The Green Shag Market Sale

So I once again left a big gap in the blog.  The Cardinals were still dragging out the post season, which was keeping me antsy, and I spent this past week preparing for/setting up for/doing/recovering from the Green Shag Market sale on Saturday.  Now that's over and the Cards have imploded on me (don't worry, I still love you guys!), I suppose I can focus.  Wanna hear about the Green Shag Market sale?

I was super excited about this sale.  Felt really good about the opportunity.  I even had a plan to spread the 2ndhand Moon name.  I made prints of a bunch of the many, many pictures I've taken of the moon.  A few for your perusal:

 

I thought it would be fun if with every sale I could give the customer a moon picture with 2ndhand Moon written on the back and let them know they could find me on Facebook, and tell them about my new Speakeasy Deals customer appreciation plan.  If you missed that details on that, here's the scoop:

If you buy something from 2ndhand Moon, take a picture of it in it's new home and post it on Facebook, tagging 2ndhand Moon, I'll send you a one-time-use code word to give at checkout for a percentage off the item of your choice from booth 78 at Kenrick Antique Mall.

Anyway, I felt like I had a good plan, and when I got home from work at 9:30 or so on Friday night I got to work getting everything priced and ready.  I worked through the night and my dear friend Beth came over dark and early Saturday morning to help me load everything up and take it over there.  It was still dark (and ch-ch-chilly!) shortly after 6:30 AM when we started setting up.  We were ready well ahead of the 9:00 AM start time, and I was all nerves and excitement.  Here are few shots of sale day:

Love the big fun lamp in the foreground.  In the background you can see the garment rack that marks the beginning of my area (parking lot space).

Another area of the sale.  There were tons of vendors.  How cool is that red atomic fireplace?

Here's part of my stuff, thanks to Beth.  I took some close-ups of things, but totally forgot to get a shot of my whole space.

Unfortunately, whether it was the cold morning that made everybody want to stay in bed until the sun came out or something else, there weren't a lot of customers until early afternoon, and even then, I didn't make as many sales as I'd hoped.  At first I was worried that I was doing something wrong, but as the day wore on I heard from other vendors that they had similar experiences.  I think the only vendor that really cleared a lot out was the one in the space next to mine, who had tons of pots and pans and things at super low flea market prices.  I did cover the price of the rental space, the gas and food for the day and the prices of the items I sold, plus a little bit of actual profit, but it definitely wasn't an amount equal to all the work involved.  Still, the sun did eventually come out and it turned into a pretty day:

And I chatted with some really nice people, and I gave out my moon pictures and gave my spiel about the Speakeasy Deals to everyone I sold to, so there's a chance I may end up with repeat customers.  And while I had to pack everything up and bring it home again after the sale, at least that's a ton of stuff already prepped and priced and ready to go into the booth when there's room for it, so it's work I would have done in bits over time anyway.

I wish I had thought to take pictures of the items I sold, since most everything was stuff I've never shot for the blog before and especially because I actually did pretty well on vintage clothing.  I sold a butter soft leather jacket that I love nearly as much as the Tale of Two Coats one, and a nice, thick wool fisherman's sweater, a bright orange wool and mohair cardigan and a brown and white polka-dotted tie-neck blouse.  I also sold a handful of books, one terra cotta and one ceramic owl, an awesome floral suitcase and a nifty little peacock fan decoration thingy.  Luckily I do have pictures of the last few things:

The blue floral suitcase is the one that found a new home.  Isn't it spectacular?  Love!

I found this little peacock at an estate sale for very little.  Passed it on for not much to a
nice girl who says she buys vintage crafty things and tries to reproduce them.  Isn't that cool?

The short pot-bellied owl with the orange eyes and the larger terra cotta one with the pointy ears both sold.  Oh yeah, and the orange candle holder/centerpiece thingy in the foreground also sold!

Anyway, I admit I was a bit disappointed not to have sold more, but I felt good about the feedback I got from other vendors and people who seemed to be in the know.  It was a good learning experience, and if I come across a similar event (maybe on a smaller scale) while I still have so much stuff already prepped and packed up, I might be crazy enough to try it again!


Linking up to Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday and Me and My Shadow's Magpie Mondays.  Check them out for more thrifty, vintage awesomeness!

Something you won't want to miss

I'm excited for October, you guys!  I've always loved October.  When I was a little girl that was largely because of my Birthday, and Halloween.  I suppose those are still two of the main events, but the attractions are numerous:  cool crisp weather that allows for layers and sweaters; Fall leaves that look beautiful, smell kinda spicy, and swish and crunch underfoot; apples, apple cider and apple pie (more on that soon!); the return of my favorite earthy colors to clothes and home decor; the smell of wood smoke on the air; snuggling under blankets; unexplained bouts of nostalgia... need I go on?

But now there's one more thing to add to your list:  The Kenrick Antique Mall-sponsored Fall Flea Market, next Saturday, October 6th! 

Now, I've been to a few flea markets in my day, and I want to be clear.  Sometimes, when people say flea market, I've gotten all excited and shown up and it looks like this:

Or like this:

On the other hand I've also, in my days in Brussels in the 90s, had the great privilege to go to the Saturday market in the Place du Petit Sablon, which was like this:

Unfortunately, I can't promise you that next weekend will be like the Antiques Market in Brussels, but I can promise you it's not going to be just knockoff handbags and sunglasses, or three guys with some books spread out on blankets. There will be tons of vendors, this much I know.  And last time (in the Spring), they had food, so there's probably that to look forward to again.

I, unfortunately, will be stuck at work the day of the sale, but I've seen it twice now, and it's prety big, with lots of variety (Kenrick Plaza's parking lot is super huge, and much of it will be taken over by vendors.  I think the last I heard it was 80+, and the smallest vendor space is the size of a parking space.  Not bad!  And don't forget, the antique mall itself is open, and practically every booth inside will have a sale going for the weekend.  The 2ndhand Moon booth (78, as if you didn't know, 2/3 down the 3rd aisle, on the right!) will have 25% off every single item, no exceptions, so it's a good time to snatch up something vintage for Halloween, or a Treasure Craft candy dish or planter,or some cool vintage luggage, or a bit of Pyrex, or even the gorgeous Mad Men-esque chair, seen here if you missed it!  And as if the flea market and the antique mall weren't enough, don't forget there's also the huge Shrewsbury Value Village right there - literally next door to the mall, in the same plaza!

So if you go, let me know how it went?  I'll be stuck indoors away from the nice Fall air and all the treasures, so I need someone to give me the scoop!

Latest treasures

Spent some time at booth 78 at Kenrick Antique Mall today.  I was pleasantly surprised upon walking in the door to see the little bookshelf I thrifted this summer on the way back from taking a friend on a college visit to Iowa sitting by the register, getting ready to move on to it's new home.  Here it was fully laden during it's time in the booth, although you can't really fully see its niftitude in this picture.:

Nice little wooden shelf, purchased in Qunicy, IL, has found a new home in the 'Lou!

I also noticed a small white hard-sided suitcase had sold, and the green-background crewelwork piece that I thought once before had been purchased has gone MIA again.  Hopefully this time it actually did find a new home, rather than just going on walkabout somewhere else in the store.

But with the small-but-still-big-for-an-8x8-space bookshelf gone, I needed somewhere to put all those books and whatnot.  Perfect timing, as the purchase I made at an estate sale the weekend before this past one was just waiting in the wings for a space to call its own:

The table top, in the back of hank.

I liked the blue and white enamel top immediately, and the legs are all chippy old white paint with slight traces of blue trim left in spots.  Obviously it's not in perfect condition - there's some rust, and I only ever got around to wiping the top down with some basic cleaner, so I'm not sure if those rings will come out or not with something a little beefier, but I learned the main issue when I went to put the legs on.  It seems to have been somewhat home-made, or perhaps re-purposed at some point.  The legs each have a two-ended bolt in them that goes through a drilled hole in the wood under the enamel top, and then you toss a wing nut on the  bolt and tighten it down.  The problem is, one of the bolts has been somewhat damaged at the tip so that I personally couldn't get the wing nut started on the threads.  I'm not sure if the problem is just me and my weak girl-fingers - someone else may be able to get it on there, but in the mean time, I've taped the nut to the side of the table, and it still stands fine even with one leg not tightened down.  Here it is in it's new spot in the booth, already piled up with all the books from the little shelf:

Not bad for a mildly gimpy table!  You can kind of see the wing-nuts on the sides there,
as well as the hint of old blue  trim toward the tops of the legs.

How insanely awesome is that LeeWards craft book cover with the owl?  And I can't even tell you what a kick I get out of the insane 70s fashions in that "Sewing for Men and Boys" book.

Anyway, I added a few other bits of thrifted vintage to the booth as well:

An adorable little mushroom-house bank.

Love the cool wood-grain back and edging on this Treasure Craft drip-glazed serving dish.

Cute small un-Blendo pitcher with gold starbursts.

Two gorgeous small afghans.

I love the above.  Both are very small.  The blue and yellow one is round, and made of all these little pie-shaped bits.  The purple/blue/white one is amazingly bright and graphic, but quite lopsided in execution.  Both are small.  Not really more than lap-sized, but I love them!  Close-ups of each to the side and below (click if you want to see them big).







By the way, I was planning on ending the 50% off sale on vintage clothing and accessories on August 31st, but I've decided to leave it through Labor Day weekend, so if you're in the market for a vintage hat, purse, scarf, shirt, skirt, dress, or shoes, you've got through next Monday to get them for half price!

And as a reminder, 2ndhand Moon is on Facebook.  Like us and you'll be the first to know about the next big sale!



Anyway, I hope everyone's having lots of thrifting luck here lately!  To see some of the treasures found by people who definitely are, check out these link-ups I'm joining in on this week:

Coastal Charm's Nifty Thrifty Tuesday and Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday

Booth overhaul and new treasures for the Big Sale

So I got over to the booth and spiffed it up fairly significantly.  Biggest news is I finally, in light of the no-end-in-sight triple-digit weather, took home Mitch's sexy coat.  I had intended to take it home in May, but some ladies from another booth told me that they see guys taking pictures of it with their phones, so I thought I might as well leave it, to attract the dude attention to the booth, but... it'll be back in the fall, when it makes a little bit of sense.  I replaced it on its stand with some weather-appropriate fun vintage girlie things (I forgot my camera today, so please forgive the fact that all my pictures are phone-shot):

 

In the girlie vein, I also added a bunch more awesome vintage purses:

The great little book/record shelf they are on is also a new addition, and also for sale!: 

And of course you can see in that shot some new old luggage.  It's a pretty caramel fake leather hard-side suitcase and train case.  The suitcase is spectacular inside, with a lovely peach-champagne satin interior that even includes the original hangers all racked up and ready to go:

You know I can't leave out the awesome kitcheny goodness, so here are a couple of new pieces featuring cheery yellow:

And I've teased you long enough for this one.  From what I've seen, people are listing these on Ebay from  $70.00 to $Stupid.00, but this week only, you can snatch one from Booth 78 at Kenrick Antique Mall for only $30.00!  It will go back up to its still nice price of $40.00 if it's still there when the 25% off sale is over on Sunday:

Smith Corona SCM Super Sterling typewriter

It's in its original carrying case, and looks sharp except for one tiny spit on top where the paint has rubbed off (to give it some vintage cred!).  The keys feel nice and snappy, and a nice retrocam shot seemed appropriate to show you how great it works:

And for the fabulously zha-zha-kitschy among us, this bright pink flocked vintage shower curtain (it's brighter than this sad blurry picture suggests!):

I scored two of these, actually.  One is in the booth, and I'm currently debating whether to replace the green/brown/pink daisies in my Oh-So-South-City-Pink bathroom.  What do you think - should I go for it?:  

As for the booth, I think I made it a little more navigable.  I took out the round table that's been in the middle since day one.  It belonged to friends, so I couldn't sell it, and I always wondered if people were reluctant to walk around in there because of it.  I also re-secured the stupid slanty clothing rack with a bungee cord high up attaching it to the pegboard wall, and added this nifty new shelf:

Here's how the whole boot looks now:

So tell your friends: 25% off sale Wed-Sat in the 2ndhand Moon booth - #78 - at Kenrick Antique Mall in Shrewsbury, MO.  Tons of other booths will have markdowns too for the Independence Day sale!

And while the fireworks were cancelled because of the drought, here's a bit of Americana from the Carnival we attended this evening:

Carnivals = nostalgia.  Maybe I'll be a carnie when I grow up!

And I'm praying tonight for Selena at Apron Thrift Girl, wher I have had hours of pleasure reading about the amazing finds of her and others, and hae often linked up my own.  Visit her blog, look at some of the old Thift Share Monday link-ups and check out everyone's treasurs, then lift up her and her family if you would.  Goo night all, sweet dreams.

The moon was so handsome tonight!

Booth update, with new items I forgot to show you before!

I brought some new things up to the booth this morning.  When I got there I found that since last Tuesday I'm down to only 3 men's hats again (I believe I took 4 up there last week, and there were 2 already in the booth, so I've sold 3 again??), and the mustard and gold striped men's cardigan I just put up last week is gone, plus the cute yellow cross-stitch "smile" pictures that have been there from the start, and a cool beaded bag.  Oh, and the little green goose planter from the 40s.  And I just now realized I haven't seen that 40s flower painting the last couple of times I was up there.  I'm so excited!  And I added   my friend Timmy, plus the beaded cardigan and the Handy Hannah hair dryer I showed you guys the other day, and a pink lacy 80s blouse that I forgot to take a picture of.  I also added a few other recent finds:

Gorgeous blue small Dansk Kobenstyle pot - Jens Quistgaard: Love!

Coolest old leather satchel - old buckles,
old straps, old stitches - yay!

Tang pitcher!  Orange-lidded glass Tang pitcher!

I did a bit more rearranging to make everything fit, and to try and fill in a couple of holes. I forgot to get one big shot that covers the entire booth like I usually do, so here are a few shots to make up a whole:

Here's most of the booth.  I like the flowered suitcase hanging on the wall instead of
sitting in the corner like it was before.  It looks good with the plaid skirt, doesn't it?

I moved the hand-knitted yellow baby suit thingy to
where the smile pictures used to be to make room for
the beaded cardigan at the front of the wall, and look,
there's Timmy front and center on the blue rack!

Since St Paddy's is over and I sold one of the items that
was on the table, I moved a couple of the others to the
shelves and mixed up the colors here a bit to
feature the pot.  It's so pretty you guys!

So just the 3 new items in pictures for you guys today, but they're 3 lovelies to share at Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday party.  Seriously, go see the awesome things people find.  It's as addictive to me as Pinterest is to everyone else, I swear, and if I ever remember my password for Pinterest, I'll probably pin half the stuff I seethrough this one link-up!  And if anybody who uses blogger can fill me in on how one adds a button to one's side-bar, I'm hoping to do that here so you'll always be able to find it from my blog. 

Stay tuned tomorrow for news and pics of today's thrifting romp through Belleville, IL before a wonderful dinner with great company (Thanks Alaina and Steve!).

Redecorated a bit already

So I've sold a few more items, it looks like.  Another hat - the brown felt fedora, an army messenger bag, a yellow ceramic big-mouthed fish, a glass... every little bit counts, right?  But I'd REALLY like to sell some clothing, since I've collected more of that than anything.  Do people just not buy clothing at antique malls?  Was it a bad idea?

I'm not sure how often it's customary to rearrange a booth at an Antique mall.  Really, there are booths I've come across that I saw a year ago that haven't changed significantly, and I'm just this upstart newby so what do I know?

But... I started in February.  Mid-February.  Right before Valentine's Day.  So I had a booth full of coats and all red heart-y things.  And then February was almost over, and Valentine's Day had passed, and nobody had bought any coats, or, come to think of it, anything red and/or heart-y.  So Monday I took out (almost) all of the coats and (almost) all of the red/heart-y stuff, and put in a bunch of green St Paddy's Day appropriate/ "hey, it's almost Spring" relevant stuff.

I added a ton of cute fun green stuff, and rearranged lots of the various tchotchkes so that the center table is now completely populated with greenery of the non-botanical kind.

I left in the booth both halves of the coat love story, because I'm sentimental like that (or possibly just mental), and the buttery soft Berman's leather blazery-y jacket, and one red dress and most of the black and gray stuff I'd had in there, but I added lots of green.  Including two big-collared 70s era double-knit shamrock-y items:

I think of this as a teacher dress for unknown reasons.

This photographs well, but it's awfully thick.  I don't
know why I keep buying things for the kitsch factor.

There are a couple of other uber-kitschy items, but there are also some great vintage things worthy of both love and a regular spot in the wardrobe rotation, including a very cute green and orange plaid skirt that I would hoard for myself if it were my size.  I think it would be super cute with some cable-knit knee socks and loafers or oxfords:

I like the length, and it's well-made.

These two dresses are super cute as well:

This is woven, but with a nubby texture.
I imagine it on someone creative and organized.

I like the cool wrap-tie on this spring green dress.

And since of all the clothing and accessories in my booth I have sold so far only an army messenger bag and two men's hats, I now know my real audience for vintage.  I have, accordingly, added another nice hat, and will continue to be on the lookout for manly goodness, too.

So, with lots of new items and rearranging, here is what my booth looks like now:

A bit more Spring-y, lots more green, and an adorable toddler-size plaid jumper.

A closer look at a few bits:

Mostly the same, plus awesome green/blue shirtwaist dress.

Lots of green, including a very funky 60s green/gray/
black/white print dress - go-go boots not included.

Lots of pretty green pottery and things.

Added some more linens and whatnot.

So what do you think?  Better?  Worse?  Do I need to knock it off with the kitschy clothes, or do they attract attention?  What do/would you do?