Flea Market Mecca

4 out of 5 people I tell about the following give me a look that says "Just go with the nice men in the white jackets sweetie. We knew this breakdown was coming soon." The 5th person begs to be packed in my bag because they get it.


What is it? Why the mecca of flea markets, the Rose Bowl Flea Market, which is where I'll be on Sunday! (jumping for joy, happy dance, whooping it up, high fives and air horns all around) For years, this has been among the top destinations for shopping fun on my list. Not hundreds, but thousands of vendors! Endless possibility to hunt down treasures. Eeek! I can barely stand it. For those who would rather shop a mall, fine, I'd love to go with you. I'll even brave the free gyros samples in the food court, but oh, don't deprive me of the joys of junking!

Reminder: Pack the camera. Both for the shopping pics and the possible celebrity sightings among the vintage prom frocks.

And wouldn't ya know, Dianna tagged me?!? 7 random things. I did 7 random Christmas things when tagged by Abby and Dianna got me right before Thanksgiving. So to change it up again, I'm going to share 7 retro, vintage loves in the spirit of prep for the Flea Market.

1. I'm crazy for chandeliers. Italian tole is my personal favorite, but the occasional chandelier dripping with crystal will capture my heart. I have chandeliers waiting to be hung! Witness the chandelier love in my home....




2. I stop for suitcases. Don't ever buy those things in an antique store because at auctions, they usually go for $2 and that's because they might have something inside like old sheet music or tools. You can find them at yard sales for $1-2 as well. Not only are they vintage; they are useful storage, architectural and when stacked, make the best tables. Like shoes or lipgloss, I can never have enough suitcases.

3. You don't need to see more evidence because a peek into any posts in December makes it abundantly clear that I love vintage Christmas goodies. Shiny Brites, mercury glass garlands, vintage tinsel, old cards, Putz houses and more. Love it!

4. I drape almost every surface in this house with a vintage printed tablecloth. They make me so very happy! We set our mail on them, eat our meals on them and sometimes watch them fall to the floor as a kitten skids across them. Do I need more? Nooooo. Will I get more? Oh yeah. In order to slow down my purchasing of these beauties, I've set an arbitrary number of $18 or below to buy one. It works pretty well because rarely do I find one in good condition for that price unless it's at an auction. Heck, we even use them as curtains!

5. I have a few pieces of jadite. This is a photo of maybe 1/3 of what I have. The rest is in a Hoosier cabinet. The color is fun. The heft and weight of the restaurant ware pieces is comfortable and satisfying to hold in your hand. The lighter pieces feel almost dainty although many were packed away as freebies in canisters of oatmeal. My Uncle James saw my collection when I fed he and Aunt Doris BLTs from summer's last tomatoes on salad plates and pudding in egg cups and remarked that his family used to leave the teacups out at the barn because they were just throwaway freebies from the oatmeal. Like anything else vintage I bring home, I don't buy it unless we use it and we eat several meals on these dishes. I just imagine that it tastes better.

6. McCoy pottery jumps into my arms somehow whenever I come near. It loves me. See the pic of the suitcases? Right below it is a McCoy jardinierre that I picked up at the last auction I went to and it's now being used as a magazine holder. I use smaller pots to hold tools in my scrap studio. The latest report says that popularity for McCoy is waning. Whoopee! More for me!

7. I have the most fun reading the little recipe booklets and brochures from back in the day. Their graphics are usually super cool or super kitschy. Sometimes the recipes sounds incredibly yummy and sometimes, I wonder why we're a chubby nation now when they ate everything with a generous serving of lard back then. I love to display these in a flower frog in the kitchen. I have Christmas ones, turkey ones for Thanksgiving, grill ones for summer, etc. We've even made ice cream from a brochure on frozen desserts. This one cracked me up. Notice the 'Husband Tested' on the evaporated milk one? Bwahahahaha!

That my dears is probably a good guage of what you might see me looking at on Sunday. That is when I'm not checking out Bakelite, Shawnee pottery, barkcloth, vintage costume jewelry, ephemera, old keys, locker baskets, etc, etc, etc.

I'd love to see 7 random facts from Danielle, Kim, Abby and Cheryl. Tag, you it, if you can get to it! No hurry, no worries.