Monday, September 26, 2011

relics & rain


On Sunday, Chris & I hopped in the truck and headed north to pick up my dad & his girlfriend, Crystal.
We were all on our way to the bi-annual antique flea market in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. There are a few things in life that make me feel completely happy from head-to-toe, and flea markets are one of them.. I just love how I never know what I'm going to find or discover strewn about tables, booths, and buildings. I love the feeling of rediscovering something that once brought someone else joy hanging from their living room wall, or sitting pretty on a cabinet shelf. I don't believe that there is any such thing as "junk".. I like to think that, somewhere out there, there's somebody who's heart would sing at the sight of that old telephone, or that green little glass shoe. I never approach a flea market or antique mall with an item in mind, I just meander through and if something really speaks to me or makes me want to do a cartwheel right there in the isle, I buy it... if its reasonably priced :) Anyway, we headed north on I-39 to Rockford where we ate way too much at the Machine Shed (a really, really awesome restaurant that has a country-inspired menu as well as some fabulous country/farm "artifacts" decorating its walls. As we neared Elkhorn, the rain started.. 

then stopped.. then started again.. and again.. and again.. Pretty much the story of the day.. Because the flea market was held at a fairgrounds, and a lot of booths were outdoors, evvvrybody shoved and crammed their  way into the narrow-isled buildings. This was no problem for us.. We actually like to take our time browsing through booths but it honestly seemed like we were the only ones in that boat. I heard a middle-aged woman  grumble, "If one more person gets in my way I'm going to knock them the f*ck down,"  under her breath as she pushed past a man in a wheelchair. Really, lady? I mean, you are at a flipping antique flea market..
 and , yes, it is raining.. you can't change that..people are going to be in your way all day. This attitude was one that we encountered all day, unfortunately. Life is just too short to grumble, and shove, and curse at total strangers because they happened to linger ahead of you a moment longer, looking at something they are obviously interested in. Geeeesh!
I won't let them ruin my blog post, so that is all on them :)
Treasures I stumbled upon included an awesome Crisco sponsored cookbook/pamphlet from 1951. There's a picture below and I LOVE that little girl on the cover. Soo cute. I also found a complete set of farm animal cookie cutters IN THE BOX! Its rare enough that I found an actual complete set, but to have it in the original box was really the cherry or 10 on top. I'd been scouring bins of cookie cutters at antique stores for years trying to find the basic farm animals and now I finally had it. Did you know that a swan was actually considered a farm animal in the 50's? I sure didn't. 
Dad bought a little purple Schwinn bicycle. He said he learned to ride a bike on one just like it, except it was candy apple red. He says its for "future" grandchildren. Crystal bought a perfect little '50's chrome-lined, laminate-topped, teal table with teal and chrome chairs. Adorable..And she also found some metal wash bins. They were pretty lovely, too. So we drove the truck into the fairgrounds to pick up their finds and I ended up spotting the wrought iron bed of my dreams.. for $100..
 I couldn't have been happier :) With a little sandblasting work done by me to remove the corrosion and light blue paint, and a little straightening out of some bars by my dad, with his infinite wisdom of metal work, it should be good as new. After, of course, a shiny new coat of off-white paint :)
Hope you all had a wonderful, dry, weekend. 







We even spotted Monica Pederson from HGTV's Design to Sell shopping for some goodies there, too

9 comments:

  1. I love flea markets!! I'm so jealous of your adorable new set of cookie cutters. You need to do a blog post on the cookies you make with them. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Aren't they so much fun? There are a couple of good ones that run May-October in central Illinois that I hit up too. The cookie cutters are pretty snazzy, if I do say so myself lol.. And I will definitely dedicate a post to the cookies I make with them (a. when harvest is over & i get some time and
    b. when I perfect the art of icing). Hope you had a good weekend :)
    xo,
    Janell

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for stoppping by! I'm like in love with all those items in the photos!!! So jealous!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Looks like a blast! Gret photos. Thanks for finding me. Followed ya back.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This looks lke a fantastic flea market trip! I love finding great antique items for our house.
    Thanks for stopping by my blog the other day. I try to go to flea markets but the main one I know around here (Wentzville) is getting a little old and overpriced. Do you know of any good ones in the St. Louis area?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wish I could have been there!! Love your flannel shirt too!
    Love, Leigh

    ReplyDelete
  7. It was a LOT of fun minus the rain :) Thanks! Love me some plaid

    ReplyDelete

shoot me a line or two