flea market finds.. high waist velvet trousers and lace maxi dresses

Polka Dot Floral Turtleneck - Urban Outfitters (from forever ago)

Long Chiffon Skirt - American Apparel

Vintage Leather Belt, Leather Satchel - Thrifted

Reddish Brown Leather Loafers - Ashley's Etsy shop

Recently, I hit up the flea market with my in laws - and it was a success. Rarely do I find a super amount of affordable clothing.. while I might find a dress or two, I don't usually leave the flea market with bags and bags of things. This time was different.

While shopping, I ran into lovely Carmen and another well-dressed girl (that was kind enough to let me take her photo - don't you love her felted wool hat?), so I wanted to share their pretty autumnal outfits! Did I mention it was perfect out? If only I could say the same for today.. it's freezing. Our heat hasn't kicked on in our house yet, and I'm currently layered up with multiple sweatshirts and pairs of socks.

Below are my finds! (I also bought the purple sweater with the lace peter pan collar, above, and a safari style cream silk shirt from the 1990s.)

The cotton red cape is from the 1920s, and I've never owned anything like it. The red velvet circle skirt, tapestry dress, and lace blouse have been put in the shop, and a couple more pieces will be in my holiday lookbook later this month. Still deliberating on what to keep and what to let go.

And out of all of my clothing finds, my favorites are the emerald velvet trousers and the black lace maxi dress (!!!), although the sheer chiffon skirt is pretty lovely.

Happy weekend! I'm headed to the Art Crawl with some coworkers tomorrow night.. any weekend plans for you all?

a handmade outfit and crafty flea market finds

White Blouse, Liberty Print Shorts - Handmade!

Black Wood Wedge Heels - Crafty Crow Vintage

Here are my last two projects together! A spring outfit. I had a tough choice between tights or no tights, and truth be told, it was super hot today so black tights were foolish. But I really like the overall look.

I also lucked out and had a chance to go to the flea market with my friend Colleen today. She was on the lookout for furniture for her new apartment, and I searched for vintage picture frames. While I didn't end up with any frames, I did find all sorts of crafting supplies like mint green lace, red pom pom trim (any good ideas for it?), clear plastic buttons, and lots of great old patterns. I also bought vintage lace bloomers (strange, after my recent bloomer obsession, to actually finally find some) and a pretty 1970's white dress with eyelet trim and pink ribbon. Oh, I love my finds.

I also drank coffee and ate an awesome hot dog.

Shop update tomorrow.. starting the week off right. And for all you giveaway lovers, Vanessa is hosting a lovely one right now!

flea market finds.. old man glasses and lace

Lauren and I hit up the flea market last weekend, and this is what I found! Lace, a pre-loved Raggedy Ann chalkboard (for three dollars!), a vintage Dooney and Burke leather bag, vintage man glasses, and a miniature stamp.

Now, the Dooney and Bourke purse is not for me. It'll be in the shop next week. But it is lovely! And I've wanted a pair of thick rimmed glasses ever since my sister wore them sometime in the past. Oh, men's glasses! They remind me of my grandpa Edward.

Stashed away in a pile of things was this little family stamp. It's so perfectly detailed, so I started thinking up ways to add it to my shop tags.

You always meet interesting people at the flea market. I had the chance to talk to a man who had a booth of 1930's and 40's pieces, from old sunglasses to WWII bomber jackets. He actually supplies films with a lot of vintage wardrobes, the latest being Public Enemies. Another man I met puts together estate sales around Nashville that Karen Elson frequents, and he told me about his next one in March! Oh, to shop where Karen Elson shops.. and actually be able to afford things.

Peanut butter, jelly, and Bioshock 2 time.

what I found at the flea market

This past weekend's Tennessee flea market was one of my absolute favorites. It was filled with interesting booths and even more interesting people (I had a long talk with a musician who played with Lawrence Welk and Jackie Gleason, met Ella Fitzgerald, and dated Dinah Shore.. and is now selling a book about it). The whole place was filled with stories.

(I'm drinking a homemade eggnog latte right now. That's got to be breaking some pre-Halloween rules. I had to say that.)

Here are my flea market finds from this weekend!

Vintage tree ornaments in pretty shades.

Wonderful old sheet music (I'm an Edith Piaf champ now), a cute child's bow tie, and the BEST deadstock 80's heels (courtesy of Aria's booth).. they were exactly what I was looking for in a heel, they fit me perfectly, and I'm loving them already.

Two vintage dresses - both not my size, sadly, which means they're hitting the shop on Monday. The 50's cocktail dress has glorious velvet trim, and the gingham jumper dress is deadstock.

Tons and tons of lace. And vintage velvet ribbon! I know my next crafting project.. I'm going to use that baby blue lace trim in the back of the photo, find a black velvet dress at the thrift store, throw some elastic in, and make a tiered lace trimmed skirt with it.

Here is my new fur cape I mentioned in my last post! My mother in law Nancy bought it for me, and I'm so thankful.. it's exactly what I wanted. I think it's from the 30's or 40's. A rough old woman with the greatest Eastern European accent sold it to us, saying that she found it at an Indiana estate sale. The woman who had owned it also had a seal fur that was custom made for her, and this was another custom fur (although I'm an idiot when it comes to furs and I have absolutely no idea what animal it came from). I feel like Lauren Bacall when I wear it.

I also found a fantastic Brownie Starflex camera with a flash and film still inside! It's sitting above our White Stripes poster on the wall.. which puts our vintage camera collection number at three.

Time to get into the Halloween mood and watch some cheesy vampire movies!

a loss in the family and flea market finds

First, thank you for all of your prayers, concerns, comments, and thoughts about my father-in-law! We visited him and were surprised at how healthy and energetic he seemed - he was himself, 100%. What a blessing! The doctors still haven't figured out what caused the hemorrhage.. but it doesn't look serious, and it isn't stroke-related. They would still like to keep him for a few more days to run more tests, though.

Yesterday started off really well. On our way to visit Doug in St Louis, we made a stop at the Tennessee Flea Market and after finding booth after booth of socks (yes. just cheap, white socks) and medicine bins, we got to Shed 4 - which had a lot of great stuff. 

(My outfit is comprised of a headband my sister made me, as well as thrifted gifts - including the high waist skirt from a college friend - one of my favorites. It was originally a beautiful ivory color until I spilled chocolate on it and had to dye it something different! I like the salmon pink now.)

The absolute highlight of the flea market was a vintage clothing booth run by this lovely lady, Aria (blog here!). Wow, her stuff was just what I was looking for.. well priced and lots to choose from (including these adorable Italian heels, size 4.. if only my feet were a little bit smaller).

Keep an eye out for Aria, she has plans to start a vintage store in the Nashville area soon! 

I picked up several purses (eel skin clutch, bohemian bags) as well as belts and a couple dresses.. I also found this great orange terry jumper from Aria's booth which (of course) I wanted to wear right away.

We also found an old Brownie Hawkeye Flash camera from the 1950s at a different booth.. it is beautiful. We intend on using it for decoration but if we can get our hands on some film, we might put it to good use! I recently looked up some photos taken with our camera model and the prints have a great vintage look to them.

Yesterday took a turn for the worse when I found out my dog Scarlet died. She's been in our family for 14 years now and while we knew it would happen just because she was getting older and had arthritic problems, it didn't make the death any easier. Coming back from our trip, the house feels a bit empty.. I keep expecting the sound of her nails on the hardwood floors, but it's quiet.

It was hard to visit Doug while feeling sad about Scarlet. He is having serious health problems, so why should I bother Neil's family about my dog? I felt it was important to keep my sadness in, which of course just made me feel even more isolated. Keeping your emotions in is a terrible idea and I learned my lesson. Humans aren't programmed to solve problems on their own.

Now that it's been a day, it feels a little better, although it'll take awhile for it to be real to me. It also helps talking to my parents and Neil about it, and also that my sisters are coming to Tennessee this week. Having everyone home will definitely make things easier! We can reminisce about growing up with Scarlet and maybe even dig up some old family videos.