Be True To Your School!

Hello and happy Wednesday (well it's almost over now, but when I wrote this it wasn't) to everyone reading! Between moving into our new house and getting ready for the Canton Flea Market (which is just a week away now!!), we've been BUSY! But, we wanted to share a few photos of some school spirit themed frames we've made! Everyone loves to display photos from games, tailgating, etc- so why not do it with a frame that's your school's colors?!

These will be special order items, so we can do these frames in any school colors! It can be your favorite college or high school. School colors will look great on any of our frames, but they especially look good on our Large Chunky 4x6, Chunky 4x6, Mini Chunky and Clip Chunky Frames! We already have paint for most colleges and universities in Mississippi, but we can get paint for probably (any) school you have in mind! Contact us today (via Etsy or by emailing anna@jandadesigns.net) so we can get started on your school spirit frame! These will make great Christmas gifts this year!

Here are some pictures of frames we have made as examples:

 Large Chunky 4x6 ($25) for Mississippi State and Ole Miss

Large 4x6 Chunky ($25) - Mississippi State

Large 4x6 Chunky ($25) - Ole Miss

Mini Clip Frame ($10) - Mississippi State

Remember - these are special order so contact us if you are interested in purchasing a school frame! :)



On a personal note... we'll (hopefully) be back on the blog later this week with a first look at our new house! PLUS- we'll have a guest post by Jonathan's sister some time very soon about some of the vintage furniture she's gotten for her new apartment out in Los Angeles! Stay tuned...!

The Many Homes of J&A: Part 1

The title of this post may make you think that we currently have many homes... but that's not quite what we mean. We mean the many homes we've had over the past 19 months (right before we got married, and since we've been married).

If you know us, you know we've moved several times since we got married last summer! So... before we make our next (and final- at least for quite a while) big move at the beginning of next week, we wanted to share the places we've lived since we got married. This post is "Part 1" because we will (hopefully) post "Part 2" next week once we move in to our new house!! 

Home #1: Meadow Oaks Apartment

We got this apartment before we got married, thinking we'd live there after we got married for a year or so. We really liked this apartment...it had a big living room, a good size kitchen- with washer and dryer hookups!

But, before we even graduated from MC, we found out Jonathan would be a Resident Director, also know as an "RD" at MC... so we moved out of this apartment and actually, our friend Zach moved in!

Home #2: The Temporary College Plaza Apartment

When Jonathan moved out of our first apartment (this was before the wedding), he had to move in to a temporary apartment at College Plaza (the apartment complex MC uses where Jonathan was the RD). This was a one bedroom apartment, and thank goodness it was temporary!

A few weeks after the wedding, we were able to move in to the RD Apartment at College Plaza. 

Home #3: The College Plaza Apartment

The College Plaza Apartment was a 2 bedroom apartment. The kitchen had vintage wallpaper that we actually liked! It was also the birthplace of J&A Designs! It's hard for us to imagine having to still make frames in that small of a space, but we did make a few.

Early in the Fall, the RD in the freshmen boys dorm left, and Jonathan took his place. Which meant we packed up again!

Home #4: Chrestman Hall

I never thought I'd live in a freshmen boys' dorm, but I did! We lived in an apartment in Chrestman Hall at MC for 8 months! And we worked on a lot of picture frames in this apartment! This apartment was home to the smallest kitchen ever! It was about the size of a walk-in closet. But, the bedrooms in this apartment were huge! 

Home #5: The Rental House

So, when Jonathan decided to leave MC, it meant we had to find a place to live! And we found a town house to rent in Clinton. We thought we'd be in this town house at least a year, maybe two. This town house has been great because it had a garage that we could work in and make frames, plus it had enough room for an office and a work room for painting frames.

So, that brings us to now! We weren't planning on buying a house any time soon. We'd actually looked before we decided to rent the town house, but we couldn't find anything we loved in Clinton- and we wanted to stay here in Clinton. We knew we wanted something older that had some character, but that was updated enough that we wouldn't have to do a TON of work on it. I've always loved the neighborhood my parents live in- not only because I grew up there, but because it's very pretty and quiet. A little over a month ago, we'd been talking again about how we wished we could buy a house, but because of our lease, as well as not being able to find anything, it just wasn't in the picture right now. Then, on a Friday, a house went up for sale in my parents' neighborhood. We called that day and scheduled to come see the house on Sunday. After walking through the house for a few minutes, we knew we wanted it! On Monday, we made an offer on it, and the offer was accepted by the end of the week! 

The past month has been crazy as we've been making frames for upcoming markets and orders, signing lots of papers along the way involving the house and packing up our stuff this week! We close on the house on Monday and we couldn't be more excited! 

So... more on our new house after we close next week- including some pictures! 

Happy Thursday and have a great weekend!

Craigslist Roundup!

Okay... so I've had an idea to do (maybe) weekly posts on cool Craigslist finds for the week here in the Jackson area. I was inspired by Apartment Therapy's posts they put up weekly of finds like this one in big cities ( NY, LA, DC, Chicago etc.) Most of their finds are awesome pieces... but the big cities usually have MANY more listings... so there's bound to be awesome stuff there.

But, every once in a while, there are some good pieces listed on Craigslist in the Jackson area. We've written before (here) about how much we love consignment shops, antique stores, and especially Craigslist. At least once a day, one of us scouts out the current furniture listings on Craigslist. So... here are a few things we found that we thought were worth sharing.

Check out these great bookshelves we found in this post. They are "Legal Style" as the post says with glass doors on the front- much cooler than your basic bookshelf. And these are only $40 a piece!

These chairs would look great re-done- even just spray painted with new cushions! They are only $50 for the pair!

How about 4 of these chairs for only $50? So what if they don't have a seat? You can always make some seats when you only pay $50 for 4! And this is CHEAP- we've been looking for chairs!

These dressers are a little expensive- but really pretty! $400 for the set and these are at the Flowood Flea Market (we think)- one of the places we've blogged about before as a great place to find antiques! Several places (Forget Me Nots in Brandon, Flea Market in Flowood, 49 S. Antiques & Flea Market and the Flea Market in Clinton occasionally list new items on Craigslist.)

This dining set is only $75 and it could easily be re-painted! Pretty sure this is at the Flowood Flea Market too!

 We've been looking for a new dresser- so usually if the listing title has anything about a dresser we click through to see what it is! This antique dresser is only $80 and includes the mirror!

This one is only $60! We'd probably call these people- but it's located a little to far for us to drive.

HOW COOL is this?!? Who doesn't want a little restaurant booth for their house? Only $75 too!

This Farmhouse Table looks famiar! I recognize the picture from when we bought our Farmhouse table (although this one is 8 feet instead of 6). This couple handmakes these tables and sells them from their house.

Anna has been looking for a vanity now that we'll have a master bedroom with room for one (the same master bedroom that has TWO walk-in closets- I'M SO EXCITED!) She found this one the other day and we picked it up today! We'll probably repaint it soon after we move!

Although you can find some cool stuff on Craigslist... there's a lot of junk too. Like this chair:

If you like one of these pieces, we encourage you to try out Craigslist for yourself- but since we haven't talked to any of the owners of these items- we have no idea if the items are still available.

And since we're talking about Craigslist here... I'll leave you with the general rules we go by when buying off Craigslist (the ones we originally mentioned in this post):

1. When you find out the person's name who has the item- be a stalker! Look them up on Facebook- make sure they don't look completely creepy on Facebook. Although they could be creepy in real life, even if they look normal on Facebook- at least you can maybe see what they look like and find out a few things about them. 

2. If you decide to purchase something and you're going to pick it up at their house- look it up on Google maps. Find out what neighborhood it's in. Make sure you're not going to a sketchy area of town.

3. When you go to pick something up- take someone with you. We always go together or Jonathan takes someone with him to help him.

4. Tell some other people where you're going- in case anything did happen. Although, usually these transactions happen pretty smoothly- you'd better be safe than sorry. So let someone else know where you are headed to pick up an item, the person's name who has the item, etc.

5. Take cash to pay for your item. Most sellers expect cash only anyway, but you don't want to have to worry about a stranger cashing your check in a timely manner, etc.

Double 5x7 Frame

Last week we took a poll on Facebook because we were curious what you'd like more - a frame that holds two 4x6" pictures or one that holds two 5x7" pictures. Most everyone said Double 5x7...

We think this frame is perfect for holding two coordinating photos. Perfect for engagement, wedding, family, baby, and the list could go on and on. Whatever pictures you have will look great in this frame! ;)

So ... Here is our newest frame we will be offering in our stores and have for sale at the markets we attend! It's the same style as our Double 4x6 but just with 5x7's!

This actual frame was made as a special order. We had a customer contact us wanting a frame with two 5x7's and this is her frame! 

One of the very few frames we actually have in our house is a Double 5x7 we made a long time ago. We just have never shared a picture of it. It's one of my favorite frames/color combinations! I'm probably partial because it holds pictures of Jonathan and I with our wedding party.

Of course we sell our frames with black and white inserts, but you can see how great color photos pop in our frames here. 

We will be adding Double 5x7's to our store over the next few weeks but just so you know any Double 4x6 frame you see in our store can be upgraded to a Double 5x7 for just $5 (making the price $45). Just contact us if you would like one made!

Here is the link to purchase the Antique White & Aqua one pictured above:

Double 5x7: Antique White & Aqua

Happy Tuesday!

Christmas Policies 2011

The past few days we have been working like crazy!  If you are waiting on an order and haven't received it yet, don't worry it's coming - we promise! We are waiting on a huge shipment of acrylic to arrive. Once it does we will be able to finish up our orders!

Besides filling orders from our shop, we have been preparing for 2 upcoming markets which we talked about in our previous post here. The Canton Flea Market is 6 weeks away from tomorrow (Thursday, Oct 13th). If you live near and have never been, this is a great outdoor market with tons of handmade items! We think you'll love it but we'd especially love for you to come shop with us! :)
The other market will be on Saturday, November 12th. It is the 4th annual Clinton Holiday Market. Of course if you live in Clinton, we want you to come visit and do some Christmas shopping! This market has grown so much in the past couple years and we love supporting our hometown!

We are gearing up for a very busy holiday season! To do so, we have already written our Christmas 2011 Shop Policies so you will know how to go about placing orders for Christmas! These policies are to help us and  help you make sure everything run smoothly and that you receive your orders on time for Christmas. The policies are listed below, but they can also be found on our website here.

Christmas 2011 Policies

To meet all the needs of our customers we have set policies for Christmas 2011 shopping. If you have a question that is not addressed within these policies, please feel free to contact us by sending us a convo via Etsy, or by emailing anna@jandadesigns.net.

When should I place my Christmas order by?
To make sure you receive your order by Christmas, place your order by Thursday, December 1, 2011. We plan to have all orders shipped out by Thursday, December 15, 2011 to make sure everyone has their packages by Christmas.

What if I need to order something after Friday, December 2, 2011?
You can order until Saturday, December 10, 2011. But, any orders placed between December 2^nd and December 10^th will have a Rush Fee applied if you want the order by Christmas.

How much is a Rush Fee?
$5 per small frame (Mini Chunky Clip, Chunky Clip, Mini 4x4 Chunky, Chunky 4x6, Large Chunky 4x6, Single 4x6, Single 5x7)
$10 per large frame ( Large 5x7, Single 8x10, Triple 4x4, Triple 4x6, Chalkboards, Corkboards)

What if I need an order before Christmas day- for a party, etc.?
PLEASE contact us! We can probably work with you, but you MUST contact us! You can convo us via Etsy, or you can email anna@jandadesigns.net.

What if I don’t need an order by Christmas?
You are welcome to place orders any time before or after these deadlines, but just specify in the “Note to Seller” message that you do not need your order by Christmas.

What if I want more than one of an item?
If you don’t see exactly what you want on our shop, just contact us! We’d be happy to help you with your Christmas shopping!

As soon as our shop reopens, you can start placing orders for Christmas! Just make sure you read all the policies so that there is no confusion! :)

Also, when our shop reopens our turnaround time will be 4-5 weeks. It is a little longer than normal due to the upcoming markets and just the holiday season in general. But if you need it sooner, contact us. We are happy to work with you, it just will probably include a rush fee (which moves your item up closer to the top of our to-do list and guarantees it will arrive sooner). As we have said before, we both work full time jobs and this is our night/weekend job. So we promise we get your orders out as fast as we can :)

It is Fall yet, ya'll?

Okay... we couldn't help using that tacky title. Oh well... So, you guessed it, this post is about FALL! Several of the blogs we typically read have been talking about Fall lately! And we are no different- we're ready for fall too. So we just wanted to share some reasons why and also share some things we found via Pinterest.

So...some of the reasons we love fall!

1. Hands down, fall WEATHER! This is more my (Jonathan) favorite part than Anna's considering when Fall comes around, Anna has to put her sandals and sundresses away. But I, on the other hand love putting on a pullover, putting my shorts away and spending more time outdoors when the weather is cooler! Especially considering the BRUTAL, hot summer we've had in Mississippi this year. And yes, we are still having heat indexes of 100 this week! The cooler weather also means the garage stays cooler when I'm out there making frames!

2. One of Anna's favorite parts of the Fall season are the decorations! Here's some inspiration she's been pinning on Pinterest. And of course they mostly involve pumpkins.

Check out these pumpkins with their Halloween masks on? 

This is such a cool look for a fall fireplace!

Anna loves candy corn so she loved these pumpkins, of course! 

 Check out these house number pumpkins!

 Pumpkin scarecrow!

Anna also loves these pilgrims and turkey that she ordered from this Etsy Shop not long ago.

Last year was the first time we ever tried carving pumpkins, but we'll hopefully get to try it out again this year!

3. One of our favorite parts about fall: FALL FOOD! You know... pumpkin pie, candy corn, homemade chex mix, halloween candy... yum!

Probably my favorite fall/winter snack: Chex Mix. The homemade kind- not the kind you buy in a bag. The great thing about is that you can put anything in Chex Mix you want. I like peanuts and pretzels, unlike my sister, Bekah, who will sit and eat everything in the bowl except the peanuts!

Turkey pop! 

 These look good! Pumpkin Cheesecake muffins! 

Two bundt cakes made in to a pumpkin!

And... this recipe which I actually already tried (because we're THAT ready for fall)! It's just a boxed cake mix and a can of pumpkin puree. It couldn't be easier. It also has a recipe for an apple cider glaze which I also tried- but it was still only 3 ingredients! Needless to say, we ate it all- it was good. :)

3. Fall Style. This is Anna's territory, so I'll let her take over this part of the post. 

Although I prefer summer clothes, I do appreciate Fall Style. One of my favorite things- darker colored nail polish appropriate for the changing season!

Like this gray color: 

 And this green color, which Jonathan actually picked out for me when he got his haircut today!

And I love all of these looks: the dress, the cardigan, purse and boots! I stole this from Sally Garcia!

It's Jonathan again... I'll throw in that my fall style usually involves some kind of Patagonia jacket, like this one that I got for Christmas last year!

4. Fall COLORS. Whether it's the changing colors of the trees or just colors in general, it's a different feel than other seasons. We have some frames that look good for fall! 

Mustard & Gray

 Dark Brown, Mustard & Antique White

 Dark Brown & Paprika

Frame Set in Celery Green, Dark Brown & Khaki

5. And one of the last reasons we love Fall so much... because you-know-what is around the corner... THE HOLIDAY SEASON! And who doesn't love Thanksgiving and Christmas?! Here's a few favorite pins from our Christmas Board!

A Burlap Wreath Tutorial that Anna wants to try from All Things Thrifty.

A cool ornament holder made from an old window!

And of course a J&A Designs stocking holder!

So... there's some of the reasons we love fall. We're also looking forward to some markets that J&A Designs will be at (mentioned in this post), and we're looking forward to something that we can hopefully share with you on here soon!

For more inspiration...

Click here to check out our complete "Everything Fall" board on Pinterest.

Click here to check out our "Christmas- Our favorite Holiday!" board on Pinterest.

And look around on Pinterest too- there's lots of good ideas being pinned all the time!

So, we hope we you're as excited as we are! If we can only get through this hot weather and stumble upon some nice, Fall temps!

Have a great rest of the week!