Back from Brimfield, MA

Well, honestly all I can say is Brimfield Antique Week was CRAZY NUTSO from just about every aspect! Sometimes it was hilarious, sometimes painful, stressful, exhausting, ridiculous, and sometimes a bit of good plain fun. Plus I got to see one of my pals who lives in Boston which in and of itself made the trip worthwhile.

A few treasures brought back from the trip. A mid century table and lamp combo, some fabric of course, Mr. Sprinkle in red, and the fantastic 40s litho top the list. Plus some planters and other kitchen and holiday odds n ends made the cut.

It's never good when rain is in the forecast, especially on opening day. All you gotta do is get all DIY on your space and voila tarp turns tent. The clothesline ran from tent to tree, then the tarp was looped through clothesline, bungied to other small tent, zipped to large tent, and that handy PVC pipe does the trick for pitchin the homemade tent just right! Welcome to the apron tent!

A shot of the whole space. I got bumped from my original space for some reason and ended up with a larger space so I really had to spread out. Not my ideal setup but I made do. Linens and aprons out front lead to the circus tent filled with housewares and clothes.

And of course, part of the setup inside the big tent set up by color. I love merchandising this way and got a lot of great compliments from customers as well.

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color of the month SPRING Green

Green, it’s my favorite color and it’s bursting about! The trees and plants are growing at a rapid pace so this month is my ode to limey springy green! Plus a minty artgoodies ice cream towel is super refreshing! Again a favorite vintage tablecloth of mine, melmac, awesome vintage pear mugs, plus the sweet glass water jar-it also says juice on the other side!

 

My favorites are so many! The green egg tray, the stack of small trays, the green and white mugs from my grandma's, the super limey melmac of course, the tea bag holder, the tiny egg shaped wedding cake topper is amazing, and the planter- it has such a great garden scene on it. My mom had these in larger sizes growing up and I used to spend lots of time admiring them and thinking of the story in the garden.

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color of the month- Coral

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color of the month-Sunshine Yellow

Influenced by the Florida sunshine I was eager to change out my display into something cheery! Sunshine yellow was just the thing! Some fave pieces include the bird planter, coffee and tea tins, and the fab 40s pitcher! Plus those vintage state souvenir glasses look awesome with the 60s fabric sample! And speaking of souvenir glasses, I recently aquired a collection so if there is a particular state you are looking for let me know I likely have it!

And a table setting vintage Florida style was of course in order! I actually snagged this vintage coconut palm tablecloth in FL last October! A FL tray holds some treasures from the sea, an OJ carafe, FL state glasses, and turtle coasters also lend themselves nicely to the look! Plus an artgoodies swan towel feels right at home! Check out the other yellow items available in my vintage shop to create your own ray of sunshine! www.vintagegoodies.etsy.com

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vacation!!! Sanibel Island, FL

 
Every March I like to sneak in some beach vacation time! It feels so good to get a dose of sunshine and relax after a long winter! This year my dear friends invited me along to Sanibel Island-what a beautiful place! Shells and birds galore!  The beach looked like the remnants of a natural history museum, it blew my mind. We saw some super awesome birds including the elusive roseate spoonbill, all different kinds of herons, pelicans, egrets, ibis, on and on. Get aload of the pic of the osprey below! I was crouched below him and able to get this ridiculously awesome shot of him clutching a freshly caught fish!  I added some great things to my little wonders collection and even managed to look up in time to snag the pic of our shadows as we walked!

We rode our bikes to this amazing little farmers markets, one of my favorite things ever! And look at this delicious fresh bounty!

Day one of vacation finds! The beach was absolutely full of amazing shells, plants, and creatures!
Just after the sun tucked itself behind the horizon.
A skimmer! What a bird to watch, their bottom beak is longer than the top and they glide right above the water open their mouths and skim along scooping up little fish!
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The Vintage Bazaar Chicago 2-27-10

So this last weekend I was a vendor at The Vintage Bazaar in Chicago. If you didn’t make it you SO seriously missed out! Katherine and Libby did an amazing job coordinating this event and I can’t wait for the next one!!!! Giant round of applause, high five, and waving vintage banner to them! The line was out the door and down the block! I’m telling you, if you love vintage do NOT miss the next event! What a fun show! Great venue, great vibe, great customers, great vendors! SO much goodness in one place I could hardly stand it! I LOVE merchandising by color! Here's the yellow and aqua side of my display!

Here’s a shot of my whole booth, hard to shoot it right into the light. Good thing I snagged a pic right after set up because I basically couldn’t get out of my booth all day with all the shoppers!
 
http://www.thevintagebazaar.com/
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color of the month- A Grey Winter Day

This neutral gray, charcoal, black, and aluminum set will work into any modern home. Plus grey looks awesome with many other of my fave colors like yellow, aqua, pink! On it's own it can also sport a nice masuline feel. My favorite pieces in this set are the squirrel made of charcoal from The Dugger Coal Musuem in Southern Indiana, the strange bobble head donkey, the bendy black horse toy made in Western Germany, my grandma's skirt hemmer, the amazing peek through canisters from Japan! And of course you can never ever go wrong with a cake carrier of any kind- great for display and for carting delicious treats to events and gatherings! A few items are available in my vintage shop with more grey items on the way soon!

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The Pies the Limit!

My favorite and cherished pie making tools. They were my grandma's. One of several pie dishes, her rolling pin, and her pastry wheel. We spent so many moments together making pie. My favorite was always blueberry. We'd pick blueberries, freeze and also can them. When we made pie she'd tell me to go down in the basement and get a bottle of 7Up, then she'd pour the blueberry juice in it and together we'd make pie and drink our blueberry pop. Every time I make a pie I think of her and the time we spent together in her kitchen. Pie is more than just a dessert, its full of sentiment and stories.

Here are 2 mini pies made in vintage pie tins. One for me and one for the freezer. They freeze really well and you can have a freshly baked homemade treat on the spur of the moment!

A delicious blueberry rhubarb pie, I call it blue-barb pie, made with a lattice top pie cutter from the 50s. It’s like a giant cookie cutter, you just press and voila, lattice top pie!

Check out this lattice top! I picked up this awesome vintage pie cutter at an antique store a few weeks back. It's a quarter pie big so you just move it around until you have completed the circle and have a beautiful top crust!

And lastly, nothing like a good quiche. This one is spinach, mushroom, ham, swiss, and some nice fresh feta. Great for any meal!

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color of the month- Winter Blues

The holidays are over and the wait for Spring is on. If you are gonna have the winter blues have them this way! There’s just something about this color and the snow that makes it even more crisp and clean and refreshing than it already is! Plus it gives me a chance to bring out some of my favorite blue items from my personal collection, like the tea pot salt and pepper shaker holder and the budget balancer box! And just look at that elephant tea pot by Shawnee! SO cute, and available soon!!! I’m telling you, melmac is a gift. The easiest way to change a table out, besides the obvious tablecloth, is to have a stash of melmac for all seasons! Easy to stow away in a box without having to worry about breakage and available in so many colors and designs!  You can snag these and other items on the table in my vintage shop http://www.vintagegoodies.etsy.com . Plus you can search my shop using the word blue to find other great winter blues items! And last, but certainly not least, my artgoodies ring towel shines on in this table setting!  Don’t you just love a monochromatic setting, so easy to mix and match all kinds of items together!!!
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