Christmas Antiquing Tradition & Something New...

Every year, for many years Auntie and I have gone to the Christmas Open House at the Antiques Market of Williamston. We have enjoyed it every time we've went! Sometimes others join us, but most of the time, it is just us. Yesterday was our annual trip, and it was a great open house/sale!

I was really impressed with the mall!! It looked like a fresh and new place! It looks like they got new light fixtures, so everything was a lot brighter and that really helped a lot! Some of the old booths that have been there for years without much change have either moved out, or spruced up-and it made a BIG difference!

It was very crowded, and it seemed like people were buying! Another successful sale! We both bought a few things, sampled the appetizers and sweets and had a great time! I didn't take any pictures, because I didn't ask the owners if it was alright, so just imagine as you walk in the front door a big table loaded with punch, and all kinds of yummy appetizers and every other booth had a tray of homemade cookies and finger desserts!

The dealers did a much better job of staying out of the way and not congregating to chat (blocking shoppers from their booths) like many past years. I ran into Mitzi from Mitzi's Miscellany. I love all of her booths at the three antique malls she rents space in! I love her blog too! If you haven't checked it out yet, click on the link above! I always learn something from reading her blog, and today, I learned something (and bought something) from talking with her today! She's very creative and is very good at educating her readers with her blog.

When we left Williamston, we went to Lansing to the Mega Mall for their Holiday Open House. I was kind of disappointed because they were doing drawings for door prizes, but we were never told to put our names in for a drawing, so we missed out! I know the owners have worked very hard to clean up the mall, but there were still several booths that looked like someone just dumped a bunch of junk on the floor and left it. Some dealers (like Mitzi) take their booth seriously, and do a great job decorating and displaying their items and those booths are the ones I take my time to shop in. The messy booths or the ones with new stuff are easy to pass by.

After all that fun, I went to a women's event at our church to help where needed and take pictures. It was an Advent event focusing on learning about and helping women in third world countries. They set up a marketplace in our gym and there were 11 vendors selling things made by at risk women, with 100% of the proceeds going back to help those women.

There was also an artisans room, where members of the congregation donated their handiwork to be sold to benefit the at risk women as well. They also had a tea room, and a couple special presentations. I think there was probably between 500-550 women who came to the event, and by how things looked, it seemed to have been a success! One of the Vendors, Shining a Light, was already asking us to do it again next year!

Here are some shots of what I bought today and what I saw today...

 This was very tricky to hang from the center beam in the gym! It is 8' in diameter. My son was the one who went in the lift to hang it-he did a great job!! This was the Name of the Event.

 Bracelets and bookmarks from Threads of Hope.

Artisans from the church donated items to be sold to raise funds for at risk women.

 Adorable frog hat

 This little sweater has a backside-with a tail!

 Baby cocoons and hats

 Tote bags

 Drawstring Bags

 Advent Wreaths

 Scented candles

 tote bags

 Sweet little hats with a flower on the top and on the ties

 Notecards

 Notecards

 Handmade Swarovski jewelry

 This quilt was hand stitched...about 7 stitches per inch.

 Needlepoint twenty third Psalm.

 Painting

 Felted gloves and hat

 Scarves

 Hand painted plates and dishes

 Felted slippers

 Another quilt

 Beautiful afghan

 More paintings

 Abstract paintings

 Charcoal drawing of a little girl drinking fresh water.It was done by a 15 year old girl! The glass is reflecting the lights and the table across from it.

 Photograph packets that spell out LOVE, JOY and PEACE.

 Alphabet afghan

 One of two food ethnic food stations-there were also ethnic dessert stations

 This was the tea room. with several places to sit and relax with tea and snacks

 Jolly Santa playing and singing Christmas Carols as ladies walked through the building

 Chocolate fountain

 This was made out of paper!

This is what I got on our morning adventures to Williamston Antiques and Mega Mall...

 A small bundle of quilt scraps

 A sweet little half apron for a sweet little girl-for cookie day next year!

 A couple of gorgeous tablecloths!

 A Miche shell-from Mega Mall-they have all kinds of things for sale there!

I was getting ready to call for oxygen when I saw a red Fiesta mixing bowl on a shelf in one of the booths, until I turned it around and saw the big chip.

The rest of the rim is in great shape...too bad it has such a big chip!

It doesn't look too bad does it? I almost left it at the store...Auntie to the rescue! Thanks Auntie, I would have regretted not buying it!!!

 A hat pin holder-my first-thanks to Mitzi!

It looks great with my one and only hat pin