Sunday was a spectacular day of sun and beauty and grandma offering to babysit so I could thrift in peace at the World’s Greatest Flea Market. Jacinda and I have dueling flea market scores and regrets from our visits to Canton (for her) and the Rose Bowl (for me).
My flea market strategy is to take a picture of whatever I like, then sit down with a diet coke and review the pics when I’m done browsing. If I still like it and it’s still there, I figure it was meant to be and I’ll get it.
Well I was TIRED AS HECK after 5 hours stomping about the furniture and doo-dad section of the flea market, so I ended up letting a lot of stuff go and only taking home a few treats. Good for the wallet, but now I have regrets. I did get business cards though, most of them are local, and they’ll be back next month. Take a look at what I left behind and tell me what to try to hunt down next time. PLEASE!
Check out many weird and wonderful flea market finds after the jump…
Kinda wished I had bought this “P”. I want to put a P and a B on my office wall, but they didn’t have a B. In fact, of all the booths with letters, no one had any B’s – is this a sign that B is an unpopular letter, or a really popular letter? Anyway, I have since decided that an unmatched P and B would be great, and wish I had picked this one up. I’m probably over-thinking this, right?
I have been wanting a 60’s set of glasses like this, with the carrying stand, for about four years, but I never find exactly the right one (i want one with an ice bowl in the middle and short, round glasses). I decided that this time I would just pick one and bring it home, because I usually see 40 or 50 of them at the show, but I only found this one and it just wasn’t quite right. Anyone know where I can find some of these sets?
Bashful Owl necklace, sorry we didn’t pair up.
I want a vintage fan for my office, but I saw so many the choices overwhelmed me, as did the prices. It’s an old fan! It’s not worth $200!
I totally want to make grain sack pillowcases, but I do not care whether my grain sacks are “vintage” nor whether they are “european” and the fact that the sack is priced at about thirty times what the grain costs concerns me.
AAAA!!! Piles of vintage bottles in all colors. I wanted these lavender ones so much, but I kept trying to imagine what I would do with them, and you sort of need a lot of them to get the effect, and they are sort of just asking to be shattered by a toddler, so I didn’t get any. Regret. Just one with a flower from the garden in it, by the bathroom sink or some such would bring such a smile to your morning, no?
Adored these vintage embroidered tea towels. Started to imagine how I would never use them for fear of ruining them, much like I am with these amazing family hand me downs, and then somehow convinced myself out of purchasing them. Now i think they could have made an awesome quilt or tablecloth!
Child size rocking chairs! $40! i kept trying to find the perfect one to repaint and ended up not getting any. But there will be more right?
Thought about getting s an old school desk for the Craft Room Redesign Project, but then I remembered that I hated these desks in school because you couldn’t take anything out of them without everything on top sliding onto the floor.
So many awesome hanging lamps. But that requires an electrician or some such. But a girl can fantasize.
First I saw a tiny black doll carriage for $60. Then a green one for $30. Then this one for $40. Then I wanted them all for Scarlet. Then I picked the one I would get. Then it was gone, so I decided it was a sign to get none. She has so many push toys already! But what little girl wouldn’t ADORE something like this? Jeez, totally kicking myself on this one.
I desperately want an outdoor bed. How nice would this be in the garden? But then there’s the whole mattress issue.
Then I started imaging an ACTUAL bed outside. Wouldn’t that be nice? But again with the pesky mattress problem.
Look, a cage for children!
Wait, someone already thought of that:
I kinda wish I had bought this tiger head because it has a hole in the back to hang on a wall. prudent dad would have liked it.
One day I will save enough to buy Carleton a beautiful, working phonograph.
A pile of findings, bakelite and other goodness. I bought a giant $5 bag of buttons.
Doilies! I picked up a few red & white ones for $1 each. I have probably 50 doilies though, not really something you need that much of. But I just can’t help imagining all the hard work that went into them, a woman sitting on a cozy chair by a fire working away while her family plays around her and everyone drinks cider and is jolly and warm. At least, that’s what it looks like in my head and every time I take one of my doilies out I see that image and I like that. And that kind of happiness only costs a dollar!
Vintage table linens. I found one I LOVED but it was $50. I couldn’t do it. I still dream about it though. It was a map of california in blue and red – gorg.
I did buy this viking glass dish to put on my desk. The seller told me it was worth $250 but I didn’t really believe her. I paid $20. I just had to have it. Any viking enthusiasts out there have info about it for me?
Always look at the turquoise watches, but yet to buy one.
I wish I had bought this stool, so perfect for a little desk for s in the craft room.
This is my single biggest regret. I went back to find them at the end of the day but I got lost and couldn’t find the booth and needed to use the bathroom. I hope they are there next month. They were $20 each. I thought they were $20 for the pair so I was sad and walked away, but in retrospect that seems like a reasonable price for something so cool. All the joy of a beautiful bird and birdcage, but no one has to have their wings clipped!
So, whaddya think? Does any of this stuff need purchasing next month??
