Farewell To My Antique Booth

I have had at least one antique booth for the last 28 years.

Lots of different venues -- including my own antique shop for 3 years.

For at least 10 years I sold "junk" from an outdoor booth too.

I was always on the hunt for junk to resale in my booth.

It was a great side business when my kids were growing up.

It was a great side business when I had a "real" job.

Up until the last two years (since I moved to the Ozarks)

it has been very profitable for me.

But it is time to pull the plug -- it has not been

profitable enough for me since we moved down here.

I have one more trip down to remove my "stuff" and then I am done.

End of an era.

Relocating My Antique Booth

I am not the type of antique store vendor that moves from location to location.

I like to stay at one booth, at one location.

So it was hard for me to make the decision to switch antique malls.

I just wasn't getting the sales I was used to,

especially at what should have been a peak time of year.  Sigh.

The biggest problem I face is that there are no antique malls close to us.

If we are driving 30-45 minutes to maintain an antiques booth

then it needs to do some brisk business.  Where?  How?

We are moving in to Old Town Antiques in Ozark, MO.

The main reason? It is located close to 
the historic Ozark Mill located on the Finley River which

 will be opening this fall.  The mill and a large piece of land around the mill

was purchased by Johnny Morris of Bass Pro Shops fame.  There are three phases

to the project -- fall of 2019 (coming right up!) will be the opening of a

restaurant and bar in the old mill. 

Indoor Antique Booth Ready For Spring Open House

More Spring Buntings / Garlands

 I found these die-cut cards while looking for 

fabric to whack up for my first bunting.
View that post here.

I found some cloth yoyos,

and cut up a gift bag for the printed paper.

 I had enough to make two strings of garland

for my indoor booth at the Spring Open House.

Camp Flea, Ozark Missouri.

This was one that a fellow dealer made,

from cardboard and ruffled butcher paper.

Too cute.

Ceramic Tree Forest

 I was lucky enough to pick up three ceramic trees this year.

13", 19", 19".

I am selling them for $30, $50, $70 --

which is a steal if you see what they are selling for on ebay.

 I got the large white one at the

"Last Flea Market Of The Season"

(read that post here).

It had some damage at the top,

but my husband did a great job of repairing it.

The other two have music boxes.

I am looking forward to taking them into my new antique mall....

 where they can join their friends.

Chandelier For New Antiques Booth

I was surprised when I won this chandelier at my last local

on-line auction for cheap $20.

I knew it would look great in my future antiques booth,

with a little tweaking.

I removed all of the crystals, and hand washed each one.

Spray painted the brass chandelier a flat white

and reattached each pesky crystal.

My husband added a plug-in wire with an on/off switch.

And now it hangs in a place of honor in my new antique booth
at Camp Flea in Ozark, MO.
UPDATE:  I sold it for $50 at my antiques liquidation sale.

Moving Into A New Antique Mall

 Moving is hard.  Finding a new church.  New friends.  New doctor.  New grocery store.  New antique mall....really that was a hard one.

We talked to people and visited several antique malls.  But it took some actual shopping for antique furniture for our house to discover the best fit for us.  We had several shopping trips to an area in Ozark, MO that had several antique stores close together.  It seemed like whenever we needed something we had to do "speed shopping" and it was handy to have a few antique stores in one basic location.  That's how we landed on our new selling "home" .... Camp Flea in Ozark, MO.

The Camp Flea mall is located just off hwy 65 south of Springfield 9 miles or north of Branson at the Jackson Street Exit under the big "ANTIQUES"sign.  Either direction it is the second Ozark MO exit.

People pass right by it on their way to Branson, so the location is great.  I asked about booths for rent, and the manager asked me some discerning questions to figure out if I was cut out for one of the front booths.  After looking at some pics of past shows and booths, I passed the mustard.  

 So if you are ever in the area -- look for my "Saturdays" Antique Booth right across from the front counter.

 We moved in Saturday so that we could be "settled" for their Christmas Open House the first weekend of November.  

 Of course, vintage Christmas is no problem for me. Just getting the booth painted, lighted and furniture moved in -- that is the hard part.

Letting Go Of My Antique Frames

 I've shared about several collections that I have had

to say goodbye to.  I just don't have the space in the cottage

that I had in my big victorian house.

 But this might be the most painful goodbye.

I put all of these great frames on the front porch

the day we moved down here (two months ago).

I kept thinking that I would be able to squeeze them in somewhere....

 But, as you can see, they are still on the front porch.

Sigh.

I have resigned myself to letting them go.

I will be selling them at my new antique booth --

in Camp Flea Antique Mall

Christmas Box Dioramas, Pt 2

This is the second post of my prolific collection of
Christmas Box Dioramas that I made this year.

So, if you missed Part I of this installment,
click here.

I think the Christmas Light boxes were my favorite Christmas diorama.

I love the little windows, just perfect for a peek into a wonderland.

Had $2 in it, sold for $18.

I have a whole box full of Christmas postcards,
so I had several background choices.

I like the natural colors and theme in this one.

You could display it through February.

The little bird clips on to the butter pat.

(Had $2 in it, sold for $14.)

This is a cigar box,

but I covered it with parts of an old Christmas themed box.

I think this the only one where I messed with the outside.

The music in the background is entitled "Christmas Faeries".

(Had $2 in it, sold for $18.)

Third, and final, Christmas Light box.

Old clock housing where I threw in all

of the misc that I had left.

I like that I can close the door,

but then you don't really see everything.

Oh, and of course the background is
yet another old Christmas light box.

(Probably had about $10 in it, sold for $22).

Every one of these dioramas sold
same the day I took them in to my vintage booth.

My Vintage Bridal Show Offerings

My vintage store that I sell at is hosting a Bridal Show in next week.  I will try to take pictures of the vintage inspired ideas at the show.  This post is highlighting some of the items I am taking to the event.


My husband is usually the chalkboard artist in the family.
He made this for the event.

I had worked on three old windows a few weeks ago.

Painting the back of the window so that the wall adhesive graphics would pop.

After doing the windows that way, I started thinking about some

embossed wallpaper that I had leftover....

I actually just cut it to size and used the wallpaper glue to

adhere it to the backside.  So technically, the paper was

backwards.

But it was super easy to do and gave a great effect.

I did it for this one too.
Added handles on both.
For all of the above I used Dollar Tree
adhesive wall stickers for the graphics.

Sold for $24, had $5 in it.

 This was an assemblage of a board that I had,
old photo that I had, and a couple of Michael's letters
that I got for 50 cents each.
Spent about $3 for materials and sold it for $17.

For these last ones i used Dollar Tree wall graphics
alphabet stickers, spraypainted, then peeled off the stickers. 

Sold for $13, had $2 in it.

I was able to use some of the letters
a second time.

Spent about $3 on materials and sold it for $17.

Here are some of them in my booth.
Along with lace hankies, lace tablecloths,
frames and rhinestone jewelry.
Ready to roll for the Bridal Fair.

A New Heart Die Cut Toy

I am not really sure what inspired me, maybe it was

a Cupid's arrow.  I just knew that I wanted to buy a heart die-cut thingie. 

I envisioned ahead of time the pile of vintage page

hearts that would look so awesome. (And I was right.)

I was in a punching frenzy when I brought it home.

No vintage piece of paper was safe.

I love how they look together.

I hung some by ribbons in my vintage booth....

and scattered some around just for the romance of it.