Little Desk, Big Heart

What a great weekend here in the upper Midwest. We couldn't have asked for better weather for the end of October. 

With the nice weather, it has allowed us to be able to get a lot of projects done, and best of all we were able to work outside. 

I spent most of the daylight hours working on a desk for a repeat customer's daughter's bedroom. We had met with them when we picked up the piece and the little girl made sure we knew that she wanted her desk to be blue and white, her favorite colors. It was soon after we headed home, I had already had an idea for this little desk. 

Here are the before photos of this desk. As you can see the desk is the perfect size for a little girl and has a lot of potential. The structure is strong and the colors are bright! 

I immediately got to work on this little desk. Sanding, filing holes, sanding more and fixing the drawers so they slide easily for her.

After the prep work was done, it was time to prime for paint.

After letting the primer set for 24 hours, it was time to make this little desk perfect for her. 

After a couple coats of paint and new hardware, this little desk has a big heart and a new home. 

I hope you are all having a nice night to finish your weekend and here's to a new week. 

Tessa

Junque Hippy

Fun with Tin

Happy Friday! What a challenging and exciting week for Junque Hippy!

I hope all of you had a great week and are ready for the weekend.

Travis has been experimenting with some of the reclaimed corrugated tin we picked a few week ago and I have to say he has real rocked it out this week! 

We were finally able to list our newest additions to our store this morning! 

Check out the progress and final product, Corrugated Tin Christmas Ornaments! 

They said we were crazy! Boy, were they right!

I thought I would write tonight about how Travis and I decided to get started in the business of upcycling, repurposing, and bring the past back to life in our products. 

Before I let you in on what got us into this business, let me back up a bit to where this passionate, hard-working and sometimes crazy couple got started on our personal journey of friendship and marriage that is just as passionate, hard-working and most definitely crazy! 

This past weekend we had attended my 15 year high school reunion and of course it definitely made me stop and take a breath and reflect on how fast time flies by! Someone actually said to me,"Do you realize you have been out of school longer then you attended?" WOW! What an eye opener! It seems like just yesterday we were attending classes, making friends and paving the way for our futures. 

Travis and I had a great time with some friends, old and new that night. It was interesting to hear everyone's stories about work and their families. It did make me realize that we are each here on this earth to make a difference, work hard and love. 

This year Trav and I celebrated our 12 year wedding anniversary. We have actually known eachother for about 20 years already! We did lose touch with eachother for about 5 years and ran into eachother through my brother. Morgan (my brother) was working construction and Travis, after trying to remember where he knew Morgan from, finally asked a co-worker who he was. Aftter he found out that it was my brother, Travis asked Morgan to give me a call. 

When the phone rang that day, it was like we hadn't skipped a beat! Travis and I wrote our history a short 10 months after dating by getting married in July. 

Family members and friends from both sides thought we were absolutely crazy! They thought we were moving to fast or we were to young! Yes, we were crazy! Absolutely crazy in love and crazy about eachother.

Needless to say, I am confident those same people who thought we were crazy then know now that on that hot day in July when we said our do's it was going to be forever! 

We started our family and struggled here and there. We've made some good and bad decisions and learned from our mistakes and moved on. 

Working different jobs throughout the years and always thinking about what would make us the most happy and at the same time allow us to support our family we decided to take our passion for design and taking odds and ends or pieces that were ready for the graveyard and restoring them or making them into something fun, funky, innovative, functional or eclectic and make it a business. 

Junque Hippy is a company based on family values, hardwork and each piece we do has our heart and soul in it! 

We have fun everyday, weather we are out pickin' or junkin'. If we are sanding or painting. We do also share frustrations and challenges of working together as a couple sometimes as well but I do think that it keeps us on our toes and at the end of the day I know we share a common goal and know how far we have came and it makes each day worth it! 

So here's to the crazy people! Never change who you are or settle for less! Shoot for the moon. I believe if you never try or take risks you are selling yourself short! 

Travis and Tessa - Junque Hippy

Leaves of Change

We tend to think of fall and a few words usually come to mind, Halloween, Thanksgiving, apple cider, pumpkins, fall colors, cooler weather and change.

Whether it is change from summer to fall or warm weather to cooler temps. Change comes in many different forms and it means something different to everyone.

This fall has been full of change for me and my family. As we have watched the leaves turn from green to vibrant reds, oranges and yellows we have experienced one of the biggest changes we have ever had in any season. 

Tonight I write about change for the better. Exciting change. 

As many of you know, I have been a top producing salesperson in my industry for 9 years and most recently won an industry award called Rising Star. I know most of you would think, "this girl has got it figured out", or "what a strong women, mother, wife". Little did most of you know that I was completely unfulfilled, unhappy and most of all, I felt like I was failing at the most important things in life. I knew I had to make a change. 

After many late night discussions with my family and a lot of self reflection, I decided to leave my career and pursue goals and dreams that make me wake up each morning excited, relieved and passionate about the day ahead. 

I now get to wake up each morning at home with my family and do the things I love to do! How amazing and simple is that! That is where www.junquehippy.com was born! 

I get to spend my days with the love of my life and work together to create pieces and brainstorm ideas on fun products that range from recycled vintage soda bottles to vintage furniture that has been restored to it's glory days. And most important, I am finally happy! I can see changes in my children and my spouse everyday! My kids love to have me around, and so does my spouse (which was a little surprising, as I know when I was gone for weeks at a time our house was the ultimate bachelor pad. Three boys, take-out, video games and no cleaning).

But all jokes aside, I ask for your support in our new adventure and I look forward to sharing our journey with you! 

Here are a few pics of my family for you to enjoy! 

Happy Fall! 

Black and White

After a lot of sanding, painting, sanding again, then painting this fun bedroom set is finally finished and off to it's new home a few miles away.

A couple we have known for many years contacted us to see if we could find and create them a bedroom set for their new home they had just bought. Without hesitation, we accepted the opportunity and by asking a few questions of what they were looking for we got to work.

The requests they had were pretty simple. Black and White, two nightstands, a dresser with a mirror and a king sized headboard.

The hunt was on! We quickly stumbled upon the nightstands and king headboard in one place and grabbed them up right away. The dresser was a little more difficult to find. And after several trips to some of our favorite pickin' spots we found the gem of a dresser made exactly for our customers. (Not to mention, two other dressers we couldn't pass up).

Take a look at the before photos of the nightstands and headboard.

Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of the dresser before. But enjoy the after pics here:

Repurposing Vintage Glass Soda Bottles

Friday nights used to be so different for us. Weekend used to be full of 20 something’s parties then it was the kids’ sleepover parties, now we like to spend our Friday nights creating.

Tonight Travis tried glass cutting for the very first time!

So let me start from the beginning. This morning we had to jump in the old Dodge Dakota and drive to our favorite picking spot to hopefully grab a dresser for a client of ours. The morning was crisp, like any October morning in Wisconsin and it took a little more motivation and a couple extra layers to get out the door.

As soon as we arrived to our favorite spot that feeling inspiration came over us quickly as we walked in the front door.

The smells of antiques and stories that are becoming more familiar fill our noses with delight. There is also a new smell in the front office, a smell of wood burning fills the air to remind us of the cold temps outside.

We say our friendly hello to the owner of this amazing gem in the countryside and start our hunt.

We normally keep to our same routine of walking through the narrow walk paths of heaping unique finds and eclectic items, hoping our eye catches something new or some new inspiration grabs a hold of us and an idea will be born. And this morning we struck gold early.

Not five minutes into the pick, I spot a gleaming green bottle with the branding of an all familiar favorite beverage and I say to Travis, “Hey, what do you think of this bottle? We can repurpose this into a really cool candle or drinking glass?” Without hesitation, Travis then replies “Yes, there are more of them over here!”

We quickly fill our arms with several of these bottles and quickly start our pile of finds to try and get the best pricing we can on a lot of items.

As we finish up our hunt after about two hours we are finally on our way home to try making these old and forgotten bottles something new and usable again.

So here we are on a Friday night making old new again. Needless to say after some breakage and a lot of frustration of trail and error we have success!!

Check out these cool repurposed vintage glass bottles! Almost ready for your favorite beverage. Ice not included.

I have had many fun Friday nights and this one is included!

Cheers!