A New Venture

Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right? 
That's what I was thinking a couple of weeks ago when I registered to be a vendor at Brass Armadillo. My goal is a modest one: Just sell enough to cover the monthly rental fee. But hopefully I'll do a little better than that!

Yesterday was "move in" day. Spouse and Bailey went along to help set up the case, and I'm glad they did because there were a couple of minor bumps in the road before we even got started! First, management had accidentally assigned my reserved case to another vendor just before we arrived. That problem was easily resolved, and he ended up taking the empty case next to mine. He is an experienced vendor and offered some good advice, so everything turned out fine. Now I've met my "neighbor"! :)

The next problem was completely of my own doing. (What's new, right?) Bailey and I had decided to put a cloth backdrop in the case so we measured it, picked out the fabric, and then Bailey hemmed the edges. Assuming the back of the case was made of particleboard, we had planned to tack the backdrop to it. But when we arrived yesterday, we discovered it was plastic and tacks would not work! (How did we MEASURE THE CASE without noticing it was plastic? Good grief!) So Spouse ran to the hardware store and purchased a small dowel and some Command hooks so we could run the dowel through the hem and hang it like a curtain. Bailey and I had considered using a curtain rod in the first place...guess we should have thought that through a little bit more! But the problem was solved quickly and the backdrop looks great. Having a colored background makes the items stand out a little bit more.

FINALLY we could start putting our treasures in the case! Turns out that Bailey is a very good merchandiser of vintage beer cans. If this teaching thing doesn't work out, maybe she could get a job at Big Red Liquors in Bloomington! HA! :)

 

Here's the completed case! It's sort of an odd assortment of things from my life, but hey...that's what I have! For instance, we have 200 beer cans to sell, so I will be replenishing stock as needed. I also have 30+ vintage candy heart boxes. I'll take more as time progresses, reserving some for Valentine's Day. These candy boxes have been very difficult for me to deal with, as they were given to my mom by my dad over the years. I've saved a couple of special ones but would like to see the others go to good homes. They're very hard for me to keep in my house. :(

For now, the bottom two shelves have an assortment of porcelain items, some old books (Partridge Family and Bobby Sherman!), an old tobacco tin, and a coconut bra that our neighbor once gave to my mom as a joke. Mom and I had a lot of laughs over that thing...but it needs to go to a new home!

The chalk ware fruit belonged to my grandma but has never been used. I've had it for many years hoping I'd eventually be able to hang it, but it seems that idea has been vetoed. I did keep three pieces for myself with the dream that I'll hang it SOMEPLACE, possibly in the closet. :)

 

So we'll see how this new venture goes! If you're in the Des Moines area, stop by Case #311 to see all of these fine wares. And check back frequently because I'll be taking new items...as I unearth them from my basement! :)

jp