Round Top's Marburger Farm Antique Show, Part 1: Wild and Whimsical

Fall is one of my favorite seasons (my other favorites are spring and summer). Here in Texas, it typically doesn't feel like fall until after the turkey dinners are served. Once this past week, however, I got a sense of fall while out on a walk; there was a light breeze, a few scattered leaves on the ground, pumpkins on porches, and a cloud passing overhead. I had to concentrate really hard to feel it, but it was magical. And then the clouds parted to reveal the strong rays of the sun, I wiped the sweat off my brow, and the moment was gone. 

Though the weather doesn't yet reflect the shift in seasons, I know that fall is here. All teachers do. Unlike the concentration I needed to feel fall outside, it slaps teachers upside the head at school.

The freshness of a new year has faded, and all those freshly sharpened pencils, neatly labeled journals, and organized binders that graced our classroom in late August are now just a distant memory. Instead, my room is littered with paper fringe, broken pencils, 'snow' from the three-hole punch, and abandoned nameless notebooks (the front covers barely lasted six weeks). My classroom mirrors the chaos that most all teachers feel right about this time of year. Each year you hope to avoid it, and then you slam right into the aptly named 'fall wall.'

The best remedy for this is a day off (if only those sub plans could write themselves) - to a place without walls. One of the first things I did at the start of the new school year was request off the opening day of the Marburger Farm Antique Show. Its timing is the perfect cure for this teacher's first six weeks' hangover. Pulling into the cattle fields on the outskirts of Round Top, TX is like stepping out of reality and into a fantasy world - one where even the porta-potties are air-conditioned.    

I live only 75 miles away from the show festivities, but it feels more like a million miles away from my typical Tuesday sights. This year's show featured design inspiration from some of nature's more exotic creatures, some native to this continent and others from afar. 

I was welcomed by these lovely ladies outside the Leftovers Antiques booth.     

Just looking at swans invokes a sense of peace, solitude, and graceful elegance. 

I'm thinking about getting one for my classroom. 

 

They could be seen all over the fields of Marburger Farm. 

 

These beauties were sunbathing outside of the House Wren tent. 

This wooden variety, found in the Butterfly Cottage booth, is cousin to the more popular
cement swan statues and is equally as elegant.

While I wouldn't say that raccoons and skunks are 'elegant,' they sure look whimsical in this great display.    

Even the bull seemed at peace in Marburger's fields. 

This might not be my style, but this scene by Acanthus Studios is pretty impressive.

 I haven't decorated with the full bird before, but I adore peacock feathers.
This guy would look great perched in my living room.


This European sleigh looks like it is straight out of a fairy tale. 

 

It is awesome, but costs more than a new vehicle.

 The exterior of this next vendor channeled an upscale circus tent complete with the red velour curtain. 

It is hard to believe that couple Paige and Smoot Hull of The Vintage Round Top are new to (antique) show business. Their space was so well done and packed with people who were as mesmerized by their talent as I was.  

I enjoyed talking with Smoot and hearing about how his carpentry skills and Paige's design talents led to the recent opening of an impeccably decorated vacation rental home in Round Top. I had stumbled across their lodging website earlier last month and put their property on the growing list of places I want to stay in the Round Top area. When I asked him if he was new to the Marburger show, he told me that he was new to this industry and had only officially been in the antique business for the past four hours (insert major envy).  

Turns out that customers at their cottage started buying pieces out of the rental, and they decided to try selling their wares at the local antique show [Marburger, which happens to be one of the most renowned shows in the country]. That takes courage, and I am certain that they had no regrets!

 

 

 

 

 

Though my fantasy day in the fields came to a close, my blogging about the fall show is not yet over. I have at least one more post to fill with pictures of inspirational decor and junk from incredibly talented designers and pickers. 

My desk might still be buried under a pile of students' papers that need to be read, but a day off at Marburger Farm was just what I needed to erase the chaos of the 'fall wall' from my reality - even if it was just for one day.

Anyone have any swans for sale? 

Have a chic week,

~Sarah