Have I Told You

Have I told you that I am selling at my very first Vintage Market this Fall?  I started seeing things on Facebook about the "Farm-Fresh-Barn-Sale" that was going to be held in my area.  I "liked" it and was thinking it would be fun to go there and shop.  I mentioned it to my friend Lara, over at Pretty-Quirky so she could "like" it.  She decided that she would set up and sell some of her vintage wares.  She mentioned that maybe I should set up with her and sell some things.  I decided that I really didn't have time to get ready or to plan, or to hunt and gather things or to make things or to get ready in anyway, plus I have The Bean, The Breadman, my Mom and my Dad to worry over.  I really just didn't think I should so it.  I mentioned it to my Mom and she said, "You should do it."  So, what did I do?  Did I decide to set up with Lara like a sane person?  Oh, noooooooo...I decided to get my very own space and even request a BIG space.  What was in my brain that day, I wonder?

 A lot of the things I got last weekend will go to the Barn Sale.  In fact, this very picture was featured on the Fresh Barn Sale Facebook Page this week.

The sale isn't until the end of September, so in actuality, I have plenty of time to get ready.  I want to have a mix of vintage goods, ephemera and handmade items.   I sell quite a bit of Ephemera, so right now I am focusing on that aspect.

I jumped in on the jewelry making bandwagon.  I've been making glass tile pendants.  But, instead of scrapbooking paper, I have been making mine with vintage feedsack material.  I think they are very unique and each one is completely different.  I have been wearing a lot of them and I get a lot of compliments on them.  A couple of years I bought a huge baggie chock full of tiny scraps of old feedsacks and vintage quilting pieces.  I think they were for a postage stamp quilt, because each piece is only about an inch and a half square.   They make perfect pendants.  Each one has a silver bail and a ball bearing chain.  How much do you think I can price them?  I'm thinking $5.00 each.

I ordered a deck of playing cards with my header photo on them, punched a hole through the middle and hung the pendants on the cards, placed them in cellophane bags and taped them shut.  I'd show you a photo, but I already have them all packed away for the sale.  Doh!  Maybe someone out there could shoot me a photo of one "if" they get any Happy Mail from me this week........:)

I sell a lot of Scrabble Tile words in the booth that I pre-make on cards.  But, I can only think of so many words to make, so I want to just put out my bulk tiles and let people make their own words - like kid's names, last names, etc.  I bought a couple old muffin tins, painted them with chalkboard paint, put each letter in it's own muffin hole (?) and then wrote the letter in chalk above it.  (If you are doing the math, that's 24 holes and 26 letters, but I put X-Y-Z all in one hole.) I have hundreds and hundreds of Scrabble Tiles but I only have ONE "K".  If, by chance you sell Scrabble tiles and have a surplus of "K's" in your stash - let me know and maybe we could trade for them.  I sell a lot of ArKansas and RazorbacKs.  So, that takes a lot of "k's".

I put all of those neat old flash cards in individual cellophane sleeves and priced them individually.   I have tried framing a few, but the unframed ones seem to sell better since people want to put them in specific places with certain color themes.

I took that old unabridged dictionary apart page by page and made bundles of pages.  I tied each one up with Baker's Twine and priced them $2.00 a bundle.  I had a few other old dictionaries with great old patina on them, so I did that with them too.

Boy, this post would be better if I would have taken more photos before I packed it all away!

I want to set up a table with all my loose items - keys, chandelier crystals, dice, game tiles, skeleton keys, game pieces, milk  pogs, etc., in glass jars with scoops like a Candy Bar.  Price each item individually and have little sacks available to fill up.  Sounds good, but will I do it?

I have tons of things to sell, but I also have tons of things that I only want to use for display - like my old wooden ironing board, an old metal drying rack, vintage printers trays, etc.  I am hoping people won't wnt to try and buy MY STUFF all day long.  And, I HATE haggling.  So, I hope they don't haggle.  *Crossing fingers.

Since the sale is in September, I will take vintage Halloween and vintage Christmas too.  I want to make some wreaths and other unique things.  The things I tend to like aren't like the things that everyone else makes (those big mesh wreaths, painted furniture, etc.) so I want to be unique.  BUT!  Not so unique that no one "gets it".

So, what other ideas d you have for things I can sell?  What do you look for when you go to a vintage market place or flea market?  I will have a large mix of vintage, I just don't know what until it gets closer to the date.  I need to keep the booth stocked too.  I plan on ransacking the booth the seek before so I can clear some things out too.

Okay - what kind of ideas do you have for me??????