ARCADIA ANTIQUE FAIR

Today was the day for the monthly Arcadia Antique Fair in Arcadia, Florida.  As I’ve shared in a previous post, the Antique Fair is held on the fourth Saturday of each month.  In addition to the 24 Shops in this delightful town, vendors set up on the sidewalks, parking lots and in the park.  We have not been for three months because it is just too hot in the summer.  So I was really looking forward to going today.

When we arrived we checked out the outside booths first, hoping to beat the mid-day heat, but it was already too hot to shop.  I only found one treasure outside – a small stoneware bottle to add to my collection.  (It is the one on the right, in this wooden cubby that sits on the Kitchen counter.)



My two prim friends and favorite vendors, Judi and Karen, always set up on the sidewalk in front of Maddy’s Antiques,  but they were not there today.  I was so disappointed, because they always have something I want to bring home with me.  Well, after we had made the rounds outside we headed to my favorite shop, Maddy’s, and as we walked up the sidewalk hubby said, “there is Judi.”  She was set up inside Maddy’s today, so I got to shop in my favorite store and with my favorite monthly vendor at the same place.
 
Flo, from Maddy’s, had recently returned from a trip to Ohio and had brought some bittersweet back with her.  I had never seen real bittersweet, since it doesn’t grow down here, and I just had to have some.  I hung it on my rolling pin dough bowl cubby for the picture, but I don’t plan to keep it there – not sure where I want to use it yet.

 
Maddy’s has beautiful prim greeting cards and I always have to pick up a few of those when I am there.  I also bought the 2011 Fall issue of A Simple Life magazine.  Somehow I missed getting the 2010 Fall issue, so I asked Flo if she had a copy.  When she looked through her back issues she found one and I was able to complete my collection.

I love this small pumpkin gourd (from Maddy’s)  and the pop of color it brings to this shelf.



Maddy’s has some of the most beautiful, primitive antiques you will find in Central Florida.  To visit Maddy’s website click here and check out the featured items for a sampling of what you will find in the shop.

I got some awesome treasures from my friend Judi!

A set of stacking boxes, in Fall colors. (I need to find a home for these.)

 

This fabulous old basket.  (I need to find a home for it too.)



And the buy of the day (from Judi) was this coverlet!  It is navy, red and cream and looks great in our “red” guest room.



After lunch, we met up with some friends and spent the afternoon visiting the shops with them.  I found one more treasure – the small pewter pitcher on the left.  I needed it to balance out the other small pitcher on this shelf, don’t you think.



What started out is a hot, somewhat disappointing day, turned into a wonderful day of finding treasures and spending time with friends.  A great way to spend a Saturday!

I hope you had a wonderful Saturday.

Autumn Blessings,
Sue

A PRIMITIVE ANTIQUE SHOW

My favorite shop in Arcadia, Maddy’s Antiques, hosted a Primitive Antique Show today.  (Click here to visit Maddy’s website.)  I am so glad that I am feeling better and was able to go – it was well worth the drive.  There were primitives, antiques, reproductions, hand crafted items, and wonderful accessories for the primitive or country home.  Since we are going on vacation soon I am trying to be good, but I did find a few things I had to bring home. 

Today’s finds.



I have wanted a grain scoop for a long time and was thrilled to find this one at a great price.  And of course I can’t pass up pewter – especially when it is something I don’t already have, like these goblets.  The folder in the front, with the feather, is a wonderful handmade prim reproduction – it is actually cloth, but is made to look like a worn leather pouch.  There is aged blank paper inside and the piece of paper peeking out from under the flap is a copy of a love letter dated June 10, 1863.  I also got some other goodies at the show, but they are gifts for people who read this blog so I can’t show you.

At Maddy’s I picked up some primitive needfuls, like prim notecards and silicone bulbs for my candle lamps, and a Sensible Scents, LTD candle in “Lemon Curd” scent – it is burning as I type and it smells yummy.  If you live in, or visit, the central Florida area you need to visit Arcadia – especially on the fourth Saturday of each month, where they host an antique street fair, in addition to around 25 antique shops along Oak Street.  It is a delightful place to shop.

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!

Blessings,
Sue

ARCADIA STREET FAIR FINDS

On Saturday my DH and I, along with friends visiting from Texas, went to Arcadia for their monthly Antique Street Fair.  In my last post I had mentioned  that I would be going to a Street Fair in my favorite antiquing town and I received an email from a visitor to my blog asking if I was talking about Arcadia.  My new friend, Judi, told me that she had a booth there, where it was located, and asked me to stop by and say hello.  When she told me where she was located I knew that I had purchased from her in the past and was excited to be able to visit with her again.  When we arrived I could hardly wait to locate Judi’s booth and say hello.  She introduced me to Karen, another prim vendor - they both had wonderful prim goodies for sale.  If you are looking for prims in Central Florida you need to visit Judi and Karen – both have booths located in front of Maddy’s Antiques.  The Arcadia Antique Street Fair is held on the 4th Saturday of each month.  

This afternoon our granddaughter, Abbey, helped me take a picture of my goodies to share with you.  I just spread a sheet in the back of my SUV and we set everything out.  I haven’t had time to display any of my finds yet – we babysat grandchildren over night and when they are here there isn't much time for anything else.



I got all of the pewter from Judi and Karen – I also got the adorable little basket from Judi.  That item in the front center is some kind of wrench thingy, with extra parts and a case, that my DH bought – Abbey thought it needed to be in the picture too.  The large basket is pretty worn, but it only cost 25 cents and I thought it would look good on the porch with a couple of plants in it.  

What a wonderful day – the weather was perfect, I found some great deals, and spent the day with dear friends – but, the highlight of the day was meeting new prim friends.  (Thank you, Judi, for contacting me – I look forward to seeing you next month.)

Thank you for stopping by – I hope you have a wonderful week.

Spring Blessings,
Sue

Renniger’s Extravaganza and Blue/Brown Guest Room Makeover

My DH and I went to Renniger’s Antique Market today to take in the last Extravaganza until next November.  What a beautiful day to enjoy an outdoor market!  I was looking for small items to use, to tweak some displays around our home, and found some great deals.  I found two rolling pins, a masher with a black handle, and a few old wooden spoons and paddles; some rag balls, a quilted bunny, and several hearts made from old quilt scraps; an oil lamp, two brown crocks, a pewter pitcher, and a few small molds;  and a small blue granite pail, a blue bowl and a blue bottle.



I added the rolling pins to a crock with a few others I had.



I added the masher to my rolling pin/bowl cubby (on shelf beside bowl).

 

I put the molds in a wooden bowl on my kitchen dry sink, for now.

 

I have had my oil lamps displayed on top of the pie safe in my Dining Room for quite a while and like the way it looks.  I wanted to use the one with the pewter base (right front, top photo) in the Living Room, so I needed one lamp to replace it.  The one on the right front (bottom photo) is today’s find.

 
 

The taller brown crock found a home on a shelf in the Living Room.  Haven’t placed the other crock yet.



I added the pewter pitcher (middle) to some pewter pieces I already had on this shelf.




BLUE/BROWN GUEST ROOM MAKEOVER

AN EXCERPT FROM A PREVIOUS POST - I had a lot of blue in our previous home and when we moved to this house (almost eight years ago) I thought I was tired of blue and did not use it at all in this home.  This fall I took some quilts to sell at a Street Fair that I participated in – and as the day progressed I kept looking at one of the quilts and thinking I don’t want to let that one go.  So I brought it home, spread it on the bed in one of the guest rooms, and fell in love with it.  The problem was that it didn’t go with anything else in the room.  Since then I have slowly been collecting blue and brown items for a room makeover. 

This is the quilt that started the makeover.

 

The room is still a work in progress, but I thought I would share what I have done so far.  After deciding to keep the quilt, I began to go through some things I had in storage and found that I had kept a few blue things.

A blue and brown crocheted rug and a quilt I had in storage.



I found this blue wooden caddy in the garage.  I added the blue bottle, granite pail, and rags balls that I bought today.



This blue cupboard was also in the garage.  I displayed a blue book and a few blue hankies in an old basket.  I added a lamp with a brown crock base, and the blue bowl with the quilt hearts that I bought today.



Close up of display.

 

This is how the room looks so far.

 

I have some fabric to make a brown dust ruffle – I just need the time to get it done.  I would like to repaint the room – maybe kacki – I haven’t talked to hubby about this yet.  And I haven’t decided on window treatments – I would like tobacco cloth curtains, but I don’t know if they are in the budget.  Does anyone know of a source for buying tobacco cloth?  I can make my own curtains if I can find the fabric at a reasonable price.

I hope you have enjoyed this little peak into my day of antiquing and my room makeover in progress.  And I hope you are enjoying a wonderful weekend!

Blessings,
Sue

A COUPLE OF COMPLETED PROJECTS AND SOME GRATITUDE

With the help of my DH I finished a couple of projects to complete a wall display in our Living Room.  I had started with a framed stitchery of The Lord’s Prayer and added candle sconces found at Goodwill.  But this is a large wall and it still needed a little something.  My DH made a peg board for me and I painted, distressed and stained it.  I hung this to the left of the stitchery with a basket and a battery candle.  I also painted and stained a small shelf that I found a couple of weeks ago at the Antiques Fair.  I displayed the pewter pieces that I found at the Fair on the shelf and hung it to the right of the stitchery.

Here is the shelf before painting.



This is the completed wall display.



I also displayed the crockery pieces that I found at the Antiques Fair.  I added them to the shelf by our TV cabinet – the three pieces on the top shelf, the crock on the left of the bottom shelf and the jar on the left of the second shelf.  I am liking the way this display is coming together.

    

This is how it looked before adding the new found crockery pieces.



And one more thing.  I love the shape of this bowl I found at the Antiques Fair.



I displayed it on the Kitchen counter with lots of dried potpourri.



GRATITUDE
Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don't unravel.  ~Author Unknown

Today I took my Mom to the doctor because she has been having pain in her shoulder, neck and up the back of her head. I am so grateful that the diagnosis was muscle spasms and not something more serious.  With medication she should be feeling better soon.

I hope you are all having a blessed week.

With a grateful heart,
Sue

A Perfect Day for an Antique Street Fair

Today was a beautiful day – mid 80s with a slight breeze.  A perfect day for an Antique Street Fair.  My DH and I picked up my friend, Connie, at 8:00 am and headed to Arcadia, FL.  After about 30 minutes on the road we did a McDonald’s drive through for a biscuit and diet coke (I don’t drink coffee), then headed on our way.  This was Connie’s first time going with us and it was so much fun to watch her reaction as we turned onto Oak Street and she saw all of the venders set up on the sidewalks and in the bank parking lot and the city park.  This is a small town with 24 Antique Shops in a four block area, and on the fourth Saturday of each month additional vendors set up in the outside areas.

A new Prim Shop has opened since the last time we were there and it is a delightful shop full of all the prim needfuls that we just can’t do without.  I found candles, a small peg basket, and a pip berry spray to complete a project I had in my head.  Do y’all do that – have an idea of an area that you want to decorate, and items you need, and then go Antique/Prim shopping with those specific things in mind?   Well I did today and I found what I was looking for - I will post pictures and tell you about it when the project is complete.  Oh, I also got some dried bowl fixins – can’t ever have too much of that.

I took a picture of my goodies in the back of our SUV when we got home – some crocks and stoneware, some pewter, a couple of wooden bowls, a pantry box, some faux pumpkins, a wooden shelf (that needs a little makeover) and the items I got at the Prim Shop.  I will post more pictures when I find a home for everything.

 

Before I close I must take a moment and brag on my husband, my very best friend – he escorted us all over town, carried packages for us, took things to the car, and treated us to lunch.  He is so much fun to be with and is so good to me.  I think I’ll keep him!

Now I am going to say goodnight because my A Primitive Place magazine was waiting for me in the mailbox when I got home, and I can’t think of a better ending to an already perfect day than to peruse this awesome magazine.

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.

Autumn Blessings,
Sue

The Pewter Plates Are Finally Displayed

My decorating tastes have changed over the years - from “cutesy” Country - to a more Traditional Country - to Primitive.  I have loved Primitive antiques for many years, but cost and availability in our area have made decorating our home with Prim decor a slow process.  Thanks to makeovers, reproductions and my husband’s willingness to make things for me the transition is becoming a reality.

What does this have to do with the pewter plates?

Well, I have been wanting to change the display on our entertainment cabinet (made several years ago by my DH) to a more Prim look and the pewter plates just seemed to make the display come together.

Here is a before photo – not a very good picture, but you get the idea.


I’ve asked my DH to make doors for the TV area – we’ll see if that becomes a reality.

The new look.  
Shelves on the left.       
Shelves on the right.       

What do you think?  Is it looking more Prim?  I will continue to change things out as I am able to find more Prim goodies, but for now I am happy with the look.

I hope y’all are having a restful Sunday afternoon,
Sue

More Pewter Plates!!!

As I posted on Saturday, I bought a couple of pewter plates at Goodwill.  They had more, but I only bought two.  Well I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about them and the fact that I only bought two – so yesterday I went back to GW and bought the rest (6).  I also found one small pewter plate and bought that one too.  So I got 6 of the larger plates and the one small plate for less than $20 - (all totaled for 8 plates and 1 small plate I spent about $25 – pretty good deal, don’t you think?)

These are the plates I got yesterday.  The other two are displayed on a shelf and I want to wait until they are all displayed to show those pictures.



You know how it goes – when you get new stuff you have to do some tweaking and rearranging to make room for it.  And sometimes you have to wait for DH to help with part of the project.  Well, that is where I find myself today.  I want to display the pewter plates on the shelves beside my TV cabinet (which DH made many years ago and I still love).  Fortunately the shelves are adjustable, because right now some of the shelves are too close to display the plates.  I need DH’s help to reconfigure the shelves and I have also asked him to cut plate grooves in them.  That means everything has to come off the shelves – and some of it will not return and I will have to find a place for it.  So I have to wait – and I am not very patient when I have a display idea and I want to give it a try.

The reason I have to wait is because my sweet husband is doing some repairs on my parents’ screened porch – I guess their need is greater than mine, so that is a priority.  He has been working on this off and on for a few days, so hopefully he will finish today.  Then maybe tomorrow he can help me with my shelves.

Anyway, I will post pictures of the TV cabinet display when it is finished.  But I just couldn’t wait to share about the pewter plates.  I’m so glad they were still there when I returned.


I hope you are all having a blessed week!
Sue

(To participate in my Giveaway check out this post and leave a comment.)

Craft Fair and Goodwill Finds

My BF, Connie, and I went to a local Craft Fair this afternoon, but were very disappointed.  There were a few booths with cutesy country crafts, but no prims.  I bought two battery powered candles and that was it.


We decided to go to GW and see if we could find any goodies there.  I’ve had better shopping days at GW too, but I did find a couple of things.  I bought two pewter looking plates for $3 each – I’m not sure where I will display them yet.  I also bought two candle sconces for $2 each.  A few months ago I bought a stitchery of the Lord’s Prayer and framed it and hung it above a bookcase – I thought it needed something else to go along with it and had been looking for some sconces.

Here are my GW goodies for today.

 
 
Here are my sconces with the Lord’s Prayer stitchery.

  
 
I’m pleased with how they look and the price was surely right!

I hope you are all having a great weekend!

Autumn Blessings,
Sue

(Don’t miss out on my Thank You Giveaway see previous post.)