Auf Wiedersehen

The first day of Vintage Home Annex went really well! Erin and I scrambled for three hours to turn this...

...into this:

We really packed a lot of stuff into our space. And it is a great space...with hardwood floors and bright lighting. The sloped ceiling is a little bit of a challenge, though. Anyone have any ideas for what to hang there or a way to spice it up?

We used a few Christmas aprons on a clothesline as a valance on the window...

Please let me know if anyone plans to go to the Annex, or has already been there. I would love to hear what you think! The owners, Margie & Gloria, are so nice and helpful. We really lucked out when we found this place!

So, on to my finds for this week. I found a couple of wooden caddies, an old metal desk lamp, a few aqua glass ornaments...

and a bunch of jingle bells, still in their original packaging.

At Goodeals in Delaware, I found this big package of unused Dennison Bulletin Board Aids. There are 11 farm-themed prints for a classroom. This is the store that marks items down 10% each week while the items remain in the store. And guess what? I found this package hiding behind a bunch of toys...and it was there for 10 weeks.

10 weeks * 10% off a week = 100% free!

Here are a few more things from my Saturday morning run to one yard sale, a thrift store, and a local holiday craft show where my blogging friends, Dona and Connie, were selling their vintage finds.

My favorite find is the tall arched window frame that looks like it was from a church. I also found a pair of child's Hohnberg skis with the bamboo poles, a sled, the antiques sign, two coal buckets, a wooden spool and the old christmas lights.

I am off to Heidelberg, Germany this week for work. If anyone has any tips on junk-shopping in Heidelberg, please share! My friends, Carla & Sei, just moved there with their two boys, so I've already tasked Carla with finding a few thrift stores for me to check out. She thinks I'm a little nuts. The real attraction is the Christmas Markets at this time of year. Maybe while everyone is drinking Gluhwein and eating their roasted chestnuts at the markets, I'll have the junk shops all to myself!

Comments

[vintagesue]

Guten abend, Colleen! Soooo glad to hear it went well, as I knew it would. Gluck (according to my dictionary that's Good Luck in German, but I'm suspicious) in Heidelberg at the flea markets. Never told you my mom's first language is German. If you need to know how to say "Oh my lord, I've sh@t my sunday shorts" just let me know.

XOX

[Rosemary]

Your annex looks great!!
All of your treasures look great as well. Wish I could visit.
Rosemary

[natty]

Hi there! I forget how I came upon your site but it wasn't too long ago. Unfortunately, I don't have any info on markets in Heidelberg - I only went to an interesting one in Berlin last time I was in Germany. I'd do a quick google search, first, but ricksteves.com has bulletin boards where people post info on flea markets all over Europe.

I'm green with envy that you will be hitting the Christmas markets, though! Pictures that I have seen are just stunning.

Hope you have a wonderful time!

[Ruthanne]

Hi there - that all looks great and like the new look of your blog too!

As for your ceiling - are you allowed to attatch anything? I was thinking of like a wooden clothes horse fixed up there so you could use the bars of it to hang hooks from and therefore create more display area... hope you get my meaning!

Have fun in Germany, can't wait to see what you pick up!

[Robin~Thrifty Miss Priss]

How awesome it will be to hit the thrift stores in Germany! Forget the Christmas market, take me STRAIGHT to the junk stores!
Love the new space - the aprons are cute in the window! Will the owner let you paint the sloped ceiling? (since you can't really put anything on the slope I think painting it a real "pop" color would add a lot!

[Dona]

So fun seeing you yesterday. The space at the Annex looks great. Can't wait to see it in person. Have fun in Germany.Find some great finds.

Dona

[Connie]

Will we soon see a line of European Freshvintage? The Annex looks great and I hope to stop by soon. It was nice to see you yesterday at the sale. Have a great time in Germany and I can't wait to hear of your adventures there.

[Kim]

Darn, you always find the greatest stuff!!! The space looked great!

[Wanda]

I love the free story! Love the cutouts. And I could use those aqua balls.

The space looks great.

How nice to get to go to Germany right now. Have fun!

[sondra]

The space turned out wonderfully! No suggestions for Heidelberg, except that German beer is yummy...so drink!!! You scored big this weekend. I'm loving EVERYTHING in the last pic!!!

[Laura]

The set-up is great and I hope you do well there. I love the aprons in the window...those aqua ornaments are a favorite.

[Cheryl]

I'm de-lurking to say: Lucky!! You get to go to Germany! Flea market in German is "floh markt". Look for hand written signs much like our yard sales, garage sale signs are here and follow them!! Too bad you won't be there in January, that starts the junking season where people just put discarded items curbside and everything is fair game!! I sooo miss it over there! Have a great time! Cheryl

[hoganfe]

Your annex looks awesome wish I could stop by !!
Mary

[hoganfe]

Your annex looks awesome - wish I could stop by!
Mary

[chrissysaia]

Wow, good luck with the annex. Paoli isn't far from my work, so maybe I'll stop by some time.

[Sue at Serendipity]

Hi! Love your blog which I just found today and envy your trip to Germany. In our shop that has similar sloped ceilings upstairs, one of the vendors displays her vintage metal signs and they look great. We've tried hard to find ways to work with those slopes so I'll be watching to see what you come up with!

[isuelt]

We love going to sales to find vintage stuff. Interesting stuff that brightens our lives. I love all the pictures of the cool stuff you've come across. We have used this site: http://www.local-deals.net to find sales locally and when we're traveling. I love being able to find sales.

[50s Pam]

Hi, Colleen. I am wondering if you'd like to also host the year-end Useless but Wonderful contest on your website. I'm thinking of asking some of the others on my blogroll as well. We could all take in entries and make it a collaborative thing. Let me know if you're interested.

Link to my post:

http://retrorenovation.com/2007/12/10/1st-annual-useless-but-wonderful-contest/

Take care, Pam

[50s Pam]

Hi, Colleen. I am wondering if you'd like to also host the year-end Useless but Wonderful contest on your website. I'm thinking of asking some of the others on my blogroll as well. We could all take in entries and make it a collaborative thing. Let me know if you're interested.

Link to my post:

http://retrorenovation.com/2007/12/10/1st-annual-useless-but-wonderful-contest/

Take care, Pam