vintage finds and three beginner lessons on antiquing

Good Monday morning!

I hope your last weekend of August settled golden rays upon you,

and your activities were full of summer pleasure.

Saturday found me in an empty house without two busy toddlers or a husband to care for.  My family spent the day and the evening in Long Beach, while I remained home preparing cookies for a baby shower and enjoyed peace and quiet.  Well actually it wasn't that quiet.  I looked to Pandora for tunes whilst in the kitchen and phoned various friends and family members to liven my afternoon.

As you might remember if you read my last post, and for those of you who asked what I bought,

I started Saturday with an last minute remembrance and trip to the Camas Vintage Street Faire!

Boy, it couldn't have started my day off any better!  Afraid I might scare some into thinking I was there to steal ideas, I ended up leaving my camera in the car.  So, I haven't extra pictures of the Faire in general.

I'm fairly new at this vintage/antique shopping madness.  I've been a fan of Camas Antiques for some time, but this was my first 'vintage show.'  I get it.  I throw my hands in the air! 

Antique shows and vintage finds = heaven.

The booths were amazing and I believe I walked the street up and down at least four times, scanning for the perfect finds and deciding on specific purchases.  There were a few that I couldn't pass up:

Milk crates.  I've been wanting a few of these babies for a couple years now.

{Think golden glazed pumpkins adorning the shelves.}

Mom--I'll need your decorating expertise soon.  Real soon.

This lovely shelf is chipping lead paint in light pink.

When I retrieved this pick from the back of my vehicle, I was overcome

with the reality: rust stains, lead paint and MOLD!?!

Heavens.

It looked so precious in the booth, eye-level, holding various vintage treasures.

Lesson 1: Things aren't always what they appear to be.

But still, there is a vision...

{hang in Brooklynn's room for sweet things to rest...like fake cupcakes and filled jars of sorts}

This duo comes from a Mennonite farm in Hubbard, Or.

Lesson 2: The history is half the fun!

I'm not sure what you are thinking about these, maybe--I hope she didn't pay more than $10 for those...ouch.  Well prices are for only me to know.  Not you...or Husband.

Upon picking up these benches, (with the help of the neighbor boy who works for Husband)

I was once again overcome with the reality of what these pieces of wood had to offer.  It didn't help that the boy laughed, informed me of more lead paint, and told me I needed to sand and repaint.  Would Husband kill me?  "Yes," he replied.  Then I recalled a trick of the trade~

Lesson 3: Remember your vision!

because you will most likely have to explain yourself.

Because I couldn't talk the boy into visioning with me, ( he also laughed that I even had a blog, and questioned if I was too old for that?)

I retreated in my mind to the place where I met these two:

{at a picnic table covered in a burlap tablecloth, with fine place settings about the table. 

Perfect for my love affair with outside dining, which I plan to do plenty of next year.}

Moving on.

A few dainty treasures that accompanied me home:

two sweet fabric headbands for Brooklynn

a bead and ribbon bracelet. 

a fabric pin-cushion bracelet for a special quilting fanatic...

and this large, green Mason jar whose future is to hold many fresh-cut bouquets.

So there you have it.  My first real shot at vintage/antiquing. 

After all the trial and error and the lessons learned, I still had a great time.

Don't tell Husband, but I'm looking forward to the next show in September!