Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Another New Business Venture


I actually had a post already written about this but it got sucked into the black hole that is the Internet.

A couple weeks ago I decided to give a flea market a go. Space rental was reasonable (FREE!), the commute doable (5 minutes from home) and I had the stock so off I went.

The flea market was on the lawn of one of the last mansions in the river town where I live. It is now an antique store and the second Saturday of the summer months they turn their lawn over to flea market vendors. I had a fairly good day (sold two more bags and a couple other handmades plus quite a few antiques) and learned alot by watching the other vendors and talking with the customers. I am hoping to do another one this summer but we shall see how it works out with the calendar.





Next business day - back to Goose Lake Winery Artisan & Farmer's Market on June 2.

Monday, May 21, 2012

A Brief Thrift Update

There has still been lots of thrifting and garage sales. Lots of great finds! My mother-in-law and I headed out last week and had a FABULOUS Thursday. Filled the truck!  A couple finds: an aluminum tackle box - 50 cents, an old wooden rolling pin with black handles - 25 cents, a blue cupboard - $1.00,  a mid-century modern wooden bird note holder - 50 cents and a variety of linens for .10 to 1.00.

The ship is the Edmund Fitzgerald - a legendary ship in these parts.
It sank on Lake Superior in the early 70s. Gordon Lightfoot even has a song about it!

The stack of linens from the week.

$1.00 for the cabinet and .50 for the tackle box.

I just LOVE this wildflower tin! It was a quarter! Not sure yet if it is going to love at my house or  get sold...

An awesome goose, a Pyrex bowl (1.00), a Boy Scout cantene (.50) and a butterfly tim (.10).

My MIL blogged about the final sale of our day over at her site so hop on over and visit her for a look at an amazing sale in a wonderful garden!

(Sharing over at Her Library Adventures this week.)

A Weekend With The Girls!

Whew! I have a lot to catch up on in this space. Between baseball, weekend adventures and new business ventures my blog time has been almost non-existant. But I have so much I want to record and remember. I think I will start with this past weekend and move backwards.

This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending an all-women's weekend entitled "She Is...Outdoors". There were appx. 30 classes to choose from - from handgun to mosaic. I attended with 4 fabulous women - 2 I already knew and 2 I had never met before. We clicked right away and had a fabulous time! We each made our own class choices depending on our own interests. There were a few where 2 or 3 of us were together and others where we flew solo. Room and board was provided and the location was fabulous. The Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center in Lanesboro, MN was our host and I can not say enough good things about this place and it's staff! There goal is to educate adults and children alike to love the outdoors and in doing so learning to walk more softly on this great planet of ours.

The four classes I took were...

The Root River Hike: the Root River winds it's way through the Southeastern corner of Minnesota and sets the backdrop for many wonderful outdoor activities - canoeing, biking, hiking, fly fishing, bird watching, camping and the list goes on!

Columbine (and can't remember the name of the purple flower)


The Root River

The view of the Root from the Director's house

The solar panels on the Director's house.
It is a green home with a carbon neutral footprint (I think that is how they described it).


Beekeeping: In full bee suit a group of us examined the hives that the learning center keeps. What an amazing experience! Nothing like being surrounded by bees! And the honey - wow!

The Center's hives.

The first group examining the hives with the rest of us back a safe distance
(thank goodness for a little zoom to the camera lens).

The Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man (or me in a bee suit :)). Yep - MUST LOSE WEIGHT! 



Food Dehydration: Taught by none other than the queen of food dehydration, Mary Bell! I learned alot and can't wait to give some of her recipes a try.

Flora Hike: My favorite class of all! Taught by a Seneca woman who has been studying native plants and their uses. We hiked out and found all kinds of goodies within 1000 yards of the Learning Center and then went back and cooked and ate them. We tried Sweet Cicily Tea and stems, Burdock root, Trout Lily,  and a couple other things that for the life of me I can't remember. I will definitely be taking this class again!

What a fabulous weekend! I could share so much more but my mind is still sorting out all the information I gathered. But we are all going back next year so there will then be even more to share!

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Goose Lake Winery Artisan & Farmer's Market - May 5 - October 27

Yesterday was my first day participating in the Goose Lake Winery Artisan & Farmers Market. My mom came and long and helped and I think we both had a very nice day despite it ending in rain. I am looking forward to participating as many Saturdays as I am able until the market wraps on October 27. 

There were appx. 8-10 vendors and that goes up and down week to week. There was a potter, healing salves, soaps and lotion, treat jars, cards, dog treats, scarves, blacksmith iron work, rugs, canned goods, dip mixes and bloody mary mix. And I had my handmades (bags, washclothes, pin cushions, purse pouches, etc.) along with a nice selection of domestic and farm themed antiques.  The best sellers for me were my bags which really made my day! I sold 5 of them! Which means I need to get sewing to replenish my stock!!!

The winery is a working winery which hosts tastings at the same time as the market. It is also a working farm with lots of animals to see.  A really neat place to spend a day!

My booth - two tables plus the drying rack holding my bags.


The tall shelf in the center holding my pin cushions sold so my mom has a replacement item for me -
a garden gate planter  - can't wait to put it to use!

An overall view.






I was really happy with how it turned out! We got there at 8A and were ready to go when the market opened at 10A. The rain started to come down at around 2P so we were really happy that it is in a greenhouse. The market closes at 3P. A really nice length of time.

The Nowthen Lions were there giving hay rides and serving food. The chickens decided they wanted to go for a ride!

And lay an egg or two...
There are quite a number or peacocks there and they spent the first hour "meowing" and protecting their territory. Amazing birds! Beautiful yet VERY loud!


The farm is also the home to probably the world's most ugly chicken...

An overall view of the space.

A couple of the resident sheep.

Some of the grape vines.


I am looking forward to going back and almost wish I hadn't committed to another sale this next weekend but that one will be fun too - a flea market at a local antique shop in Anoka. I will have basically the same items there minus a few of the handmades and a few more antiques. More on that later...

A Quick Glance At The Weekend Cottage

This week the Little and I, along with my Mom, made a trip to the Weekend Cottage in Clear Lake to pick up some items I wanted to include at the artisan market sale I participated in today (more on that tomorrow) and add a few items that I had recently got that I thought would be a nice addition.
The view from the door to our room. The pretty glassware and a nice collection of vintage apparel.

Just around the corner from the door - the kitchen area.

A Chippewa Natural Water glass bottle that I just added. I love it!

A great green Liberty tackle box in fabulous condition! Garage sale find on Thursday.

A lovely washstand with pieces of white pottery and other pretties.

A Polish box my mom picked for me at a garage sale on Thursday. A hard one to part with!

The book and linen corner.
I also added the feedsack quilt that I found at a garage sale a few weeks ago. I really hope it finds a good home!
It is in lovely condition!

Come back tomorrow for a recap on my new adventure - selling at the Goose Lake Winery Artisan & Farmer's Market where I sell both my handmades and some antiques.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Thrifting Update - May 1

This past week, on top of holding my own garage sale, I made it to three estate sales. One was FABULOUS! And I didn't get there until the second day. Half of a large pole shed - FULL! I walked away with some beautiful linens and a couple other nice little finds. The other two estate sales were on their final days but I still found some nice things - and all at 1/2 off. Not bad!

A stack of hankies and Washington D.C. scarf from the Pole Shed sale along with a great old book with a fabulous cover, one book end and a blue vase from a townhouse sale on it's final day. 

A Rosemeade swan planter, pink doll house furniture and vintage puzzles from the townhouse sale and a great taper candle mold from another sale (it cost a whole $1). 
A beautiful linen in near perfect condition from the pole shed sale.

My FAVORITE ITEM of the week. A clothespin apron with two adorable appliqued bluebirds on it!
It cost about $1.60. TOO COOL! (Found at the Pole Shed Sale).

A set of 4 great vintage napkins, a milk blass strawberry and a flowered towel from the pole shed sale and a bag of vintage sewing fasteners from the townhome sale. 
Fabulous pot holders from the Pole Shed Sale. I have found that washing them with a nice coat of baking soda and then letting them sit in the sun bleaches out a lot of stains they may have. I no longer let stains deter me from buying as I have had such good luck with baking soda and sun. 
My favorite pot holder. I just love the vintage feedsack used to make this. So much history in one little piece!

Planters from the pole shed sale. They were .50 each and I am going to fill them with hens and chicks and sell them at the market this weekend.