Free Halloween decor with purchase

I wanted to give my booth a slight seasonal facelift, so I picked up some small pumpkins, both real and an assortment of tiny black glittery ones to place throughout my displays. I also wanted to get some of that stretchy spiderweb material. As I searched Michael's for the supply, I thought about how ironic this was....I spent a better part of a Saturday afternoon cleaning actual spiderwebs off of my 'new' treasures that have found a (perhaps temporary) home in my abode, and there I was purposefully buying imitation webs for my booth. I should advertise that all pieces of furniture I sell come with a free gift - authentic cobwebs! I raise very resiliant spiders in this house - no matter how much I clean, they keep coming back to decorate! Well, eight-legged friends, Halloween is tomorrow, so if you all can start preparing for the winter holidays and take a break from web-making, I would appreciate the help! 

I didn't get much of a chance to antique this weekend, as Andrew and I went to the UT game yesterday. It was perfect fall weather here in Austin (finally!), which made for a great tailgate with friends and a chilly kick-off - just the way football is supposed to feel for this Midwestern girl! I actually went to two football games this weekend, as we also went to the Leander game on Friday night. The weather and outcomes of both games were great.

I had planned to make a trip up to Hico, TX for an antique show on Saturday, but after seeing that it would take nearly 2 and a half hours, I reconsidered. I am saving up for some good antiquing this weekend, as I may visit a Barn Sale in Gonzalez and some of my favorite shops in Geronimo and Seguin along the way. I am looking forward to hunting for some good holiday decor! Out with the spiderwebs and in with the ornaments!

A few pictures of the shop (it's a rebuilding phase - I need more inventory!) and us at the game:

Happy Halloween!

-Sarah

Oh, the memories!

Warning - this post doesn't have much to do with antiques! That's because I spent the weekend visiting my alma mater, Vanderbilt University, in Nashville to see good friends and attend our 10 year college reunion. I can hardly belive that it has been ten plus years since that beautiful campus was home...

It was really great to see so many friends and I so enjoyed catching up with faces that were once so familiar.

Of course, I also loved getting to see my former roommates, who quickly became lifelong friends! My freshman roommate, Jen, is originally from near Pittsburgh and now lives near D.C. with her husband and sweet baby girl. Karen is from near Boston and now is a new homeowner in that city. We missed seeing our other friends, who live in all corners of the country and weren't able to get away from work commitments, but we do look forward to getting together again in the near future.

I wish we had taken more pictures; when we were college students, we used to forget having pictures taken, and now I can't remember to take them! Wow, how times have changed. I am proud of the fact that we made it downtown to a honky-tonk this weekend, but we didn't last long and don't have the photographic proof that we were there.

The reunion committee thought it would be funny to put our senior pictures (that we submitted to 'The Newcomer,'  Vanderbilt's 1997 paper version of Facebook) on our nametags for Friday night's class party; it was quite entertaining. I wanted to share a picture of us from college, but I think I might get death threats from a few friends....so the ones from this weekend will have to do!

From L-R: Me, Jen, and Karen 

We had to get our overpriced Vandy gear!

 See, there is something antique-related about this post! I even got them to visit the Downtown Antique Mall!

This place was a great old industrial building - I loved all the vintage letters they had and wish I could have taken a suitcase full back to Austin with me!

What a wonderful weekend filled with great memories! Hope to see you again soon, girls! 

Special Delivery - Monkey Brains!

Monky Brains!

Hedge balls, horse apples, hedge apples, mock orange, and, my favorite, monkey brains: these are all the various names for the green 'hedgeapple' fruit from the Osage Orange, or Bodark, trees that are native to parts of Oklahoma and Texas.

What? I grew up in Illinois and they were everywhere on our farm this time of year. I hadn't seen them in Texas until I was in Warrenton and one vendor was using them as display. What a great idea! The vibrant shade of green adds a wonderful touch to a simple black or white scene. I asked the vendor where they were from, and they said near Warrenton. I asked them if the 'hedge balls' were from their place, and they weren't sure what I was talking about...I pointed to the bumpy green balls and they said, "Oh, you mean the horse apples?"

I asked my mom if she had any this year, and she didn't think so because there hasn't been a lot of rain in IL since late spring. However, after a bit of exploration on their property, my parents found several. Today, I received a large flat rate box filled with close to 20 hedge apples of differing sizes, and I couldn't have been happier to get some seemingly useless sticky fruit!

Turns out this 'useless' fruit has long served the purpose of a natural insect repellant - lucky for me and sad for the thousands of gigantic cockroaches that have invaded my house since the start of summer. Here's hoping that the old wives' tale is correct; I would be thrilled to cancel my pest control service and just use monkey brains.

I just love how the hedgeapples look in my 'new' rusty scale bin that I bought from House Wren's booth at the Austin Antique Mall. Thanks for the monkey brains, Mom! I think she should go into business selling them after she sends me another dozen boxes.

A storied past and a restorative future

I have always loved Hoosier cabinets. Also known as baker's cupboards, these cabinets were originally crafted to serve as storage and prep space in the kitchen back when kitchens didn't have built-in cabinets or pantries. The Hoosiers were first manufactured at the turn of the 20th century and were popular through the 1920's, but as kitchens modernized and were built with storage and prep room, the Hoosier lost its edge as an innovative kitchen piece.

My mom had a Hoosier in our dining room, and it served a great purpose: storing all our games and crafting supplies! Perhaps it was that connection to the piece that led to my affinity for these cabinets, and I had been searching for a great cabinet to add to my house. I hadn't quite thought out where I would put it, but I knew I wanted one! I found so many in Illinois that were at good prices, but I kept looking and hoped I could find one in Texas. After doing a Craigslist search for a cabinet this past winter, I connected with a super nice lady in Bertram who had a Hoosier-style cabinet for sale. She bought it at least 20 years ago near Corpus Christi, and it was painted a deep shade of gray. She put time and energy into restoring the exterior back to the original wood color, but now she was seeking some space in her bungalow's dining room. I thought about that cabinet for a few weeks, and then decided to rent an SUV (this was pre-Barn Chic Antiques and I had a sedan) to drive out there to check it out.

I stopped in Bertram to see it, and was proud of myself for leaving without it. I told her I was going to go on to Burnet and check out the stores there and that I would call her later to let her know my decision. What a great day I had, checking out all the shops in Burnet. I even drove up to Lampasas for a farm auction, and I would give anything to find another one of those! I already had half a car full when I called her back to tell her I would take the cabinet.

I drove back to Bertram and somehow we managed to get that cabinet, which breaks down into three smaller pieces, into my Ford Explorer. I wish I had played more Tetris as a kid! The couple was so sweet to help me fit it all in, even getting some rope to tie down the back window since an old ladder was hanging out. It was a slow drive back to Austin!

When my husband helped me unload all my treasures, I was pleasantly surprised to find that he liked the cabinet! We assembled it in our living room, and while it is a gorgeous cabinet, it just didn't work in our space. I didn't have room in the kitchen either, so when I opened my booth a few months later, it became the cornerstone piece. I wasn't sure if it would sell, but it made for great displays! 

The cabinet in our living room - what beautiful etched glass windows!

What a cool piece with it's slate table top, flour sifter, and storage bin.

I got a call this week from the antique mall, and I could hardly believe my ears when they said a man was interested in the cabinet. Since he wanted to restore it, he had offered a much lower amount than what it was priced, but I countered at just a fraction over his offer in hopes that he would accept. He did indeed, and the cabinet's story continues.

The selling of this cabinet was bittersweet; it was a great piece for the booth, but I am also excited about the newfound space for additional merchandise, more options for rearranging, and an opportunity to get more consistent with my 'look.' Time for more shopping! Here are a few pictures of the booth currently...I have a way to go. 

     

Thanks for reading my long post! Along with consistency in my booth, I will work on being concise in my blog!

Have a wonderful week!

-Sarah

Inspiring displays and new purchases

When my interest in antiquing first went from shopper to potential vendor, I did a lot of online research and used Blogger to find great leaders in this industry. I don't remember how I came across Theresa and her amazing blog Garden Antqs Vintage, but ever since I first discovered it, I have been an avid reader. I took a slight detour from my route to IL this summer to swing by McKinney to see Theresa's booth at the Antique Company Mall, and I was so excited when I learned she joined the awesome Binky La Faye store in Llano, my favorite shopping town in the Hill Country. I have visited with her at several shows, including Warrenton and City Wide here in Austin, and she is just as nice as can be. She is so very talented! I have purchased several small items from her, but I love them each so much that I am not sure I can part with them just yet; I will 'store' them in my house for now!

The pictures above are from her booth near Zapp Hall in Warrenton last week. She can make any combination of vintage items look great together! I particularly loved the ironstone displays and vintage Christmas ornaments this time.

I went back to Warrenton yesterday with my mother-in-law, her sister, and a friend  - the other two ladies are from New York and I thought they would really enjoy this exposure to Texas culture! We all had a great time, and they even came home with some purchases! I (of course) filled up the car yet again - here are some of my finds.

And here are a few pictures from my newly redecorated space at the Austin Antique Mall. 

Traffic jam in Warrenton! My fellow shoppers from New York could not believe this tiny little town had enough traffic to take an hour to go one mile.

And one more picture to wrap up this post....

You never know what you will find in Warrenton!

-Sarah





Three markets in two states over eight days!

What an awesome week! I took some time off of work to shop Warrenton last Friday, then traveled to Seattle to visit my good friend Kate from grad school over the weekend, and finally went back to Warrenton yesterday for more! Here are some pictures from the Seattle trip. What a cool city!


Waiting to board the Bainbridge Island Ferry

What a treat! A Sunday market! I found a great small glass milk jug from a dairy in Washington, a fun sewing machine attachment box, and a small salve tin. This market was filled with fresh farm produce and flowers!

Kate took me to see this wall of gum - and my middleschoolers wonder why they aren't allowed to chew gum in school! Maybe we should start one of these walls at school? Can you make out the word in black?

The market everyone goes to see in Seattle - I preferred the other one!

My gracious host and me....

A very cool yarn store on Bainbridge Island - the alpaca wool was sooo soft! It seems that everyone in Seattle knits! I would love to be good at this...sadly I am pretty terrible at it. Kate bought some new yarn and I can't wait to see what she makes!

A view of Seattle in the distance on the ferry. How cool that you drive your car right onto the boat!

 I loved these little Chinese lattern flowers!

Two delicious eateries  - Geraldine's is in a great little neighborhood - I wish Austin were more 'neighborhoody.'

How quaint! Seattle was great! And I even enjoyed the cool and rainy weather...when I returned to Austin it was 103 again. Sigh.

Check back later for more Warrenton photos!