What's in a name?

Hi all.. It's Valerie this time writing a quick post in our Flea blog. Wanted to share with my loyal readers something that happened this weekend. Saturday I was enjoying watching my son's soccer game and chit chatting with the other moms on the field. One of my friends said to me that she wishes she could get down to the store more often but her house wasn't decorated "vintage" so she saw no reason to come down. I was flabbergasted that she said this to me. Yes we are called The Vintage-Flea but we don't sell just vintage items. Perhaps her definition of vintage means something different than my version....

Jenni and I spend a lot of time searching for the right mixture of new and old for our store. We go to all the Atlanta Merchandise shows and we went to the NYC Gift Show this winter. We hit every antique mall, flea market, and estate sale in a 30 mile radius on a monthly basis. And we are constantly looking at online venues such as Etsy, Ebay and Craigslist for undiscovered gems. So you see.. The Vintage-Flea is just a name. A rather clever name we think.

Oh one more quick note.. more new mercandise is on the way... Jewelry from Metal Monk, our signature candle line from Nouvelle, more gorgeous pillows, and much much more. Please come down and see. Support your friendly flea chick!

Entry #1- Heather Thompson

Okay readers! We've got a fast one here! This is Heather Thompson and here is what she has to say:

The main thing for me that makes my house a home is the people who live here....my family!

The 2nd thing would have to be my kitchen table. It is really nothing special. In fact, it is starting to become quite tattered & probably in need of repair. My husband & I bought it when we got married and it has become a place where we now share meals (almost) every night w/ our 2 children. It has been a gathering place for many meals for our family as well as extended family throughout the years & has moved w/ us several times.

The last 2 pics are of my children's walls in their rooms. A dear friend of ours helped paint their rooms and we truly made them "their own" by putting my daughter's initials in hers & my son's same on his.

We considered moving at a point last year, but the hard work & love that went into creating these rooms would be hard to leave behind!

In all, what makes my house a home are our memories! :)

Entry #1/ Well, not really.

I thought I'd give you readers an example of what we are looking for. This would be my entry. I had a hard time narrowing it down to three photos! But here goes: Hello, my name is Jenni and what makes my house a home is in the little details. You see, we live in a "cottage", so every little square inch of our home is used. I have to choose furniture carefully, often the piece has a mulit-purpose. Like my coffee table/ trunk full of family games/ instant game table. Over the years we have changed paint colors, traded in couches (We are on #6 in 12 years), added curtains, and added nic-nacs. But what remains a constant are my favorite little things I have around. The handmade clay birds made by my children sitting right along my vintage glass bird collection is top of the list. Also in this cabinet are the nests William has found over the years.
I have lots of art hanging around the house (imagine that!), and most of the time right beside my art is Mailey and William's. Like above in the kitchen.
This isn't in the house, but just as important. I had to choose between the swingset we use daily and this tree photo. Yes, it's leaning, but that's what makes it so special. This was Billy and I's first Christmas tree. We decided to buy a tree our first year that we could plant and watch grow. Well, let's just say that this is one happy tree, because it has grown like crazy. In fact it has major braces to keep it upright! I often dream of a huge house complete with an art studio that has heat and air. And then I look out the window at this tree and all the other little things we've done to make our house special over the years and can't imagine being anywhere else. This is our home, and I love it!

A Call For Entries!

Get out our camera and take your best shot! Here's what we are looking for: "What makes your house a home?" I got an e-mail from Anthropologie yesterday with that same question. It was an ad for their new home collection catalogue. I'm sure they'd say what makes your home is their $4,000 sofa, $100 accessories and more! Here at the Flea we know that what makes a home is more than just stuff, but stuff is nice. And we have tons of new items in to help make your house a home you want to really live in.

Here are the details for the contest:
1- It is open to anyone! And not just people with houses, I made my college apartments pretty darn homey back in the day.
2- E-mail us at least 3 images of what makes your house a home. send them to flea@numail.org
3- With those images give us a brief reason why those elements make your house a home.
4- Look for them to be posted in our blog! Yep, our blog. I'll be posting all entries.
5- On April 18th, the night of Art Walk, we'll be putting all names in one big hat and drawing for a .............$50.00 gift card to the Flea! So let's see what you've got girls (and boys)!

Game on!

An End to the Rumor

So, there has been a rumor floating around town for about 3 months or so that we are moving. We know how it got started, we told one person, who told another, who told another, you get the picture. And it was true. We were trying to move to Ashley Park. Actually we tried to move there 4 years ago before we moved here.....and they still aren't quite ready for us. Our spot probably still has our name on the site map right next to DSW. 5 years from now we may kick ourselves, but for now, our families come first. So we are staying put. But here's the deal, we need for our loyal customers (who are now our friends!) to get the word out about downtown Newnan. We need a broader customer base to keep the Flea alive! So forward our flea bites to your e-mail lists, invite a friend to Ladies Night Out who says they've never been to downtown Newnan, spend a Saturday afternoon walking our streets instead of the aisles of Target, come to Art Walk(April 18), or just come by one morning. We'll be there. Probably re-arranging, again! Here's some hot new items we wanted you to see and intice you to come visit soon!
By the way, that gorgeous painting above was done by our lovely Julie. She's our creative Tuesday gal.
We went a little pillow crazy at the January show...and there are more to come! Great colors, don't you think! Add a little spice to your home with these!

Help Wanted

Yes, we are in need of a few good women who are interested in working on Mondays and Saturdays. You know our store......a little fun.....a little funk......a little creative......a little of this and more. What we are looking for is a woman who can manage her way through our computer system, get to know our fabulous customers, sell a bunch of stuff to those customers, be willing to sweep if needed, clean the door if needed, be willing to help with re-arranging (Which you KNOW will happen if you work for us!), and a little more of this and less of that. That being something we will discuss once applying! So come on by and fill out an application, and let's see where we go from there!

Cards that Make you Slap Yourself Silly!

We found this fabulous card line while in New York and it just arrived! Seriously, these cards are so funny. Some favorites are "My garden kicks ass", "make your own damn dinner", "medicated and motivated". And so many more. Of course the images of the June Cleaver women, dressed in day dresses, aprons, perfect hair and make-up make the sayings even better! Oh the good old days, right!

Also with this card line we ordered sticky note pads and magnets. These make great "happies" for your friends, boss or neighbor!

A Little Something New

We made these handmade! Great gift for Easter, first communion, or baptism. Would also make a great desk decoration.
We have a wonderful selection of sea grass baskets in stock. From $10- $60 dollars they would look great all over your home.
These sea grass holders have a glass insert for your favorite cut flowers.
These concrete urns and candlesticks make a great spring feature in your home, patio or screened in porch.

EASTER SALE NOW 50% Off

That's right Flea biters, Easter is now 50% off. So come on down and see us before it hops away!

Catalogue Buzz

So last week we had a fun thing happen. Our buddies the Tallulah Girls called and asked if they could use our store as a backdrop for their jewelry catalogue. You see, Barbara and Cindy make this fabulous jewelry together, even though they live in two states. They do shows here and there to sell their wares. Recently they had someone offer to give their business a boost by helping them develop a catalogue, and more (I don't really know all the details). Bottom line is, they came to the store Friday am and stayed ALL day taking photos of these adorable girls in way cool outfits and of course their georgous jewelry! Here are a few pics from the days excitement. This photo is actually in our back alley. This was the last photo taken for the day (around 4:30). Mailey was smitten with the girls. She hung out all day with them being silly and keeping everyone entertained.

Here we have Barbara and the photographer discussing a shot.
This is what the picture taking was like. Huge lights, lots of shots, onto the next outfit. They took a TON of pictures in amazing outfits. Of course our store as the backdrop will make the catalogue even better!
They used the art studio as the dressing room. Really, you'd have never known it was an art studio. They had at least 50 pairs of shoes and 100 outfits strewn all over, curling irons, mirrors, make-up. No wonder my little Mailey was in heaven!

This is the jewelry waiting for it's turn. All in all it was a fun day.

Definately an honor that they chose us....makes us kind of tickly inside! We can't wait to have a show for them!

The Naked Chair

I am now 3 weeks into my upholstery class and I finally got all the fabric off. This is my naked chair waiting to get a makeover. Stay tuned.. it will be fun.

Bunny Sale!

Hop on by the Flea this weekend for the start of our Easter Clearance Sale! All Easter items will be marked down 20% off the original price. We have some great items to choose from.

With Easter just a few short weeks away, don't forget to get some goodies for baskets, table centerpieces or your mantel! See you soon!

Spring Kid's Art Workshop

In the fall we had a Saturday workshop where we made owl banners. They were such a hit with the Moms that we decided to come up with a spring version! We'll be pre-printing the banner with "Happy Spring" and let the children paint bunnies, flowers and more to their banner. This project is sure to great your guests with a smile! The date: Saturday March 15th from 10-12 OR 1-3PM. Please call to make reservations since we have to pre-print the banners for the little artists! 770-683-2825 Cost of the project is $20.00