Trash to Treasure and REAL Treasures too at {flea.o.logy}

Getting ready for flea.o.logy is a lot of work!  And I love every minute of it.  I am always trying to find fun things to make, or "reinvent" as suggested  by my blog title.  These funky cake stands, that I sell only at flea.o.logy sales start with the collecting of utilitarian strainer parts.  I love them and they come in many shapes and sizes.

For the bases I collect wire shaped candle holders.  I use E6000 glue, which dries overnight and holds well, unless you overheat it.  Since these cake stands or tidbit trays should be washed by hand any way,  it is unlikely that they will be put in a dishwasher so they are safe from the high heat issue.

 I then choose fun and bright combinations of enamel spray paint to make them pop!!  So with my craft project behind me I am ready to move on and do the other things I need to do to get ready for flea.o.logy, a flea market that has been held at my historic home in Payson, Utah since 2005.  (Though prior to this year it was just a nameless flea market, so thanks to Jenn for her suggestion that I come up with a name for it!!)

 We decided as flea.o.logists that we should reward our blog followers.  http://fleaology.blogspot.com/
Since people always seem to want a tour of the house, when they come to the flea market, I thought it would be a good incentive.  Of course the next best thing to shopping for antiques is chocolate, and what's better than Jenn's amazing chocolate chip cookies?

 So now we begin in earnest.  The booths are marked out on the grass, and dealers start to arrive.  This is James' and Judy's truck ... all full of goodies.   I love James' packing skills!! Don't you?

 And here is our flea.o.logy staff with our work aprons all ready to welcome our wonderful shoppers. (Cathie, Jenn, Paula, Patti and Wendy).

 The vendors have their areas in order and ready to welcome customers.  This sweet cupboard and crafts belongs to a vendor who is new to this show, Welcome Janna!!

 This old enamel bowl full of funky bottles was in Rosy's display!!  Rosy has been with us since nearly the beginning!!

This charming shadow box, and others, were created by Wendy!

 

 The charming wreath and the mannequin with wonderful necklaces are in Jenn's booth.  She is an amazing crafter and always has lots of fun surprises!!

This cubby full of treasures came to the flea market along with our dealer Michelle.  She always has fun display ideas.

 Michelle's daughters brought cute hair bows and baby onsies.  We don't usually do 'modern' crafts at our show, but these were too cute to pass up.

 

 We had several dealers who had painted furniture.  Since they all have different styles, it made for fun shopping for our customers.  These two pictures represent items from Judy on the left, and Janie of 'We Do Re Do's", on the right.  They are a well known Provo based refinishing group, whom we happily welcomed to our sale for the first time!!

 So with all the goods in place its time to welcome our biggest asset, the customers.  These people are all wonderful, and I took a few pics of individuals and groups so you can see what great customers we have at our flea market!!

This little cutie found the children's books right away!!

Here we see the main flea.o.logists with Clark, the great young man who did an article about flea.o.logy in the UVU newspaper.  You can take a peak at the article by following the link in the Blog Post about him on http://fleaology.blogspot.com/

 
These shoppers needed a bit of a break. There is, after all, so MUCH to see!!

This cute mom said she loves dressing her little girl in vintage style clothing.  I love the little blue dress with the Peter Pan collar she chose.

 
Here are some more of our shoppers.  The gal on the right found lots of fun necklaces, as they were half the usual price, and were all artist created.  She was very happy to find them and I love the container she found to keep them separated!!  What clever shoppers we have.

Two of these young ladies are on the UVU newspaper staff and came after reading Clark's article.  They said they all come from states that have great flea markets, and were all saddened by the fact that Utah doesn't.  They said they were thrilled to find us, and look at all the loot they have already collected?

Oh, and did I mention Deedle-deedle-dumpling?  I am not sure his name is John, but he is wearing his socks and is missing one shoe.  But that is not stopping him from enjoying the complimentary home made root beer that we invited our customers to refresh themselves with.

All in all it was a great flea market.  The weather was perfect, our 7 new dealers had great stuff that fit right in with the 15 dealers we had at our last market.  We are all looking forward to doing it again on the Friday AND Saturday of Labor Day weekend ... Guess I better get to work...  Thanks for looking!!



The Hit Should Be a Hit with Antique Dealers and with YOU ALL!!

My of my, what fun!!  Just got back from seeing The Hit at the Hale Center Theater in Orem.  What a blast.  This is only the second time that this play has been done.  The first time was in San Diego.  The play is set in an antique store, and two people, Elizabeth Dabczynski-Bean and Levi Larsen play several different customers each.  The customers are all right on, and I laughed and laughed.

The play's author Mike Buckley has, in his position as a show designer, had many opportunities to spend time in antique stores, and his expertise is evident.  The show is set today, with lots of pop culture references, which is very fun.  This particular production was extra fun for me, because I loved the two main women character's wardrobes, so kuddos to the wardrobe ladies at Hale as well!!

Here I am with Elizabeth and Levi in their 'old man and old woman' guise.  Their many characters alone are reason enough to see the show.  It runs until the end of the month, I especially recommend it to antique dealers!!

Here is a related article in the Provo Herald. http://www.heraldextra.com/entertainment/arts-and-theatre/theatre/article_9e0a5268-aba7-5885-8a63-0a9bccff1d75.html

Rubbing Shoulders with the Talent at Bella's Vintage Market

 One of the best things about doing an antique or craft show is that you meet a lot of interesting and talented people.  I walked around the show and these four vendors, and one special customer, really caught my eye.  I'd like to share those experiences with you!

 This dealer was directly across from me at the show, and I couldn't seem to quit looking at these great headbands with lavish flower bows.

She also makes these wonderfully fru-fru purses.  They mix elegant, fancy, whimsical and rustic elements, such as the burlap handle on the last purse I have shown here.

The dealer's name is Claudia, and though she doesn't have a blog site, you can email her to check out when and where you can take a closer look at her fun items. sahori26@gmail.com 

 

This dealer hails from Idaho.  She had great decoupaged items, such as the lamp shade and cupboard above.  Her jewelry was also fun, and I have to give her kudos for her great 'bride' display!!  What an eye catcher. Cyndi has a site on etsy: machettebette.etsy.com, or you can contact her at cottage.antiques@yahoo.com

Red Hen Home by Korrie Bastian was one of the hottest booths in the show.  She sold the fun signs you see above, but she also had wonderful tables and stools decorated with 'French' looking signage.  Very cool, but by the time I stopped by her booth to take pics they were gone.  Whoa!  You can take a peek at her blog at http://redhenhome.blogspot.com/ 

 I found these reinvented clothing items to be just charming, and oh so affordable.  Each one is an original, including antique lace bits and vintage fabric additions.  The blue one has a crocheted table runner attached to the front, how cute is that?  The artist is Rhonda, and her business is called Viva Marie!  You can contact her at: vintage.viva.marie@gmail.com

 And the last of the vendors who caught my attention was 'Just Be' with her purses and skirts.  Such fun and whimsical stuff. 

 She is a well established vendor, and you have likely seen her work before.  I bought one of her purses once, probably at the Beehive Bazaar, and have loved it, but she was not around that day so it was fun to get to meet her too!

She was gracious enough to pose for this shot, holding one of the skirts I thought was adorable.

You can contact her at her website: www.justbeonline.com or at her blog http://justbefun.blogspot.com/

Now for my last customer of the day.  I am not altogether sure what he was looking for in particular.  I had put away a few things by the time he approached my booth, but as he was just browsing I saw no need to be inquisitive.

He did, however eventually find something he was very interested in, but not having hands to carry it away, he just walked away disappointed.  Poor guy, if he had just asked I would have told him we would have been happy to deliver it to his hen house if he liked.



Well as you can see Bella's Vintage Market was all kinds of fun on all kinds of levels.  Be sure to look for it next year, it should be bigger and better than ever!!

http://bellasvintagemarket.blogspot.com/