Junk Salvation 2011

Now that I have had a few days to recover from Junk Salvation and spend some much-needed time with my family (before a show, I tend to go into my own crazy little world trying to tie up all loose ends-it's what I call my "Game Face"mode), I am ready to share about the magnificent show put on by two lovely Washington gals who go by the name of The Funky Junk Sisters.

Following a sale, I typically do the "photographer thing" where I sort through all of my photos and choose only the prettiest. You know, the ones that best showcase my goods. But this time, I have decided to mix things up a bit. This time I want to share a little glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes, so to speak. The nitty gritty.

For this show, my super sweet little sister decided to give me a timeline to help with what she likes to call my poor time management skills. It is no secret that I am a procrastinator. I have been my whole life; well, since the fifth grade when Mr. Graham told me I was any way. At that time, I didn't even know what the word meant, so of course, I didn't believe him. I am older now, so I admit, I procrastinate. For those of you who didn't attend, the show was Saturday, so my very basic schedule for the week prior consisted of the following:

Tuesday: last day to craft, create, paint, sew, etc.

Wednesday: price merch

Thursday: load trailer

Friday: setup

I am happy to say that I stayed pretty true to course. For the first time ever, the trailer was mostly packed and ready to go Friday morning when she arrived at my house ready for departure.

This is me, ready to unload my treasures.

This is Darcie (world's best sister) ready to dive in.

This pic makes me tired just looking at it.

We arrived at 9am and began unpacking. The bones go up first...gazebo, tin walls, anything large. Then, we bring in the smalls and it all starts to come together. After breaking for lunch (and a quick shopping trip to a neighboring Marshalls), we return to add the finishing touches. Tweaking things so that they are pleasing to the eye and give shoppers an idea of how they could use the item(s) in their own home decor. Once it feels right, we load up all of our tools, ladders, and anything else we used throughout the day in preparation. Here is where it gets a little crazy.

By this time we are both tired from a late night, early morning, and a long day of moving some pretty heavy items. I am not sure who we got it from, but for some reason, Darcie and I both have a resistance to making more trips than we deem necessary. So, here we go, Darcie on one end of two ladders stacked atop each other (both buried in miscellaneous item such as suitcases full of tools, spools of lace, and sweatshirts), myself on the other end. Being at the back of this rickety load automatically qualified Darcie for the job of simultaneously manning the hand-truck. I am pretty sure I offered to take on the hand-truck task, but this was a challenge she was not back down from. As we started our way toward the exit door, items began to wobble and with every step we lost a piece of our pile. I vaguely remember trying to balance the load and slowly bend to grab the missing pieces, but with each attempt, we only lost more. You might think that we would be agitated by now, but on the contrary, spirits were high. In fact, we are now laughing at loud volumes and drawing attention from other vendors who most likely think we are crazy. We don't care, we have our eye on the prize, and we kindly thank those who plop our runaways back on the pile. That is, until someone tried to suggest that Darcie leave the hand-truck behind and come back for it. Boy did he know how to push a button! This kind gentleman, who was only trying to help, had no idea of the women he was speaking to. Another trip! Ha! "We've got it thank you."

"Fine, if you want to break your arm!" We made it to the car after finally realizing there was a way to pack everything on the hand-truck...no broken limbs. Back to Molalla, where we eat, sleep, and are up early the next morning (in matching outfits thanks to Marshalls). It is now Saturday and speed down our zigzag path to get to the show on time. Once inside, we take a few pics to share with you, then the chaos begins.