Cross-Country Thanksgiving Trek: Great shops and even better company

I have so much for which to be thankful! What a wonderful week I had catching up with friends and family. I am so glad I was able to get a flight to Illinois to visit my immediate and extended family, plus my two lifelong friends, Heather and Rachel. I was even able to fit in visits to cute shops and came home with more luggage than I left with! It was a great visit and I am already looking forward to Christmas for a longer stay. 

My cat Tom wasn't excited about me leaving and was attempting to prevent my packing...

ILLINOIS TRIP PART I - Barrington and Lake Zurich (Northwest Chicago Suburbs)

I flew out of Austin last Saturday morning directly to O'Hare, and my childhood friend Rachel picked me up. She shares a passion for finding old treasures, so she took me all around her neighboring northwest Chicago suburbs (Barrington mainly) to shop. We both found some great deals! Here are some photos of the cute stores and their displays.


An adorable shop, Tattered Tiques

Cute idea with the skeleton key and twine!

I love those skis!                

Rachel bought this great trunk and had her dad put a safety hinge on it for a toy chest!

What do you know - more monkey brains! BTW, I haven't had a roach since they arrived!

Isn't this chicken feeder with dried peas awesome?!

This chicken nester was made of wood.



On to another store in the same shopping plaza, Junk Warehouse.

We also visited the The Pink Geranium. At the three stores, I racked up:
-a really old dictionary
-a tool caddy
-a boxed set of music for a player piano
-3 ball jars, blue in color (I really have to watch how I describe the color and brand of jar...)
-some decorative little Christmas trees
-a vintage ornament
-two old rose cages
-and an antique sled
Rachel bought quite a bit too...it was a wonder we could fit in the car with all of our finds and my luggage!

My shopping partner and lifelong friend, Rachel

Thanks for a great excursion - I had an awesome time as always visiting you and your family! 

ILLINOIS TRIP, PART II - Heyworth and Clinton, IL (central IL)

My dad picked me up in Schaumburg on Sunday morning and we drove home to Heyworth for an extended family gathering. It was great to see my mom, dad, sister, grandmother, aunt, uncles, and cousins, but I didn't get to see everyone on my dad's side or any of my mom's side. Hopefully I will be able to see them all at Christmas! Regrettably, I didn't take any pictures.  

Another must-see when I go home is my other lifelong friend, Heather. Here she is with her son, Brodie, and new puppy, Chief; this photo was taken on our COLD run on Monday in her rural neighborhood. She is an excellent exercise buddy and I love catching up with her.

On Tuesday, my mom and I headed to my favorite antique hot spot, Clinton. I love seeing the home decor and antique furniture at Country Junction. Their winter tablescapes and vignettes were gorgeous!

We also visited the Clinton Antique Mall, right next to Country Junction. I always get some fun finds there, and this time I walked out with loads! I picked up several Christmas gifts too; I got my mom a rusty tricycle that she wanted for her garden (she was with me, so I am not ruining the surprise) and I bought my sister and friend some goodies there too. I managed to fit some dominoes, more Ball jars (which I already sold!), and vintage ornaments in my suitcase in addition to the earlier purchases (well, except the sled). 

Next up was the La Tea Da Tea Room and Gift Shop. This place is truly a gem and is owned and operated by good friends of our family; not only do they serve up awesome delectables, but they also have an incredible selection of gifts and decor. Their displays are inspiring! The gift shop is upstairs in an old house that has so much charm, and each room is decorated perfectly. My mom helped decorate a tree in this first picture and has served as the house gardener.

  Black, silver, and red - so sophisticated!

I love up-side-down trees like this! Wonder if I could do that?

Cool white Hoosier cabinet!

 

Look at those old curved glass windows!

The owner and dedicated blog reader, Carol, pictured to the left of my wonderful mom.

Such talent in those two women!

After I got my cat out of my suitcase and finished packing, I left for IL with two bags:

  

I came home to Austin with four!

Loads of new purchases are now displayed at the Austin Antique Mall, and I even managed to get home my grandmother's sewing machine in the green duffel bag. I have some projects in mind....I started one today and it was a massive fail; check back for proof of that!  

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, shopped small on Saturday, and are enjoying decorating for the Christmas season!

-Sarah

The Colorful Cabinet and a DIY holiday craft even I could do!

The wind must have been blowing in the right direction for my pictures to upload. This is the great blue cabinet that Debbie from Whimseys delivered to the Austin Antique Mall for me last week. I love all the open shelving space and hope to have this piece hanging around for awhile!

While at the Rusted Gingham Barn Sale earlier this month, the first table I saw had these great crafted Christmas trees.

I bought two of these trees - the smaller ones with decorative tissue paper and a larger one covered in coffee filters - genius! The closer I looked at these trees, the more I thought about how I could possibly make them! Now, I am by far the least crafty person. So for me to decide to do this, you know it has to be simple. On my way home from the Barn Sale, I stopped at Hobby Lobby and bought a tall cardboard style Christmas-tree shaped cone (which happened to be 50% off - I think I paid around $2 for it). I also picked up some tack glue and some glitter glue. Since I have given up my morning coffee habit, I probably have a few hundred coffee filters in my kitchen cabinets. I used the neutral tanish colored ones, but you could also use white.

Really the only directions are to fold the filters in half, and then cut out the center. Here is a picture I borrowed from Crafts by Amanda.

You can find more thorough directions on the above link, but her tree has more 'ingredients' and is a tad more complex. I take the simple route and just started at the bottom of the tree and glued the filters around. As you work your way up the cone, you will need to trim the filters and use a portion. The only thing I suggest is to not just slide the filter over the cone - it flares out in an inconsistent way.

Since I didn't think to photograph my tree while I was making it, here again is a stolen picture from Amanda's blog. This is what her's looked like as she worked her way up a styrofoam cylinder (note that these do not have pointed tops):

And here is my finished product, standing next to the purchased one:

I haven't yet added any glitter to mine, but I kind of like it in its rustic natural state! A simple craft that even I could manage. Now, creating a burlap banner with spraypainted holiday phrases was not so successful....oh well. I will stick to shopping for my booth rather than creating for it!

In case I do not post before the holiday, I want to wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving. A big thank you to the readers of this blog who make me want to continue to share my journey as a new 'antiquer.' I am thankful to have met so many wonderful people already in my short time blogging and antiquing.

I have so much for which to be grateful and I am thrilled to have spent fun times with lots of loved ones in the midwest this week! Check back for pictures of my trip with some amazing stores and displays!

Happy Thanksgiving,

Sarah