Grief Camp...

Well, if you have been a follower of this blog for long, you know that I am off to Camp El Tesoro de la Vida. This is a week long grief camp for kids who have lost a family member due to death (mostly parent or sibling...but sometimes the grandparents or others if they were the caregivers). The camp is just outside Fort Worth in Granbury, Texas at a Camp Fire camp that has been around for over 75 years.  We are expecting  110 kids (our biggest year EVER) from ages 6 to 17.  Luckily, we have the GREATEST 73 volunteers and Therapists who make this such a special week for these kids. We like to say that camp is 90% fun and 10% grief work, however the entire experience is therapeutic. These kids are surrounded by 109 other kids who understand what they are going through and feeling. You can only imagine how your childish safety is pulled out from under you when your Mom or Dad dies. Maybe the oldest son assumes the father figure role in the family or the oldest daughter starts caring for her younger siblings. We want this week to be about them being a kid (they are kids first and grievers second). We want them to play, hike, ride horses, do archery, swim, paddle canoes, do arts and crafts and so many other wonderful activities. They can do this and laugh without fear of being disrespectful to the parent who died. They can just be kids and have fun. For one hour a day they participate in a group session with their cabin mates and a professional therapist. Younger kids do a lot of art therapy (their attention spans are not very long) and older kids do more talking and processing. I hate to paint the picture that all we do is sit around in canoes and cry all day....camp really is about having fun. I remember my very first year when I had seven 3rd grade boys. Immediately after they arrived, they starting asking each other who died in their families. When it came to me, I had to confess that I had not lost anyone. As direct as 3rd graders are, they immediately asked, "Then why are you here". I told them that I just wanted to help them have a great week and that one day when I did have someone in my family die, I hoped this experience would help me. They seemed okay with the answer and we had an amazing week. When the parents pick up the kids on Saturday, we have a ceremony where we plant a tree and the kids surround it with rocks they have painted in memory of the person who died. When it was time to get them to the ceremony, I found them in the corner of the cabin all huddled up. When I asked what they were doing, they showed me that they had my staff shirt and had written their phone numbers on it so I could call them when someone died and they could help me as much as this camp had helped them. Well....needless to say, I was hooked and 19 years later I am not only still going, I have been the Director for the last 16 years. I am attaching a link to a video about the camp if you are interested. It tells the story better than I can. Wish us luck in the 100 ++ degree weather with no air-conditioning. It will be hot but WONDERFUL!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UK7RkCxhLUg

Yard Work...Booth Work? That is the Question....



UPDATE:  Glass door cabinet and table are now on lay-away.



I have two of these porch railings...yes, they are standing up and down...took up too much room laying down.

UPDATE:  Green iron bed has sold.

UPDATE:  White Cabinet has sold

When it is just tooooooo hot to work in your yard, what do you do?  You work in your booths!  You still sweat, but not nearly as much.  20 days over 100 degrees here in Fort Worth...UGH!  I LOVE the summer, but even I am over it.  My yard looks like crud but the booths look good.  Stay cool everyone!

The Weird Room...Where Bloggers Create!

Some stuff I have started putting together for a show I have been invited to do...exciting details to come!

In the fall, I would like to change out our front booth (currently blue and green) to more browns and earthy colors.

My motto is that anything in mass can be a cool display!  I bought a box full of old gloves and then this weekend bought a bag full of child's red bow ties (this is just a few of them).

We decorate a lot with pearls and I love great old buttons. 

Don't have a clue what do do with all these buttons, but the look cool!

I want to do a display with some old black metal frames I bought and thinking about using these black trimmed platters with them?  Who knows.

I am thinking this is toooooo formal for me....we will see where it ends up.

You know all our booths have to have a vintage dress!

Already buying stuff for Valentine's Day!

Some fun spring collections!

Always buying for the pink booth!

And of course, the red booth.

I love these old mailboxes for storage.  Not for sale LaurieAnna!

Earrings, brooches, drawer knobs....just odd and ends.

Always have to have a supply of flash cards!

I love silhouettes!

Back to a lot of anything makes a good display...tons of old wooden door knobs.  Who knows what I will do with these???

I love this old cabinet and did not have the heart to sell it.

It now is where the odd and end pieces wait for a display!

It is a very junky room!

Most important thing for these middle aged eyes!

Well, I have seen several people participating in Karen's Blog Party about where bloggers create @ http://mydesertcottage.blogspot.com/.  I decided that although I can't compete with most of the rooms I have seen, I would humbly participate.  I am not sure I would say I create in this room, I really just stage there.  When I bought my house, it had what was considered a kid's playroom.  You have to go through this room to get to the two guest rooms.  Since I don't have kids or need a playroom, I was stumped what to do with it.  I thought about using it as a comfy TV room for guests outside their guest room...then thought about some type of library, but never really came up with a good fit.  So it got dubbed, "The Weird Room".  When I started in the junk business a few years back, I decided this would be the perfect room to stage my next booth set-ups.  As any of you know who shop at Lone Star, I love to change out our booths often and I decorate by color.  A booth usually has the same color decor (thus the blue booth, the pink booth and the red booth).  I tend to do small vignettes in this room to get my creative juices going and store the larger pieces in the garage.  As you can see by the pictures, I have several color themes going right now.  Setting these vignettes up helps me  identify gaps and be on the look our for pieces that will finish out a booth or show.  Sometimes when I buy toooooo much stuff, it just becomes a junk room for storage and I have to spend a weekend cleaning it out!  There you have it...my Weird Room!

Red Industrial Stuff....

The small Tom's rack on top of the larger Tom's display case is sold.

-Chair Sold-

I was telling someone last week that our sales in the red booth had slowed down...and that is usually a signal that it is time for a booth re-do.  So Mom and I spent the day rearranging and bringing in some new stuff.  I have since had to rearrange twice as the sales have been GREAT!  It is amazing what a little freshening up can do.  I went in this afternoon to fill in some holes and decided I better post pics ASAP before they change again.  I LOVE the red industrial stuff.  I was chatting with the girls over at Three Ring Cottage and they asked if this is what my house looked like.  It actually doesn't, so maybe this is why I love buying stuff for and decorating this booth...it is an outlet for me!