Second Whimsical Shoppe Location

In August of 2012 my husband and I were driving around our Waxahachie and came up on a sign that said Red Barn Flea Market. Looked interesting and we love to go to flea markets so we decided to check it out. From the outside it looked like a small warehouse, but once inside the flea market is a fairly large warehouse space. There is lots of room for expanding and that is exactly what they were doing. Construction of several new 12' x 12' booths were underway.  The owner introduced themselves and we inquired about the booths. After some discussion we decided to go for it and lease a booth with them. That was in August of 2012 and we have been with the Red Barn Flea Market since.

The Red Barn owners and vendors are now family. Great fun, hard work, great customers and good people. Red Barn is still new and we rely on word of mouth for now, but this place has a great future.

                

 

 

Where I left off.

A lot has happened in the seven months since my last post. I was so excited to have my new larger space in Old Town Village Antiques and Uniques in Waxahachie, Texas. There were nights that could not sleep with all the new ideas swirling through my head. I would get up at 4:00 am and go to work painting and crafting and stay up late until my head was bobbing like a bobble head.  Every Thursday through Saturday mornings by 7:00 am I would jump in my truck and head out on the hunt for junk and treasures to reclaim, up-cycle or repaint for my new space... I loved it! My obsession for this new adventure was now full-time. I am addicted to the hunt!

I soon had my little space up on the mezzanine filled with goodies to sell. I was so proud of my little space.

I loved spending hours adding and rearranging my space weekly. Each day at 5:00 pm when OTV closed for the day, I would jump on to my laptop and log into OTV to see if I had sales that day. My daily sales slowly would rise and I was very happy.

I have had this new space for about 7 months now and I loved meeting and making new friends with the dealers and employees of OTV. We are now like family.

I'm back and ready to do this!

I decided that it was about time that I do a better job with this blog that I started months ago. I wanted to share my new little adventure into starting a new small business.  How in the world do I expect people with the same interest as I do to read my little blog if I don't write anything for months at a time on it? Well you won't! Hope that will change! Thank you so much for stopping by my new little blog as I attempt to do this one more time. Thank you so much for staying with me.

My adventure in the new world of selling vintage and re-purposed items.

I have only been on this new adventure of selling vintage and re-purposed items at one of our local antique stores at Old Town Village Antiques & Uniques since February. I had always wanted to have a booth for many years, but circumstances just didn't allow it. Maybe I just was not brave enough either. To be honest, I think the good Lord timing was the perfect time.

I will be 50 soon and I would like to think that I am wiser and more mature, The kids are all grown and I think the good Lord is telling me that now it is my time to start a new fun adventure that I will enjoy. I have always been one to take care of everyone else. Maybe it is now " My Time".

My husband also enjoys the hunt and is frankly better at the price negotiating.  I thought I was good... he is better! Thanks honey! He is older and will retire several years before I will, so this will be a great way for us to do something together in the near future. We want to travel, so what better way to do so than hunting down new finds, meeting new people as we see parts of the U.S..



I am in the process of registering my business name, applying for my state tax number and researching how I would like to sell my items online. I will be starting with small items like hand painted chairs, side tables and desk later moving to much larger items. This will allow me to build a stock of larger items to sell in the future.

I know that it is important to also get the business name out there to draw people to my products. I have my facebook page and am now venturing into writing this blog.

It can happen... if you want it bad enough!

Well I have not had a blog of any kind in a few years, but I decided I would start another for my new business called My Whimsical Country Cottage. I have always loved visiting flea markets, estate sales, yard sales, resale shops and of course antique malls. I have always had a desire to have my own booth in a mall and had spoken about it on many occasions, but had never really went forward with any kind of plans to actually lease one.

I had visited Old Town Village Antiques and Uniques in a neighboring town many times. The front of the store is always so inviting with it's big display windows that are always well decorated with beautiful vintage items. The last several times that I had visited, I inquired about renting a booth, and every time I was told there where none available and there was a waiting list. I even tried emailing, the answer was the same. I told myself I was not giving up and I didn't.



Several months later I visited again with my husband noticing that there was a sign stating that booths were available. Woo Hoo I thought to myself... should I? I spoke with the person behind the desk and after she inquired about what I would like to sell, she gave me pricing.  Again I thought with a little hesitation, "Should I?  Can I really do this?"   I discussed it with my husband even tho I really think my mind was already made up to do it. I just needed to hear that he would support me. He did and I signed a lease on a small 3rd floor booth.

Well after only two months of loving everything about it, I have already moved down a floor into a much larger space. Now that was exciting. I visited my new space many times dreaming of how I would decorate it.  I took a friend with me once asking her advise. She said, "Don't worry about the decorating, it will come to you. It will be great."  You know she was right! It did come to me and I love the way it turned out. I am continuously changing it up. I love to keep the customers guessing.

I hit the the estate, yard and resale sales every weekend searching for the perfect items to rescue and redo for my new space. I finally had the room for some small furniture pieces in this new space. While on one of my weekend treasure hunts with my friends and husband, we came across this perfect door that had beautiful colored panes in it. I wanted some doors to help separate  few areas in my new space. I wanted to give my new space and shop a new name and of course a whimsical look. I fell in love with what I thought was a door, but was actually a large window. It was perfect.

My new space is coming along. I am having a blast filling it with rescued items that I have found. Some I repaint and some just need a little TLC then they are ready to find a new home with someone. I think that I have finally found a job that I really love doing. I may not get rich with money, but I am rich in so many other ways.