Stirring the Junkin' Pot

hey y'all,

been a long time since i've posted, i know. i'm sure you've all been waiting with baited breath and crying into your pillows each night for lack of terrylee's junking adventures. heh heh

killer vintage pillow with rows and rows of roses!

and yes. stuffed with chicken and duck feathers!!
well, i'll tell it to you straight. i lost my muse for a while. honestly, as much as i love love love junk and the thrill of the treasure hunt, i just got a little burned out and simply overwhelmed.

i kept buying and buying (and buying and buying and buying) ... do you get the picture yet? because i can NOT pass up a great vintage treasure OR a bargain. cases in point:

three lil vintage "bunnies" looking all sweet and precious and adorable. just look at those faces!

a precious vintage lipstick holder with mirror and sweet cherub

an estate sale find, this is a wax doll from the 1920s ... with her original hair, albeit a tad wadded. she's divine!
and what, several of you have asked me in the past, do i DO with all my terrific treasures? i think some of you have actually begun to worry a little about my ... er ... problem. situation. whatever you wanna call it.

we've all watched hoarders. and i think it's good medicine for junkers like me. we need a reality check. i need a reality check.

does this mean i'm done junking? in a word, NO. in two words, HELL no. i will NOT stop doing something that means so much to me. i LOVE vintage/antique items. i love their history. they make me feel connected to a past that i didn't live. to those women before me who had such a different life, yet probably felt many of the same emotions, desires, pleasures and heartaches that i have experienced.

BUT, how many vintage plates with pink roses does a person need?! how many scraps of vintage lace, doilies, bottles, ladies' hats, hat boxes, dresses, slips, dolls, ephemera ... i could go on and on. really? how much is too much?!

i guess the saturation point is different for all of us. but i know i've reached mine. the junk has taken over and is winning, just like the terrorists (heh).

so what's the answer? for me, i think the solution is three-fold. first, i need to buy in moderation. be more discriminating in my selections. reign myself in a bit. put things back. think twice. think thrice.

secondly, spend an occasional saturday with my current junk ... cleaning, sifting, organizing instead of junking for new pieces.

lately, it seems all i ever do is just move junk from one place to another. it's like my house is one big pot o' junk and i'm just stirring it around, over and over. watching it simmer. enjoying the aromas and anticipating the delicious flavors. but who can eat a whole potful of vintage yumminess??

thank the good lord i now have a "craft room". as IF any crafting is ever done in there. basically, it's my junk room. but still, i'm thankful for it ... a place to store/organize/fret-over my current junk. i mean, inventory.

which brings me to: thirdly, i need to feed the hungry masses, yearning for their own vintage food. share the love. meaning, more needs to go OUT. basic physics. inflow and output. junk in, junk out. give, sell, donate, etc. whatever. but i need a better output. i do sell on ebay, but that's quite a constipated process if you ask me. still, it's junk OUT. also, i'm excited about a couple of upcoming community garage sales at which i'll be a vendor (more info on that forthcoming).

a spot to call home base for my shipping efforts.
with any luck, i'll stay focused on this three-fold formula and my junkin' world will have a little more equilibrium. because i will not answer if the hoarder film crew comes knocking at my door!

as an aside, it's march in central texas. i'm officially on the bluebonnet watch! whoop!

love and hugs, ya'll,
terrylee