Countdown to Michigan Antiques & Collectibles Festival!

The countdown has begun! Mark your calendar!! There are only 88 days until the next Antiques & Collectibles Festival at the Midland Fairgrounds in Midland, Michigan!

This will be my 4th year and I can't wait!! Let me know if you are going--maybe we can meet up for lunch in the 4H Cafe!!

Midland was sooo cold, but LOTS of FUN!!!

Yesterday was the big day! Auntie and I went to the Michigan Antiques Festival in Midland. We decided to leave an hour earlier than we have in the past to try to miss all of the traffic and waiting in long lines to get in to the fairgrounds. It was a GREAT idea! We breezed right in, got a closer parking spot-even though it was at the back and got us all turned around.

The weather was really crazy! It was cold and really windy and sometimes the sun was out, sometimes it was gray and gloomy and sometimes it was misty and rainy. It cycled through all of those weather conditions every few minutes, the rain at least, held off until toward the end of our visit. It was just enough to chill me to the bone! I just couldn't get warm when I got home! I guess it didn't help that I am coming down with a cold on top of all of it.

It was a lot less crowded when we first got there and that was really nice, but as the day wore on, it really filled up with shoppers. I was disappointed at how much smaller it was from when we visited in June. There were a LOT of empty spots. Last time we went, we walked for over 5 hours and didn't get to see it all-and only went into one building. This time, we went into all the buildings and even took a longer than normal lunch break and were still done in about 4 hours.

There still was a LOT to see and buy-even though the number of vendors was down. We filled my new "Treasure Haulin" cart right up!

This what we saw...

Made totally out of  motorcycle parts!

A shot of his face.

Our cart at the beginning...I forgot to take a picture of it when it was over-flowing!

This was in the parking area on our way out.

Since we were going through the festival backwards from how we normally go, we ended up in a different location when we were ready for lunch. We ate at the 4H cafeteria (a place I never even knew existed!). We ended up getting a sandwich, fries and beverage for the same price of just our old standby Italian sausage sandwiches-and we helped out 4H!! They had the BEST homemade cookies too-thanks Auntie!!

We had planned on going home, and relaxing for a bit then heading out to Williamston Antiques for their Moonlight Madness, but by they time we got home, we were tired and I was really feeling the effects of my cold and being out in the cold all day, so we decided to stay home. I'm glad we did-I was pretty worn out! 

This is what I got...

Auntie got a lot of fun treasures too-it was a FUN day despite the weather and my cold!

Now the count down and wait begins for the June 2011 Michigan Antiques Festival-I can't wait to go back! You should mark your calendar too-you won't regret it!

WOW! What FUN!!!

Yesterday was the first Michigan Antiques Festival at the Midland State Fairgrounds for 2010. It was their 42nd year and it was a GREAT one! There are two more dates coming up (July 24-25 and September 25-26)-so mark your calendars!! You won't want to miss out until next year!

It's about an hour and a half drive for us, but I think we would all agree that it was worth the trip! This is the third year for Auntie, Eric and I. Pam (a treasure seeker friend from work) joined us for the first time and she seemed to really enjoy herself as well.

We got there at about quarter after ten, and it was backed up all the way down the exit ramp. I've never seen it that crowded before. I was surprised how many people where there so early this year.  Usually we get a pretty close parking spot-this time we were way out there! Thank goodness for the free trolley ride from the entrance to the parking area-especially when it's time to leave and you've shopped til you are about to drop!!

We took Auntie's granny cart and a couple of big shopping bags I got at Marshall's to go inside. Eric was the chief cart pusher and did an awesome job! I think he's turning into a treasure hunter in training! He actually likes to go garage saling with me, and to antique shows and stores-not all the time, but if he doesn't have anything else to do-he is usually right beside me!

It doesn't hurt that he usually gets free food out of the deal too-and yesterday was no exception with our traditional Italian sausage lunch, lemonade refresher, kettle corn and then a banana cream pie shake at Sonic on the way home.

 We were so hungry, we forgot to take a picture of our lunch until it was almost gone!

Fresh squeezed! When it's 89 degrees outside-this really hits the spot!

Here are just some random shots of the fairgrounds...

 We saw LOTS of interesting things, and we bought a few fun treasures! We were glad to see some of our favorite vendors had returned-especially the kettle corn guys!!! We left around 3:30 and had to sit in a long line just to get on the expressway to go home, but it was well worth it. The Weather Channel was calling for cloudy, overcast weather with a high in the upper 60's to the low 70's...when we got back in the car, the thermometer read 89!! We all got some sun, and I think we were all tired and worn out.

I don't know if I will go back in July or not. I'm thinking I might wait and go in September instead and enjoy more local sales between now and then. Not because I didn't enjoy it, I REALLY did! It was worth the anticipation for sure...but because it is such a long drive, and I've been finding such good treasures at local garage sales.


These were my treasures...

A Manhattan divided platter and bowl set.

A Fiesta Lemongrass 15" pizza tray.

A medium oval Fiesta Lemongrass platter.

2 glass lady bug garden stakes.

And 2 giant bags of kettle corn...when you have 2 teenage sons...it doesn't last long enough to get a picture of both bags!!

A prince of a day-for sure!!

Two Months From Today is the Midland Antiques Festival!!!

Mark your calendar!!!  Only 2 months to go-and I can't wait!!!

There are only 60 days until the first Michigan Antique and Collectible Festival in Midland, Michigan!

2010 Dates

June 5-6

July 24-25

September 25-26

This will be their 42nd year. It is held only 3 times a year at the Midland County Fairgrounds.

Saturdays 8am-6pm

Sundays 8am-4pm

It's about an hour and a half drive from where we live but well worth it! When we went last fall, they said there were 1,000 vendors. It's a lot of fun to be able to visit so many different vendors all in one spot!