Two Besties at the Antique Fair

This weekend my town hosted vendors from all over the Midwest for a huge antique and artisan fair. My best friend Tanya and I had been psyching each other up about this for so many weeks that we were sure we had set ourselves up for a major let down. Regardless, we embraced the high hopes we constructed, knowing they could easily be crushed and we might walk away from the event empty handed. We started out day with coffee and a whole lotta' hype.

Thankfully, we were not disappointed. As soon as we arrived, here is what we saw...

Our first purchases were vintage wood block letters and symbols. The vendor had acquired them from the owner of printing company that had gone out of business decades ago. Apparently, the owner had kept all the inventory until just recently when he sold everything. The vendor knew what a gold mine he had and did not have them priced at a bargain rate by any means. Otherwise we would've bought more. I debated getting initials or favorite words but was drawn to the unique punctuation marks. (See the first pic of this post.)  I love how punctuation marks are being used in design lately. They somehow speak for themselves.

If that antique abacus was a little lot cheaper, I would've loved to have it in my classroom.

This is from one of my favorite shops here in town, Funtiques. The owner had a booth at the fair. Vintage tulip table + chairs for $345. Quite the steal. Too bad I wouldn't be the one "stealing" them that day.

Had our pockets been lined a little thicker, we might have been able to walk away with some of these gems...



Bronze bust from the 1920's. Beautiful.



I loved this vintage toy bowling set, but couldn't see dropping $150 for it.

Then came the buy of the YEAR...A gorgeous green velvet chair with original upholstery for a mere $35. We saw it from across the room, locked our gaze, and sprinted toward the little green beauty. When we saw the price tag, we lost it and literally began shrieking with joy. We knew one of us would be taking it home. Seeing as how I have a "graveyard" of antique chairs still waiting to find a place in our home and Tanya needed an office chair, it was rightfully hers for the taking. The upholstery is in STELLAR condition as is the construction of the chair. 

 

 

At the end of the day, here's what we walked away with. I have big plans for the bust I found. I'm thinking high-gloss spray paint in a bold color. More on that later. What was your best flea market/antique fair find?