out to Rachael Ashwell's new store and bed and breakfast, The Prairie.

She had a way of making everything look so fresh and cool. The laundry on the clotheslines made it feel like you were "home".

Wouldn't this be a great place to stay while antiquing in Round Top.

It was all beautiful, as I expected, and I left with a wish list that was a mile long. Tomorrow is our opening day. I hope to have more pictures soon! Lindsey has been busy taking lots of pictures of all the wonderful booths out here at Marburger to share with you.

Next...Marburger Farms

Things never seem to be slow around here. We had a wonderful open house on Friday night and turned around on Saturday to get ready for the Round Top Antique festival. Most folks probably don't wait till 5 days before they have to pack to leave to start working on their projects except those of us who are self-professed clueless and unprepared shopkeepers. This is a daily struggle for Jay AND myself. I even have an "unprepared" girl scout badge that I wear so unproudly(I don't think this is a word, but clueless fellars are allowed to make up words). Soooo...if there are any other Round toppers who are just beginning to prepare...take heart, there are others out here who are right there with you. We made a beautiful bouquet of our recycled flowers to brighten our booth!

These are always sure to bring a smile to any junk lovers face. Then there are the lamps. These are usually our biggest sellers and this year we have hundreds of new ones. We have lamps from vintage columns, gorgeous antique fencing, french gates, old tractor parts, turtles, metal horns, and just about anything else you could dream of. I am afraid that Jay may turn in to a lamp soon.

If you have never taken the journey to Round Top and you love junk, you simply MUST add this to your bucket list. It is fun beyond fun. Just be sure to plan on staying for a few days because you can't see it all in a weekend! We will be setting up at Marburger Farms, booth H-6, from Sept. 27 - October 1. Come by and say Howdy if you are in the area.

witchy fun

This is what the old bank building looked like last Sunday.

Finally by Monday we had the floors stained and waxed but there is still a LONG way to go to pull off our Witches Night Out! This is our first attempt at something like this and with a "staff" of 3 people and 2 fine kittens; this was HUGE for us.

This was the beginning of one of our table arrangements. We gathered all of our finest witches flying apparatuses and made a bouquet that was in full broom!

We had plenty of spiders,rats, and crows...

and, of course, FANGS.

Our creepy old organ(a $20 antique auction find) found the perfect haunting spot on our sidewalk. It even played enchantingly creepy tunes!

We have so many great customers!

AND...in the midst of all of our shenanigans, we managed to get our new windows, shutters, and window boxes in. What do you think of our new look?

We, the staff at Alice and Jay, would like to sincerely thank everyone who came and had a night out with us. Y'all made the evening worth the effort. We would also like to give a shout out to our new friends from Marianna, FL and Americus, Ga who took a Saturday drive to come and visit. And last, but certainly not least, a giant hug from the bottom of my heart to all of my family who came and worked and gave so freely. My heart grew 10 sizes yesterday! We are off to pack for Marburger Farms in ROund Top, Texas so follow along and we will show you the fun!

CONGRATULATIONS to Janelle from North Carolina! She won the pair of lamps from our giveaway with Miss Mustard Seed. We hope you love them.

dust off your brooms!

Dust off your brooms and get your pointy hats ready! Our Witches night out is this coming Friday evening.

We have a brand new coven of witchy women to beautify your front porch and hand out treats to your neighborhood ghouls.

This fancy lady is Frances Irene. She was born and raised with the proverbial silver broom. Frances prefers to go home with someone of that certain social standing and would like a large front porch to ensure that her image stays intact.

Edna Eiween, on the other hand, says that she can handle any situation. Her downtown upbringing has given her the upper hand when it comes to getting rid of the tricksters to make room for the treaters.

Behind those bat wing glasses sits a guard dog of a witch just waiting to protect and serve your Halloween porch.

We have been making these front porch candy witches for years now and we never tire of them. They add so much fun to your house and the kids just love them. We also make pirates, mad scientists, and maybe a witch doctor. They are all patiently waiting in the old bank vault to make their debut at our open house. The candy shipment came in yesterday! We have so many boogers, worms, eyeballs, gummy ear wax, and maggots for all our small witches and warlocks. This is going to be fun, fun, fun!

One last footnote-we, at Alice and Jay, believe in celebrating life and all of the imagination and creativity that comes with that magical rainbow given to us so graciously. Our Halloween fun is meant to take you to a place of childhood fantasy where you can be anything you wish. We don't do scary and we don't do gory BUT we do have a really good time. We hope you can join us.

furniture frenzy AND a giveaway!

Exciting news for Alice and Jay! We are having our very first giveaway with the one and only Miss Mustard Seed! We will be giving away this pair of lamps and shades. They are made of vintage french iron gate pieces and are a great pale blue color. They stand 35" high and would look lovely in YOUR home, just visit Miss Mustard Seed for the details! I hope you win!

In the meantime.... we have been on a furniture frenzy this week. We have painted and waxed over 25 pieces of furniture for our open house next weekend.

We painted most of our goodies in Paris Grey before we decided we needed a change. We tried Aubusson Blue on this table with a dark wax.

These little jewels are a true testament to chalk paint. They started out slick and shiny and with just one coat of Greek Blue...

They were transformed. A coat of wax and then we distressed them. There is quite a difference in the before and after with dark wax.

Next, some more slick and shiny tables but I thought they had a great shape.

One coat of Paris Grey and a dark wax makes look so much better!

Ok, I will forewarn you, if you are a furniture purist then turn away now. We found this fabulous set with china cabinet, buffet, table, and 6 chairs.

We have painted the set in Paris Grey and a dark wax.

The details on this set just tickle my tummy. Look at those legs!

I haven't decided if I am going to upholster the chairs in a french ticking or antique grain sacks. I'll show you the entire set when we finish. All of these goodies and so many more will be available next Friday night at our Witches Night Out. We have so many treats (and tricks in store). It is going to be an evening of fun and frolic for children of ALL ages.

"the old bank building"

After yesterday, I have brainstormed to come up with a better name for this building. Nothing yet. So, I am still using the old bank building. I finally got a back wall.

Jay enjoyed painting the 30 foot high wall!

Since I can't afford central heat and air in the huge old buildings, I am keeping my fingers crossed that this baby will do the trick.

New windows, or least 2 and a half. They dropped one and we are still waiting on the other 4 1/2. They were supposed to be here today but as usual, I have to wait till next week.

If any of you out there have an inkling that this all looks like fun...Give us a call BEFORE you buy! Just kidding! This has been a roller coaster ride of fun the whole way BUT I cannot wait to be finished! I hope everyone has a labor free weekend!

it's a sign!

Have you ever been in the middle of a mess? I am in the middle of TOO many messes. I am certain that I lost too many brain cells during the last 6 months of anemia and THAT is why I decided to complete our renovations on the old bank building, schedule a surgery that would put me out for 6 weeks, and host an open house ALL at the same time that I need to be getting ready for Marburger. I feel like Charlie Brown, UGH!

We are slowly making progress and things are beginning to shape up. Our excitement for this week was our new sign!

Pardon the untidy sidewalk and consider that there is still lots to be done, but all in all, I think it is looking pretty sweet. This is what we call the "end building". Hmmm...I just realized that our creativity is not spent on naming things... the end building, the garden area, the MAIN building, the old bank building,...and even our name...ALice and Jay. At least I didn't name Harvey and Stella(our store kittens) cat #1 and cat #2! Tomorrow we will get the rest of our new windows and next week the concrete gets an acid wash. WOo HoO!