My first vintage market: The Good

My very first experience as a vendor at a craft/vintage market was at the Sweet William Market on Saturday, September 29. I'd only visited this market as a shopper once before so I wasn't totally sure what to expect and I was more than a bit nervous. I crafted, thrifted, and generally worked like a crazy person up until Friday night in order to have everything ready to go. My biggest fear all along was that I wouldn't have enough items to fill two booths, but as I started to pack everything up in box after box, some of those fears were allayed.

My dear friend is a funeral director and was able to borrow one of the minivans that her work uses to transport caskets, so it has no back seats and rollers installed in the floor. The rollers made it so easy to load up my heavy wooden door screen and there was plenty of room for all of my other boxes of inventory on top. I drove our Pathfinder, which also had the seats laid down and was completely full of tables and other display pieces. The Mister drove our little car with the two kiddos in back and we headed out.

Even though it was 7:15 a.m. there was terrible traffic on the Interstate and we were delayed a bit. I lucked out and got a great location on a wide sidewalk, so my booth was nice and flat and we could park our cars close by to unload. I underestimated the amount of time it would take me to get the booth structure set up and then all the inventory displayed, so I was still scrambling around when the 9:00 a.m. opening time arrived.

I had intended to get a helper for the day so I wouldn't have to run the booth alone (and could sneak out to go shop!) but I waited too long to ask for help, so it was just me the whole time. I worried that I would be overwhelmed but it turned out just fine. Actually, the time really flew! I had a fairly steady stream of customers and when there was nobody in my booth, I kept busy rearranging displays and bringing out additional inventory.

I'm always curious to know what items sell best when I read blogs about markets. The banners pictured above were very popular sellers, which made me happy because I had such a fun time making them! I sold a few of the party crow boxes and several of the tiny bottlebrush trees on spools.

The paper lollies at the far left of this photo were something I made last year but never got around to listing on Etsy. They were very good sellers, as were the pennant flags that are displayed in the vintage Coke bottles on the right side of the photo.

I sold more handmade items than vintage items, which was interesting. I really didn't know what to expect from the customers at this market because I just haven't been to it before.

The closing time of 2:00 p.m. seemed to come very quickly, and then it was a mad scramble to stuff everything back in the boxes, load up, and go home. I kept thinking that it didn't look to me like my booth was any emptier at 2:00 p.m. than it was a 9:00 a.m., yet I knew I had sold plenty of items! I think it was because I had enough inventory to keep filling the empty spots so the booth always looked full.

In all, I'm very happy with how it all turned out. The weather could not have been more lovely, my booth was in a great spot, I got so many lovely compliments on my handmade items and some of them even found new homes! I felt confident in how my booth looked and how my items were priced, I was at ease with using my Square, I met some really great fellow vendors, and the customers were very friendly. I really don't think I could have asked for a better first-time vending experience, and I'd love to be a vendor at Sweet William Market again next year!

Wednesday weather worries.

I'm sorry for the long post and lack of pretty photos, but right now my heart is heavy.

Last week at this time, I was pretty crazy trying to get everything ready for my market on Saturday. I had to work hard, but I got it all done and I thought for sure that this week would be so much easier--I would just have to restock a few of the handmade items that sold and price a few more items that I didn't take with me last week. Most of the hard work would be done already so I could relax a bit.

However, I find myself in somewhat the opposite situation. I am trying to restock a few things (banners, 2 crow boxes, paper lollies) and make something new (with the 600 striped paper straws that FINALLY showed up from China today). There are new things that have me stressed and worried this week:

Porter was sick on Sunday and Monday. He seems better now but for a while on Monday night I was terrified that he might have strep throat. Porter and Maren are most likely going to have to spend all of Saturday at my friend's house, as my mom and I run the booth and The Mister goes out of town that morning. Obviously, I can't let my sick kid go to somebody's house, and I can't bring him with me to the market either. He seemed just fine yesterday so I'm praying that will hold out. I don't care if everybody comes down with the flu on Saturday evening, I just need them to hold out being healthy until 5 p.m.

The Mister still does not know his status for Saturday, whether he is going out of town for training or not. I don't want him to leave for 2.5 weeks and it would help me out greatly on Saturday if he gets to stay, but at the same time he needs to get started on this particular training so now's as good a time as any. Hopefully by later today he will know for sure one way or the other. I just need to know what to expect so I can plan accordingly.

And the biggest worry of all--the weather. I have been watching the weather forecast daily since last Monday, to check the weather for last week's market. Luckily it turned out to be a completely gorgeous autumn-in-Colorado day--blue skies, abundant warm sunshine. Perfect day for going to an outdoor market.

The forecast for this coming Sunday is dismal. Disastrous. Catastrophic for an outdoor market where I'm selling a bunch of things made of paper. As of last night, Saturday's forecast high was 47 degrees with a possible rain/snow mix in the morning. I am scheduled to load in at the market at 6:45 a.m. Last  night I was sick to my stomach and in tears at this new forecast. Quite simply, this is the worst-case scenario. If the weather is terrible, I will have to figure out some way to add walls to my tent, which will just make setting up all the more complicated. And if the weather is this bad, it probably won't matter if I have walls anyway because who in their right mind is going to go out and shop at an outdoor market in that kind of weather?

I have mentioned before, but doing this particular market has been a dream of mine since May 2011. I went to the market for the very first time, fell in love, and literally called my mom while I was driving home to tell her that I wanted to be a vendor there. Last year for various reasons, I couldn't get in. I waited patiently until August of this year when I could apply for the 2012 October market--I specifically wanted to do this one because I knew I wanted to make Halloween items.

The show is juried and I was on pins and needles for two weeks waiting to hear if I got in or not, and when I finally got the email that I made it, I might have even shed a few tears of joy. This is something I have wanted so bad for more than a year. I have worked my rear off for a month and a half (I'm talking 4+ hours of crafting per day, when I have little kids at home and training for a triathlon at the same time). You can probably understand why I feel completely devastated at the idea that my dream and goal is going to be destroyed by something I can't control: the weather.

Quite frankly, it has taken the wind out of my sails. I feel like there's no reason to even continue making things this week because I can't put it out if it's raining and snowing, and who's going to come buy it in that kind of weather? I feel like I might as well just quit now and I am so, so very disappointed. I realize that I could just list everything on Etsy but that is a ton of additional work and time and expense. They were expecting 5000 shoppers at this market. I simply cannot get exposure like that on Etsy.

Friends, I need your help. If you believe in the positive thinking and the power of prayer, would you offer one (or 10) for me? Pray that the weather in Denver will improve for Saturday. I'm not asking for it to be 85 and sunny (like it was in 2011). At this point, I'd be thrilled with 60. Or even 55 is sounding fantastic. Just as long as it isn't raining or snowing, and if we could get some sunshine, that would be an extra lovely bonus but I'm not pushing my luck.

I still want to post about my market last Saturday but that was a wonderful experience and I didn't want to taint that post with all of this doom and gloom.

Weekend Junk Finds: a parliament of owls

Hello, friends! Saturday was my BIG DAY. Actually, it was the second of three BIG DAYS that I'm having in a period of about four weeks. The first was my triathlon, the second was my craft/vintage market on Saturday and #3 is the craft/vintage market coming up this Saturday. After that, I'm going to sleep! I'm exhausted.

I have some photos of Saturday's market to share tomorrow, but today I have some junk finds to show.

I love the pretty pale yellow and gray quilted pillow. It goes perfectly with the pillows from last week's post! I'm not sure if it was originally a quilt piece made into a pillow, or if it was quilted specifically to be made into a pillow. The milk glass tumbler sold at the market on Saturday, and the aqua Butterprint Pyrex is going in storage for a while. I'm thinking of doing a craft/vintage market next May with a pink/aqua/pastel theme, and I have a few pieces of pink & aqua Pyrex stashed for it already. I think this sweet pillow and the ones from last week will go too.

 

I've been buying up owls like crazy for my booths! The little owl figure on the left is marked Japan, and he went to market with me last weekend but didn't sell. His wee brass buddy DID sell, and the big green planter is going with me this next Saturday. The funky granny square afghan is going to market as well.

I bought the big orange beaded brooch because I thought I could do something Halloweeny with it. Haven't figured out what quite yet, but I'm thinking! And did you spot two more owls?

A winking owl and one with big orange jelly belly-type eyes! They're both going to market with me on Saturday. Did you know that one of the names for a group of owls is a parliament?

The green McCoy planter has a big chip out of the inside lip making it just a bit too imperfect to try to sell, so it gets to live with me, which doesn't break my heart one bit! The local Goodwill already started putting out Christmas (earliest sighting ever for that store) and I found a good warmup in three Shiny Brites. The tweezers have ends with a little round indentation--perfect for picking up beads. I found them in a big bag with the shell pieces. Honestly, that was one bag of random stuff that I'm really not sure why I bought. I think I got caught up in the thrifting moment.

Rolls and rolls of vintage seam binding! Years ago, back when I first started thrifting and reselling, I came across several bags of seam binding rolls. They were a bit pricey (I thought) at around $6 per bag so I only bought one bag of about 6 rolls, and then I ended up reselling them all in one big lot. Ever since then I've regretted a) not buying every bag and b) selling the few rolls I had. When I found all of these rolls spread across five bags, I was determined to not make that mistake again! They were a better price this time, which made my decision easier. I'll probably take the fuller rolls to market on Saturday.

And one last find, two huge antique Vignaud Limoges platters. It's hard to tell scale but the one in the back is very large! They're very pretty and shabby style with gold scrolly edges and rim. In researching I found that they were sold in Wanamaker's department store, which was in NYC and Philadelphia. I took these to market but didn't have a good place to put them (they're huge and heavy) until later in the day. I don't think enough people saw them so I'll have to find a better location this coming Saturday. They're big and heavy and would be a pain to ship, so I'd really like to sell them in person.

Did you go junking this weekend? I'm linking up with Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday!

It's Vintage Market Eve

Hello friends! If you've read this blog for any amount of time, you know that two of my loves are crafting and hunting for vintage treasures. This weekend and next weekend I get to indulge those two loves and combine them with a third love (Halloween): I'll be a vendor at two upcoming outdoor markets!

The first market is tomorrow, September 29th from 9-2 pm. It's held in the Stapleton area south of I-70 off Quebec. The market is in an open space called Founders' Green that is at 29th Ave & Syracuse. There will be food trucks, live music, and lots of cute booths of vendors (like me!) selling handmade, vintage, and antique items.

The second market is next weekend, Saturday October 6 from 9-4 pm. It's called the Horseshoe Market and it's located at 46th and Tennyson in Denver, which is just south of I-70 and west of I-25. Here's a cute little map:

The Horseshoe Market also has food trucks, live music, and around 100 vendor booths full of handmade, vintage and antique goodies.

Both markets are a great place to get your Christmas shopping started and a lovely way to spend a few hours on a beautiful autumn Colorado day! I do hope you'll come by and see me, as I've been crafting and shopping my little fingers to the bone to get ready. And if you can't make it--do me a favor and pray for no rain and big crowds! :)

Pinned it and Made it: Milk Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

In both my paper recipe book and my Pinterest boards, I have a plethora of cake recipes. I have one heck of a sweet tooth, but when it comes down to it, I think cake is really my favorite type of dessert so cake recipes always appeal to me. However, since I have the aforementioned killer sweet tooth, I can't make cake very often because I WILL EAT IT ALL. Seriously.

Therefore, I'm thrilled when an occasion pops up that actually gives me the excuse to pull out one of my many saved recipes and make a delicious cake. This occasion happened to be The Mister's birthday, so chocolate cake was the order of the day.

I've mentioned here before that although I love to cook and bake, I usually have to stick to boxed cake mixes because I live at high altitude and unless it's specifically written for such, normal cake recipes always yield disappointing results. In my recipe stash I found one for High Altitude Devil's Food Cake and had been patiently waiting for the chance to try it out. I made the cake and am sad to report that it did in fact fall a bit, which is what happens when I use normal cake recipes. It wasn't anything that couldn't be hidden by frosting however, so I decided to go ahead and use it.

Except--there was a slight disaster. Even though I buttered and floured the pans, both cakes stuck terribly and crumbled to pieces when I tried to get them out! I'm not sure if I left them to cool in the pans too long or what, but it was a catastrophe because we had friends coming over to help us celebrate in just a few hours! I ended up having to turn to Duncan Hines anyway for emergency assistance after all of that. I was able to salvage the scratch cake (which really tasted good, despite the lack of perfect rise) by making it into cake balls that we enjoyed later.

Even though the cake had some problems, there was nothing at all wrong with the frosting! I had Pinned this Milk Chocolate Buttercream Frosting recipe a few weeks ago and knew it was just the perfect complement to the cake! The frosting was easy to make and the only suggestion I'd make is to make a double batch. I made two 9-inch layers with my cake mix, then cut each of those in half to make four layers total. I initially made just one batch of frosting but it was only enough to spread between the layers, so I had to whip up another in order to frost the outside of the cake. I sprinkled on a few mini chocolate chips just to make it pretty. :)

The cake was delicious and the frosting was wonderfully light and creamy with a great chocolate taste. It was easy to work with and I will definitely be making it again! Too bad the next family birthday isn't until March. I'm going to have to adopt someone with a birthday in October because I just don't think I can wait that long!

Weekend Junk Finds

Junk is taking over my house! Not in a call-the-producer-from-Hoarders type of way, but in a two-vintage-markets-in-as-many-weeks sort of way. It's a good thing, really. That's what I keep telling my husband, anyway!

A few weeks ago I found a garage sale less than a mile from my house.

The first things I saw in the driveway were these old pillow cases, both nicely embroidered. The one on the left is appliqued with the sweetest print fabrics, and both have a row of pretty shell buttons that close the cases.

Once I ventured into the garage, I found these--a strand of mercury glass beads, a crocheted Christmas card basket (why do I buy these? I swear they never resell but for some reason I love them) and an old blue glass Ball jar. I also found the plaid tablecloth in the background--I love the combination of red, green, yellow and gray! It's a Simtex and the tag charmingly informs us it was "Made Right in America." There were several more tablecloths at this sale and all of them had a tiny note pinned to the corner with the dimensions of the cloth noted in spidery handwriting.

Moving further into the garage, I unearthed this yellow rose printed tea towel and the fantastic aqua gingham pillow with tiny black rickrack edging. It's stuffed with a great old down pillow.

The girl running the sale was younger than me, and she told me this sale was all her grandmother's things. The garage was pretty packed full, and when she said "you should have seen it last weekend, it was even more full!" all I could do was groan because of all the good stuff I must have missed! She said that they're still cleaning out her grandmother's home & storage units so I gave her my business card with an invitation to call me but I'll be watching that corner for garage sale signs for a while!

A few other recent finds--even though I've largely quit buying aprons, I couldn't leave this fruit-print cutie behind. The pint canning jar is a different brand than I usually find (Drey) and the pink Gooseberry Pyrex fridgie somehow survived the Goodwill Outlet without a single chip. 

And one last find, this one destined for one of my booths--a silverplate trophy bowl from 1967-68. Hope it sells!

The Voodoo Island 1950s Tiki Exotica Ball

Some of you may remember my posts about the 1940s WWII Ball that The Mister and I attended back in June.

The 1940s WWII Ball and the 1940s White Christmas Ball are so popular that the organizers decided to throw a 1950s Voodoo Island Tiki Exotica Ball for the first time this year. The event was held the Saturday of Labor Day weekend and after I told my friends how much fun we'd had at the WWII Ball, they all signed up themselves and their husbands for the Tiki Ball!

Ever since I threw my Tiki Party last summer (which I sadly have NO pictures from but here's my Pinterest planning board), I've been very intrigued by tiki culture. I checked out every book on the subject I could get my hands on and read up on Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic and all of the rest, so the idea of a 1950s Tiki Exotica Ball was right up my alley! Of course, I needed an appropriate vintage frock.

I didn't have time to run to the local vintage clothing stores searching so when I found this repro 1950s dress in a pattern of bright florals, I grabbed it! The colors are actually perfect for my red hair, and since it's a new dress instead of vintage, it was sized for modern women. I'd hoped to try faux bangs but couldn't get them to work out so I just curled my hair with a curling iron. I spent an hour straightening my hair and then another hour on the curls but they were basically straight by the time we left the house! Ironic that my hair wouldn't hold a curl, since it's naturally curly in the first place.

For makeup, I did dark brows, cat-eye liner, fake lashes and wore my Revlon Fire & Ice lipstick, a shade that was first introduced in 1952 so it was period-correct! It's a very orangey-red so it was perfect with the coral shades in the flowers on my dress. I accessorized with a vintage seashell box purse with bamboo handles, a new but vintage-style coral bead necklace, vintage cat-eye sunglasses, and a fantastic set of vintage rhinestone bracelet and clip earrings that matched the dress perfectly.

My girlfriends their husbands all dressed up too, and it was so fun to see everybody's outfits. I think we looked smashing!

The guys had it easy--aloha shirts and khakis all around. The Mister wore a pair of vintage Ray-Ban Wayfarers--his pair were made in the 1980s, but the original Wayfarers came out in 1956.

The event itself was held in the beautiful outdoor courtyard of a hotel about an hour north of where we live. It really was a perfect location and they brought in palm trees, tiki torches, and colored lanterns to really make it feel tropical and festive. There was even a giant smoke-spewing tiki statue!

There was an artist carving tiki statues out of tree trunks with a chainsaw,

vintage cars on display, several tiki bars serving up fancy drinks, a mermaid in the pool, a pin-up swimsuit contest, and a limbo contest emcee'd by Carmen Miranda. The highlight of the evening was a performance by a Polynesian music and dance group, which included fire dancers!

The evening itself was just beautiful and the setting was really lovely, but sharing it with our friends was the best part! We're already making plans to go to the 1940s White Christmas party in December--time to start looking for a dress!

Simply Mad for Yellow & Orange Plaid

On Monday, I made what could be termed a 'questionable' inventory purchase for my upcoming markets:

Do not feel the need to adjust your monitor, that is indeed a yellow and orange and black plaid chair. The colors are even brighter in real life; the yellow stands out more. It can possibly be seen from space.

The thing is, the colors are perfect for Fall and for the Halloween theme of my booth. It's in great shape and it was a great price. It's definitely eye-catching and I think having it outside my booth will hopefully draw people over to look (and then they'll venture inside and buy lots of things! :)

I posted this on my Facebook page on Monday afternoon and asked if I'm crazy, or perhaps crazy like a fox. The responses varied. I'll let you go ahead and guess which one my husband thinks I am.

So yeah, I know it's not for everyone. It's a statement piece for sure, but I think it totally crosses the line from "ugly" to "so ugly it's really awesome." What do you think?

Even though it's Wednesday, I'm linking up with Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday!

I did a HARD thing! My first triathlon experience

Well, my friends--I DID IT!! I finished my first triathlon. Oh, I wasn't speedy by any means, but that wasn't my goal. My goal was to finish, and finish I did, so I'm counting the experience as a complete success!

The night before the race was rough. I felt mentally and physically prepared as I could be so I didn't think I would be nervous, but apparently my subconscious never got that memo. My insomnia picked a lousy time to again rear its ugly head and I spent hours tossing and turning, getting more and more stressed and finally just plain angry. I was so darn mad that I'd spent literally MONTHS preparing for this race, and then I was sure it was all going to be ruined by the fact that I simply couldn't fall asleep!

Thankfully I finally fell into a fitful sleep, although I studiously avoided looking at the clock (Insomnia 101) so I have no idea what time it was. I got up at 5:45 a.m. and again although I was all ready to go, my body betrayed me. I couldn't eat a thing and was literally sick to my stomach out of sheer nerves. I left the house around 6:15 a.m. and headed up to the reservoir to meet my friends.

I'm so very thankful that my friends and I did this race together, because once I met up with them I calmed down considerably! I was still anxious, but at least by that time I was able to eat some food without the threat of seeing it again shortly.

We got ourselves all set up and then it was time to get into our wetsuits and prepare to swim in the COLD water.

The water temperature was 66 degrees. The air temperature was right around the same number, but let me assure you that even in a wetsuit, that is pretty darn chilly.

The swim portion of the race is 750 meters, which is 1/2 mile. I've done that distance many times in the pool and even in this same reservoir, but for some reason it seemed longer on race day. The swim course is a triangle--you go into the water on one end of the beach, swim out and around a big round yellowish buoy, then back to the other end of the beach. The first leg of the swim was extra hard because we were headed right smack into the newly-risen sun. That meant every time I lifted my head out of the water to sight the buoy and make sure I was headed the right direction, I was blinded by the sun and its reflection off the water. The big round yellow buoy and the big round yellow sun hanging right directly above it were difficult to distinguish in those conditions and I'm sure that cost me some time and some focus. The second leg of the swim heading the other direction was much easier. I was happy to find out that my swim time was faster than my normal training time in the pool!

The next event of the race is the 12-mile (20K) bike course. I had ridden the course the week prior so I knew what to expect. I had a minor technical problem with my bike's gears on about the last 2 miles causing me to have to push harder than I would have liked, but I'm just thankful it didn't happen earlier when I was going up and down the big hills! I didn't time myself last week so I'm not sure how my race time compared, but I felt like I was going faster on race day so I'm sure I improved.

The final leg of the race is the 5K run (ours was technically a 3.5 mile course rather than a 3.2). This was the event I was most worried about because although I've been running a 5K an average of once a week for months now, it just has not been getting any easier for me, and that's without doing a swim and a bike first! The course was very hilly. They were small hills, but it was pretty constantly up and down without much flat in between. I've had to do all of my training in the gym on a treadmill because they offer babysitting, and it's impossible to replicate that hilly course on a treadmill. I wish I'd prepared by running the run course ahead of time like I did for the bike course.

Normally my pattern is to run 5 minutes, then walk for 1 all through the distance. Because I'm a wimp and can't run up hills, my pattern went completely out the window and instead turned to walk up, run down. I felt like I did much more walking than running and thought that for sure I had completely blown my time, but in reality I was only 3 minutes slower than when I do all of that running!

Coming into the finish line was such a great feeling! My sweet little kids met me and ran in with me, my dear husband took pictures and cheered, and many of our friends were there cheering for me as well. I feel so proud that I was able to set a goal and accomplish it! The training took a long time and does not come easily to me, but I wanted to prove to myself that I CAN DO HARD THINGS--and I did!

And if you made it this far, I want to share one more thing: this song was sort of my theme song for my whole race and training. I wasn't able to wear an iPod during my race so I had to just sing it in my head. ;) Please watch and listen--I think it's so inspiring! Makes me a little teary-eyed every time.

I'm Gonna Tri

 

Tomorrow morning at the still-dark hour of 6:00 a.m. I'll be hauling my happy self and my wetsuit, bike and running shoes up to the nearby reservoir for my very first triathlon.  I'm nervous, but I do feel ready for my race. I've been preparing and training for months now and I'm ready to just get it over with, already! My goal for this race is just to finish respectably. I'm not fast so I'm not going to win anything, but even if I'm dead last I'm just going to have to own it and be proud of the fact that I even finished! I'm going to imagine all of you there at the finish line, yelling for me! :)

I didn't mean to maintain blog silence for so long but honestly, blogging just got pushed WAY down the priorities list. Right now, if it doesn't have to do with my race or my booth, it's pretty much not getting done. I am crafting like a madwoman and still I know that I'm not going to be able to get done as much as I would like. It's frustrating but at the same time, I'm working on booth stuff literally every spare minute I have so at least I can feel like I'm doing my best. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm definitely feeling like that decision to sign up for two markets a week apart was a mistake, because my fear is that instead of having one really packed-full booth, I'm going to have two 'okay' booths. Again, I hate that reality, but I'm doing my best and I can't do any more than that.

Wish me luck tomorrow morning!