Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Market Place Blowout!!!


Okay!!!  This past weekend was the second monthly antique market at the Townsend Harbor Church put on by the Spaulding Cooperage where I have a booth.  I didn't have as much stuff as I did for the first Market and so I rented only half a space.  Well......let me tell you, I was blown away, literally.  I must have had what people were looking for this time around.  We opened at 10 am Friday and by 11:15, I had sold over half of my stock, and by the end of the weekend I returned home with only about a quarter of what I went with.  I think I made more money this time with half the space and stuff.  Crazy!!  Fun crazy!!!  As you look over the pictures, you'll no doubt notice pieces I've blogged about before from Brimfield and Flea market/Estate sale finds.  Some scrubbing, or painting or stripping revealed some real treasures.


The library card catalog came from my Brimfield day.  A good sanding, some white paint and distressing gave it great new life.  The light blue crate came from the flea market full of old glass-topped canning jars.  I painted the "Cottage to Let" sign along with any other little signs you'll see.  I hand enlarged letters I liked, painted them and then distressed them to blend with the old painted wood background to create an old looking fun sign.



Rather than alphabet letters or numerals, I stamped the words for numbers one thru six on vintage manila paper and labeled each drawer.  It gave it some great charm.



I used an old coal bucket and lunch box amongst other things not seen here as creative planters.  The table the old sewing machine is sitting on was a side of the road find.  I de-rusted, sanded, stripped, stained, painted and waxed.  And here it has become a lovely display base for a very vintage Singer sewing machine.  Funny, how a little paint changes things.  The little sling stool in the foreground was at the last sale and in my space all month after, sitting unsold.  I added the turquoise stripes with a little paint and painters tape and it walked out the door within 20 minutes of this sale!


This green cubby shelf was a flea market find.  You may remember it as all gray.  I stripped off a good deal of the gray, revealing a lovely green underneath and stamped on numerals using a vintage rubber stamping set.  Now it is a charming shabby chic shoe cubby/bench in its new home.  Also sold in less than half an hour!


Here is the petite German enamel file cabinet I picked up in Brimfield.  A good scrubbing, additional hardware to where it was missing some before and labels on vintage manila paper stamper with vintage rubber stamps helped to refurbish an old classic.  It lasted 15 minutes before selling!




This is a bench I built using Heidi's old headboard and foot board from a vintage Jenny Lind style bed she used to have in her room before the makeover.  I cut the foot board in half and mounted it to the headboard and built a bench seat spanning the opening created.  A nice coat of almond colored paint, a six inch foam cushion and upholstery sewn custom by me using vintage 30's fabric all worked together to create a sweet bench (if I do say so myself.)  This piece did not sell yet, but now looks lovely in my Cooperage space, where I half-heartedly hope it sells.  I wouldn't mind if it didn't as I love it so much and would not mind having to eventually find a home for it in my house!




I added this to the space on Saturday afternoon.  I call it an inspiration board.  I made it using a repainted old frame, a cork insert, vintage measuring tape segments, decorative upholstery tacks and vintage ephemera.  Very Happy!!!



This is my space on Saturday.  I brought in the bench from outside to fill in empty space.  I scrounged around my house and brought in the black cart to hold a few items I came up with.  Much of the remaining items in the photos belonged to other dealers.  We merchandised with other people's stuff to fill my empty space.


What a great sale it was.  I think everyone did well.  I am still blown away with how fast my space emptied out.  It was a great morale booster for me.  We all need a good dose of success now and then.  And happily, I learned at church on Sunday that some of our volunteers who are leaving for the mission trip to Kenya in July are still trying to get their funds in order.  This great sale will give me a good tithe to pass on to help them out financially and ultimately be beneficial to the children in Nairobi we support though these mission trips.  What a bonus.  I am soooo happy all around.  Thanks for smiling with me.

2 comments:

Julie said...

Hi Tera! My husband and I bought that great cubby unit. I added 'industrial' wheels at the corners and now it's a media center in our family room. The cubby are perfect for holding dvd's, remotes, etc. The TV fits perfect on top and we couldn't be happier. Thanks for the great find!

Kim said...

Tera, I just absolutely LOVE what you are doing and only wish we lived nearer each other so I could learn from - and play with - you! I am drawn to the exact same things you search out to refurbish/repurpose AND the resulting products - you'd think we were related or something (ha ha)! :D

You're extremely talented - thanks for sharing your knowledge and "eye" - I really enjoy your blog. Sending hugs!