Greenmead Fall Flea Market

I was able to go to one of my favorite events last week -- Greenmead Antiques Flea Market in Livonia, Michigan.  It only happens two Sundays a year and it's a don't-miss opportunity to find some great stuff.

A beautiful, sunny day!

I always get there early (by 9:30, at least, for the 10:00 start).  At $2 admission, it's a bargain!

I've usually filled my granny cart and also had some large items to go back to pick up.  This time, though, I filled my granny cart, made a trip to the car to empty it, went back and filled it again and then STILL had big items to pick up.  Three trips to the car -- WOW!

Here are some of the neat things that I found:

Two old bed-spring pieces.  I'm going to mount these to the wall and hang things off of them.

Felt Christmas tree skirt -- it needs a tiny bit of mending

The green breadbox is pretty shabby, but I liked the polka dots.  The chalkware kitty bank is shabby, too/  I couldn't believe I found a red Pyrex 401 bowl in great condition!   The black salt & pepper are pretty cool, too.  

Do you see the pink Pyrex fridgie?  SO excited about that one!  My son and his wife have already claimed the 1970s giant glasses -- I knew someone would love those...

I know I don't need any more Christmas tins, but Santa (who you can hardly see) is very friendly looking.  And I can NEVER resist souvenir pennants or cameras!  Can you see the mid-century Coronet thermos jug -- it's so cool!

Franciscan Desert Rose salt & pepper, Christmas aprons & more dish towels

Love these tablecloths (the songbirds are a dish towel).  I got the rooster & hen cloth for $1 because it's so stained.  I'll see if lots of soaking will work on it...

I wish I knew who manufactured the big soup mug with the lid.  It's ringed like Bauer, but I don't think it is Bauer.

I just had to have these funky corn dishes.  They're hard plastic (celluloid?) and very thin -- I think they're popcorn dishes

This is a Westinghouse roaster base or cabinet.  I think it would look cool set up as a bar

Lots of storage room for bottles & glasses inside

The suitcase is a project piece.  It's been completely stripped inside, so I get to line it!  

Here is one of my favorite things from Greenmead... I bought it to sell (and still might), but I love it so much that I'm tempted to keep it:

This is a pretty big picture -- maybe 18x24.  It's a 40s or 50s photo of a girl blowing bubbles and she just looks so joyful

 And the BIG STAR is this globe -- it's a Repogle game globe from the 1960s.  I was very excited to find it and when I asked the vendor if he could take any less for it, he dropped it by a lot.  I was doing the happy dance away as fast as I could, before he changed his mind.

 If you live near southeast Michigan, try to go to Greenmead sometime...you won't be disappointed!

Speed-Shopping Greenmead Flea Market!

Last Sunday was the spring flea market at Greenmead (a historical park in Livonia, Michigan).  I'd been sick all week, but 'forced' myself to go since the market won't come again until September.  We had something to do later in the afternoon so I had to speed shop -- I had to leave at 12:00 noon, which only gave me 2 hours!  I know I skipped some of the vendors and missed some things, but all in all it was a great day.

One of the favorite things that I got was this giant Santa head blowmold -- isn't he great?  Sometimes they're a little creepy, but I think he looks pretty nice.

Here are the rest of my speed-shopping finds...

This sweet Kreamer bread box.  I love the blue trim and the flowers on the front.  The handle is black bakelite and the inside is in perfect condition!

A ceramic spice set in a wooden rack

Gray graniteware pail full of clothespins, a melmac platter with  turquoise Queen Anne's Lace on it , 2 California  pottery dessert dishes and 5 sweet little chick figurines.  I don't think they're really old, but I just couldn't pass them up.

An old wood framed beveled mirror and some salt & pepper sets.  I always like the 'Made in Hong Kong' plastic nativities, too

New old stock stationary and greeting cards -- Father's Day, Mother's Day &  Graduation 

A collection of dish towels

A bunch of 1960s sport cake toppers -- check out the stylin' basketball players in their tightie shorts!

The great deal of the day -- a Texasware confetti bowl...and a kewpie doll

This little sweetie will be a gift for someone (she doesn't do the internet -- or even computers -- so I know I'm safe posting it.).  I just love the little birds all in a row.

Greenmead Finds

Greenmead Flea Market in Livonia is always fun!   It only happens in June and September and I think I look forward to it more than any other one I go to, except perhaps Midland (which I'd like more if it wasn't almost 2 hours away).  I went last Sunday and had a wonderful time.  The weather was ideal -- low 70s and sunny -- and it was a perfect day to shop!

This is the only picture I took of the market -- I guess I was too busy shopping...

Mr. KV went with me and it's a good thing he did, because I filled up the granny cart and had lots of extra stuff to carry besides.

Here's most of what I found...

A shabby birdcage with cool pink accents

White painted breadbox

This pillow cover is hand embroidered and painted.  It's in perfect condition!

Souvenir linens

Lots of tea towels and a tablecloth

Lots of RED -- a metal bin with wood handles, a metal watering can, tin tray and a 48-star flag

A collection of kitchen items, including to fired-on individual bakers

I love this little cat & kitten pot holder holder!  It needs new hooks and then it's ready to sell

A collection of glassware, some burlap & melmac bowls and a wood wall plaque for a child's room that has animals & circus people on it.  I have another one like this that's orange and white that I added coat hooks to, but when I took it to the mall, I ended up bringing it right home -- I can't part with it!

A Pyrex tulip pattern casserole with rack

A 1943 boxed set of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights with woodcut illustrations.  I have this one  myself (it was my mom & my aunt's) and I've always liked it a lot, though the illustrations used to scare me

This yellow formica table is in really nice condition!  I've never bought furniture at Greenmead before, but it was a terrific bargain

These guys are the only thing I bought for myself -- I'm really on a flamingo kick lately

The conference I'm at is at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island -- a wonderful historic all-wood hotel, built in the 1887.  It has the world's longest porch, is quite posh and is a bucket-list destination for lots of people.  It's a little TOO posh for me -- has a strict dress code for dinner in the main dining room and hanging out in the main lobby after dinner.  I'm more of a jeans and gym shoes girl, but I'm managing.

The 1980s movie Somewhere in Time was filmed here and there's even a Somewhere in Time weekend --I've never seen the movie, but it seems to have a cult following.  So far -- in a day & a half, we haven't been out of the building (training sessions all day and all meals provided in-house), but if I get outside and get a chance to play the tourist, I'll be sure to post some pictures to the blog.  In the meantime, check out the Grand Hotel website to learn more about it.

I hope you had a fun weekend and are busily mapping out your thrift shopping route for the coming weekend! 

Two Great Days of Vintage Shopping!

Last weekend was an amazing 2 days of flea market shopping at two of my favorite venues:  Midland Antique Festival (1000 dealers on 80 acres) and Greenmead Summer Flea Market.  There were so many treasures to be found!

My friend Bargain Hunter and I left early in the morning on a wet and windy Saturday to go to Midland.  When we got there, it was in the 50s (but felt colder) and we were glad we had our hoodies!  The grassy areas were soaked and there were squish grass-puddles everywhere.  Some of the booths had straw over the puddles -- it was supposed to give the shopper a dry place to walk, but it only hid the puddles and turned them into bad surprises.  A few booths even had wood planks to walk on!

Soon the sun came out, though, and made everything brighter! 

I bought some nice things to add to the booth and to list on Etsy:

A wall shelf shaped like a book with a red art deco inside

A Harmony House platter with a gray, turquoise and white line design

Some nice linens.  I'm keeping the plate (I have a cream & sugar to match), the Harlequin egg cup and the chicken tea towel (of course!)

Some tinware and utensils.  The canister has a butterscotch bakelite knob

An Anchor Hocking holly punch set

Then there's always the to-me-from-me treasure or two.  I did the happy dance all the way out of the booth on this one: 

A tinware laundry soap pitcher!  I've had these on my wish list for ages

A Dots and Squares Pyrex salad bowl set.  It turns out this was a one-time promotional offering from Pyrex and came with the salad fork and spoon -- still with this set!

A medium Pyrex fridgie in red (also on my wish list) and a cute little bowl with a dutch fired on design

One of Bargain Hunter's blog-friends, Marie, went all the way to Midland from Windsor, Ontario and she met BH there to say hi.  I love how our blogs connect us and introduce us to people we never would have known otherwise!  BH and I had a nice time chatting with Marie and checking out the bargains she found (a cute toy sewing machine and a lovely quilt). 

There were some crazy things there, too!  Here's one of the oddest things we saw at Midland:  A shopping cart with a motor (look closely at the blue cart). 

 By the time we were finished, my granny cart was overflowing! 'Granny' was groaning as I wheeled her to the car:

Sunday was Greenmead (a flea market at the historical village of a town nearby).  There were about 100 dealers there and lots of variety to choose from.  I thought the prices were a little higher than last year and a couple of my favorite dealers weren't there, but it was still great fun.  It was  still really windy, but the day was sparkling bright and beautiful!   You can't ask for better junkin' weather than 70 and sunny!

I got there about 20 minutes before they opened and stood in line with everyone else -- the line was really long (longer than usual, I think).  I chatted (well, mostly listened to, I think) with a man who collects and sells pipes and pipe accessories.  He was there to look for smoking stands and the old faux-pewter 'Our Daily Bread' plates.  He said they make perfect pipe ashtrays because of the height of the sides and because the wording and design on the inside holds the pipes up.  He goes to national and regional pipe collectors' shows and sells.  There's always something new to learn about in vintage! 

Once again, Granny was filled to the brim with lots of great buys! 

A penguin ice bucket, melmac cream & sugar and a pottery tabletop set and carrier

Cool blue and white glassware

More linens!

I love, love, love the farm scene on the big pitcher and the art deco design on the little one is nice, too

Here's the to-me-from-me...
Two Pyrex dots bowls (now I just need two more) and a very fun, very kitschy flamingo thermometer!  That one is already in my living room

I hope you had a great junkin' weekend and found some treasures!