2 Years in a Row.....

Thank you everyone for voting The Vintage-Flea as BEST GIFTS in the Lifestyles Magazine's 2009 BEST OF SOUTHERN ARC contest. The Lifestyles Magazine covers 6 counties in the Southern Arc and winners were selected by voters choice. Last year we tied for 1st place with The Phancy Pheasant. This year we tied for 1st place with One Magnolia Lane located in Peachtree City. So thank you again!!

BOO!

Happy Halloween weekend!! Looks like another rainy weekend for us here in Atlanta but that won't stop our trick or treat fun. First off we will have our Trick or Treat on the Square from 10am-12noon today on mainstreet. Nancy will be dressed as Charlie Chaplin and I will be dressed as a vintage Candy Striper. Do you have a costume yet for this fun weekend ahead?? I wish I had found this artist sooner!! Thanks Alyn Carlson, now I know what I should be doing with all my junk mail.
Check out her website, shop, and more of her hats!

That Yummy Smell.....

What's that yummy smell?? We hear that quite a bit at The Vintage-Flea. We burn a candle everyday.. switching them up here and there so that our customers can experience a new scent. But this weekend we didn't have a candle burning, instead we had yummy apple cider brewing...

...and brewing, and brewing. Well I guess ya'll liked it according to the sales of it.

I don't blame you, the mulling spices are the best from the Aspen Mulling Company. Just add a box of mulling spices to 1 gallon of apple juice for a delicious treat. Available at the Flea are the Original Aspen Mulling Spices, Caramel Apple Spice Blend, and Chai Spice Blend for $4.00 each. The chocolate fudge mix is also available for only $6.00!! What a perfect gift for the holidays.

New shipment alert... we just got in 12 boxes of Spiced Pumpkin Mix and 12 boxes of Cranberry Orange Mix. These mixes are great for baking muffins and breads for the holidays.

Save the Date

2 weeks to go and a list a mile long to complete. Please save the date for our Mainstreet Open House event where all merchants will be open on Sunday, November 8th.

New Paintings to Share

Even with the kids out on a 4 day weekend, I had time to do some paintings this past Sunday. I wanted to share the new lovelies that will be making their way to some wonderful organizations. Yep.. it is that time again. Donation time. As a store owner we get asked all year long for door prizes, gift certificates, teacher appreciation gifts, product for gift baskets, etc. If I gave to every single one I would be long gone and out of business by now. Once in awhile I get asked to donate a piece of art for a good cause and I am always happy to participate.

This one I am calling Afternoon Tea. It will be going to the Heritage Art Auction to help raise money for the Heritage School. Normally I only do things for the school that my kids go. But I was intrigued by this one because if your painting sells...you get 1/2. I like that and I can broaden my clientele base for my paintings and for the shop.

close up on tea cups.

This one is framed.

Here is another painting that I did called The Littlest Bird. This one is going to be in an Art Silent Auction at the Brooks Elementary School Fall Festival this Friday evening.

I was channeling my Artist friend Jenni Horne into this painting. She does several pieces with whimsical sayings. Here the verse is taken from a song lyric from Be Good Tanyas.. The littlest bird sings the prettiest song.

If you would like to bid on this painting, please contact me at flea@numail.org and I will pass your bid on to the art show organizer, Alison Kelleher.

And finally, this one will be hard for me to let go. I am just in love with him... I titled this painting Best Friend. He will be going to the Newnan-Coweta Humane Society for their First Annual Furr Ball on November 7th. It will be a Dinner/Dance and will be held at Something Special on Greenville Street. If you would like more information about this event, please call 770-356-1626.

Here he is close up.

Enjoy!!

The Art of a Lampshade

Last January, after scouring the Americas Mart in Atlanta, I noticed all the gorgeous lamps and lampshades in the high design showrooms like Aiden Gray. I also noticed the incredible price tags that went along with them... wholesale at $100 and up!! The lamps were so/so. The shades, however, were the crown jewels. Have you ever been to Anthropologie and stopped to look at their shades? You will be forking out anywhere from $80 to $180 for a shade there... A LAMPSHADE!! I knew it was time to do a little research and learn how to make them for myself.

Above are two beautiful lampshades currently offered on the Anthropologie website.

Fast forward several months... I found this interesting blog called The Lampshade Lady and I became hooked. I loved reading every post and especially seeing her beautiful shades. She does teach workshops but the problem was she offered them in her studio in Vermont. Then she wrote a book!! So I had to wait until August before the book arrived on my doorstop.

Above is a sample from The Lampshade Lady's book

I was happy to learn that the drum shade was the easiest of all lampshades to make. So I ordered my supplies and waited a little more.....

So what do you think?? I finally made my first drum shade today. To be truthful it isn't as easy as the lampshade lady wants you to believe and now I see why you pay $$ for them at the stores. It does take a lot of time to put it together. BUT that being said, I don't think I did too bad for my first shade. Just need a little more practice.

The next time you are in the shop look around a bit. You just might find one of my custom lampshades sitting upon a vintage lamp. Which of course will make the lamps irresistible. Happy Shopping!

Halloween on Sale

We are finally doing it.. all Flea Halloween is now on sale. 30% Off!! This will be the only markdown so get your Halloween treats while supplies last.

Got to make room for our Christmas inventory which will be coming out in 2 weeks. Want to know our theme this year?? Here's a hint.... God Jul!

2nd weekend... must be Scott's weekend

Do you remember the Lakewood Flea Market? Oh how we all miss Lakewood. On the 2nd weekend of every month, I always made a trip to Lakewood to scour over the fabulousness of it all. Now that is where you could find the deals. During the era of Lakewood, there was always the Scott's Antique Market held during the same time (2nd weekend). Now if you were looking for true antiques... this was the place to go. Bring the bank loan with you- expensive! Well my friends, it is still expensive BUT you can find some great deals if you know where to look.

First of all there are two major buildings of the Scott's Antique Market, the South Building and the North Building. Each compound is separated by the I-85 interstate. On the South side, many of the old Lakewood dealers have set up camp on the outside of the building in the old parking lot. This is where you will find the most of your bargains. In fact, they usually set up on Wednesdays so that inside antique dealers have first pick. (Then they go home, clean up the pieces, and sell it the next month for 3-4x the $ they paid for it)

I purposely didn't bring my checkbook, only $200 in cash. I had a mission- I wanted to find vintage blingy pins to make more belt buckles and lampshades.

Julie from Two Turtle Doves, the store next to mine, went with me this weekend. She was determined not to spend any money until I did. Here she is talking to Dave about the Vintage Chicken Coop.

Well she had nothing to worry about because I fell in love with this bird sculpture from his booth.

Just what I needed, sticks. No really these are large Hickory sticks that were selling for $2.00 each. I bought 3 of them to make the Christmas tree this year at The Vintage-Flea. Intrigued?? You'll have to wait and see.....

Inside the buildings are hundreds and hundreds of booth spaces all set up with their goodies.

I loved this idea of lavender sachets made from gorgeous fabric remnants.

And of course, what day of shopping wouldn't be complete without some yummy food.
Here is the back of my car with all of our deals from the day. About 1/2 goes to Julie-- I think she won the who spent more contest.
Have a great weekend!

Random.org said......

Congrats no. 11!! Alyson you are our winner in our Sweet Halloween Necklace giveaway!! Alyson wrote about her favorite trick-or-treat costume:

My favorite memory was the last year I went trick or treating with my best friend. We made our own costumes and dressed up as aliens. We had football helmets covered in tin foil, antenna made of wire and painted Styrofoam balls, and green leotards. The best part of the costume was the green, gooey oatmeal facial. By the end of the night it was dripping off our faces.

That is one costume I will not be trying. Thank you Alyson, please contact us so we can get you your new necklace.