Gathering Dust

Antique Mall Booth Redo: Books & Silverplate

At a recent auction, I got a good deal on a set of books and big box of silverplate.  Even though I don't always do well selling silverplate, I went with the theory that a lot of anything makes a good display and decided to make them the basis of a redo of my booth at the antique mall.

I threw in a couple of doilies, an old candy box and propped the slide of a trombone up by the door of the cabinet and like how it turned out.  The tag for the trombone reads "Part of a trombone- but it's the BEST part".  

 
 
 I improvised a hat stand with some more of the books.

Another table has a collection of green, gold & creams.  It looks festive and Christmasy even though none of the items is specifically a Christmas decoration.

 
The mercury glass vases in the upper right of the picture are so pretty, but so fragile- thank goodness one sold today- and I don't have to worry about ME breaking it.

These are the French bed dolls left from the Miss Frenchie's show- I know, they're both a little spooky looking...

After finishing up my booth, I wandered over to Gwen and Teri's booth "French by Design"  and found these great architectural candleholders.

And I LOVE this idea- old and tattered French book pages bundled and displayed in a cloche.  You've heard me say it before- everything looks better under glass.

 
On a completely different subject, I found several of these really cool plate/bowl/book/picture stands at the estate sale of an antique dealer.  They're wide enough to fit a book or bowl and have the cutest details.  There's a cherub in front and a crown topped heart.  I'm keeping some to use for display in my antique booth, but also have some for sale in my NEW Etsy store Gathering Dust.

An Identity Crisis... and Friday Estate Sale Finds

 
 

I've been having an identity crisis.  I don't really have a name for my business.  My blog is technically called "Gathering Dust" and that's the name of my Ebay store, but my Etsy shop is "SugarPinkMoon", and when I sell antiques at a show, I'm just Beth.

When fellow Miss Frenchie's vendor Julie Reed volunteered to make booth signs and name tags for the Miss Frenchie's show, she asked what we wanted on our booth signs for business names.

Julie is Julie Reed of Vintage Finds & Fancies. 

 

Debbie is Debbie Dusenberry of Curious Sofa.  Carol is Carol Spinski of Raised in Cotton.   Karla is Karla Nathan of Karla's Cottage.  And so on and so on.  I was just Beth Leintz of.....I don't know, Beth of ...  Planet Earth.  So I decided to be Beth Leintz of Gathering Dust. 

So, I've opened a NEW Etsy shop, Gathering Dust.  And I've stocked it with some of my finds from Friday's estate sale finds.

 

The sales weren't great- but I did manage to find a few things, and they seem to follow a color pattern- golds, silvers & blacks.

 
Here's a peek at some of what I listed in my NEW Etsy Shop- Gathering Dust. 

 
 
 
Another Friday purchase. Early New Year's resolution- get those five to seven fruits and veggies every day.

Antique Shows- What's Hot, What's Not

 
"Antique shows- what's hot, what's not" is a pretty provocative title for a post.  Wouldn't we all like to know what's going to sell?  You just never can tell.

I don't have a picture of them, but my "prize" pieces for the Miss Frenchie's show were a pair of full size mercury glass vases.  I was wrong about my prize- hardly anyone even LOOKED at the vases.

 
 

I thought I had another prize in these dolls- I had four  French boudoir dolls  and brought three home with me.

What was hot?  The tiny leather bound Shakespeare books at the top of the post, strands of pearls, pretty spoons and bundles of lace.

These cardboard spools were popular- I displayed them in a large brandy snifter- and so were ledger books.

 
I sold a lot of bird prints, too- my low price on the spools and prints might have accounted for some of their popularity- they were only a dollar a piece.  I'm kind of a dollar store version of an antique booth.

Barbara Farmer had a beautiful booth, full of French furniture, Italian toleware and the tower of beaded fruit you can see on the table.

Towards the end of the sale, everyone was a little punchy and Gwen decided to start wearing the fruit.  She tried to convince other dealers to put on some fruit, but no one was interesting in pinning a banana or orange to their jacket.

 
Karla was seen wearing her new curtains that she was so tickled to buy from Joyce.

I know how she feels- when I was six and got "big girl" snow boots for Christmas, I wore them to bed.

We thought she was channeling Magnolia Pearl and suggested she wear a bird in hair.

I'm not sure that Robin Brown of Magnolia Pearl has ever actually had birds in her hair, I may be confusing her with another over the top style icon, Marie Antoinette.

Gwen liked this bird, but Karla didn't want to stand out too much, so she settled for the tiny wren (hidden in the lights) that's perched on top of her head. 

Miss Frenchie's Brocante: Bits & Pieces

 
 
I'm afraid my pictures don't give a very well rounded picture of the Miss Frenchie's Brocante Antique & Art show this past weekend.  I was so caught up in being at the show that I missed a lot of opportunities for capturing inspiration.

The first picture is from Joyce Gilpin's (All that Jazz) booth- she was right across from my spot, so I had a chance to get quite a few pictures.

 

Joyce does a great job of combining pastels, chippy painted pieces and darker colors for a romantic look that really works.

 I loved her captured doll head.

Cupids, cameos and jewelry boxes.

A glittery tray of Christmas cheer.

The pictures of I took of Carol's (Raised in Cotton) and  Linda's (Willow's Nest) booths turned out blurry.  I'm going to blame the chilly weather and my hands shaking for that.  Their areas were in the barn annex and it was kind of nippy- actually it was just downright cold- but the spaces they created were absolutely magical. 

Carol added some rich red to her usually neutral color palette. I think everyone was a little surprised to see her with red roses and red candles, it was a great combination- she has lots of inspiring pictures on her blog.

I do have a couple pictures of Linda's creations- but they just don't do justice to how she and her husband Ludmil transformed the barn.

  
Lesa Daily brought her wonderful glittered creations.

See the birds in the upper right hand corner and center table?  They sold out within the first hour of the show.

It was fun to see customers walking around with their birds in their arms like little babies.

Speaking of customers, it was wonderful to meet so many people that have shopped my booth at the antique mall, but I had never had a chance to meet.  A lot of people recognized my "She Wanted to Play" business card logo.

 
I only have a few pictures of my booth- and Karla took those.

The graininess in the picture isn't Karla's fault- I cropped a much larger picture down, so you couldn't see how my tableclothes didn't go all the way to the floor- I probably should have cropped out the fire extinguisher, too.

 
Remember my lampshade post?  I filled up the lampshade with sepia tags I made, and some other goodies, like metal numbers, chandelier crystals, skeleton keys, a baby's boot and some extra small cabinet cards.

  

I was a little shy about bringing in things I had made- I still have some of that "what if they think its stupid?" phobia- but I was just tickled that I sold a lot of my tags.

If you'd like to see more inspiring picture of the Miss Frenchie's show, check out Karla and  Carol's blogs.

In my next post, I'll show you some "outtakes" from the show- and tell you what sold and what didn't. 

Miss Frenchie's Antique & Art Show: This Weekend

 
I've been busy pricing and packing for the Miss Frenchie's Holiday Brocante art and antique show.  Here are some peeks at what I'm bringing.

 A lot of the usual suspects- lace and old photos.

 

I found a lot of these really small - 2" x 3" cabinet cards. They're just so CUTE.  I've used some with lace and I've turned others into ornaments by adding ribbon hangers.

  
Silverplate, lots of shades of white & cream, and pearls.

 

Up next- the not so fun part of a show- figuring out how many lights, lightbulbs, extension cords, power strips, tools and tablecloths I need to pack.  All part of the show....