A Very Junky Day

This past weekend I was planning a trip to one of my favorite towns with a dear friend of mine.  We had a scrapbooking event to attend that weekend but decided to take a little junkin trip during the day on Friday.  Lo and behold, we discovered that it was Junk Fest weekend in Mountain View so we were even more excited! 

Junk Fest was more of a Junk Snooze because even though we found some good junk, there were very few vendors set up.  However, we did manage to find some bargains.  I got this cute little chandelier at a steal of one whole dollar!

 

I plan to "dress it up" a bit and then I will reveal it again.

After we cruised through the festival vendors, we went to one of my favorite antique malls - Rainbow Antique Mall.  The creaky wood floors were silenced by the sound of chattering from several ladies milling about.  We spent almost two hours pilfering in and out of the booths, finding tons of treasures at bargain prices.  I came away with six sets of blue bubble glass teacups and saucers, four beautiful old feed sacks, another hanging iron planter that will resume life as a chandelier, and some other things that have slipped my mind so I guess it will be like shopping all over again once I unpack my boxes!

After the antique mall, we walked across the street to the old-fashioned soda fountain for some yummy food and a short rest.  One of my favorites is their fresh-squeezed cherry limeade. 

After lunch, we were refueled and once again ready to dig for junky goodies.  We went down the road to Calico Rock, to my new friend Kim's shop Wagon Wheel Antiques.  Here are a few photos of Kim's shop.  Please excuse the photos that are out of focus as I was snapping these with my phone.

I made a small pile of things on Kim's counter such as some vintage jewelry, sheet music, some bags of watches to take apart and rework into jewelry, and a project bag of crocheted pieces.

Before we left, I took one more loop around the store to make sure I hadn't missed anything.  I walked past a large cabinet and noticed the drawers were partially open so I peeked inside and found a small treasure - a little silver metal tray that was a souvenir from Paris.  When I took it to the counter with excitement because I love things from France and Italy, Kim took one look at it and said "I usually hide the ugly things in drawers!"  I preceded to scold her about calling my cute little tray "ugly" and she started to total my purchases.  She told me to take a look at my receipt and that stinker had actually typed on my receipt "Ugly Paris Metal Tray" but to redeem herself she also gave me 50% off of it!

 

 

Every time I look at that little tray I will get a chuckle and think of Kim at Wagon Wheel!  Thanks, girl for half off and thanks for all the "extras" that you sometimes sneak into my bag!

 

We had a relaxing day of moseying about in a leisurely fashion.  It was a wonderful day!

Vending "Machines"

Having a flea market booth is a way to justify my ever-changing collections, decor style, or whatever "phase" I may be going through at any given time.  My current rule is if I bring something new into the house, I need to take something out.  So far it seems to be working fairly well!

I have noticed that every vendor whether at a high-end antiques mall or at your average flea market have one thing in common - we are all different!  We use different methods of tagging, arranging, record keeping, and even shopping for inventory!

Since I began working full time at Picker's Paradise Flea Market I notice everything that goes in and out which has been somewhat of an eye-opener.  I am amazed that just because I think something is "super cute" that not everyone thinks that as well!  I guess that means not only are vendors different but the buyers are also different from one another.

The following is a photo of my booth.  I love shabby chic, rustic, chippy paint on old primitive furniture and wouldn't know what to do with a piece of fine European antique furniture, but I have had customers today that were looking for iron skillets, green depression glass, vegetable cookie jars, and vintage model cars.

I love hearing stories from other vendors that seem to be vending "machines", going from auction to auction and from yard sale to estate sale.  I have a friend who's van is full at all times and when he heard there was a cancellation at a local antique show at the last minute he registered for a booth and like a herd of clowns coming from a compact car (which terrifies me) he had a booth full of merchandise ready to go!  I am apparently NOT a vending "machine" if you go by those standards.  Some people could sell salt to a slug, to borrow a phrase from another vendor friend of mine (Hey Berni!).  I am more of the "sell a basket to an apple picker" type.  

My husband and I went on a weekend trip for our 24th anniversary and between walking downtown, eating, driving, and  - did I mention eating - we found time to stop at a couple of yard sales and several flea markets.  This is what the back of my SUV looked like (excuse the blurry photo) from the front seat.

On the way home, my husband quietly asked me where did I suppose we would put our daughter, who we had to retrieve before going back to the house.  In my excitement of finding bargains I had forgotten about having to pick her up!  Fortunately, I am a very good "packer of the goods".  So, after hearing my dear husband voice his doubts, shifting a few things and containing small pieces of junk inside larger pieces of junk, I made room for our dear daughter.  Every time he says that, I just tell him - "you don't know who you are dealing with.  I am a machine!"

Window Shopping

With the DIY and Pinterest craze, here at Picker's Paradise Flea Market we have sold sooooo many windows in the past few months.  After seeing a vendor bring some in this morning, I decided to see how many different project ideas I could find.  After looking about 5 minutes, I had a bunch!  Check out these ideas . . .

 

 

I love the look of these clock faces . . . hmmm . . . could it be

because I collect clocks?

 

 

I think this next photo may contain doors,

but it was so cute and inviting

that I wanted to show it.

 

 

 

I love the graphic nature of these letters!

 

 

 

 

This is probably my favorite!  I love the patina of this piece!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And last but not least - a massive colorful collage of windows!

 

 

Not a "wordy" post today, but maybe it has provided you with some great ideas.  Now - go window shopping!  Til next time, see ya at Picker's Paradise Flea Market!