ALLEGAN!

DON'T FORGET -- ALLEGAN ANTIQUE MARKET THIS SUNDAY -- Phone a friend and get ready! The vintage gods have smiled on us -- we have a BOUNTY, a veritable BEVY, of wonderfully awesome vintage goodies to share with you at the Allegan (MI) Antique Market this Sunday, June 30. Click the link in our calendar sidebar, but by all means, plan to be there! Check us out on Facebook later this week for a peek at what we are bringing. And BONUS! The weather report is freakin' awesome -- 69 degrees and sunny. Once again, perfect flea weather. You guys must have really good karma. Keep it up!

SOMETHING NEW TO LOVE: For all our Anthro fans, have you ever checked out ODD MOLLY? Just found it and love it. Bet you will too!

LAST THING: Speaking of good karma, you've heard us mention on-line marketing guru Abby Kerr. Loved her recent Facebook post: "Gentle reminder to B2B content creators: no one else's method or perspective has to be wrong in order for yours to be valid and effective. There's room for so many approaches, and there are many ways of looking at a problem." She told us this when we were working with her a couple years back, and I found it really comforting then and was happy to be reminded. HAVE A GREAT WEEK and come see us at Allegan. xo

 

Vintage Picnic

 Need a great excuse to put your fabulous vintage finds to good use? Host a party. When I told my BFF's Lynda and Tina that the theme for my son's graduation party was going to be "Vintage Picnic," they were on board to help immediately. Lynda arrived early Friday with her car packed full of vintage party props -- picnic tins to hold treats and add height, washtub and stand for drinks, large frame to make a photo booth, metal strawberry totes for the cookies, mason jars for pasta salad, pop bottles for sunflowers -- you name it! Once Tina and her daughter, Teddi, arrived, we went to work. We hunted up some additional 1940s table cloths and old tole trays from my stash to round things out.

Party on board!



Vintage metal trays hold cookies.

Popcorn bar stocked with vintage props.

Old Tonka truck holds salt and pepper shakers and vintage store display offers chips.

The vintage pieces made everything feel special -- even my son's friends' commented! And that's high praise, if you can get some teenage boys to notice. The nice thing was that we didn't have to buy a ton of new decorations that would just end up being tossed. So for your next gathering, THINK VINTAGE. Draft your collections into service. Added bonus -- it gives you a great reason to look for more! Shop On -- xo

Go with the ... ; Grayslake Report

GO WITH THE ... : When my BFF Kathleen said she had a magazine she thought I'd like, I knew I was in for a treat. And FLOW does not disappoint. Full of great articles (her favorite is about the "good old days" when English heiresses ran off to Mexico with their Surrealist boyfriends), great artwork and fun projects, FLOW is a feast for all your artsy sensibilities. The only teensy bummer is the price tag -- at $22, it can only be a sometimes indulgence. Maybe we should get a co-op together to buy and share!  GRAYSLAKE REPORT: Well, it was another nailbiter. We had a flurry of activity for early buy, then it was kind of slow on Saturday. When we tallied things up at the end of the day, the dollars weren't too far off, just not a huge number of transactions. And virtually no furniture. Sunday, however, was a pleasant change. Steadily busy during the day, with a another flurry right at the end. Whew! So we ended up actually exceeding our goal for the weekend by a pip. Still not seeing many of our retail customers and smalls definitely carried the day. Many thanks to all who came out for the show! This week, we are on break -- it's my son's graduation party -- so no show. We will be restocking at Midland and Mishawaka. Heard the later had a great turnout for their second anniversary sale, so will be excited to hear more about that. Have a great week! xo

 

 

Remember Your Coupon for this Weekend's Grayslake! Kane County Report

GRAYSLAKE JUNE 8-9: Wow! I can't believe how this year is just FLYING by. So before the weekend sneaks up on you, go ahead and print your HALF-OFF general admission coupon for this weekend's show. We will have a whole new load of furniture, smalls, handmades, graphics and more. Visit us later in the week on Facebook (see the link on your sidebar) for a peek at what we are bringing and make sure your weekend plans include us! Need more show info? Just click the link in our Calendar sidebar to visit the promoter's website. See you at Grayslake! Can't wait.

 

KANE COUNTY: We just returned from the show in St. Charles and were pleased with how the weekend turned out, given the iffy weather forecast. We didn't sell much big furniture, but went through tons of smalls. Traffic was steady both days. Many thanks to all who turned out! Take a look at our Facebook page for some photos from the show.  xo