Flea Market Adventure

There's a flea market near our house each weekend. Mr.ShowMe and I decided to venture out to it today. It's blazing hot here, more typical of 4th of July weather than Memorial Day weekend. We figured we could get out to the flea market early and be back home long before the hottest part of the day. I found some real treasures and captured many more on film like this pressed glass compote. 

Here's a little peak of our adventure. 


It's a popular place.

An old large domed glass oval frame with a baby photo. I always find these to be sweet, but a little creepy too.

 Some pretties placed on an antique dresser.

 Old cast iron.

 A doll house.

It wasn't all old items there. This dealer had fishing stuff, here's a just a few of his tubs of rubber worms.

An old pink grocery scale and a really cool stylized bird lamp base.

 Check out this neat old hat box!

And these gorgeous vintage dresses!

Several dealers had tables full of old oil lamps. These were particularly lovely.

Old teddy bears and their little black lamb friend.

The bright colors in this old painting really grabbed my attention.

More oil lamps.. these with metal bases.

This old Sante Fe railroad clock reads Hollywood Cal. on the face.

 This old rocker upholstered in red velvet was in really good condition.

I couldn't walk by without taking pictures of the old sewing machines.

Retro Anchor Hocking Fire King Tulip Bowls. (Their condition was so perfect, Mr. ShowMe and I wondered if they were repros.)

Here's an electric typewriter probably from the early 70's with the case and the proud union label from a time in history when we still manufactured things here in the U.S. and a World's Fair poster that might be a repro, but still had cool graphic images.

A really big wheel!

This dealer had a neat assortment of old, tiny, stuffed animals and had them arranged in and on a tiny wooden dresser.

Here's the items that were too tempting to leave behind.

A dealer had a basket of vintage fabric that contained a bag with 39 pieces of sample fabric. Each piece is 11" wide by 9" tall. There are 3 or 4 color variations of each print. I think they're upholstery samples. They're lovely and just the thing to use for some bags I'm going to make, (stay tuned for that!). They only wanted $2 for the bag, so they came home with me.

This tiny (3.25" diameter) Hot Springs souvenir plate came home with me too. It would have to be The Bargain Of The Day since it was free! I collect Florida souvenir plates, so I always look when I see one to see if it's from Florida. I just couldn't believe it when I saw it said Hot Springs. That isn't in Florida, rather Arkansas, but it's where I lived with my Grandmother when I graduated high school, so I just had to have it. When I asked the dealer the price, he told me, "It's yours". I tried to insist that I pay him something, but he told me again that I could just have it, so I quit arguing and put it in my camera case for safe keeping till I got home.

Old watches are great to craft with so at $2 that Elgin was mine, and when the dealer told me those disc earrings were only $1, I decided to find a second pair for the price and selected the turquoise drops with the red beads too.

So here's my whole $7 haul. (I keep telling Mr. ShowMe that I'm a cheap date. I think this proves it!)

The clamps and note pads for $1 rounded out the rest. I'm always scrounging around for clamps and clips to hold things until the glue dries, and I need to start keeping a note pad in my purse to jot things down when I have moments of inspiration for blog posts or purse & craft ideas.

I hope you're having a great weekend. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Purses Galore!

I've always loved old purses. From my earliest trips to antique stores and flea markets, I've always been drawn to them. 

It's so much fun imagining about the person who bought them new. Was it for a special event? Something to complete a special outfit? Was it carried with a tailored suit, or a flowing skirt?

As you can see, I have a eclectic mix in my collection.

  

Here's a close up of my little 1904 St Louis Worlds Fair purse. I wonder if someone made it to carry to the fair, or if they were sold as souvenirs there? Can't you just imagine a lady wearing a long skirt and ruffled blouse, perhaps a fitted jacket, wearing gloves, and this little bag hanging from her wrist as she perused the exhibits at the fair?

Do you see the frog? Yes, it's a taxidermied (is that a word?) frog coin purse I found while in the Philippines last year. I decided since I collected purses, I needed that one!

Not all of the purses in my collection are old, some are sentimental, like the grey poodle purse that was crocheted by my sister. Some aren't purses at all, like the art glass "purse" in the back of this photo.

 Look at the length of this one!

I think I've mentioned that I collect vintage Florida souvenir items too. Here's a couple that cross over into my purse collection. A small mirrored compact from Bok Tower Florida and a small metal photo keeper with a sweet declaration printed inside.

 Acrylic purses from the 50's just make me smile. 

And can a purse collection be complete without a few Enid Collins in the mix?
I display them in my "purse room".. It's also my "sewing room".. You could say it's my Happy Place :o)

Do you have any special collections? I'd love to hear about them, if you do!


Thanks for stopping by and letting me share my collection with you. Have a wonderful week! :)