American Field

Last Saturday we took a little trip out the American Field pop-up market on the Boston waterfront. American Field is a once a year show featuring all American made clothing, accessories, goods, and furniture. The show was chock full of hipsters, so thank goodness I happened to be wearing my plaid flannel shirt that day. I would have felt unbearably uncool otherwise.

The selection of goods was fantastic for a small sized show, with a concentration on great items for men. Trends included beautiful leather goods, handmade shoes, waxed canvas bags of all types, candles and tonics in manly scents, and camp-inspired clothing. Crafty cutesy markets don't do it for me, so I was psyched to see a more modern selection of goods. Below are a few shots from the show, enjoy!

Below, said stylish folk

Colorful moccasins from Itasca Leathergoods. I may still snatch up a pair of these, They were beautiful and the leather was so soft.

Handmade shoe demo booth from The Brothers Crisp

Artisan painted canoe paddles from Sandborn Canoe Co.

The market was held outside an industrial building on the waterfront. Someone was giving men's haircuts and shaves in the back of Ball and Buck's old F250 truck.

Hand tooled leather bracelet workshop

Last Brimfield of the Season

Last Friday I woke up at 5 am to catch a flight back to Boston from LAX. I needed to be home in time to get a good night's rest. After all, Saturday morning was my last trip to Brimfield for the season! Below are a few items that caught my eye at the show. I wish I'd taken more photos, but generally I'm too distracted gushing over everything, stuffing kettle corn in my face, making sure Riley doesn't pee on any antiques, and carrying too many bags of purchases to spend a lot of time taking photos.

[images below: a huge, Tudor style dollhouse, one of the vendor's storage trailers, keys, mid century chair, industrial ticket booth, mannequin heads, a Craftsman style dollhouse, odds and ends sorted into divided drawers, a typical booth, buy!, Riley passed out in the back of the car on the way home from the show]

Little Dog in Yankee Mag

Last summer Yankee Magazine invited me to participate in an article about upcycling. You know, finding old things and giving them new life. Right up my alley, you say? That's what I thought, too, so I heartily agreed and a few months later met a Yankee writer and photographer at Todd Farm to hunt for a project. The idea was to get before and after shots of a DIY upcycle project to feature in the magazine along with a bit of detail about my process. The magazine came out this month, and while I do love the writeup, it doesn't include any "in process" pictures, so I thought it fitting to show some of those here on the blog.

I selected an old drawer box that looks similar to an apothecary chest, but was probably intended more as a tool storage box when built. Here it is in a fuzzy Instagram shot along with some other projects that sat around in my Vermont workshop for a while but eventually were finished...

The box is plywood and somewhat beat up - which I love - but wasn't appropriate for refinishing so I chose to treat the outside with a white pickling stain and leave the drawer faces unfinished for contrast. Pickling stain gives wood a whitewashed look while still letting the grain show through.

Next I swapped out the simple wood drawer pulls for brass card catalog pulls found for $1 each at a salvage shop. They were still on their original wood drawer fronts and had plenty of dirt and tarnish to go around. I used a screwdriver to remove them from the old drawer faces, then polished the brass with a baking soda/vinegar mixture and a fine grade sanding block.

Lastly, I wanted to add old industrial caster wheels to the bottom so the piece would be easy to roll around, but found that 4 piece sets of vintage caster wheels are not the easiest to find. Yes, it's possible to run into them at a flea market for a steal, but it just never happened for me. I turned to Ebay and Etsy, only to discover that the type of set I wanted would likely cost me $75. Too much for this project. I ended up buying metal caster wheels at Home Depot for $5 each and spray painting them a matte black color. Hindsight I wish I'd gone with more of a rusty brown, but in the end they turned out pretty well so I am happy with it.

Instead of selling the box as I usually would have done, I decided to keep it to store my lamp rewiring supplies that had long outgrown the small tool box I'd been stuffing them in for the past few years. Many of the drawers have divided sections, so it's perfect for sorting out small hardware like finials, washers, and the like.

 

It was a blast thrifting with the folks from Yankee, fixing up the chest, and eventually seeing the project in a magazine. Thanks Yankee for getting in touch. It's been a big thrill for a little shop like mine to be featured so!

Kilim Shop Update + 15% Off

Lots of pretty new kilim rugs in the shop this week! More to come in the next few days. Use coupon code 15PERCENT for a 15% discount on purchases in the shop through Monday, July 28.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

July Shop Update

A little peek at some of the items listed in the vintage shop this week. Lots more to come soon! I have so many beautiful kilim rugs waiting to be photographed and listed.

Items above: industrial clamp lamp  /  kilim rug  /  periwinkle pottery vase  /  copper colander  /  wooden model trestle bridge  /  tiny Scotty dog figurine  /  West German art pottery  /  original, signed portrait paintings  /  metal card catalog drawers

Brimfield Antique Show, July 2014

Hello! Has it really been over a month since my last post? The summer is flying! I have been enjoying this summer more than any other I can remember. Having a relatively light work schedule and the freedom to spend my time exactly how and where I choose is a beautiful thing, folks. At the risk of sounding cheesy, this summer I am rediscovering/falling in love with myself again. It is so so good, this whole loving life thing.

But enough with the sap, you're here to see pictures from the flea market!

images above: pile of antique typewriters in disrepair   /   type tray with diagonal drawers   /   giant industrial hanging lights (the photos don't capture the color well, but they were actually a powder blue color)   /   model sailboats   /   industrial storage in greens and blues   /   smalls   /   orange and yellow locker   /   vintage fans   /   Light fixture made of old metal funnels

Keepers

As you all know, I buy and sell a lot of vintage goodies. 99% of the time I have no problem letting them go when the time comes, but once in a blue an item comes along that for whatever reason I just can't bring myself to sell. And so I hoard it and display it proudly in my little home. Here are a few of my favorite "keepers."

Item: Model Train Trestle Bridge
Picked: $20, Todd Farm
Story: I have a thing for miniatures and architectural models of all kinds, but trestle bridges put me over the top. I see a lot of vintage train sets, but model trestle bridges actually don't come around that often at the flea market and when they do I hoard them immediately. This chippy green metal bridge is the apple of my eye.

Item: Original Mid Century Art Print
Picked: $10, Todd Farm
Story: I dig the simplicity of this tiny little mid century art print. I have it displayed proudly over my sink.

Item: Busts and Dresser Boxes
Picked: $5 - $60, Todd Farm, Brimfield Antique Show, miscellaneous yard sales
Story: I found the largest bust of a young girl at Brimfield years ago, fell in love with her, and since then have always kept my eye out for vintage busts. I also have a thing for wood boxes with drawers. I bought the two shown here to sell, but as soon as I set them on my dresser I knew they were there to stay. They hold my jewelry and collection of small trinkets and keepsakes. The lamp and shade were free from the dump in Vermont. Score! The art pieces are for sale in my shop.

Item: Mid Century Table & Chairs
Chair Pick: $80 for the set of 4, Brimfield Antique Show
Table Pick: $85, Cambridge Antique Mall
Story: Years ago a vendor at Brimfield had tons of these Thonet chairs with orange vinyl upholstery for $20 each and I snatched up a set. I found the round table at a local antique mall after years of looking for the perfect one. This one is Eames for Herman Miller from the '90s.

 

Item: Mid Century Ceramic & Wood Lamp
Picked: $25, Ebay
Story: I'd been looking for the perfect pottery lamp for my night stand for a while. All of the lamps I liked were $100 and up, so I set up keyword alerts on Ebay for "danish modern lamp" and "pottery lamp" then waited it out. A few weeks later this lamp was listed and I snatched it up for $25.

I could keep going, but I'll leave it at this for now. What are your favorite thrifting finds?