Sickness Makes Me Sad

Some of you might have noticed that the shop had to close early on Saturday. I was in the Urgent Care with my wee one. He had a temp of 104 upon arrival. We have gotten him to feeling a lot better so thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. I hate seeing such little ones battling such a very big illness.

Today we have some really fun new stuff in the store. I keep taking pictures of the new things and then people keep buying them before I get a chance to share. Of course, I am not complaining. The outpouring of community support for us has been enough to bring me to tears.

Here we have a lovely and trendy purple-red dress suit.It's only $3.

For you folks looking to find true love, we have this like-new "True Love Tarot" kit. Just in time to snatch up a date for Valentine's Day. $10

And finally we have these unopened GIANT Christmas decorations. They have yet to be priced so it you put up a massive tree every year come down and make me an offer :)


So that's the news of the day, folks. Sorry to be so short but I need to get back to my infected critter. Take care.

Item Special Feature

Sadly, it's not always going to be heartfelt stories of fantastic community love up in here. While my second day went exceptionally well, I don't have that much to say. I met a young girl who loved the Beatles and Jimmi Hendrix while confirming that the old hits will be loved by yet another generation. 

I've had three people tell me they were going to be my best customers. Let the contest begin, I say. 

So every day I am going to try to highlight some new items in the store. New things come in often, looking for their next home, and here is the perfect place to highlight them. 

Today we have three funky items that might be something you'd love to have in your home. 

First off, when you come into the store, this little guy will be greeting you. He pokes out from under the purses. He was donated to me by my mother who loves Coke things. Let's face it, the Coke Polar Bears are just the cutest and are huge collectibles. If you  are or have a Coke lover, then come take him home

I've been calling him Ted. He is $10

Next up we have a small sample of the girl's clothes that were brought in by my friend Becky. There is a whole box of little girls clothes from sizes 8-12ish. All are in excellent shape and many still have the tags. They are also still very stylish (and really sparkly too!) All Adult and Children's clothes are 50 cents unless otherwise marked (and all Baby clothes from Preemie to 12 months are a quarter). I need to make a note here that anything with visible stains on it is only a dime (So don't throw out those kids clothes with the stained knees , bring them on down). I don't see the point in trying to keep things stain free on kids. It will just give you a panic attack All. Day. Long.

CUTE and glittery.Everything I want in a girly girl.

Lastly, I wanted to share something I learned today. I was going through some silverware-- most of which is very old and is worth going through if you happen to know a lot about it-- and found the most adorable little shovels  I mean, they looked like shovels, but they looked like spoons...but they have wooden handles and...I'm so confused. After checking with my land lord I discovered that what I had was actually a set of four grapefruit spoons. And now I totally get it!

OK so there are only three here but that is only because the daughter was running around with the other one. Ah kids! Only $5 for the set.

I hope one of you out there has seen something in this sampling that they can't live without. In case you have (or even if you didn't) if you come in tomorrow and say the word GRAPEFRUIT I'll give you $2 off your order of $10 or more! 

I plan on having code words at least ones a week on random days so keep reading the blog daily for more nifty items and more chances to get a discount. See you tomorrow!

A Little History and a Grand Opening

     Alex ( the husband) and I have always wanted to own our own business. We are level headed for the most part and to be perfectly honest we love the idea of being self sustaining on all levels. OK, so I don't want to sheer my own goats, I have my friends over at Paperella Farms for that stuff.

We both have great jobs and don't plan on giving those up, but it's nice to have a little extra income. I work from home for a fantastic law office and have the exceptional luck and blessings of being able to work from anywhere. Thus a thrift store is the perfect place where I can do my other work. It's like a double stuffed  entrepreneur Oreo.

     Alex works in restaurants and has always wanted to run his own. However, a restaurant is one of the most expensive endeavors one can pursue, but a thrift store, oh that is different.   Our hope is that one day we can take from Hartman 5 (<---our official company name) and create other business opportunities for ourselves.

     We've done the low income thing and it just ain't working for us. Call me a capitalist, call me opportunistic but most importantly call me a patriot. I am not saying that this endeavor will be successful  but it has a much greater chance at success than not trying anything and I'm happy to live in a place (not the only place, I know), in which I am allowed to more up from one rung of the social ladder to another.

     So here we are kids, and I'd like to take you through the process of setting up the store. It took us six weeks, six sheets and two pints of paint. Lost of traveling, hauling, sweating, crying and children with muck all over them and ring pops stuck in their hair. I fed my 8 month old son bacon and cheddar crackers so I could set him down long enough to work....Oh yes, I did.

So here we go. This is the story of how this:

Turned into this

And then this

It's about how two people worked really hard to take something that seemed bottom rung

Das husband-Cute!

 Packed it full of crap

Stuffed in some more crap

And somehow made this

     When we look at things, we often tend to only see the negative. We are too swift to declare things ruined or unusable. My motto, even as a small child, was "everything is fixable"....and I mean everything. This can be a great lesson about people too. Sometimes the young couple who got married at 21-- a month before their first son was born--will be the ones with the marriage to last (Eleven years this February and two more kids as well).

     Sometimes the people who didn't do what they were supposed to after high school ( I was a 30-year-old college graduate, and the hubs never needed to go. The man is a self taught encyclopedia), can be the ones who have the best attitudes and ideas. We can take just about anything that is old and messy...

...throw a few sheets on it...

Add some blankets and safety pins...

And really pull things together.


So have faith in yourself, kids, and remember that almost nothing is ruined beyond repair. Ones man's trash is another man's treasure. Things don't have to be perfect. Sometimes a card board box will get the job done.

I had many many fantastic customers today. The community came out supported me and made us feel welcome. I hope I am still writing this blog about our little thrift store for years to come. And even if it does not work out, we know we tried and we know we were brave and you can't fault a body for that.

Tired

Today was an interesting day down at the store. Alex (the hubs) managed to finish the stage area which covers the hydraulic lift (yes, not only do we have good deals but we can lift your car up and clean out its underbelly!) I finished the sign and carefully put a tiny hand print of Babygirl's in the corner. I really like the way that I have no artistic ability and it looks like a child wrote it. Unintended awesome!

I also painted some other things like the squares on the garage door. Tomorrow, hopefully before we open,  I plan on painting our services onto the squares.

I found some fun things today, one including a metal Tonka truck (they make them from plastic now) and a glass Aunt Jemima syrup bottle (they make them out of plastic now). I also found an antique hurricane  lamp and some really beautiful glass pieces.

Tomorrow is our grand opening and I wanted the outside of the store to look great but also safe. I'm a goober of a person and honestly think that a business should reflect the owners personality. I also love bieng suave country. That's why I did this on my front stoop

And you should! Come see us tomorrow for our grand opening! I'll let you know how it goes.

Welcome

     Welcome to the blog side of Annabelle's Attic, a thrift store located at 116 B Meat Camp Road in Boone North Carolina. 

    Check back daily for fun give-aways and chances to see new items coming into the store first hand. You can also follow me on this road to thriftdom and I learn and grow as a new small business owner.

About me: My name is Lisa Miller and I am the somthing-th generation of my family to live in the beautiful mountains of Boone North Carolina all the way back to 17mumblemumble (long time ago). I have a BA in American History with a minor in Appalachian Studies from Lees MacRae College in nearby Banner Elk. I am happily married (to Alex) and have three great kids. I've always wanted to run a thrift store and jumped at the chance to do so when my friend, the owner of Plan B, a small convenience store, told me that the building next door was up for rent.

Yes, it's an old dirty garage, and yes it's going to be a ton of work, but work never hurt and everything is fixable! See Below

So come on by and visit us if you are in the area and I'll try to keep the blog updated and write some interesting stories you hopefully find entertaining! And be sure to like us on Facebook