Chateau de Fleurs is Almost Here!

It's that time again!

Chateau Chic Boutique

is a proud vendor at

Chateau de Fleurs Studio & Vintage Marketplace

presented by Christie Repasy and Rita Reade

THIS Friday and Saturday

December 3 and 4, 2010

You don't want to miss it!

Join us for

two days of shopping and fun with

over 20 fabulous vendors

bringing you their beautiful vintage finds

and awesome creations.

See you there!

Christmas blessings to you all,

Missy

Giving Thanks and The Lighting

Happy belated Thanksgiving everyone!

I had hoped to do a special post to show my sincere gratitude
for each and EVERY one of my blog friends and followers....
but I got a little too caught up in preparing for
the crowds that the lighting brings, that it just didn't happen.

This is, of course, no reflection of my gratitude for all of you.

I honestly, really do appreciate all of you and the time
you take to add comments. 

It means a lot to me, really.

So, what's this lighting all about?

Well, here in Riverside, CA, is the Historic Mission Inn Hotel and Spa.

It is a beautiful place that's been here forever

(well, maybe not forever but a very, very long time -

that's why it's "historic")

Anyway, each year there is a big celebration
the day after Thanksgiving.

Huge, and I mean HUGE crowds fill the streets to witness

the lighing of the Mission Inn.

(which just happens to be directly across the street from
the Mission Galleria,

where my humble little space resides.)

And since there are HUGE crowds, that means TONS of people coming through my space.

So, my loving and devoted Husband went earlier in the day

(poor guy had to park far, far away,
since the streets were blocked off)

to bring in my fireplace mantle and some other pieces.

Then, we switched off so I could bring in the rest off the small stuff.

Our usual routine is that I go down to spruce up my space,

then he comes down later with the kids
so we can meet up and watch the lighting.

We get all bundled up because it's absolutely FrEEzing!

(OK fine, so 50 degress may not be freezing
where some of you are from

but for a California girl, that's pretty stinkin' cold!)

This time, little man, Jack was asleep in the stroller
so we stayed inside the Galleria to watch the show because
it gets pretty loud with the fireworks and all.

Yes, fireworks!  I told you it's a big deal!

Notice the crowds??

I have to be honest and tell you that all of these pictures,
except the family photo and my space,
were taken last year when we were able to watch from
the 2nd floor of the Mission Galleria.
This year the owner held a dinner for $20. a person,
which was a little too pricey for a family of five,
so my Husband fought the crowd so the girls could still see
while I stayed inside with Jack since he was asleep. 
So, I couldn't get any pictures of the show.

Well, back to my space....

I'm sooo glad I went down early, sooo many people came through my little space.

I sold the sweet child's table and chair set
my Man brought in 2 hours earlier.

The cutest couple bought it for their daughters.

They almost didn't know it came with TWO chairs
since I was sitting in one of them while
I was writing out my price tags...oops! 
We all got a good laugh out of that one!

Then a very nice woman put two items on layaway.

She loved the fireplace mantle we just brought in and

the black chandelier I did with vintage sheet music.

She got it for her granddaughter,

how sweet it that?

A few more things made their way to the check out as well.

I'm so glad the Lord blessed me with good sales that night.

I'm that much closer to my car payment, yay!

Well, I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about Riverside.
No black Friday for this family!
It's so over-rated, don't you think?

Hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving,
full of love gratitude and love.

Missy

Shanty 2 Chic Giveaway!

Hello everyone!

Just wanted to let you all know about a terrific GIVEAWAY

from an awesome blog, Shanty2Chic.

Whitney and Ashley are two sisters that craft constantly

and post all the how-to's.

If you don't already follow them, you're missing out.

What are they giving away you ask?

A Silhouette Machine!!!

I'd REALLY love to own one, so by posting this

I get one more chance!

Be sure to check out their blog Shanty2Chic,

and their giveaway post here.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Blessings,

Missy

The Armoire - 8 Years in the Making

Have you ever bought something and had grandious plans

to make it into something beautiful?

And then never got around to actually

bringing those plans to reality?

I'm sure if many of you took a quick look into your garage,

patio or storage unit, you can totally relate.

For those of you who are so organized and disciplined that

your projects are completed before even a speck of dust

has tim eto settle on it, first of all,

there has to be something wrong with you....

I'm kidding of course....

I'd LOVE to have that problem trait!

Anyway, this post is about one of those pieces.

I bought this old armoire EIGHT years ago,

when I first started in this business of junkin'.

At that time I was slightly over-buying.

I seemed to have a serious lack of self-control.

(Some of you may relate to this as well.)

I actually bought two entire old bedroom sets,

that included three armoires.

I know, I know...

but I already told you, I had no self-control!

I could literally picture each one of them completed,

each with their own set of beautiful, ornate appliques.

The other two have sold long ago.

But for some reason, the one I had the biggest plans for

just sat and sat....and sat.

Eventually it ended up on my Mom's rear patio.

There it sat some more - 8 years total!

Well, here she is.

A little weather damaged,

which I'm sure many of you can relate to as well!

Oh, I'd say about a second or so after snapping

this photo, she decided to fall forward off of the platform.

Thank goodness my Husband was there to jump in and save her.

Sad, isn't it?

Poor neglected armoire.

She was so loyal, sitting there, patiently, for eight long years.

I had to make it up to her so I hunted around

to see what we could do.

 Now that's better!

With a little moulding and some glue,

she's good as new, or even better actually!

After a TON of sanding,

we went through 4 cans of Kilz.

Then I started to play with my appliques,

trying to find the best combination.

This is pretty much what I had envisioned all those years ago.

 My next step was to add a lighter primer to all the appliques.

The Kilz is much too heavy for the ornate detail of the appliques.

Here's what it looked like after my Husband

added a couple coats of paint with our HVLP sprayer.

After looking at it for a few days,

I realized I didn't like how bright it looked.

I debated on "shabby-chic-ing" it.

(You know, sanding edges and such)

But then I decided to antique it.

I played around with some glaze and stain but it kept separating.

 So then I thought I'd try something new.

I just used the walnut colored furniture stain alone

and dipped a rag in it and started to rub it on.

After quite a while of fine tuning,

I was very happy with the results.

You may have noticed the fan in one of the pictures.

That was because the stain was so oily,

it kept settling around the appliques.

It was taking FoRevER to dry so I actually brought

the fan outside and parked it right in front of the armoire all night!

Finally it all dried and ended up looking really cool.

 So there it is in my space.

The matching dresse/vanity is next to it.

Here are a couple of close-ups of it all done

and in my space at Mission Galleria.

If you have any questions about it,

just email me or post a message.

 I was hoping to link up to Marian's blog party

but I missed the deadline, darn it!

But thankfully I'm able to make it to

Debra's Vintage Inspiration Friday blog party

at Commom Ground! 

Yay!

I've been wanting to participate for quite a while now

and am finally doing it!

Please drop by and check out all the other

lovely bloggers' Vintage Inspiration.

AND I'm linking up to Terrell's blog party

Fabulous Friday Finds 

at Frou Frou Decor!

Hope you all have a super blessed weekend!

Missy

White Wednesday #8

Hi friends!

This week's White Wednesday is going to

feature pictures from my last show,

Tell Me About the Good Ole Days.

We all had a great time.

It's a great group of ladies,

a lot of us also do Christie's show,

Chateau de Fleurs.

I'll share the pictures of their beautiful

spaces in another post.

(by the way, the next show is coming up quickly...

December 3  & 4th)

OK, back to White Wednesday.

So, here come the whites...

 This is a small shabby dresser that

I really debated on whether or not add appliques.

But I'm so glad I did!

I really like how it turned out!

What do you think?

When I started using appliques,

(which was almost 9 years ago)

I always saved them for certain nicer pieces,

partly because they're so costly.

But now I choose pieces based on the character

I think they'll show once they're

all dressed up with a pretty applique (or 2, or 3!)

 I love this little table,

it's so dainty.

I love the criss-cross pieces

that brace the legs at the bottom.

 Those tiny chairs are actually place card holders.

I picked them up at Michael's years ago and

I finally got around to painting and antiquing them.

They started out with a super shiny silver finish.

I had two sets and another dealer bought one of them

to hold her business cards at her shows.

They look so cute with her jewelry displays.

 This started out as an old cabinet door and

was really not cute at all.

I added one of my favorite appliques, a basket of roses,

 and that tiny beaded trim...yes, I painstakingly added

it in LOTS of small pieces.  

Those darn brittle pieces just kept breaking! 

Then I kept painting, sanding, and antiquing until

I finally was happy with the finish.

Sometimes it takes me a while to get things

just how I want them.

That's what is so great about transforming things,

you just keep working with it until you like it.

And it's only paint right?

How many times have you painted something or

recovered the same piece...

over and over and over again?!?!

This used to be a funky sort of candle sconce.

I pulled the weird miniature shelf thingy sticking out of it,

that held the little wooden candle cup.

Then I added the applique, a large glass knob for a hook

and had my Husband counter sink holes

(see how there's a little hole that is sunk down into the bigger hole?)

that way, when you put screws in the hang it,

they will "sink" into the hole and be flush

with the surface rather than protrude out.

Then you just touch up the screws with a little paint

and they just about dissappear.

 I love the legs on this curvy table.

The mirror is something I found as is.

It's a little on the heavy side but I love the curves

and the the rose etchings on the glass.

These are some candle holders I made out of

old wooden post pieces.

You can see their transformation here.

 This is a little children's table and chair set

I did a while back.

 Now here's another bunch of lovely whites for ya'!

That's the chalkboard door my Man made.

I just kept bringing him junk to add to it

and he found a way to make it all work!

You can't see it very well but there's an old ceiling tin

that fit just perfectly in the bottom panel.

We had so much fun creating this together.

The cutest couple ended up buying it as we

were packing up on the last day.

I hope they enjoy using it as much as

we did creating it!

Well, I guess that just about does it for the whites.

I'll close out this post with this cute little piece

made from another old cabinet door.

Love you all!

Now go check out all the beautiful expressions of whites

as Kathleen hosts another fabulous White Wednesday at

Faded Charm!

Hope everyone has an awesome week.

Isaiah 1:18

Missy

Tell Me About the Good Ole Days Show!

Hi everyone!

I'm doing another show,

this time in Redlands, CA.

Graciously hosted by Lori and Jamie Martin,

the Two Wild Roses.

Tell Me About the Good Ole Days

tomorrow is the last day

Saturday, November 6, 2010

9 am - 4 pm

There are several other fabulous vendors

so you won't want to miss this one!

Please check out both blogs to

link up to the other vendors' blogs.

Have a super blessed weekend everyone!

Missy

PS  Hey, did anyone notice I'm getting

close to 100 followers?!

I can't believe it!

Maybe a little giveaway

would be appropriate to celebrate

the milestone.

What do you think?