When choosing between the two greens in the Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint line, we usually go with Boxwood. However, after this piece, we’ll be using Lucketts Green much more! It turned out to be a really fabulous piece – our custom mix of waxes and the sweet little knob from World Market turned out just as I had hoped!
We’ve been color mixing a bit lately so we can play with some of our favorite colors in the Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint line. For this one, we chose to mix Shutter Gray and Linen in equal parts. It turned out to be a lovely washed out light gray. We finished with our custom mixture of Antiquing and Furntiure wax. We are going to put this one on our list of new faves!
We’ve enjoyed introducing you to some of our favorite shops in our newsletter over the last few weeks. We hope you’ll come visit Zionsville! You may want to plan a special trip around these events:
May 16 – Brick Street Market: hundreds of juried artisan vendors set up along Main Street all day
May 16-September 26 – Every Saturday morning until 11 am: Zionsville Farmer’s Market
June 13 – CruZionsville: Over 100 Porsches parked along Main Street for a fun family day of activities
June 20 – Miss Indiana Parade: Bring your family and cheer on your local contestant
August 1 – Street Dance: A fun evening of music and food
August 14 – Z’Sparkle Drag Race: want to see some men dressed as women running in heels to raise money for Alzheimer’s Research? It’s a one-of-a-kind event!
September 12 – Fall Festival: Parade followed by fun to be had on Main Street and Lions Park all day
November 28 – Christmas in the Village parade and Tree Lighting: Come kick off the Christmas Season with us
For more information about these and other events on Zionsville’s calendar, please check out the Chamber of Commerce website!
As we head into Spring and warmer temps, I am getting anxious for yard sale season. I love a good yard sale – something about the thrill of the hunt and never knowing what you are going to find, I suppose. I don’t go every week like I used to before we opened the store, but I try to go to a few every month. We do, however, make our annual pilgrimage south for the 127 sale – aka The World’s Longest Yard Sale. I thought I’d share some of our adventures and where to go, where not to go, and so forth.
The 127 Sale is the first full weekend in August every year along HWY 127 through Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama. We have shopped primarily in Kentucky and Tennessee and haven’t yet made it to Alabama. As you may know, I am a native Kentuckian and am therefore partial to all things related to the Bluegrass State. Also, most of my family still lives there so we have free room and board when we go! Here we are in my aunt’s driveway getting ready to head out….
There are two basic setups along 127: Fields and fields of vendors and individual sales at people’s homes. We have more luck with the fields of vendors but have gotten a few of my favorite pieces at a home. Most of the fields look like this…
All of these pictures are from southern Kentucky and Tennessee where we’ve found most of the best shopping. The sale started in Tennessee when it first began, and that’s where the bulk of the action is still. Most of the buying can be done on HWY 127 but you may see some signs like this for sites a few miles off the main drag…who doesn’t want classy trash?
If you go, be prepared to do some hauling. Many of these places are in the middle of a field which means you might have to lug a dresser on uneven ground for a fairly long distance. It’s a lot of fun and a lot of work!!
So plan a trip to the 127 sale this August, and enjoy yourself! And look for the yellow trailer…we’d love it if you said Hello!
As you may have noticed, I’m a big fan of Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Grain Sack. When given the choice, I will choose it every single time. I desperately wanted to use Grain Sack on this beautiful empire style bench but the script in the fabric I chose was closer to Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint in Linen. So, this is painted in Linen and I’m ok with it. Because, hello, look at it! The fabric is a gorgeous taupe with creamy white script that perfectly suits the curvy legs and soft lines of this piece. We even added a fringed border along the upholstery! Wow!!
With the rainy and often grey days of spring, our surroundings can seem a bit dark and dreary at times. But spring is also the start of new beginnings and beauty, and is the perfect time to add a little sparkle and shine to your life, just as Mother Nature is adding bling to the landscape with her beautiful flowers. So, in honor of bling, we are featuring our great neighboring business Robert Goodman Jewelers, which has been an important part of our wonderful little downtown since 2000.
But the story doesn’t start there. Bob’s grandfather came to America in the late 1800s. Later, while at the 1901 World’s Fair, he bought some jewelry, and peddled the trinkets on his back, selling every piece. And that was the beginning of the family jewelry business.
Fast forward to today. Bob is a third generation shop owner, and has been in the jewelry business since he was 16. He definitely knows his stuff when it comes to jewelry. And Bob isn’t into offering the typical pieces found just anywhere. His shop features unique pieces from up-and-coming designers, as well the traditional, so there is a wide variety jewelry available from which to choose.
When you walk in Bob’s shop, you can feel it is different than the big chain stores. Bob and his wife, Rose-Marie, are there to help by offering their knowledge and guidance to assist you in choosing the perfect piece of jewelry, no matter the occasion.
Here are a few pieces that are perfect for spring…aren’t they lovely?
So if you are in search of something to add a little bling to your wardrobe, be sure to stop in to Robert Goodman Jewelers.
And, if you are in need of a little something to add sparkle to your interior, come and visit us soon. We have lots of spring bling, like…
Decorative knobs for your furniture –
Sparkly mercury glass decor –
And even glitter!
We can’t wait to see you!
Erica
My husband, Jim, found lots of old school maps and we will be bringing them in this week. We love using maps as artwork because it is an inexpensive way to cover lots of square footage.
For inspiration, here are a couple of examples of decorating with maps…
We have several maps of the United States from the standard typographical to some very specific about the 18th Century and Civil War eras…
We also have a nice selection of world maps. Some have an overlay, some have interesting data at the top or bottom, all have great coloring…
And our favorites, the Indiana maps! These are all so interesting and different with amazing colors…
And finally, the rest of the world! We have Asia, Africa, South America, Europe and Terms maps that are sure to be a conversation starter…
These maps would be a great addition to any space in your home – from a sitting room or dining area, to an entry way or hall, to a child’s room or play room. So come in and see our maps to choose one – or several – for your home. And thank you to those who have been waiting for our maps to come in. If you are on our wish list, we will be in touch this week!
Anytime we have had one of these caned headboards, it has been an all out frenzy! What’s the size? What’s the color? Let me text a picture to my friend/mom/husband!! (for this piece: full, linen, OK!)
We decided this piece called for a light treatment so we painted two coats in Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint Linen. After a light sand, we mixed up some Furniture wax with just a hint of antiquing wax and — voila!
We had a garage sale at our barn last year where we sold things for cheap, cheap, cheap. It was great to get rid of so much stuff and the buyers seemed to really enjoy the good deals! Lots of project pieces, things we knew would never make it to the store or things that had a little damage…here’s a picture of one of the piles.
In the stack was an old, heavy oak buffet with a mirror…see it, right there behind Granny’s chairs! It’s not a great picture because I never dreamed I would save it from the pile. These things were on the way out. My husband and I promised each other that if something came out for the garage sale, it would not re-enter the barn. And, I really stuck to that agreement….almost entirely….for the most part….well, not really. Because here it is now…
We ripped off the doors that were hanging by a thread to make two cute little cubbies. My very handy husband filled the hole and we ditched the mirror. Add some cute knobs, some Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint in Typewriter and Kitchen Scale and look at her now… So glad I saved her! And, keep an eye out for our garage sale this year – you just never know what hidden treasure may be hiding out it a pile of junk!
I love secretaries – something about my love of the 1940’s and being able to hide all of the mess by folding up the front, I suppose! This secretary had the most beautiful oval wood inlay along the glass. We popped those out when we gave the whole piece two coats of Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint in Grain Sack. Lots and lots of bleed through on this one (as we see on almost every secretary) so we decided to use Miss Mustard Seed’s Tough Coat to block it. Happy to report it worked like a charm.
Here is the third in our series of features on some of our wonderful neighboring businesses in Zionsville. Who knew our little burb is such a mecca for talent? (Well, we did, of course, and now you do, too).
Casalini Portraits
Speaking of talent, I’m sure many of you locals (and many of you across the US, and perhaps the world, too) are familiar with Tom Casalini’s work. Over the decades, he has perfected his craft and has become one of the most respected photographers in the Midwest. How cool is it that we have a world-renowned award-winning photographer as our upstairs neighbor?
The saying “A picture is worth a thousand words” is so very true where Tom Casalini’s work is concerned. He not only captures the physical side of his subjects, but their inner spirits, as well. His subjects have included individuals young and old, families and pets, and oodles of famous people. He treats all the same – getting to know them a bit before-hand to find out what really makes them tick so he can capitalize upon that during the shoot. Here are a couple examples of his work…
And a few portraits of famous Hoosiers…
In addition to being a talented portrait photographer, Tom is fabulous at landscape photography, too. Check out his private collection to see colors more vivid than reality allows. And don’t miss out on viewing one of his personal projects of passion, the many photographs featured in the book Ordinary Heroes, which is a collection of Congressional Medal of Honor recipients.
As I said, our shop is definitely surrounded by talent, eh? By the way, if you have a brand new custom portrait from Casalini Portraits ready for hanging in your home, come in and see us for some accompanying décor.
The two Miss Mustard Seed Colors of the Month are trophy and french enamel.
Trophy is a pewter, silvery gray that is a nice complement to our other gray, Shutter Gray. Trophy is a little more gray/green, and looks lovely when paired with a warmer color like Apron Strings.
Here are a few beautiful pieces in trophy…
French enamel, so named for the light blue of the French enamelware, is a favorite of Marian’s, as you will see by the many appearances in her blog. She pairs this lovely blue with cream and white in her living room.
Here are some great pieces in french enamel…
Come in and see what’s new in these lovely Colors of the Month!
And by the way, thanks to Susan, of Susan Van Huss Design Studio, for bringing these pieces to life!
This sweet little desk just needed some love (and hopefully new owners that have coasters!) We gave it a new life using mineral paint and finished with Miss Mustard Seed’s White Wax.
