Flea Market!

Over the past few weeks I have been to a couple of flea markets and came home with a lot of cool stuff. We attended a market in Albany that was supposed to be Linn County’s largest flea market, and I found some great buys. We got to the market early so needed to stand in line in the cold. I was proud of myself in that I had bought a long, warm Banana Republic sweater at the consignment store for $8 and it works great to go to events like this. It is warm enough to stand in line outside, but cool enough to not get overheated inside!

At every flea market, estate sale, or antique mall we go to we always find some item that is the “theme” of the day. At the Albany flea market, we saw quite a few of these old safety razors. They were everywhere!

Old safety razor. This was from a booth with very reasonable prices.

Here are photos of the things I bought at the Albany flea market. I got this lamp , which Marnie very nicely carried out to the car for me. I also got a vintage Fisher Price Little People village and a bag of cars and people to go with it, a large number of Hardy Boys books for just $8.00, a big bag of letter magnets for when the grandbaby is old enough to put words together (there are enough magnets to have some at Baby’s house and some at Nana and Grandpa’s house!), some Tupperware from a booth that had so much vintage Tupperware I didn’t know what to do with myself, a beautiful hand-tied necklace made of rose quartz beads, and other things!

I can’t resist these lamps if they are a good price. It might soon become a problem…

The village was a really good deal! It has the two sides pictured. An arch with a traffic light attaches the two sides together, but it didn’t come with the arch. I will be looking for one of those for sure!

These were a pretty good deal.

$8 for all!

I loved these when I was a girl.

These scoops and spatulas are very hard to find, so I bought 2 of each. The cake taker top was just what I needed as well, and only $1!

Hand-tied rose quartz necklace – worth much more than $3!

After we were done at the Albany flea market, we decided to go downtown for lunch. We chose to eat at the Brick and Mortar restaurant, since we had eaten there before and I wanted breakfast for lunch. The restaurant was full and they have the technology to text you when your table is ready, so we went next door to Sniffany’s Pet Boutique to check it out. It’s a lot bigger inside than you can tell from the outside, and oh, what a selection of pet things they have! More for doggos than kitties, but we enjoyed looking at all the fun things and petting the shop cat.

These are doggie treats!

The shop cat. We didn’t get his name.

But then we saw these:

😦😦😦😦😦😦

And these:

😧😧😧😧😧😧

And THESE:

😨😨😨😨😨😨

We tried to have some fun with them, but we really got quite a case of the heebie-jeebies, and while I’m sure these chewies are great for dogs we both decided that we wouldn’t have them in the house! Ewwwwww…

What is that? Why, it’s a…hog snout. 😳😳

The restaurant texted shortly and we went in and sat down to get ready for our brunch. Thankfully looking at the doggo “treats” hadn’t ruined our appetite, and we both ordered our breakfast foods. I had my hashbrowns “mortar style”, with cheese and all sorts of other things, and they were delicious.

Marnie concentrates on the menu.

Here is my brunch.

After our meal we walked around downtown Albany for a little while. We searched for and finally found a clothing consignment store we were interested in and looked around in there. Then we walked back to the car (at least we got some steps in!) and came on home. All in all a profitable day! I’m so thankful that my bestie likes to come with me to these events!

Flea Market

On Sunday we went to the Polk Flea Market at the Polk County Fairgrounds. The flea market is held on the first Sunday of the month, and we hadn’t ever been to this one until now.

The market opened at 9:00 a.m. for general admission ($1.00) and we got there around 9:12. You can pay $5.00 admission to go to the early bird times on the Saturday and early Sunday morning. Obviously many people had done that, because the parking lot was quite full by the time we got there! We went inside and started at the far end.

Whenever we go to estate sales or flea markets there is always a theme — some item we see over and over. This day’s theme was dark red dishes and corn-shaped cast iron cornbread pans. I didn’t get a photo of any of the cornbread pans at the market, so I’ll put on one from Etsy so you’ll know what I mean. We saw so many of those I even exclaimed to one of the sellers about it.

Photo from Etsy. Click to go to the listing.

I saw this deer head on the wall and had to look at it more closely, it has a weird antler. The seller there had a taxidermy business advertised on his shirt said said his son had mounted the head. There was another head that the man informed me was the three-point buck he had shot on his son’s third birthday. He said his son had passed away and he had no room to keep all his things. That interaction was rather sad all around. I’m not a fan of hunting but I understand it’s important to some people.

In one of the side rooms of the main building I found this vintage “Sift-Chine” sifter. The seller said it had been in their kitchen for years. I asked was he downsizing then, and he said yes, most of the people in the place were! I already have one of these sifters with the green stripes, but the price was so good I couldn’t pass it up.

We made our way to the other building and found all sorts of goodies! At the antique mall last week I had seen a vintage melon baller with a green handle, and from what I could see it was priced at $10 or $12. In that booth there were a number of green-handled kitchen gadgets, but they were attached to a board on the highest shelf. It would have been hard to get it down anyway. At the flea market we headed into Building “C” and I found this for just $1.00!

The lady that sold me the melon baller also had this in her booth — haha! It’s an egg baby! Well, it’s really just an extremely weird pincushion. I wouldn’t want to put pins in something with a head! She also sold me an old photo dated Easter 1946, which I bought just because 1946 was the year our house was built.

Written on the back is “Baby Frankie B., Noila (?) Jean, Bobby, and Helen – Easter 1946”
Why do people not print the names clearly and put last names on the backs of photos? Let that be a lesson to you!

Here are all the other nifty things I got at the market. The ambulance is a Fisher Price Adventure People toy from the 1970s, we played with the same one at the neighbors’ when we were kids, My sis had the Adventure People medical people but not the ambulance, and I had a hiker set with backpacks and a rock climbing rope. Fun! The green bed and yellow chair are Weebles accessories from the 1970s, the stretchers, bed with white figure, and wheelchair with yellow figure are Playmobil toys also from the 1970s, as are the cow and dog. The little white vehicle is a gurney from a Tonka Toddlers set (and the nurse cap in the back may be as well). I don’t know where the brown rubber broom came from. The two nurses are also Adventure People. The things that attracted me first to the box of goodies were the 1970s Fisher Price Little People sinks, chair, suitcases, and scale! I have been looking for the suitcases for a good price, and the furniture is always welcome into my collection. 😀

But the most important thing (besides the FP Little People things) was that the lady who sold me the melon baller and the photo told us about Google Lens, which is an app where you can take a photo of a thing and Google will tell you what it is. It’s unbelievable how much research that will save when I’m looking to list things on Etsy! It brought up the Tonka Toddlers item right away. I might never have figured that one out if it hadn’t been for Google Lens. What a blessing!

Here are some other things I saw that I hadn’t seen before:

Flamingo Pink Pyrex!!

Square Pyrex bowls! I have a round yellow one but had never seen square ones.

After the flea market we decided to stop in West Salem to get a pizza at Walery’s Pizza. We are very partial to their pizza! While we were waiting for the pizza, I noticed this over by the game room. I hadn’t seen one of these since I was a kid!

I decided I needed to get an egg. It was 50 cents. You put your money in and the chicken clucks and “lays” an egg.

Inside my egg was a strange temporary tattoo. I used to love those when I was a kid, but I don’t know if I would have liked this one, ha!

We had a fun time on Sunday and it was nice to spend some time with The Hubs, who has been working quite a lot lately. I’m looking forward to the next market when I think I will try to get in on the early bird time on the Saturday!

Great Junk Hunt

Today I attended The Great Junk Hunt, a vintage show and flea market held at the Oregon State Fairgrounds. It is, according to their website:

• Voted top traveling vintage market in the USA by Flea Market Style magazine!
• Recently named one of the TOP 5 2019 Flea Markets in the U. S. and voted one of the Top 15 Flea Markets 2016!
• Listed as a must attend Flea Market in America by Flea Market Decor magazine!

I’ve been to the market once but it has been a few years. Marnie had other plans today so I went (gasp!) by myself! I wore my fall black cat/pumpkin shirt to be festive.

Last time I wore this shirt I received many compliments! Today not so much.

I paid $12 for a ticket for the early bird entry (an hour earlier than general admission) and got there at 8:20 to be in line for the 9:00 opening. They had even earlier-bird entries available yesterday, but those were even more expensive and in the afternoon, and I prefer to go places in the morning.

I waited in line and listened to the ladies around me talk about their teenagers and lawyers and other things. It started to rain a little and people ran to their cars to get coats and umbrellas, after which it promptly quit raining. It was definitely very chilly and my eyes were watering from the cold! I’m glad I got there early because there was quite a line behind me as 9:00 rolled around. The show encompassed two fairgrounds buildings and since I was in the right-hand line I went in the building on the right first.

Here are some things I saw that I found interesting (obviously there were many more interesting things, these are just a few of the things I saw):

A large fungus – we see them on trees quite often on our hikes. I didn’t see what the price was.

$35 is a bit steep.

Adorable Racoon Family metal sculpture. I’m going to see if The Hubs can make something like this.

Super neat “ferris wheel” plant holder. It was $110 or I would have snapped it up. I saw that later someone had bought it.

This is from the Rusty Birds metal artists. They make many cute birds and lots of other garden art, including the little kitty peeking over our fence you can see in some of our yard photos.

This lady added weird things to paintings. I guess that is Boba Fett(?) added to Gainsborough’s Blue Boy. I prefer the original Blue Boy myself.

I have some lamps like these. They came with plastic ruffled shades with a fabric overlay. I didn’t know they were worth this much, ha!

Plastic dinosaurs with candle holders. What a fun idea! There were also some dinosaurs made into bookends. This was in the booth where I got my treasure 🙂

Lots of children’s books at this market, but no Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys. I did see a couple Bobbsey Twins.

Someone’s old floppy disks made into notepad covers.

One booth had a lot of this pottery. I can’t remember the name of the maker but it is vintage and very expensive. This vase had no price tag but the one below it was $245. It has a wonderful, soft feel and beautiful pastel colors.

I got a couple of frames like this at the Mama Roost yard sale for $5 each. This one was $32.

I should have grabbed a couple more of these old keys, but I couldn’t get past the $4 price tag. Although, that is the going price for these.

Old paintbrush with case.

Back of paintbrush jacket. Isn’t that interesting? The man who had this booth was telling me he was running on only 4 hours of sleep in the last few days, after we literally bumped into each other. It was their first time selling at a show. I told him I had an Etsy store and he asked for my info, so I gave him a business card I cleverly had with me. 😀

Why did it never occur to me to make magnets out of my Scrabble tiles?

I could make a garland like this with all the scrap fabric I got a few weeks ago at the Mama Roost yard sale.

I thought it was a fine idea to make a little storage space under a chair cushion.

I have three little chairs like this.

I have this exact same light fixture globe for sale in my Etsy shop but mine has the fixture and chains that go with it. I am selling mine for quite a bit more though. Perhaps I should lower my price.

This was already sold or I might have grabbed it up too. Isn’t it fun? It’s made out of an old door like the one I have in the storage room.

And FINALLY, here are the treasures I bought, including the most bestest one, a rolling pin with green handles! That’s what I was searching for and I found it for the right price. Hooray! The little Christmas tree was only $5 and it has lights! The books are just for color to decorate with, since we are doing a black/white/blue/silver theme for Christmas this year. I think I will use the drawer and basket to put on my kitchen decor shelf to make “levels” so I can display things better.

Treasures!

These tiny ornaments came with the tree, the booth man came running up to me after I took the tree and said that the ornaments and garland went with it. I think they were anxious to get rid of them, ha! The garland is in bad shape with the paint coming off, so it had to go “the way of all things”. There is an interesting assortment of tiny ornaments, including 4 Bratz doll ornaments with a hanger that says “Bratz” on it. I’m sending those with The Girl to take to The Youngest Girl, who enjoyed playing with her Bratz dolls when she was little.

Odd assortment of ornaments.

Tiny Bratz ornaments. I might use the little snowflakes since they are blue and white.

After the show I went over to see The Boy and take him a couple of things. I visited with my grandcat, Basteta, and The Boy’s roommate’s cat, Piglet. Basteta is a fluffy gray kitty, and Piglet is a big cat with a curly tail.

I’ll say that if you want to go to The Great Junk Hunt, it is worth the extra few dollars to get in early. By 10:15 there were so many people that I could barely get through the booths. Much nicer to be there when it wasn’t so crowded!

Sunday Funday

Yesterday Marnie and I planned to go to the parking lot sale at Aunt Bee’s, a vintage and antique store here in town. I’ve always gotten good deals at their parking lot sales, so we were looking forward to it. When we arrived at Aunt Bee’s, there was no parking lot sale! 😦 I thought I might have gotten the date wrong, but when I checked the Aunt Bee’s Facebook page I saw a post that said they had postponed the sale for two weeks due to the air quality issues from a fire in south Salem.

After making plans to attend the sale in a couple of weeks, Marnie suggested that we check out some garage or estate sales that might still be open on Sunday, since Aunt Bee’s didn’t open until noon. We drove over to West Salem to see what we could find. After following some signs that led us on a wild goose chase, we decided to go on to the sale from an ad I found on Craigslist. There was a house and a manufactured home out in the country, and we started at the “free” item area, where I found a very nice 3-hole punch! The man running the sale was very talkative and because I didn’t want to be rude someone beat me to the vintage rolling pin with a green handle. Disappointment! But, I did find a few treasures I’m hoping to sell. There is a 1987 Log Cabin syrup 100th Anniversary tin, a 1990s BeDazzler with pattern book, a vintage funny bunny sponge or trinket holder, a tiny cast iron iron (maybe a toy?) that the man had dug up in the yard there, an interesting rug needle, and the “Homes and Flowers” book from 1942 — a floral decor book put out by the Coca Cola company. I also got a silverplate fruit bowl with grapes and grapevines on it.

Log Cabin syrup tin, BeDazzler from the 1990s, tiny iron that was found in the ground, funny ceramic bunny, and rug needle.

Homes and Flowers book.

Inside Homes and Flowers book. Note how the Coke bottles blend perfectly with the decor!

Silverplate fruit bowl — about 11″ across. Needs a little polish.

And I got this Sweet Squirrel — he fits perfectly by my funny plant

Marnie got this adorable concrete bunny, complete with mossy accents. She also got a small ceramic frog, a small plant pot, and a shiny ball to put in her succulent garden.

The original house on the property was built in 1920, it was a Sears Roebuck kit house and it still has the original aluminum siding.

Old barn on the property.

After we finished at the estate sale we attempted to go to a couple of others we saw signs and ads for, but neither of them were open. We decided to go back to the French Press, a restaurant by Aunt Bee’s, to get lunch and then go to Aunt Bee’s when it opened. We both had turkey club sandwiches, which came on croissants. They were delicious.

Eventually it was noon and Aunt Bee’s was open. We shopped around in there for awhile and checked out all the booths. I got a Nancy Drew book and a bracelet for a total of $2.99! And we ran into my friends Autumn and Hannah, who I hadn’t seen in forever!! It was nice to talk to them and I hope we can go to lunch soon.

Interior of Aunt Bee’s

After I dropped Marnie off at her house I stopped by the weekly flea market at the Lions Club. They have a neat old cabin-like building and they had a few booths outside this time as well. I came up with a 1955 Family Circle magazine in beautiful shape, and two 1950s Perry Mason books! Those I will keep for my collections 😁

So, all in all it was a successful day, and I spent a total of $11.00 on all the things I bought. Yay!

Friday Adventure

Yesterday Marnie and I went on an adventure in the countryside around Molalla and Silverton, Oregon, and saw and bought some fun stuff. We started at the Hometown Barnhouse Vintage Market, and then went on to some estate sales and antique stores. At the vintage market I got an old Nancy Drew book and an old Hardy Boys book to add to our collection and an old strainer with a green handle to hang on my kitchen wall. I have a collection of vintage kitchen utensils with green handles, because my kitchen has a green theme. Marnie was able to find some nice plant pots for her growing succulent collection.

The countryside.

Friday’s haul

At a barn sale, I got the tray above and a beautiful mirror with beveled edges in a dark wood frame. It belonged to a dresser at one time so there is nothing on the back to hang it with, but I’m hoping the Hubs will be able to come up with a solution so I can hang it in my office. This is the barn that had the sale, the man said it was built in 1908. It still seemed very solid.

Isn’t this the neatest?

He had a wonderful dresser for just $40, but I have nowhere to keep one.

I was talking to the man at the barn about the barn we used to play in when I was a girl and told him about the owls, and he showed us his barn owl. Marnie got this awesome photo of it.

Marnie gets the best photos.

We went to what used to be an antique mall in Molalla, but is now just a very small part of the building and the porch with a couple of small rooms inside. We were disappointed that they had downsized so much because we had enjoyed shopping there after our hikes when we were out that way.

At an estate sale in Silverton I found a few modern books that I’ve been interested in, so that was nice since they were only $1 and $2 apiece. I was just talking to Lara and Marnie about how I never seem to read anymore, so I bought more books…now there are at least 7 or 8 on my “To Read” list. I suppose I had better get started!

Part of the fun of going to estate sales is seeing the houses, and this one was no different. It was in a new neighborhood on a hill and looked like a small house from the front, but when you went inside it was a good size with a view of a good chunk of Silverton out the living room window.

We did follow some signs to a “hoarder’s sale” way out in the country, but the driveway was narrow and long and when we got up to the house there was nowhere to park, so we came back down and didn’t bother with that one.

We came into Silverton and went to a thrift store and then had strawberry milkshakes from the bakery and lunch we got at the food cart pod. Marnie had spring rolls and I got my lunch from the Costa Rican cart, enyucado and fried plantains. I had never had enyucado before and it was delicious. It is a fried croquette made of cassava, and was filled with ground beef and spices. I forgot to take a photo of it before, but here is a photo of it after I eated it. I brought most of the plantain fries home and The Girl expressed great interest in them so I may not get to eat them after all, ha.

The antique stores in Silverton didn’t have much that interested us, Marnie got a decoration for her succulent garden and I got an “Oregon” sticker to replace my “Onward” bear sticker which is peeling off the van window. I saw a sign like this at one of the stores and it was $22. I checked online and found it for $12.98. I was hoping to get a more artistic one, but after thinking about my stash of sign-making materials and looking at the price of stencils, I decided this one was fine. The Hubs has a nifty plasma table that will cut signs and things, but it isn’t working so he couldn’t make a sign for me. I will hang this on the fence in the front yard and hope no one runs off with it!