freshvintage

Big Sale at Chaumiere!

Sorry - this post is only for locals in the Philadelphia area...

Chaumiere, the store where my sister and I sell our vintage finds (formerly Vintage Home Annex), is having a HUGE Memorial Day Week sale. ALL of the vintage finds in our space upstairs are 30% off! No exceptions! And most of Kristen's antiques downstairs are also 30% off.

This Sunday, May 25th, is the last day that we will be selling our wares at the shop, so get there while you can!!  We've decided to concentrate on having more porch sales at my home and selling at antique markets, like Renninger's.

Never been to Chaumiere before? This is definitely a great time to visit. Check out the Chaumiere website for directions.  It is open 10-5 on Saturday and 10-4 on Sunday.

The family that eBays together...

The mermaid glasses that I talked about here are now for sale on eBay!

And, if you are in the market for a funky retro martini set (or just want a laugh), take a look at my Father-in-Law's latest eBay listing. Yes, I am his only daughter-in-law.

As I have mentioned previously on this blog, my in-laws are antiques dealers in Washington state. My father-in-law, Jim, recently started selling antiques on eBay. This created such an excess of fodder for my blog that I don't even know where to begin. He seems to use the titles of his auctions as a contest to see how FEW words he can use to describe the object he is selling. He had an auction for a beautiful green Moorcroft Pottery covered bowl with hibiscus flowers on it. The auction title can be up to 55 characters long. What does my father-in-law put in the title? "Moorcroft bowl".  Nothing about the flowers or the lid or the fact that it was in mint condition. But then he sold it for $94, so I guess I can't mock him too much.

A few months ago, Jim had an auction for an antique miner's candlestick, known as a "sticking tommy". The next day, another seller put up five of the same style of antique candlesticks for sale. 

So, my no-nonsense father-in-law saw that the "sticking tommy" market was now flooded, and proceeded to go to an auction of the other seller and click the "Ask this seller a question" link. He sent the seller a message that read, "You idiot! Haven't you ever heard of supply and demand?"

While I would have never sent another seller a message like that, I can see his frustration. For anyone who sells on eBay frequently, you would know that it isn't too smart to put on several items of the same style at the same time. Potential buyers assume that there are a lot of that item in the market, so they won't bid as high. That seller was essentially screwing himself out of higher bids.

And the seller's response was exactly what I would have predicted: "Who the F*CK do you think you are? You can't tell me what to sell!"

Auction Update, Finds & Vintage Home News

Here are the current stats on the Pommes Anna Pan auction:

Current bid: $71.02
Number of bids: 24
Number of watchers: 74

(Here's the original post about the pan.)

And now, on to my $54 worth of finds from this weekend...

Orange apron with green rick-rack and four wooden hangers:

Set of aqua Royal Traveller suitcases. They are pretty dirty, so I am going to give them a once-over with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser:

Vintage Cosco office chair with aqua vinyl seat. About an hour after I bought this, Erin called me from the Vintage Home Annex and told me that a customer bought the black one that I found last month. The same person also bought some suitcases from us. Eerie.

I got the next piece from an estate sale run by Sales by Helen. The last day of her sales are usually half-price, so I scrambled to the sale early this morning and swiped this up for a painfully low price. I had spotted a photo of it on her website last week, but I didn't think it would still be there on Sunday. Thank God for the snowstorm on Friday! This cabinet is mahogany and needs a little work. It is missing a few knobs and needs a new coat of paint.  If I was really adventurous, I would strip it. But I am entirely too lazy for that.

In other exciting news, Vintage Home has been featured on the Country Living website in editor-at-large Jane Dagmi's blog! Jane stopped by the store a few weeks ago and snapped some photos of the store. I'm so happy for Margie, Gloria and Leslie...it was so nice to see them get some recognition for all of their hard work. Unfortunately, Jane didn't get a chance to visit our space at the Vintage Home Annex (just a few doors down), but maybe she will be able to stop by when she is in the area again.

And in related news, the Annex is actually changing hands next week. It will no longer be run by the ladies from Vintage Home. Kristen, the former owner of Chaumiere in West Chester, PA is taking over the shop and bringing in her lovely antiques to sell on the first floor. We were so happy to hear that she is letting Erin and I keep our little space on the second floor. Thanks, Kristen! We're really grateful to Margie & Gloria from Vintage Home for taking a gamble with Erin and me (and for putting in a good word with Kristen). They taught us a lot about running a shop and selling antiques, and we will always appreciate their honest and friendly attitudes. Of course, they'll still be right down the street at Vintage Home, so we will keep in touch. We're sad to see Margie & Gloria go, but we are excited about this change...the Annex was only open on Sundays, but the new shop will be open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. That means we have to BUY MORE STUFF! I know, it is hard to believe that I would ever run out of stuff to sell. 

By the way, if you ever stop by the store, please let us know if you read the blog. Erin and I only work there a couple of Sundays a month, but we love to hear when someone reads the blog. Erin worked today and a few people mentioned that they read the WWJB post. Thankfully, they also mentioned that they laughed when they read it.

I have it on good authority that you will not go to hell if you laugh at that post. Go in peace.

Vintage Short

Here's a little peek into our new "Organize Vintage" corner in Vintage Home ANNEX.

Don't see the video? View it on YouTube (lower quality, but at least you can view it)!

Music courtesy of The Shins (Girl Inform Me).

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!

Vintage Home Annex

I mentioned in a previous post that the freshvintage sisters would soon have a new venue for selling our vintage finds. We are happy to announce that we will be one of the dealers in the Vintage Home Annex in Paoli, PA!

   

The story began when Sue from Vintage Rescue Squad came all the way from Virginia to visit us at Renninger's. She told us about a great store called Vintage Home that was only ten minutes from my workplace. How the hell did she know about this store and I didn't?? Anyway, I stopped by Vintage Home a few weeks later and chatted with two of the three owners. Sue was right - their shop was right up my alley. Lots of unique vintage goodies and painted furniture. It just so happened that they were looking for dealers for their new "annex", which is actually the former location of their store, just a half-block away.

Starting on Sunday, November 25th, stop by Vintage Home Annex to find our antiques, vintage kitchenware, toys, games, prints, suitcases, frames and just about everything else you've seen here. Erin and I will be working at the shop a couple of Sundays during December, so hopefully we'll get a chance to meet you if you stop by!

And to all of those readers in the U.S., have a Happy Thanksgiving! We will be spending Thanksgiving at my mother's house with my brother, three sisters and the brood of fifteen grandchildren. Eleven of those are ages five and under. It will be a loud day. We all might need a drink or two to drown out the screaming.

What a perfect segue to the "dishes" that I will be contributing to this year's dinner...the Apple Pie Martini and Pumpkin Pie Martini. Every year, we end up bringing too much food to my mom's. So, this year, I thought I would volunteer to be the barmaid instead of bringing another sidedish that ends up getting scooped into the trash when no one is looking.

Pumpkin Pie Martini
Mix 1 oz. Vanilla Vodka
1 oz. pumpkin liqueur
½ oz. Bailey’s Irish Cream
a splash butterscotch schnapps

Shake, then pour and sprinkle with ¼ tsp. pumpkin pie spice. For added effect, rim the glass with fresh lemon juice and crushed graham crackers.

Apple Pie Martini
1/2 oz Vanilla Vodka
1/2 oz Apple Liqueur or schnapps
1/2 oz butterscotch schnapps
1 dash cinnamon schnapps
Apple slices

Pour ingredients into cocktail shaker and add crushed ice. Shake vigorously. Strain into martini glass and garnish with apple slices.

Enjoy!!

No More Wire Hangers

I spent $48 for everything in this post. These items are from a couple of yard sales, a thrift store, and a little antiques shop that opened inside a local mushroom warehouse. Have I mentioned that I live in the Mushroom Capital of the World?  There are definite pros and cons to this. On hot summer days, the smell of compost can singe your nosehairs. Chris and I have often debated whether an odor was coming from Maeve's diaper or from the air that we were breathing. On the flip side, we can buy big fat portabello mushrooms at low, low prices.

On to my finds...

It's hard to tell from the photo, but the chippy white wicker hamper is about 30 inches high. The two black things with the glass shades appear to be some kind of primitive candle sconces. They are handmade, and the shades are made from a glass bottle that was cut in half.

Two hot babes in small gilded frames....

A couple of tablecloths...

Here's a pretty DeJonge print with an aqua background in an old frame. I'm keeping this one for myself.

Have you heard about these old wooden advertising hangers? They are hot!! A few people on eBay are selling lots of 20-25 of these hangers for $50-$90 per lot! Not bad, considering you can walk into ANY thrift shop and find tons of them. Just make sure that they have advertising on them. It seems that the hangers from big-city hotels are the best-sellers. I found these on the floor at a local thrift shop (the same one that sold me $500 worth of legos for $12). I asked how much they cost, and the lady told me that I could have them for nothing. My sister Erin found ten FREE hangers at her local thrift store and put $2 on each of them at Renninger's. They all sold. That was an easy twenty bucks!

I'm scheming to show up at Goodwill with a car full of plastic hangers, and ask the manager if I can replace all of their old yucky wooden hangers with my brand-spanking new plastic hangers. I'll tell him that I'm on a volunteer mission for the "Down with Ugly Wooden Hangers Society".

10 Best-Selling Vintage Finds

Here's a list of our biggest sellers at Renninger's in September:

1. Suitcases!
   The second most-asked question was "Do you have any suitcases"? (The first was "Is that really a bottle of champagne in your cooler"?)  The suitcases with the stripes went first. The next ones that went were the suitcases that had a funky lining fabric, like a plaid pattern or bright color.
    
2. Frames
   All sizes, shapes and colors.
    
3. Chenille bedspreads
   We sold all three of the colorful floral bedspreads that we had, and also a few of the solid color ones.
    
4. Painted furniture
   As I mentioned in a previous post, we sold all of the large pieces of painted furniture, including the white dresser and Erin's pink cupboard & green desk, as well as a 100-year-old white bookshelf with crown molding, my green chair and Erin's red chair.
    
5. Children's books
   Big sellers were Hardy boys, Nancy Drew, Bobbsey Twins, Troy Nesbitt series, and mini Disney comic books.
    
6. Floral handkerchiefs
   My sister Heather sold a ton of beautiful printed handkerchiefs. They were extras that she had leftover from her wedding a few years ago - she gave vintage handkerchiefs to the ladies as favors. So clever.
    
7. Christmas Ornaments
   Small glass balls and plastic santas were a big hit.
    
8. Children's toys
   Gone are the Brio train and Fisher Price Tiny Teddy pull-toy, Erin's giraffe pull-toy and my two dollhouses.
    
9. Manila tags
   These are the plain tags that came with the furniture tags in the eBay auction that I won in this post. The furniture tags all sold, but I didn't think the plain tags would sell. I created seven groups of 50 tags and tied each bundle with old seam binding. They all sold!
    
10. Iron farm equipment
    Heather brought a few HEAVY star-shaped blades - they would look great hanging on a wall.

Speaking of suitcases, I spotted a yard sale near my house on Sunday afternoon at 4pm. It is rare in my area to see a yard sale at that time on a Sunday. Anyway, I bought these five suitcases for two bucks! They aren't my most favorite style - I prefer the more boxy type with stripes or a tweed-type of pattern. But I just couldn't pass them up for that price. I didn't intend to buy the small blue one on the left. It was tucked inside one of the big suitcases.

Renninger's Recap, Part II

Here's me and my new BFF, vintagesue:

Sue & Colleen

She drove all the way from Washington DC to visit Renninger's on Friday and Saturday. And she even brought presents! We have so much in common, specifically our obsession with junking and our love for wine. Sue found some great deals at the show, including a few in our booth. She is starting a blog very soon, so I'm sure she will share her finds there. And I can guarantee that her blog is going to be super fun!

If you need a great morale booster at your next sale, I suggest that you hire Sue. She kept telling my sisters and I that our booth was great, and she pointed out the fact that so many people were lingering in our space. They just didn't want to leave! She is trying to convince us to join her and her sister in Round Top Texas next spring. It is very tempting. And I know that my antiquing mother-in-law, Mary, wants to go there...so maybe its time to start thinking about it.

Here are a few of our last-minute customers who swooped in and bought a bunch of bulky items that would never have fit in our SUVs. They saved the day!

Their devoted husbands miraculously fit an enormous amount of stuff in the back of their truck. Among many other things, they bought Erin's robins egg blue door, vintage convertible highchair, and wooden trunk. They even bought the Mantiques sign!

There was a rumor circulating that Country Home was there taking pictures of people buying antiques. I didn't hear about it until the very end of the show. And, boy, was I disappointed. If you are reading this, Country Home editors...I will gladly send you some high-resolution photos of my booth if you want to include them in your article about Renninger's!!

So, the bottom line...Would we do it again? The answer is yes, but we'd do some things differently next time.

1. Rent/borrow a truck so that we don't have to worry if whether everything is going to fit in our minivans/SUVs at the end of the show.
2. Pay for TWO spaces instead of one. We had waaaay too much stuff for our 20x25 space. Most dealers kept their car/truck in the space during the show. We didn't have room for that. That was prime real estate for us!
3. Be more prepared. We would buy more tarps, squeeze clamps (that aren't chip clips), stakes and a pop-up tent.
4. Bring more furniture. That's where we made most of our money. If we rent a truck next time, we'll have more space for furniture, which means more $$$ for us.

Also, we heard about a few other sales that would be great for us, including the Ocean Grove, NJ antiques market. Has anyone been there (as a dealer or a shopper)? I'd love to hear your experiences.

Oh, and about our brush with movie stardom...one of our wonderful customers bought a few children's books from us. On his way out of the booth, he spotted a vintage umbrella and said that he had to have it. He works for a movie production company and is responsible for props. The umbrella and books are for a movie that is being filmed as we speak! It took some gentle encouraging (we took him behind the corndog stand and beat him with the umbrella until he was bloody), but we eventually got the name of the movie from him. But we promised not to tell. A few hints wouldn't hurt, though, right? It takes place in the seventies and is based on a best-selling book. That's all I can say. Talk amongst yourselves.

Renninger's Recap

More good news..the weather held out and we didn't have to rent a cargo van to get everything home! My new friend Dona traveled two hours to bring us a pop-up tent on Friday morning after I mentioned in my last post that we didn't have a tent. It was a nice relief from the hot sun on Friday. Thanks, Dona!

Overall, we were very pleased with Renningers. I was happy with the amount of money we made, considering that almost everything we sold was priced below twenty bucks. It's all about volume with us. High volume of junk. Low, low prices. In fact, we saw many other dealers who had the same exact items for more than double the price. But then, this isn't our livelihood, so we can be a little generous with our prices.

The first day (Thursday) is commonly known as "dealer day". Shoppers paid $15 to enter the showgrounds, so they were mostly dealers trying to find the best pieces. It was a little hectic on Thursday because we basically dumped our bins and boxes and threw everything onto the tables. It wasn't until the second day that we really started to arrange things into vignettes.

Here was our "Mantiques" table. Erin made the sign. Do you see the blue thing on the table? We still couldn't find anyone who knew what it was! But, by the end of the last day, I was using it as a megaphone to obnoxiously attract more customers.

And here are some of our vintage toys. One of our customers bought that giraffe pull toy and a few other toys to decorate her house. She is a clothing designer for Baby Gap, so she is obviously inspired by kids' stuff!

The worst part of the whole experience was trying to cover our stuff each night with tarps. We were not sufficiently prepared. We didn't have enough tarps so we bought a huge one from the "tarp man" for fifty dollars. And then we didn't have anything to hold down the tarps to prevent the wind from blowing them off. On Wednesday morning, I told Erin to stop at Target to pick up some squeeze clamps to attach the tarps to the tables. What does she show up with? Chip clips. Works great for a bag of Baked Lays. Not so great for 40 mile-an-hour winds during a late-night thunderstorm. We ended up putting some of our heavier weather-resistant items on the tops and side of our tarps.

Erin & Heather

The strong winds were blowing just as we were leaving on Friday evening. Luckily, we had a very kind next-door-neighbor who attached some clamps to our tables after we left for the night. His name is Larry and in addition to being an antiques dealer, he is a professional storyteller. What a cool job, right? He kept us entertained with funny stories and magic tricks. He also gave us lots of advice on selling antiques & junk. Our neighbor on the other side was Ibrahima, a dealer of African antiques. He travels to the countries of western Africa several times a year and brings back African artifacts, like masks, musical instruments, beads, wooden spoons and whistles. We were lucky that we picked a space between these two men.

Ibrahima & Larry

I have so much more to share with you! In my next post, I'll tell you about our brush with movie stardom and my fun encounter with another blog reader.