We moved our shop----again!!!!

Ok, so I know it looks like we are uhmmm, wishy-washy when it comes to our shop but we really aren't!  We really know what we are doing---sometimes.

I said all that to say, we have moved our shop in Winnie--AGAIN!  The little house we moved to only a few short months ago just wasn't working out.  It was TOO small (yes, our first shop was TOO big) and the porch was just un-usable for us.  On top of all that, the customer traffic wasn't very good.  And so, we asked to move again, whenever something came available.  Little did I realize it would happen so fast!!

I received a call within 2-days of the March show saying there was an opening if we wanted it.  And boy did we want it!!  It's larger than the little house but not as big as our first shop--1/2 it's size.  AND we have 3-covered porches--lots more space and even better traffic!!

So once again we had to move--quickly!!  And this time I had to do most of it myself.  My son was working and couldn't help much so every weekend I went to Winnie and moved, moved, MOVED again, all the displays, all the decorations, all the items for sale.  Don't mean to sound whiny but it was really hard work and I'm glad to be finished----and I have sworn to never, ever, ever move again!!

Here are a few pictures of our shop 'in progress':

My son got this clothing rack for me from his job--for FREE!!

Nice corner of the shop--we also have some wonderful windows!

This is one side of my covered porch

I'm working on making part of the shop a boutique for vintage clothing & accessories

I had to sneak in a picture of my wonderful grandson who is now 2!!

This is our 'counter'--we can sit behind it.  This is also what you see from the front door

So that's it for now.  I'll keep you updated on how the shop is looking--we are really excited about having this new opportunity to share God's blessings----and hopefully sell a few things too!!

God Bless all and any who read this,

Pat, A Remade Life

Lots of Things a-happen'

     You ever notice how just when you think you can sit down and take a break all sorts of 'hoop-la' starts happening!?  Well, there is hoop-la galore happening around here!!

     Firstly, as I relayed in an earlier post, my mom fell again last month and broke the femur on her right leg---for the second time.  I'm happy to report that she is doing very well, came through the surgery fine and is currently at rehab were she will be for an undetermined amount of time.

     Secondly, things have changed for the better at Winnie Trade Days and they have found us another, smaller shop!  We are very excited about this as we truly love being at the Winnie show and have developed good relations with many wonderful customers.  And the fun part of all this is that our shop is actually a little house!!  It is soooo cute and we have great plans to fix it up--we will be in it by the January show.  More on that as it occurs.

     Thirdly, I have decided to specialize in vintage/retro clothing and will be opening an ecommerce website soon!  I am really, really excited about this adventure since I LOVE vintage/retro clothing and actually already have quite a collection.  I hope to have this website up and running within the next few weeks and will be sure to notify EVERYONE when it is.

     I do have one more adventure in the works, but 'mums' is the word on this one for now.  Just know that this one is like 'slap yo' mamma' exciting and could be the next step to a free-range life!!

     On another note, sure would like to hear from you guys.  A little comment here, a little 'word' there, would be nice.  Let me know what you are thinking, how your life is going and what I can do to help make your life pleasant!
Until next time, God bless all and any who read this,
Pat, A Remade Life

Best Customers in the World!!

This past weekend was the Winnie Trade Days show and what a good show it was!  Although we didn't make as much money as we did last month we did ok-- but the real joy came in meeting some of the greatest customers in the world!!

I had the great pleasure of meeting many new customers as well as seeing some long-time returning ones. What fun it was to visiting with people, make new friends and 'share' the love of God with so many!!  I felt truly blessed to meet each and every one that came into my shop.

There was the lovely mom-in-law and daughter-in-law who came in with the cutest of babies (don't worry Brayden, grandma still loves you the best!).   The young ladies husband was in the military and had been deployed.  She was part of a military group that was raising money for the troops by creating a calendar of military wives dressed in vintage clothing---which just happens to be one of my specialties.  We talked and shared thoughts about vintage clothing, she checked out all the different vintage styles I had and even purchased some.  I gave her my contact info and hope we will stay in touch with each other.

Then there was the young girl (17 yrs old) who came in with her mom to look for and buy vintage clothing, not for any party or event but just because she LOVES vintage clothing!!  It just thrills my heart to see young people enjoying great things from the past.  And her mom was the best--she bought her daughter a complete outfit, dress and matching hat.  This young lady is a definite individual, one who knows who she is and not likely to fall into the 'status quo'!

And remember my little buddy Zack, the one who won the American Pickers youth contest, a $10,000 scholarship and a trip to the Smithsonian?  Well, my little buddy ain't so little anymore!!  I saw him walking down the hall and almost didn't recognize him!!  He's grown a foot and it now taller than me and has 'leaned-down' and lost his baby fat.  And even though he's a young teenager, he stopped to visit and we had a good hugging session!!  That kid definitely has a place in my heart!!

Well, that's pretty much how our weekend went.  We only had one minor issue that was our 'fly in the ointment'.  I was cleaning off one of our glass shelf units when one of the shelves collapsed and all the glassware on that shelf broke.  But I count my blessings cause I could have been hurt/cut my the flying glass however, I came away without a scratch!  Thank you Lord for your protecting hand!

So, here are a few pictures for you to enjoy, unfortunately none of our customers--it was just too busy to stop to take pictures.

My 'little' buddy Zack in a 'before' picture---he's NOT this little now!!

The top shelf is the one that collasped--pretty much everything on it broke

And of course, the most beautiful baby in the world, my Brayden!

I had to include this pic of Brayden in NOT one of his finer moments--that's not chocolate he's covered in--ughhh!

Here is he all cleaned up and happy again

He's full of McNuggets, french fries and a smoothie--not his usual diet but ok once in a while

And that's it for now, thanks for stopping by and taking a peepie-poo (sorry, didn't mean to mention 'poo' again!).  God Bless all and any who read this,

Pat, A Remade Life

Winnie Trade Days this weekend!!

This weekend brings another Winnie Trade Days and I have high hopes for this show!  Last months show was the best one we've ever had and I'm hoping this one will be equally good or even better!!  We have added lots of good stuff I found at an estate sale as well as the used clothing I mentioned in a previous post.  We enlarged my son's area since his sales have more than doubled (he just grins from ear to ear when I tell anyone this!) and we even redesigned the linen section.

We are frantically trying to get everything we can priced and ready to go for this show--please pray that we have the strength and endurance to make it work!!!

I of course included a picture of my wonderful grandson, Brayden, who is now 18 months old!!  He is such a blessing to me.

I have been posting lots of good, vintage items in my etsy shop so please be sure to go to my link and check it out.  I am also still working on my 'secret' project that I really hope to get up and running before Christmas---we'll see, but it's very slow going right now!

Well, that's it for now, I'll update you on how the show goes---again, please pray we do well, but mainly that we are able to be a blessing to someone this weekend!!

God Bless All and Any who read this,

Pat, A Remade Life

A Change of Heart!!

You know, there's nothing like changing your mind......over and over again!!   While it's true that we made the decision to close our Winnie shop (and this is still in the making), we've had a slight change of heart and have decided to stay at least until the end of the year.   Several things have played in helping us make this decision:  firstly, the past show was AWESOME!!!  We were selling just about everything that was nailed down.....seriously!!  We sold things we've had for months and things we just brought in.  People were buying furniture, clothing, glassware and a little bit of everything!  It was soooooooo exciting however, I know not to base such an important decision such as closing the shop, on one good show----we've had many, many months of bad shows or not so good ones.  So, keeping the shop open on a permanent basis is still not likely.

Secondly, a good vendor friend gave me some good advise about staying through the holiday months, the months that are usually the best ones for good sales.  Made sense to me, therefore "Remade Life Emporium" will stay open at least until the end of the year.  Past that.....well, we'll see.

Part of the difficulty in closing my shop is the thought of leaving all our great customers!  There are so many customers who have become  like family to us.  We enjoy seeing them each month and sharing our lifes with them and theirs with us.  Here are a few pictures of some of the great people we have been honored to meet through our shop:

My special buddies Alex (in the back) Zach and me!!!

A great family who came to visit and bought a lamp

A sweet college girl and her equally sweet mom!!

What a cute young couple holding my shop mascot, Tulip

This couple was such fun to talk to...AND they bought the red chair!!

Well that's it for now.  We'll be at Winnie through December, pray we do well and make the right decision after that!!  We'll let you know as soon as we know!!

God Bless all and any who read this,

Pat, A Remade Life

NOT a messy house-------really!!!!

Have you ever got into one of those moods where all you want is a clean house?  You know, you want everything in its place, no extra 'treasures in boxes' lining your hallway, everything neat and tidy?  Well, I'm here to tell you I'M IN THAT MOOD!!!!

Having a resale business can, uhmmmmm, overwhelm your otherwise normal life.  You begin by finding a few really nice items for your shop then, before you know it, those items have multiplied and are now in every spare spot in your home---at least, that's what has happened to me!!

I love going to garage sales, estate sales, resale shops, etc.---it's just so much fun looking for that elusive 'big' find, you know, the one that's going to make you rich and famous or at least make you smile.  But, as I began to look around at all my resale treasures, I realized that I could no longer live with them overtaking my life.  And so, the MOOD came over me and I began a new adventure, one that promises to give me a clean start (pardon the pun!) and a sparkly home.

I started by cleaning out all the closets that house my wonderful finds---and there are a lot of closets in my house that fit that description!  I never realized how much you can stuff into such small spaces.  I found tote after tote of items I forgot I even had!  I had four piles going--pile #1 was for items going to my shop (yes, I still plan on closing down my Winnie shop but NOT until most of this stuff is gone!), pile #2 was for donating to a local resale shop/ministry,  pile #3 was items that were just 'not so wonderful' and were being trashed and pile #4 was for items I will be placing either on ebay or in my etsy shop - www.lovethatvintagestyle.etsy.com.

It's slow going but I've made some real progress.  I've taken several loads to the resale shop and numerous bags to the trash.  The pictures I'm posting here are the rest of the stuff for the shop and internet.

Please, don't judge me I am not a hoarder, just someone trying to supplement their income and also make a difference by recycling.

So, I take my heart in my hand and share these pictures of the fruits of my labor--piles and piles of cool vintage clothing, nifty kitchen items, lots and lots of baby clothes (my grandson Brayden is growing soooo fast) and just about anything you can think of---and it will all be leaving my house soon!!

                                 This pile is lots and lots of linens and vintage wedding dresses

                                                               same pile as above

                     This is the largest pile full of clothing, vintage quilts, more vintage wedding dresses
                  and tons of baby clothes from Brayden--I think there's a sofa under there somewhere!

                     This smaller pile is lots of great vintage ladies dresses, coats and purses


As you can see, I've been busy.  I will be so happy to get my house back in order and hopefully make a little (or a lot) of money as well.

Next project:  my garage and warehouse unit----I think I'm going to need help, anyone interested!!  ;)

God Bless all and any who read this,
Pat, A Remade Life

And Life goes on!!!!!!

Can't believe it's been 2-wks since my last post!  Things have been, well, interesting around here:

          - had a garage sale to raise money for my daughters trip to Puerto Rico--she's a dancer and
             going to a competition there!
          - my sweet precious grandson Brayden has started developing an attitude! (yes, the best
             baby in the world!)  We are trying to 'nip it in the bud' (quote from Barney Fife-'The
             Andy Griffith Show') but I'm having a hard time with the time-out thing--it just breaks
             my grandma's heart to see him sitting in the corner
          - my mom fell, not once but twice, and ended up with bruised ribs on her left side and
             twelve stitches in her leg!  Please pray for her--she is 88 and having more and
              more problems
         - we had a sale in my shop in Winnie this month and will continue to have sales until
            we close it down, probably not till October.

As you can see, the last few weeks have been full of events, some good and some not so good.  But life goes on and with God's grace we deal with it all.  Our heavenly Father is a loving Father and will carry us through, if we trust in Him!!

Here are a few pic's of some of the items we are selling at the shop:

It will be hard to close the shop, but God is leading us on to bigger and better things!  Please pray that we sell as much as possible---cause I DON'T want to bring it home!!

Thanks for stopping by and God bless all and any who read this,
Pat, A Remade Life

New Adventures are a-comin'!!

So, had a very busy weekend getting all my 'treasures' out of the antique mall.  It was a lot more work than I originally thought--who knew you could put so much in such a small space?!?!?!  Anyway, the antique mall is now just a memory.  It was an easy decision to leave--I wasn't making any money and it was becoming more and more difficult to get over there and work on my booth.  There are lots of good workers there and the fellow vendors I met were great.  Also, Kudos to the manager, Susan, who was always very kind to me. It was very much appreciated.

And now, on to our next adventure!  I still have to close down my shop in Winnie, TX ( now THAT will be work!!)  but that will be a much slower process, one we will probably spread out over the next few months. We are hoping to be out by October at the latest but really shooting for September.  In the meantime, I have begun working on my next project, one I am truly enjoying.  It's not something I can discuss at this time (I am working on trademarking it) but I will share a few photos.

It is amazing how God directs our steps when we let Him!  He is a loving heavenly Father and wants only the best for us in ALL areas of our lifes.  I know He is guiding me even though at first I wasn't happy about closing my shop--I couldn't see the path God was taking me down, all I could see was 'failure'!    But He has better plans for me, plans to prosper and excel (as He does for us all!)  God is good.

So here are the photos of 'what's to come', just a little sneak peak into an adventure I am looking forward to!!

And of course, a few pics of my wonderful grandson Brayden--sitting in the refrigerator!!!

That's it for now but there's lots more to come!!
God Bless all and any who read this,
Pat, A Remade Life