All American...

DTSB (Downtown South Bend) is celebrating All American... So we choose Designer Ralph Lauren. Of course he won't be there and neither will his merchandise but in true junk E fashion we will do some knock off's of his signature styles, and oh what fun we are having putting this one together!

This First Friday is the 4th of July and we will be celebrating at home.  THE STORE WILL BE CLOSED FRIDAY ONLY.  The rest of the week will be our regular store hours.  Since we won't be open we decided to throw our very own Hill and Colfax Second Friday on July 11th.  Stay tuned for all the fun details!

Have a safe and happy Independence Day!

A Sunday Treat

When we lived on the Big Island we visited Oahu where our friends Kamtaun and Cheu lived.  They took us to China town because we love to try new foods.  I kept seeing the drink dispensers full of a bright orange milky drink, and a creamy coffee one.  Cheu told me that it was Vietnamese coffee and tea.  They are very sweet but soooo delish on a hot day!   I bought the tea and would make it often.

I recently made Vietnamese popsicles and they took me back to life on the island!  Trust me these are for Adults only unless you want to have very hyper children!

I buy this expresso from Marci's Italian Deli and made 2 cups.  Then added sweetened condensed milk until it's carmel colored.  (it didn't take very much).  Then poured it into my molds.  It made more then 6 so I poured it into ice cube trays.  On a hot day I'll use the ice cubes in a glass of Almond milk,  or for a banana, coffee smoothie.
The coffee tastes surprisingly close to the expensive Starbucks small bottles you can buy in the grocery store.  So you might want to bottle some too!

Garden Project 2014

We only have a small space between our home and my neighbor's so it's very shaded and the grass was patchy.  When we mowed, it was very noisy and kicked up lots of dust.  My son would always cut through this area instead of taking the driveway on the other side of the house so it got me to thinking about stepping stones...then a full fledged shade garden.

I guess my first step was asking my neighbor Diana if it was ok with her if I landscaped the area because a small strip was her property. ( I promised to maintain the area!)  Then we killed the grass last fall and had her lawn man leave all the shredded leaves there.  Early this spring I put down cardboard and newspapers for my weed barrier, then topped with the  leaves then very rich compost and a whole skid of topsoil.  You want to give young plants a good healthy start and the soil was so hard and compacted the tiny roots wouldn't have had a chance.

Leaf mulch and topsoil- early spring

My next step was laying the brick walkway.  We've had a pile of bricks for a few years now and I always try to use what we have so that became the path.

 I only bought a few plants (above) sweet woodriff as a ground cover and spring flowering plant, and a couple variegated hostas.  The rest I got from my yard and a few bleeding hearts from my mom.

I scattered seeds last fall from my favorite early bloomer
Lenten Rose and dug lots of tiny starts.  It will take a few
years to get to this point but that's half the fun.

Along my neighbors home I used hosta's and ostrich ferns and for some color
a few columbine plants.  On our side I used the Lenten Roses, and bleeding hearts.

From the front

Its best to start with less and let them naturalize so it will take a few years to really get the full effect that I envisioned.  Now I need to fill in the cracks of the bricks with sand, keep the weeds in check and will add some small mulch (like buckwheat hulls) then sit back and watch it grow!

A Barn Wedding

As a mom I'm truly blessed with three wonderful children.  I raised them to be adventurous, free spirits and that also means that they don't live close by.  It's hard, but I did it to my parents and know that's how we learn (and incase my kids are reading this, I did come back!).  Their friends however do come and visit me (even when the kids aren't here) and it fills my heart beyond the brim.  When I got home from the hospital last year Jackson came over and pulled weeds.  Thats the kind of person he is.  So I wanted to make this day very special for him and Moe.

 Jackson is college graduate who really had no desire to work on the family farm, but after a few years in the corporate world he realized the simple life had so much more to offer him.  His parents gave him a plot of land to farm organically and he took over the milking.  He met Melissa at college and she would make the drive from Indy every week to help pull weeds, and make pickles out of their many cucumbers!  He asked her to marry him in the middle of  the field.  Jackson and Moe (Melissa) wanted to get married in the barn (and a working barn at that, its a dairy farm with cows on the ground level).  So his parents and I made their wish come true.
They did the heard part of cleaning the barn, they actually blew out the barn for days before the set up, and brought in sweet smelling hay bales to sit on.  I pulled out every farmish item I had.  We also used antique milk pails, and buggy wheels that they had. With careful planning and the grace of God (perfect weather!) everything came together beautifully.
The ceremony was in the barn and was very small and intimate, but later in the day they had a big reception in a large white tent. Friends of his parents  cooked the chicken out behind the barn.

They were seriously the easiest couple to work with,  the only request she had was for peonies and as luck would have it they bloomed that week!  She got to the farmers market very early, and Jacksons aunt supplied the rest.  We really kept everything very simple.

Our first meeting and the barn before

Late Spring 2014

The Barn after!

We covered the bales with soft quilts and shabby chic fabric

A ladder made the perfect curtain rod and a place for the old barn pullies
to hang the pails from.

Some fun props

comfy seating

The entry

The Bride and Morrison

The groom watching a how to video 5 minutes before the wedding!

Melissa and her father

guests

vintage table cloths were used, and vintage milk bottles and canning
jars served as vases for peonies

Jackson, Moe and  their son Morrison

I antiqued a bike for this occasion,  and used my kumfy krib for the gifts

The props before hand

The lighted bells

They even did chores that day!

and invited guests to get in on the action.  It was such a memorable  day.

My son took most of the pictures, but not this one!  He's the guy in the
Aloha shirt, he came all the way from Hawaii for this wedding.

I do rent some of the props for weddings.  Let us know what you are needing, and keep looking out for a new tab on the blog with items offered for such an occasion!

Room for More for Wednesdays class!

Learn how to create paper Roses from book pages and sheet music.  Linda will also share lots of great ideas on how to use them.  They make great wedding decorations and bouquets!

$20.00 class fee and you must Pre-register!
Class starts at 6 PM

Call Linda 574-849-0275  TODAY!

Cottage Style at junk E

Ahhhh, it's finally summertime!  We have that old summer feeling in our shop this month.  So even if you don't have a cottage you can bring a little of that look into your decor to get that feeling of summer.  Here's what you'll see this month (as long as it lasts!).

Hand embroidered daisy dukes!

Vintage Camp shirts 25% off this week!

Dual purpose potting bench or side board, along with Linda's
great collection of fun vintage dinnerware.

Shell mirror and blue glass=summer

trunks and vintage maps

cloches now filled with shells

Vintage toy boxes converted to stylish coffee table trunks,  blanket storage,
mud roon catchalls etc

My favorite cloche made from an antique hubcap, and a pumpkin stem
handle....it lights up!

Vintage cafe curtains and screens-open the windows and let the breeze in!