My Current Kenrick Covet List

Pardon my alliteration, but I'm a bit enthused about some of the items my fellow Kenrick Antique Mall sellers have on display, and I thought I'd share a few with you tonight, so you know there are treasures to be had inside this weekend as well as outside at the flea market:

This toy oven may be a little the worse for wear, but I love it exactly the way it is!

In the same booth as the above, this little blue owl pitcher is both adorable and handy!

This ceramic and wood pendant light fixture is so mid-century sleek.  Sexy!

This little lamp, I'm guessing from the 30's or 40's is such a pretty blue.

And for Halloween, a couple of exceptionally awesome scary clowns:

Love/hate!  The one on top is super duper scary - he looks frantic!

And just so you remember, here are a couple of the treasures still available in my own booth, #78:

The adorable sad-faced basset hound planter is willing to sell you his tiny shades!

I love this kind of old suitcase - great for an overnight or to carry your laptop.

There is something freaky about this little girl and her birds... Halloween-appropriate!

I think this little pitcher with its star bursts is more fun than the usual Blendo style.

My clown is a little more mid-mod dignified than the others, and not as creepy.

Don't forget, Flea Market at Kenrick Plaza in Shrewsbury this Saturday, sponsored by Kenrick Antique Mall, inside of which you can find all of the above, and lots more great deals.  Everything in the 2ndhand Moon booth (#78) will be 25% off all weekend!

Right spiffing, innit?

So I spent some hours Tuesday at the booth trying to spiff the place up a bit.  Spiffing isn't always my strong suit, but I think I've made some progress.  I had decided a week or two ago that the blue industrial cup-washing rack thingies in the booth had to go.  I love the idea of them.  There a bright cheery blue, and kind of swirly looking:

I loved how they looked as a backdrop, like to this cute mushroom mug set (still available, by the way!)

And I thought they'd be handy for displaying things like scarves and small linens and things:

Here they were with a few little bits inside - still looked kind of fun.

But as the booth got more... I'll just say it: crowded, and more and more of the little cubbies in the rack got filled, I think it just became too much.  It was like visual noise.  It just didn't help show off the merchandise anymore:

With all that crammed in, it just looks messy.

I had already planned to take them down and do a bit of an overhaul of the space, and now, thanks to the  lead from my Mom and Dad, I had found a great shelf to help in reorganizing.  

You may remember that a couple of weeks ago, someone bought my little book shelf, and I replaced it with a somewhat rustic little blue and white enamel-topped table, which had already opened things up considerably.  I went from this:

Still a bit over-crowded!

To this:

A bit more open - making progress!

So Tuesday, I did the following:

1. Took down the blue crate/cup-rack things.

2. Stacked the small table that's hidden behind the suitcases in the above picture on top of the little wooden cabinet you can barely see since it's stacked with blue cup racks, overflowing with linens and piled with merchandise.

That gave me this:

A little more space for the eye to see, and with one door closed, maybe people will even
be able to tell the little cabinet exists!

3. I moved the suitcases back up against the back wall, stacked them and used them to show off some of the cute vintage purses, shoes, etc.:

Vintage suitcases are a personal weakness. A stack of three serve as an end
table in my living room, too!

4.  I brought in the new shelf.  You've already seen this pic if you saw the blog yesterday, but here it is again, in context of the overhaul:

I need to improve the display-quality of those linens.
Too much of a good thing is too hard to see.

5.  I took the little wire cart that I'd previously crammed between the beat-up low shelf on the right above and the clothes rack, I filled it with the smaller purses, and the scarves, doilies, small linens, etc., and placed it next to the blue and white enamel table at the front of the booth, and tucked the cheery little green footstool/doll table underneat:

I like the pop of green under the table to go with the bright green craft book on top,
and the little cart takes up very little space at the entrance to the booth.

6.  I swung the clothing rack around so that rather than being on the side of the booth, it's along the back wall.  It leaves less room for pictures/paintings/etc., but I'm still trying to make a go of the whole vintage clothing aspect of the booth, so I think it's worth it for a time.  At least through Halloween (because everyone who's anyone is going to be buying vintage awesomeness from booth 78 at Kenrick Antique Mall for the Halloween costume this year!).  

So here's the overall effect.  I don't think I'm done tweaking, but I like where it's going a little better than before:

I still feel like it's a bit too busy, but it's definitely getting better.

There's plenty of room to walk around inside now, and with more shelf space, things aren't as crammed together, so I'm hoping that makes it easier to see and not just look, if you know what I mean.  I think next I'd like to replace the wire cubes on the left wall with something that's less deep.  Preferably something I can put a price tag on and sell out from under my merchandise!  And I definitely need to replace, or at the very least paint the long low shelf on the other side.  That's the one I picked up in an alley a few days before I was supposed to start my booth.  Or possibly just put more tall shelves on one side and leave the other side free for some bits of furniture and wall art.

What do you think?  Is this better?  I'm open to any and all suggestions.  I just want to make buying from my little 2ndhand Moon booth easier and more enjoyable.  Am I on the right track?

Oh, and I keep forgetting to say, go Like the 2ndhand Moon Facebook Page, so you'll know when there's a sale, deal or special event!

Thanks for the tip, Mom and Dad!

I made a pretty good thrift score today.  Something I have been wanting/needing for some time.  A tall, narrow shelf for the booth.  And it's all thanks to my parents, who pointed me to exactly what I needed at a really good price!

I usually try to spend time with my wonderful parents on Mondays, and yesterday was a gorgeous day.  We met up and went to lunch at the Rib Shack on Natural Bridge in North County (very tasty, by the way!), and over lunch they mentioned that they had recently been down to Globe Drug on Broadway, and saw some shelving they thought would fit the bill for me.  I was excited to check it out, but not just then, because after lunch  we decided to have a little fun and visit the Zoo:

Sea lions always seem to be having so much fun.
The way the sunlight dances in the water must have
 something to do with it, don't you think?

I am convinced stingrays come from another planet entirely.
Just look at those alien bodies!  Also?  I got splashed by a shark!

 My favorite little zoo buddies, the Prairie Dogs, for some reason were in a posing mood for me yesterday:

     


The day also included Ted Drewes Concretes, and some good quality relaxing time watching last week's So You Think You Can Dance, which my sweet Mother records for me.  So clearly there was no time for a run to Globe drug at the time, we were too busy having fun!

So this morning after a couple of other errands, I made my way down there and found some great options.  Some of them I would have liked to have snatched up were too heavy and bulky to deal with all on my own, so I went with one that was lightweight and very functional, if not all that stylistically interesting.  I forgot to get a shot of it on its own, so here it is in its new home in Boot 78 at Kenrick Antique Mall, already laden with goodies:

Just the tall skinny shelf I've been looking for.  Plenty of room for treasures!

Stay tuned tomorrow for the big booth overhaul that went along with the handy new shelf.  In the mean time, here are a few other new bits, like some prairie-esque goodness for Fall, in both preppy and hippy styles!

       

And two very different examples of a little too much of everything:

High-collared, puffy sleeves, itty bitty pleats
and lace.  Victorian prim, although that strip
of lace down the front/center is not lined, so
there's a tiny bit of secret raciness going on.

Proof that 1970's craftiness knew no bounds.
A men's work shirt (JC Penney Big Mac)
with bandanna-flower appliques, eyelet lace
trim all over, and fancy red stitching.

And one example where, in my opinion, all the ribbons and lace and fancy stitching gets it just right, if you can see it (I'm not sure if I'm having trouble with my digital images, or my screen display, but everything's looking kind of blown out.  Can you see the details, or is it a white glare?  I just don't know!):

Pale, pale pink vintage Barbizon
bed-jacket (jammies top?)

So yes, if you're wondering, I am gearing up for Halloween costume-y goodness.  And here's one more little unrelated item that is also a bit over the top:

Fun psychedelic satin covered magic magnetic
photo album.  Flower (and paisley) Power!! 

Tomorrow night I'll post about all the rearranging I did at the booth today.  In the mean time, enjoy these fun link-ups I'm joining up with tonight:

Me and My Shadow's Magpie Mondays, Coastal Charm's Nifty Thrifty Tuesday, and, late to the party, Cap Creation's Thrifty Love Link Party.  And say goodbye to Beez Rental Design's Frugal Treasures Tuesdays, where the pretty peacock-y mugs I posted about last week were featured.  She's discontinuing the link-up, but her blog is still a fun read!

Yes, I thrifted. And I can't even regret it.

Saturday morning, along with some friends, I helped (largely watched the moms in the group help) a dear young friend move into her dorm room for her Freshman year at a small Christian College in North St Louis County.  Being me, I always check EstateSales.net every week, even when I know I can't go to any sales, I torture myself with the pictures of all the lovely things I can't have.  So I happened to know that there was a sale in Ferguson, not far from where we were, and when it came time to say goodbye and let our little bird fly into this exciting new chapter of her life, I nonchalantly mentioned it to my cohorts, who were all for checking out an estate sale (loophole!  If other people want to go, I don't want to be a party pooper!  And of course I found something for the booth.  Something I have thus far failed to photograph, much less take to the booth, so you'll just have to wait to see that next time.  But after the estate sale, with the ice broken, we headed over to the St Vincent De Paul on West Florissant, where I like to look at the lovely Irish eyes of the manager, which remind me of my Uncle Jerry.

There I found one Sabine china plate that goes with a partial set I have in the booth:

I love the colors in this - a bit of a tweak for the era.

I also found a very nice snakeskin-embossed leather frame purse:

And an absolute mother-load of vintage patterns which, even if they turn out not to be intact, are totally worth it for the illustrations alone (especially since "it" was a very, very good price):

Can you spot the real-live poodle skirt pattern?  And look at the sweet baby dresses!

A little closeup on some of the baby dresses - so, so sweet!

And a pair of cross-stitch benedictions for your home:

A small one in blue and red

A bigger one in brown/orange/turquoise

Both of these could use a better framing situation, but the cross-stitches themselves are such vintage lovelies! All of the above already went into the booth on Sunday afternoon except for the patterns, which I need to put in zip-locks and figure out how to price considering that I can't guarantee they're all 100% intact.  Has anyone else sold vintage patterns and have advice or suggestions?

Since I couldn't put the patterns in yet, and I couldn't add more to the house without taking something else away, I also took these up to the booth, which I've been collecting awhile:

This is only a partial shot of the bunch I took up there, so if you
need any lovely crotcheted bits, head on over to booth 78 at
Kenrick Antique Mall - you know the drill!

And also a very old, lovely train case which I apparently also failed to photograph.  I'm heading back over to the booth now with some other great vintage finds, so I'll take some pics of those there and post them next time.  Until then, enjoy all the great finds other folks have made at these fun link-ups:

Coastal Charm's Nifty Thrifty Tuesday, Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday, Cap Creation's Thrifty Love Link Party, The Thrifty Groove's Thrifty Things Friday, Me and My Shadow's Magpie Monday and Chic on a Shoestring's Flaunt it Friday

Local treasure alert: Value Village, Shrewsbury

Oh you guys, you have to see it!  After stopping by to pay this month's booth rent, I wandered through the Value Village that, in case you guys didn't know, is right next door to Kenrick Antique Mall (so, you know... two birds, one drive!), and they have such an awesome little red and white vintage Ross girls' bike.  It's like... Americana, made of metal, and sitting in the thrift store waiting for someone who has use for it, which I don't.  So if you're interested, here it is.  Not in mint condition; wish the seat didn't have that tear, but it's so cute!

Shopping my garage

My friend Beth came with me yesterday afternoon to check out the booth and see what I might have room to fill in, and I was So Very Excited to see that this 3-piece set of blue vintage luggage had sold:

Which left me with quite a lot of floor space it had previously been taking up.  And since I'm on a thrifting moratorium, we went to what is arguably the best thrift store in town at the moment: my garage, where everything is free, since I bought it already!  I buy vintage luggage semi-obsessively, I'll admit, but it's been a really good seller for me, as well.  I believe that since mid-February I have sold 5 suitcases, 2 train cases, a leather satchel, an army-style messenger bag, a small overnight travel bag and, also this past week, the Pringles duffle bag:

So, with a suitcase-sized space emptied out on the floor, I found no reason not to replace it with more suitcases!  A pretty green one with a cool trapezoidal handle and another leather-ish Samsonite, of somewhat better quality than the one that's already there, also with the included hangers and whatnot still inside (not pictured - I didn't have my camera along yesterday, so these are all quick phone shots:

The one on top was already there, the other two are new to the booth.

The picture doesn't do this one justice - white vinyl
overnight bag with red trim - very clean and bright.

Cute Mickey Mouse knapsack, possibly 60s?  I can't find a match online.

And, because they were being stored inside of some of the bags, and because my little book/record shelf wasn't really intended to display purses, I added a bunch more books.  Children's books as well as craft, cook, gardening and fashion books from the 50s 60s and 70s.  Here are a few of them:

Books, books, I <3 books!

Project Cat, about a group of kids in a housing project befriending a stray cat, is a great one, and we found cutouts from the St Louis Post Dispatch from 1972 in the Vogue Sewing Book:

The other sides of these two clippings from May 12 and November 16 have sewing tips on making a mandarin collar and sewing fake suede, respectively.

I had no idea when these movies came out, but lets be honest.  If, 40 years from now, some random person were to come across two totally random clippings from a current newspaper of movie ads that were actually clipped for the information on the other side of the page, do you think they would find 4 movies out of 5 that they totally knew all about?  I'll admit I've never sat all the way through Deliverance or Funny Girl, but I know exactly what they are, and I bet you heard the little banjo riff from Deliverance in your head the minute you saw the ad, didn't you?  Ok, well I did.  I'm afraid to even Google "Dirty Little Billy", so I'll leave that one a mystery, and the name is cut off of the one at the bottom, but as it has Peter O'Toole and Alastair Sim both in it it's got to be something called The Ruling Class, where apparently Peter O'Toole's character thinks he's Jesus (thanks IMDB!)

No idea what to do with these little bits of ephemera, but it was such a fun find!  I did snatch them out of the book to keep, in case anybody has any ideas!

And, to round out the Garage Shopping, Beth found this cowboy hat in one of the bags, which now graces the booth as well:

It's very small - size 6 3/4 if you have a little head!

It turns out, shopping the stock I already have is almost as fun as hunting down new treasures, since my prodigious disorganization makes all things new again!  Which is good, because I need to keep doing it awhile longer.  How about you - finding new treasures?  Rediscovering old ones?

I'm linking up again:

Her Library Adventures Flea Market Finds, Me and My Shadow's Magpie Mondays, Cap Creations Thrifty Love Link Party  and Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday.  Don't miss all the great finds!

And an announcement will be coming soon on the Facebook page about a big sale on vintage clothing in the booth with exclusive first dibs to Facebook followers, so go Like the page!