SPRING CLEANING

It has been a slow winter for the Texas Junkin' Ladies, but it's Spring now and we are out for bear.  We are going to have a Spring sale at Jack's which will clear the way for bigger and better merchandise.  So if you are going to be in the Pittsburg area this Saturday the 14th of April, stop by and check us out!

Here are a few new photos of the inside of Jack's:

This is our new jewelry display

This was added for the Vintage Jewelry

Silver and Glassware items

Our fling with Easter

Our sale starts at 10:00 AM, please stop by.

BUSY TIME OF THE YEAR

OUR MANTRA

This is a busy time of the year for the Texas Junkin' Ladies.  Christmas has been taken down and Valentine's Day and Madri Gras are decking the aisles at Jack's.

The Valentine Tree in the store window.

Our Green Glassware

Patricia adding the X's and O's for Valentine's Day

Our New Harvest Table

Some of the Texas Junkin' Ladies have been hitting the flea markets and garage sales hot and heavy picking up all the goodies here in Northeast Texas.  Half the fun is the find and the other half is "what's for lunch."

Here's Judy with a very small portion of her loot from Larry and His Other Brother Larry's Estate Sale.

(I can't remember their names)

Judy calls this Good Stuff!

Judy offered Larry and his Other Brother Larry big money for the dog, but was sadly rebuffed.  Somewhere at home Judy's husband breathed a sigh of relief!



We're off and running for 2012 and are all hoping this will be a profitable year for us.  With all the loot found since the first of the year, we should rename ourselves the Louvered Shutter Queens, 'cause we got 'em coming out the kazoo.

OUR FIRST YEAR IS OVER

This has been a whirlwind first year for the Texas Junkin' Ladies.  We have accomplished about 16 months of a lot of work, but mostly, we have had a ton of fun. One of the Texas Junkin' Ladies had to bow out of the selling end of our group due to a lot of night activity and the distance from her home and Jack's in Pittsburg, Texas.  Pat is still a staunch member of the Junkin' part of the group and will come along for the junkin' trips.  She has an eye for the good bargain and has years of experience in
garage sale dickering.  Pat can and will get that dollar item down to 50 cents using only her eye brows.  I've seen her do it.  I tried it and the seller thought I was chasing flies and tried to up the price thinking I was loco.

We've had a great year and when the Christmas items are taken down at Jack's, and when Patricia, Misty and Judy redecorate we'll start having time for the junkin' trips. Our trips are usually a hoot and we can't wait for the excitement to begin.

WATCH OUT EAST TEXAS, HERE WE COME!

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My Kitsch Tree



I wanted everyone to see my Kitsch Kitchen tree.  I collect aluminum cookie cutters and discovered I had about 20 of the Santa Claus cookie cutters and decided to use them for a kitchen Christmas tree.  The bell ornaments were given to me by my aunt that she purchased in 1951 as was the sitting elf.  Note the box, this was in my aunt's things and it contains ornament hangers that actually work.  Made in the USA, circa 1960 and sold for 10 cents.

                                  Prize for the drawing at the Cypress Basin Hospice Thrift Store

I put my name in, laughed because the only thing I have ever won, in 1964, was a hairdryer that came in a round suitcase like box that contained a plastic baggie that you put over your pinned and rolled wet hair.  It had a hose running out and into a heater like box attached in the suitcase. 

Hands free for those rotary dial phones.

Anyway, I won the prize at the Cypress Basin Hospice Thrift Store.

The Texas Junkin' Ladies wish everyone a wonderful 2012 and let this one be the best ever!

TEXAS JUNKIN' LADIES CHRISTMAS PARTY

Patricia and her husband Mike hosted our FIRST annual Christmas party.  Of course, the theme was pure Redneck!  Ron Barret, Misty's husband, and Sean Talley provided live music and they were wonderful.

Patricia (Earldene)--(Jim Bob Mike's main squeeze)

Misty, better known as "Bubba Jean"

  Note how these Pittsburg socialites flaunt their brassieres over their tees and camo wear.

Kellye (BillyBobbett) and husband, Shiles-- affectionately known as "Goober"

Judy (Ellie May) and her husband Nat (Big Boy) dirty dancin'

Nikki (Tammy Fay) and her husband Charlie (Grumpy Puss)

Note: this photo was taken during a rousing Jitterbug and 20 seconds

before they both passed out.

The Good Old Boys, our live entertainment!

Jim Bob Mike's Main Squeeze cookin' up some scrumptious weinies on

the latest in grill ware.

Jim Bob Mike and his Main Squeeze

I don't know what the hell is goin' on.  What is that thing in Grumpy's mouth?

As usual we all had a wonderful time.  We had a White Elephant gift exchange.  We exchanged a lot of crap because I ended up with four sets of chopsticks.  Thanks, and you know who you are and there are paybacks in the works.

PHOTO SHOOT AT JACK'S, DECEMBER 17

Here is an opportunity to give a wonderful gift to a loved one, or get a rare photo of your child or grandchild, a photo that can and will be passed down for generations.

Stop by Jack's at 122 Quitman, Pittsburg, Texas, on Saturday December 17 from 9 AM to 5 PM and give or get the perfect Christmas gift.

NO ROOM IN THE STORE FOR ONE MORE TREE

We were to be at Jack's the afternoon of the Santa Claus parade to hand out cookies and hot cider but the powers that be in Pittsburg postponed the parade and rescheduled for this following Saturday.  The 'powers' thought it might rain, but not a drop.  Let's wait and see what next Saturday brings, with our luck it'll be snow.

There we were, most of the Texas Junkin' Ladies and the postponed parade provided the TJL's with a work day.  When I arrived at Jack's at noon on Saturday, it was wall to wall Christmas decorations. Jack's had been decorated from stem to stern last week.   Do you think for one minute that this was enough?  No indeed.  Judy whipped out, from the rear-end of her truck, another artificial tree.  Patricia, from god only knows where, brought out and fluffed six of those tiny little skinny trees and even hung them with lights.  Misty was over in the corner doing something with silver plated flatware.  It looked like she was fluffing the spoons to death. sticking and poking them all over the store and even in the trees.  I feigned piddling with stuff for a good hour until they saw through my charade and sent me next door to All Occasions to step and fetch.  "Take this over, bring back thus and such."  It was WORK!

At 3:30 I drug my poor body home to my recliner leaving them to do their magic.  As I drove past Jack's big front windows and to my wondering eyes did appear, three more Christmas trees waiting in line to be fluffed.  Where the trees came from is beyond me, but I have a suspicion that Judy, Patricia and Misty are actually elves and they do this every Christmas.  Why put one tree in an antique store when 57 will make it even better.

This is the kitchen area of Jack's

Our garden area was taken over by the "Elves"

This is the dining room at Jack's

I know it's hard to see but they're fluffing!

To Judy, Patricia and Misty this is not decorated nearly enough!

Don't let her fool you, Judy's scarfing down cookies.  I'm surprised the confectioners sugar

isn't giving her away.

Did you know Patricia can take an old shirt of her husband's and make

table napkins?  Who Knew?



Jack's did pretty good last month and hopefully December will be the best selling month yet!

FLUFFING 101

Last Thursday we met at Jack's to start preparing for Christmas.  We removed all of the Halloween and Fall decorations.  So far, five Christmas trees have been put up and knowing Patricia, 38 more are coming in any day.

All thumbs, that I am, I attempted to help by giving Misty a hand with the largest Christmas tree.  Putting it together was a little discombobulated due to the fact that I've never mastered the "righty tighty, lefty lucy" concept of tightening the tree into the tree stand.  As Misty was 'righty tightying' I was 'lefty lucying' and around and around we went.  Finally, I stepped back and Misty got the booger upright and tight.

Patricia yelled from the front of Jack's that she wanted the "bows" (East Texas for Boughs) fluffed.  I assumed, as only an old gal can, that she wanted the 'bows' uncrunched and tree looking.  Misty and I were, at this time, laying on the floor "fluffing" the lower 'bows'.  Unnoticed by me, we went around and around again.  In my pea brain, "fluffing" was not what I was doing.  I was straightening not fluffing.
Fluffing, I have learned, is an artwork mastered only by anal retentive people who put up more than one tree in their home.  Fluffing is more like a scrunch.  I have drawn an example below:

Note how the 'bows' are different.  One example is nice and tree-like, the other is full of fluff.  This old gal has learned a new way to put up an artificial Christmas tree.  From now on, I'll throw my tree out of the attic into it's stand and call it good.  No more unnecessary work, now I'll have more time for my blackberry merlot.

By the time 8:00 pm rolled around, I was dead tired from fluffing and had to go home.  The younger of the Texas Junkin' Ladies remained and I'm sure fluffed until the roosters started crowing.