Is the Gooseberry Drought Ending??

What do you do when you've had a really bad week? I like to wander around junk stores and antique shops, so that is what I did today. It didn't make all the bad stuff go away, but it did take my mind off of it for a while-which was desperately needed.

I went to my booth for one last straightening, organizing/price reducing trip. I was shocked to walk in to it and see how empty it is! I know I've sold a lot this month-50% off is a good motivator for people to buy! I just wasn't prepared for how bare it looked.

I spent about an hour there, I shopped after I was done. I saw three ladies who were acting suspiciously-I think I walked up on one of them as she was shoving something into her bag, but I couldn't prove it. I told an employee what I saw, and stressed that I didn't see her take anything, but she was standing up against the back of a cabinet in a booth, really tight to the cabinet when I walked within 2 feet to throw some stuff in the trash. It was obvious that I startled her and her friends. I hope she wasn't taking anything-I hope it was all innocent, but you never know.

My next stop was the Maple Street Mall in Mason. The pink Butterprint casserole dishes were still there. They are pretty rare and hard to find, but for $29 & $39, and how small they are...they might be there for a while yet. I enjoyed my visit, but didn't find anything that had to come home with me.

I stopped at the Columbia Street Mall next. The same guy was working the front desk that was working it when I visited last time. He was so kind and friendly-he made me feel like we were old friends. I plan to keep both of these malls on my must visit list, and hope to visit them a few times over the summer.

The next stop was Mega Mall. I picked up my mom's Mother's Day present, and birthday present, along with a little gooseberry Pyrex casserole, a Fiesta ornament and a green handled vintage rolling pin. Most of the booths were having sales, so it was fun to hunt for treasures and have the possibility of a discount!

After Mega Mall, I went to The Little Red Schoolhouse. I found some Meyercord decals (I think I'm going to use the flower decal for the light green tray I bought at Ikea), a turquoise Pyrex mini fridgie, and a scarlet Fiesta juice tumbler. Everything was super cheap, and I was thrilled to find it all!

Sunday is my last day as a booth renter. It's kind of bitter-sweet. I'm glad I tried it 3 years ago. I had a blast doing it, but I'm glad to be done with it. Both Mega Mall and The Little Red Schoolhouse have summer flea markets that I'm considering as other options for selling stuff. I'll have to wait and see how some of the junk from this week shakes out before I can make a decision about them. I think it would be a really fun adventure selling at a flea market...well see!

I picked up a vintage yellow Fiesta casserole with lid for less than $20 this week online-it is beautiful! I guess all the other Fiesta fanatic either already have one, or they were sleeping! I can't believe I got it, and got it so cheap!! All I need now is the ivory casserole, and a red casserole lid and my set will be complete.

This is what my booth looked like when I left today:

These are my finds for today-it was a good day! I'm hoping today marks the beginning of finding Gooseberry Pyrex all over the place! I hope the Gooseberry Pyrex drought is finally over!!

I'm thinking of using the flower decal in the middle of this tray-what do you think?

Here is how the Fiesta casserole arrived the other day:

I was thrilled to find it very well protected and not a bit of damage-whew!

An Interesting Week!

This week, we had 55 degrees on Monday, a major snow storm Tuesday night (starting with rain then freezing rain) into most of Wednesday that dumped another 7+ inches on us on top of ice from the night before. Today it got back up to 50!

Yesterday after work I got a phone call from the place where my booth is. They have rented my booth and want me to leave before my 60 days notice (that they required) is up. They want the new person to move in April 1. YIKES! That meant a LOT of scrambling for me to try to line up vehicles, clear some stuff out of the booth and have a blast sale of 50% off everything I left behind.

My junkin buddy Auntie from Kitschy Vintage met me at my booth and helped me decide what to take home and what to leave. I loaded up 3 bins and the whole back end of my car! I gave her a corner cabinet, so now, hopefully everything else will sell, (other than the two items marked NFS) so that on the 30th of March, all that we'll have to load will be 3 shelving units and an oak table.

It's amazing to see how much stuff you an cram into an 8x10 booth and how much you can sell in three year's time! I think sales will be picking up for local antique malls now that the weather is being nicer. I've already sold a dozen vintage hankies this month, and that is always a sign of good sales to come in my book!

I'm anxious to go online later tonight to check my sales to see what went out of the booth after I left. There was one guy very seriously checking stuff out for a while in there! I hope he is a shopper and not just the new renter!

I still haven't unloaded my car. It is sitting filled up with junk treasures. I just can't make myself haul it all in! I should probably get it done so I don't have to drive around like the Beverly Hillbillies though!

While I had an absolute BLAST with the booth, it is time to move on to bigger and better things. The phone call yesterday kind of caught me off guard, but it was just another confirmation/answer to my prayers for what I should do. No regrets-just relief!

I've got my eye on a couple of flea markets/sales that have a great mix of items for sale this summer, and there is always the possibility of a giant sale at my house. With three acres, I could spread it out all over the yard and make my own flea market!!

Learning About Walt Disney...

Did you get hit by the big March snowstorm? We sure did! I'd say we got at least 6 inches of new snow, on top of everything that froze from last night's rain, and it's still snowing and blowing like crazy! I'm still feeling under the weather, I just can't seem to shake this cold and it has worn me out. So with the weather and not feeling great, I decided to call in at work today.

I did venture out to the store to pick up a few things, and barely made it back down our road! My youngest son is the only other one who has to work today so the rest of us are just lounging around, reading and goofing around online. I decided to read a book I picked up at the library a week or so ago. It's called Walt Disney, a Biography by Louise Krasniewicz. I thought I'd share what I learned.

Walter Elias Disney was born to Elias (grandfather immigrated from Ireland even though the name Disney is of French origins)  and Flora (Call) on December 5, 1901. He was the fourth son after Herbert (1888), Raymond (1890), Roy (1893), and before Ruth (1903). When his parents were first married, they lived in central Florida, but between the births of Herbert and Raymond, they moved the family to Chicago where his father worked as a carpenter at the World's Fair.

In 1906 they moved to Marceline, Missouri where they decided to try farming. In 1911, they moved to Kansas City and Walt worked his father's paper route. In 1916, the family moved back to Chicago, but Walt stayed in Kansas City. In 1917 he took a summer job working on the railroad, but later joined his family in Chicago where he also took art lasses at the Art Institute of Chicago.

In 1918 while working at the Chicago post office, Walt narrowly missed being injured by a bomb, and that led to he and.a friend lying about their ages so they could join the Red Cross Ambulance Corp. After WWI ended, Walt was sent to Europe to be a driver for the Red Cross.  He sent his earnings (and gambling winnings) home to his mother to save for him, so by the time he returned to the states, he had enough money saved up to start his own business. He also spent time drawing cartoons and sent them back to the United States hoping to sell them but they were all rejected.

In 1919, while working for the Gray Advertising Company, Walt met Ub Iwerks. Their positions were only temporary,so after the holidays when they were both laid off, they decided to go into business together. They called their company Iwwerks-Disney Commercial Artists. Only a week into the new business venture, Walt found an ad for a job at Kansas City Film Ad Company, an couldn't resist the pull, so he left the business to Ub. Unfortunately, Iwwerks-Disney failed just two months later,

Walt was able to recommend Ub for a job at Kansas City Film Ad Company and he was hired. They worked together on animated advertisements that were shown in local movie houses. They were making around $40 a week. During that time, Walt studied a lot of different animation techniques and even tried his hand at filming a short film in his brother's garage. He was able to sell it, but he only made enough to cover his expenses. He made several political cartoons that he called Newman Laugh-O-Grams.

He tried to convince his bosses at KCFAC to incorporate cartoons in their offerings but the bosses weren't interested. So on his off time, Walt created a Little Red Riding Hood cartoon. When it was completed, he quit at KCFAC and got several investors to back him and decided to make Newman-Laugh-O-Grams his full time work, along with Ub Iwerks. They even got a big contract to produce seven fairy tales for a company in New York. Unfortunately, the deal fell through, and they never got paid.

At this time,Walt had no money and he had a growing list of people that he owed money to. He got a job that paid $500 to create and educational film for a dentist, called Tommy Tucker's Tooth. This was enough of a confidence boost that Walt started coming up with new ideas and concepts. He just couldn't get anyone to financially back him. At the urging of his brother Roy in 1923, Walt worked to earn enough money photographing babies (and selling his camera equipment) to buy a one way ticket to California (where Roy was already living trying to recover from TB).

He lived with his uncle Robert, but had a hard time finding work. He hung out around movie studio lots pretending to be looking for work, when he was actually watching and learning everything he could about the movie business. He got a role as an extra in a western and decided to set up another make shift studio to try to make some more animated movies. He tried again to sell his ideas to a cartoon distributor in New York (she had previously turned him down), and this time, she made a deal with him to make one film a month for $1500.

Walt convinced Roy to go into business with him and they created the Disney Brothers Studio. They started out on a shoestring of money they gathered from relatives. Walt's parents even mortgaged their house to support their sons endeavor.

In 1925 both Roy and Walt got married. Roy to Edna in April and Walt to Lillian in July. He met Lilly when She came to work for Walt and Roy as a receptionist. She earned $15 a week and ended up painting cells as well as secretarial work.

In 1926 they moved their business into a larger facility and changed the name to Walt Disney Studios. Their biggest project to date was a series of Alice comedies, that they worked on through 1927. While on a train returning from New York (attempting to sort out some issues with his distributor) Walt came up with the idea to start a new series about a mouse, named Mortimer. Lilly didn't care for the name so Walt came up with Mickey. Mickey Mouse was trademarked in May of 1928, although his official birthday is November 18, 1928.

In 1930, Mickey was featured in a comic strip in a newspaper and was touted as "The World Famous Movie Character, Mickey Mouse". In 1940 Mickey was featured in his first comic book. By 1942, and World War II, there was a paper shortage, but that didn't stop them from producing and selling over a million copies a month. They were licensed and produced all over the world in many languages, and by the 1950's over three million comics were sold each month.

In the 1950's, Walt admitted to having had a mental breakdown in the 30's from the stress of always working, always striving to improve, and not making much money. He and Lilly took an extended trip during that time, that led them to Washington D.C., Florida and Cuba for some rest and relaxation. They called it their honeymoon, even though they had been married for ten years. They had their first child (a daughter), Diane in 1933 and adopted a daughter, Sharon Mae in 1937.

In 1938 Walt received three honorary Master's degrees and joined the Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers. It would seem with all of the acknowledgements happening in his life that this would be pretty good year for Walt, but it turned out to be a very tragic year for him and his siblings. His parents, who had recently moved to California to live near Walt and Roy (in a house the boys had built for them) succumbed to carbon monoxide fumes from a furnace that was improperly installed. Flora didn't survive, but Elias did. He was said to never be the same as he was before the tragedy.

In 1939, Walt received a special academy award for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and some Disney artifacts were included in a tie capsule for the New York World's Fair. In 1940, Pinocchio was released and Walt and Roy made stock in the Disney Company open to the public. Later that year, Fantasia was released. In 1941 they won an academy award for Pinocchio for best song and best music score.

During the years of 1942 and 1952, many films were released and then re-released, and in 1952 Walt created WED Enterprises (his own company) to develop Disneyland. In 1953, Peter Pan was released and Walt and his team started researching locations in California to eventually place Disneyland. As a way to fund the building of Disneyland, Walt agreed to start a television series. It debuted in 1954 with over 30 million viewers. Within one year, the television show won an Emmy. The amusement park officially opened on July 18,1955. In 1958, the team started researching a location for the second Disney amusement park.

Mary Poppins was released in 1964. It was a combination of animation and live action, and a collaborative effort between Disney and P.L. Travers. It was a hard fought battle to get Mary Poppins to the screen, and the reason I decided to read Walt's biography, well, the new movie about the making of Mary Poppins called Saving Mr. Banks is what actually piqued my interest.

Walt passed away in 1966 from lung cancer, from a lifetime of smoking. He had already purchased 27,000 acres in Florida and had begun work on Disney World when he passed. His brother Roy continued working on it until its grand opening in 1971 and he passed soon after.

I found it interesting that even though he faced a lot of failure and opposition, he kept getting back up, dusting himself off and trying again and again. I was impressed with his family for sticking with him and supporting him every step of the way. Even going as far as mortgaging their home to raise money to help him start yet another project after many failed attempts.

It is also very interesting how one man could have such an influence on our culture. He died before I was born, but I very strongly remember sitting on the couch on Sunday night watching the Wonderful World of Disney. When my boys were little, we had every Disney VHS tape we could find and we watched them all over and over and over. My very favorite is Robin Hood. I even watched it when the boys were napping sometimes! What's your favorite, old or new Disney movie?

Things seem to have changed a lot from those days. People are busier, spending less and less time at home. Off to run kids to sports or clubs or groups. I wonder if any family with young kids actually has a set night where they all gather around the television for a specific show every week like we did when I was a kid. Back then, it wasn't just one night or one show, it evolved into several nights a week with several shows. Remember Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, Dukes of Hazzard, and many more?

I hope you enjoyed reading about Walt Disney as much as I did, and as much as I enjoyed sharing it!




 

2014 Michigan (and surrounding areas) Flea Markets, Festivals, Sales and Antique and Collectible Malls and Shops---My Favorites!

I guess I'm a little behind on this list, but I'm glad I'm behind, because I get to add in some new places that I just found this year! Every year, I make a list of my favorites and share them here so you can go and enjoy them as well. This is my new list of favorites for 2014. They are listed below in random order starting with festivals flea markets and sales.

1.  Michigan Antique & Collectibles Festival in Midland and Davisburg (NEW LOCATION). With over 1000 dealers on over 80 acres in Midland and 5 indoor buildings in Davisburg-you get your junkin fix along with a good workout! Admission is $6 per person. This year's dates: Davisburg - May 3-4 and Oct 4-5, Midland - May 31- June 1, July 19-20, and September 20-21. Opens at 8am on Saturday, 9 am on Sunday.

2. Warren's Greatest Garage Sale in a parking structure at Warren's city hall. I haven't  been to this sale for a couple of years, but the last time I went, admission was only $1 per person and if you can think of it, it will probably be there! This year's dates are May 25-26. Opens at 10am.

3. Flat Rock Historical Society Flea Market at the Flat Rock Speedway. Free admission and parking-with up to 300 vendors. This year is their 70th semi-annual flea market. Their usual dates are the first Sunday in May and the first Sunday in October 7am-7pm. May 4th is this year's first market. I haven't been to this sale in a few years, but I do remember stopping at a fun antique mall very nearby.

4. Greenmead Flea Market located on the historic Greenmead Farm in Livonia. They don't have their 2014 dates posted yet, but I am assuming they will be Sunday, June 1 and Sunday, September 7-same as it has been the last few years. Admission is $2 per person and they have up to 175 vendors.

5. Royal Oak Parking Structure Sale located in the 6th and Lafayette parking structure.  I can't find the 2014 dates, but I am assuming they will be July 13-14-admission is $2 per person. I haven't been to this sale for a few years, but the first time I went was over 10 years ago!

6. Williamston Antiques Open House March 22 and I am assuming another half outside/half inside sale in June-like last year, and years prior. They have a great Christmas open house too. They make the atmosphere fun and have lots of free yummy food!

7. Mega Mall Summer Flea Market located in the parking lot of the Mega Mall in Lansing. It is on the third Sunday of the month April-October 10am-3pm. This is a really FUN flea market! With sales inside as well. 

8. Ingham County Superfest Flea Market &  Sale located on the Ingham County Fairgrounds. This sale already happened Feb 1-2. I haven't been for a few years, but hoping to catch it next year. 

9. Michigan's Yard Sale Trail located along US 12 Heritage Trail August 8-10. I LOVE this sale!! I've done it several times and plan to do it every year!

10. World's Longest Yard Sale or 127 Sale from Gasden, Alabama to Hudson, Michigan. 2014 dates--August 7-10. I haven't done this sale since 2008-I've wanted to go back every year, but things keep popping up to keep me away. I hope to get back to it this year!

11. Springfield Antiques Extravaganza located in Springfield, Ohio. This event boasts up to 2500 vendors all in one location! I've been wanting to go for a long time, maybe this year will be the year I finally make it! May 16-18 and September 19-21. Admission $5.

Antique and Collectibles Malls and Shops:

1. Maumee Antique Mall located in Maumee, Ohio. Huge mall with over 300 dealers. Great variety and reasonable prices. This is a new favorite. I plan to visit a few times a year. If it were closer, I'd visit more often!

2. Mega Mall located in Lansing, Michigan. Very big mall with new, vintage, old, and handmade items. Has a cafe inside. This is one of my favorites! I try to visit it at least 4 times per year. If it were closer, I'd be there at least once a month!

3. Maple Street Mall located in Mason, Michigan. This is a new to me antique mall, but I loved the time I spent there! Great selection, with very reasonable prices and VERY friendly staff! They made the shopping experience a very pleasant one. I'm already planning my next visit, and planning to take friends!

4. Columbia Street Mall located in Mason, Michigan. This is another new to me antique mall. I went on a very cold winter day, and part of this mall is in a big unheated building! I rushed through to keep from freezing, but I am already planning my next visit.

5. Fratz Consignment located in Fenton, Michigan. This is a great consignment store where you will find old and new and everything in between. Sometimes you have to dig to find a treasure, sometimes it's just sitting there waiting for you. Like most consignment stores, they have a price discount after a certain number of days, and at this popular place, shoppers line up to get the deals on mark down days. This is a regular stop for me.

6. Antiques, Art & Collectibles located in Pellston, Michigan. This place is my every summer, must stop place! Whenever I visit my parents in the Upper Peninsula, I always try to find time to stop and shop here! I love this store and have gotten some great deals in the main store and in their bargain attic.

7. Knightsbridge Antique Mall located in Northville, Michigan. This is another of my regular stops. I try to get there every few months. There is a wide variety of things to look and and buy. the owners have always been very kind, welcoming and knowledgeable and willing to take time to talk with you.

8. Odd Fellows located in Berkley, Michigan, this is a new to me shop, and I'm glad I finally made it there this year! I am already planning my next visit. There are two levels of vintage and very old treasures to be found.

9. The Little Red School House Antique Mall located in Lansing, Michigan is a great place to find what you are looking for. With two big rooms of booths filled with antiques and crafty items. I'm looking forward to another visit real soon!

10. Treasuremart located in Ann Arbor, Michigan near Kerrytown, this three level consignement shop has it all! From antiques to collectibles to vintage clothing, linens artwork, and furniture. I've gotten some great treasures here, and every time I'm even close to Ann Arbor, I try to figure out a way to squeeze in a stop. Parking is really difficult here, but it is well worth the walk if you have to park far away.

11. Antique Warehouse located in Saginaw, Michigan. I've spent many hours in this mall as I drive to and from my parents house to mine. It's a great way to break up a long drive. They have lots to look at and lots of great variety with great prices.

12. Collette's Vintage located in Davison, Michigan, it is inside of an old Harley Davidson motorcycle showroom. This place is HUGE! They have weekend artisans like glass blowers and blacksmiths demonstrating their art and flea market vendors on Saturdays.

14. Six Corners Antiques located between Howell and Fowlerville, Michigan this is a small space, but each booth is always stocked and ready for shoppers to look for treasures. It is off the beaten path, so it isn't as busy as some, and the music they play (at least every time I've been there) has been pretty loud and mostly hard rock-it doesn't make for a pleasant shopping experience, but if you can block it out, you will find some fun things.

That's it! That's my list of must visit Flea Markets, Festivals, Sales and Antique shops and malls. Hope you can check some of them out for yourself. Send me an email if you 

All Ready for March...my last March

It's interesting how quickly I've gotten over closing down my booth in the antique mall. I thought I'd have regrets, I though I'd always wonder "what if", I thought I'd start to second guess myself, but none of that has happened. I've had fun doing it for a little over 3 years, but now it's time to move on. The hardest part is getting through the 60 days (from the 30th) notice that my antique mall requires you to give when you leave. It used to be 30 days, but of course, the month that I decide to give my notice, is the month they instituted the additional 30 days. By the time I move out I will have given 78 days notice.

Today I am starting a 20% off 'Moving Out" sale. Everything, including items marked "firm" will get an extra 20% off. Then starting April 1 everything will be 40% off until the 30th when I pack everything up one last time and move whatever is left out.

Here is what it looked like last Sunday when I set it all up for March...

Jeffrey's, Bad Creek, Maumee...OH MY!!!

Yesterday my junkin buddy, Auntie from Kitschy Vintage and I took off on a southern adventure that included stops to Jeffrey's Antiques in Findlay, Ohio, A Swan Creek Candle/Antique store, Bad Creek Antiques in Delta, Ohio, and the Maumee Antique Mall in Maumee, Ohio.

WoW! What a FUN day!!! We pretty much shopped til we dropped! We had one more place on our list to hit on the way home and we were both too tired to even think about getting out of the car. So, I think we'll have to plan a trip to Blissfield so that we can hit the Swan Creek Candle/Antique store in Dundee since we missed it on this trip!

I didn't realize that Jeffrey's is only about an hour and a half away. I've only ever gone to it on the way to Florida or on the way home. Now that I know how close it is, we'll have to make plans to visit it a few times a year-at least!

The dealers at Jeffrey's all pretty much seemed to have full, well-stocked booths. Although, some dealers had stuff just laying on the floor, or sitting on the floor-no tables! It didn't look like they had a table at one point and someone bought it. It looked like that was just how they chose to display their stuff. Dishes, linens, kitcheware, all just on the floor. I don't get that! My way of thinking is, how can you expect people to value your stuff enough to buy it if you don't value it enough to put in on a table or display it in a way that shows it off to its best advantage? You've seen me complain about this before. What are your thoughts on this? Do you mind going into crowded booths with stuff all over the floor?

We had a great visit, but I am afraid I might have pushed Auntie a bit faster than she wanted to go. She was a great sport about it, but I know she likes to take her time and go through things at a much slower pace than I do. We both got some good things at Jeffrey's, and I think we both really enjoyed our time there-time well spent!

Look at this AMAZING tub-for sale at Jeffrey's! I don't love what they did to the feet, but the rest of it is pretty sweet!!!

Then we started back north toward home and a few stops along the way. First stop was at  a Swan Creek Candle/Antique shop, where we raced to the antiques and then back out as quickly as possible. The candle smell is so over-powering, and with my cold-it really hit me hard!! Then we stopped at a little estate sale in a heated garage. We found a few fun things we couldn't leave behind, but the cigarette smoke from the person holding the sale, pushed us out the door pretty quickly! I did manage to grab a pair of giant pearl-like, clip-on earrings for a friend's daughter for only $2-I hope this is what she was talking about when she asked me to look for them.

A couple of months ago, I found an antique shop on Facebook called Bad Creek Antiques in Delta, and I've been dying to check it out in person. I almost hopped in the car one Sunday not to long ago after church, but I stopped to look them up really quickly to see what their hours were, and found out they aren't open on Sunday or Monday-whew! That would have been a very long, wasted trip!

They seem to specialize in repurposed or repainted furniture, with a few household antiques tucked in here and there. I'm not even sure how I found their Facebook page, but I think it had something to do with the gorgeous white outside, turquoise inside corner cupboard! As I was looking at their pictures, I noticed an iron bed. Guess what!?! It was still there!!! AND...it was 30% off!!!

 Oh, if I only had the room!!! LOVE this cupboard!!!

Look at this chair shelf! We both commented on it-we've seen them before with the whole seat at the shelf-I like this a lot better!

 I've been looking for a few years for a second white, iron, twin bed for our spare bedroom., and I was THRILLED to get this one-it goes really well with the one I already had.Now, I just need to get rid of all the excess junk treasures from that room, and not use it as a storage room, so it's more comfortable for guests!

I also picked up a Fire King, Tulip splash proof mixing bowl in wonderful shape (it's in even better shape than the large one I got a few years ago at Greenmead. I had no idea the one I had was so yellow until I put the one I got yesterday with it), and an old rolling pin with red handles. I'm looking for one with green handles and one with black handles now. I'd love to find one with turquoise handles and one with pink handles too.

We asked the lady who was working there if there was a good place around for lunch and she recommended a place right across the street called 109 Tavern and Restaurant. So, that's where we went. Our food was really good and the atmosphere was interesting. If I ever go back to Bad Creek around meal time again, I would definitely go back! It was pretty reasonable and I enjoyed what I got.

After that we were supposed to stop at another place on they way to the Maumee Antique Mall, but even though their sign said they were OPEN, they had a big metal gate across their door and it was padlocked. It was a tiny little place, that I won't make a special trip to go to, but it was frustrating to once again go to a place that wasn't open when it was supposed to be.

Our last stop of the day, and probably the longest stop of the day was at the Maumee Antique Mall, in Maumee, Ohio (near Toledo). WOW! I can't understand why it has taken me so long to go there!! It was AWESOME!!! TONS and tons of booths with a wonderful variety of items to look at and buy. Great prices for the most part-some were too high, but you get that at any antique/collectibles place. They even had shopping carts that you could push around so you wouldn't need to make any trips to the front to hold the stuff you want to buy. We didn't take a cart, but we probably should have, we both made several trips to the front.

I feel bad because I coughed sooooo much while we were in there that Auntie said she never had to wonder where I was when we got separated, because she could hear me coughing-ugh!!! How embarrassing!!! We filled up my car with all of our finds-good thing my seats were all out from Monday when Mr BHTS picked up our new stove!

I'm looking forward to another trip, hopefully early summer to Maumee. It is very worth the trip! I just hope that when I go back the workers don't say, "hey, aren't you that lady that coughed non-stop last winter?"

My treasures for the day include: a fuschia and white tablecloth and two vintage hat pins from Jeffrey's, a blue aluminum pitcher from the estate sale (it was in really rough shape-the outside was all frosty looking, but I took a chance for $2), the iron bed, tulip bowl and rolling pin, from Bad Creek, a Fiesta green covered casserole with a very small chip on the base, a multi-colored drink shaker, a glass orange drink bottle with cardboard lid, and a Kitchen Kraft green teapot from Maumee Antiques.

I saw the Kitchen Kraft teapot out of the corner of my eye as I was hacking up my lungs, and trying to get away from other shoppers but on my quick, glance I noted no "rings" even though it was the right color to be Fiesta, and by that point I was just rushing to get past the people I was irritating with my coughing. Auntie came by after me and picked it up. She was going to buy it, but graciously gave it up to me to buy-isn't that a sweet friend!?! When I was paying for my stuff, the cashier told me green must be my color. I didn't even realize I was getting two things in the same color. Must have been from lack of oxygen from coughing so much!

The lid on the casserole is mint! I got both pieces for less than the lid alone. I am one happy treasure hunter after finding the casserole dish and lid at the price I got it for!!! Now the hunt begins for the lid for the Kitchen Kraft teapot!

I'm glad I took a chance on the blue aluminum pitcher! After some elbow grease with Bar Keeper's Friend and some stainless steel wipes, it looks like it will look pretty mint once I get the whole thing done!

Bottom side is done, top side is all frosty still.It was hard to capture how much of a difference there was-but believe me, it looks like night and day different!

What a FUN day!!! I can't wait for our next adventure!! How about you? Have you been on any fun adventures lately??

Hartland Antique Show

Last weekend was the weekend for the big antique show at the old Hartland High School in Hartland, Michigan. My good junkin buddy Auntie from Kitschy Vintage and I have gone on and off for years and we love it! This year we got a little bit of a late start, but I really don't think we missed anything. Usually, we are standing in a mob of people waiting for the doors to open so we can pay our $4 to get in. Sometimes people are pushing, shoving and line-hopping-they must think there's gold nuggets hidden in there for how some of them act! This year, we got to by-pass the craziness and walk right in!

They changed the entrance, so I think that helped with things too. Our fellow junkin buddy Jennifer had a booth at the sale and every time we walked by it, it looked like it was packed with shoppers! I hope she had a great day. She had a most amazing, vintage wire triple hat stand at an incredibly low price! As we were leaving a couple was holding it and talking about hanging it from their ceiling and putting light bulbs in it to make it into an industrial looking light fixture. I wonder if they bought it.

I picked up a yellow and white tablecloth at a corner booth inside the gym and a bright, chartreuse green tablecloth from a couple of ladies that we've seen at several of our regular junkin adventures over the years. They even include printed washing instructions with every linen purchase for newbies! I don't necessarily agree with what they suggest (I would never, ever add bleach), but it's nice of them to be helpful.

These are my new tablecloths:

I am always thrilled when I can find new vintage tablecloths in bright colors in styles or patterns that I don't already have or haven't ever seen before!

This antique show happens every year and even though it's not huge, we usually find treasures to bring home-so mark your calendar for next year!