Fantastic 14: Day 2: Eclectically Vintage

It's a great day when I wake up, check my email, and see 

a new post from Kelly at Eclectically Vintage!

Kelly introduces herself on her blog by saying, "When I’m not sharing my love of all things vintage, cool collections, decorating, mixing old and new, flea markets, estate sales, junk and unique art, you might find my feet sticking out of a dumpster, scouring the neighborhood for curbside castoffs, or perusing the thrift shop aisles." 

 
A New Jersey native, Kelly finds inspiration and creative outlet in renovating her 100+ year old home, which she shares with her husband and twin daughters. Her blog posts are funny, inspiring, creative, and overall enthralling; she shares pictures of amazing finds and ideas for simple, attractive DIY ideas. 

Aside from being the beautiful brains behind Eclectically Vintage, Kelly also manages to be a major contributor to the FOLK Magazine Blog (which I also highly recommend...), sharing her wealth of inspiring knowledge with all of the follwers of FOLK's country-loving nation. 

I invite you to visit Eclectically Vintage online, "like" her on Facebook, and follow her on Pinterest, Twitter, Google +, and Hometalk. You'll be glad you did!

31 Days, 31 Reasons to be Thankful: January 12: Flea Markets

"My name is Lucy, and I am a Flea Market Addict. Nice to meet you."

That would be my line at a support group if there were some sort of 12-step program for people like me. I am truly, madly, deeply in love with junk. Not junk junk, but good junk. There IS a difference.

This is what  I love about a good flea market...GOOD junk!

Recently, I traveled to Orlando, Florida to visit with my brother for the New Year holiday. What was by REAL objective? To go to Renninger's flea market in Mt Dora, where I also hit up my fave antique shops. And, thanks to a loving brother and his patient girlfriend, my objective was successfully met.

My best bud Jeanne and I

My friend Jeanne of juNxtaposition has, like me, made an entire business out of junk. She's older than I am so I will graciously concede to her the title of Queen of the Flea, but I proudly take the role as Princess of the Flea, immediate heiress to the throne.

Jeanne and I share a common bond: we are addicted to the thrill of the hunt. Scoring great deals at the flea market is a rush that, in my experience, by far goes unmatched. Here are some of my very best finds:

"At a flea market I always head for the junk jewelry table first." -Ethel Merman

We'd love to hear about some of YOUR fave flea market finds!

Back to the Flea!

The first Sunday in October, and I am thrilled to say that I spent my morning happily perusing the local flea market. The fall flea has an amazingly fresh appeal: the leaves are turning, the air is crisp, and folks are cleaning out their stashes in preparations for the holiday season. Unlike the summer flea market, which is packed full of vendors selling their finest, the fall vendors are the true die-hards. These folks haul out their vintage goodies, dirty, rusty, and otherwise unloved, and set them out on folding tables for hunters like me to sort through and discover.

Look at this haul!

Vintage Madalin tins and assorted bakeware

For me, there are few things that thrill me as much as finding a gorgeous old suitcase, a perfectly enameled pink bin, or a vintage jewelry box jam-packed with old earrings and brooches.

$2 was enough to score this pristine vintage round suitcase with impeccable kelly green taffeta lining

The perfect shade of pink enamel makes this vintage meat drawer too much for me to resist, and at $3 how could anyone pass it by?!

Boxes full of jewelry fuel my creative fire, and the boxes themselves will be great displays after just a little bit of love and elbow grease

As an urban hunter (a term I've coined...like it?), I am not only looking for things that are, but for what they could be. There are lots of fancy new words to describe it: "upcycling", "repurposing", "refurbishing", but to me, it's simply giving uncovering the possibilities that already lie within. That old jewelry box? A little spray paint and some pink velvet and I've got an amazingly adorable display. Rusty trays? Add some scrapbooking paper and Mod Podge and I've got myself an adorable tray for my dresser. The possibilities are truly endless.

A vintage silver hand mirror will give bel monili customers a perfect look at that necklace they're trying on, and with a price tag of $0 (it was "thrown in" with the green lined suitcase), the taste is that much sweeter

I have so many ideas for these little trays...

$1 for this gorgeous book, complete with adorably perfect vintage holiday graphics

So friends, here's to the weekend flea. Shop on!

Flea Marketing!

Here we are, another week gone by, another Sunday to cherish. Again, I find myself preparing for a day of creating, beginning with my weekly trip to the local flea market.

Most Sundays I happily peruse the aisles of the flea market, peeking through piles of junk and pulling out what I would call treasure.

It's something I have come to crave: The Thrill of The Hunt. Many of us feel it; it's a primal lure that calls to us like a siren, begging that we come with our dollar bills and sift through the seas of castoffs and rescuing the beautiful and the brave.

I have a special love for these kinds of things; the old, the unwanted, the items destined for landfill. It is these things I seek out so that I can bring them home, clean them, re-work them, and turn them into new works of art that will once again be loved. These bits of broken history are, by my hand, given a new lease on life.

Those earrings, the ones that hardly anyone wears, are rescued.

Broken necklaces and brooches, once cast aside, are again brought into the limelight.

So friends, there it is. Another week gone by, another haul of treasures, another group of misfits to be cared for and loved again!

I'd love to hear your stories and see your treasured finds!