Magpie Ethel

My Tenth Trip to Farm Chicks

My Mom and I have now made the trip to Farm Chicks ten years in a row.  This was another great year.  I am never disappointed in this show.  Not only do I enjoy all the shopping, but it is a chance to reconnect with friends and meet new ones.  Really truly one of my favorite weekends out of the year.

Every year we get to the show early and stand in line.  I love the now familiar sight of the silo with the Farm Chicks banner (it is hung each year).  The time spent goes really fast in line as I catch up with friends (this year it was Erica, Jeanette and Gayle (vintagesister76, rusticmint and vintagebitsbycherrypit on Instagram). When the show finally opens shoppers are always greeted with some wonderful display.

There is always Farm Chicks merchandise.

The vendors at the show really truly do their best with displays.  Half the fun of this show is seeing how they put junk together.

I think one of the most popular items at the show was thermoses.  I saw gazillions of them.  I mean gazillions, in various sizes.

I should have taken more photos, but I get busy shopping!

My Mom and I get the weekend pass and shop all day on Saturday and then return Sunday.  Many of the vendors have restocked or their booths have been tweaked,  so I always find a few more things on Sunday.  After a couple of hours of shopping we hit the road home.

Another Farm Chicks show come and gone.  If you are curious what I bought this year you can read about it here. What a totally fun weekend and can't wait for next year!

My Tenth Trip to Farm Chicks

My Mom and I have now made the trip to Farm Chicks ten years in a row.  This was another great year.  I am never disappointed in this show.  Not only do I enjoy all the shopping, but it is a chance to reconnect with friends and meet new ones.  Really truly one of my favorite weekends out of the year.

Every year we get to the show early and stand in line.  I love the now familiar sight of the silo with the Farm Chicks banner (it is hung each year).  The time spent goes really fast in line as I catch up with friends (this year it was Erica, Jeanette and Gayle (vintagesister76, rusticmint and vintagebitsbycherrypit on Instagram). When the show finally opens shoppers are always greeted with some wonderful display.

There is always Farm Chicks merchandise.

The vendors at the show really truly do their best with displays.  Half the fun of this show is seeing how they put junk together.

I think one of the most popular items at the show was thermoses.  I saw gazillions of them.  I mean gazillions, in various sizes.

I should have taken more photos, but I get busy shopping!

My Mom and I get the weekend pass and shop all day on Saturday and then return Sunday.  Many of the vendors have restocked or their booths have been tweaked,  so I always find a few more things on Sunday.  After a couple of hours of shopping we hit the road home.

Another Farm Chicks show come and gone.  If you are curious what I bought this year you can read about it here. What a totally fun weekend and can't wait for next year!

Farm Chicks 2016...The Loot

Oh, this was a a good year for shopping at Farm Chicks.  With the beach house a reality now, I was on the hunt for goodies for that.  I bought bigger and spent more than my usual budget.  It was GOOD. 

I found one item in particular that just had to come home with me.  She is just too perfect for the beach house.  She is a full size swim mannequin.  The woman I bought it from used to work at Meier and Frank in Salem. She had a friend who was a store display person and that woman got it from the store and had it for years.  It came with the suit and swim cap.  I hope to suspend her from a wall or the ceiling.  How cool is she?

Here is rest of what I bought.  It was hard to get a photo of my stuff, since it wasn't just the usual small stuff. The sign just made me laugh.  LAZY.  I am anything but lazy, but hoping the beach house will bring some lazy days into my life.  It will hang at the beach house.  Perfect.

This chair is for the beach house too.  I am in love with the inset floral design. I've seen many vinyl chair, but never one like this.

The deal breaker was that it is a rocker! I've never seen another like it.

Lots of my usual smalls.  Many beach house bound. I love this little chalkware sailor and the little ship shelf.

Even though I am done with most of my Fourth of July crafting (I list it tomorrow), I still hoard and collect patriotic crafting goodies year round.  I am always thrilled to find these Made in Japan vintage silk flags. The little black price tags will be used for crafting too.  The orange curlers were just too funny...Halloween crafting of some sort.

Lots of interesting littles.  A child's birthday invite for my collection.  These metal morning glory forms are awesome.  My friend Nancy, of Fun Junk found them at Brimfield and had them for sale.  I am going to make a bouquet with them.

 I even found a fun metal vase to use for the bouquet. I'm about to put my Fourth of July decorations out so this little flag plaque will be included this year.

Some fun pillows for the couch at the beach house.  (couch is still on order)  I love the ball shaped pillow.  The grass seed bag will be made into something.

I got a pair of end tables for the beach house (only one made it into this shot).  I like the shelves and the back has a pocket for magazines or newspapers.  They are the perfect color, so I don't think I need to even repaint them. There is not much Christmas at Farm Chicks since it is a June show.  I did find a vintage angel tree topper that needs a trip to my studio.
I also got really lucky and scored FOUR aluminum wall mounting Christmas trees in the original boxes.  They are complete with the branches and the paper sleeves inside. 
I have a love affair with these homemade crescent shelves.  This one is cute with the little balcony. I might do a wall of them at the beach house...still debating.

I was on the hunt for a corner shelf as I have a plan in mind at the beach house.  I was lucky to find one I think is pretty perfect...it just needs some paint. The next three photos all are sitting on the shelves.

It is hard to pass up deer shaped buttons on the original card.

This silly whale was my $1 find.  I like the groovy look to it, but it was really poorly painted and the green eye and blue teeth just had to go.  It will be a mindless painting project and I think she will be much happier after it.

It really was some fun shopping. My Mom shopped both days with me and carried around many of my purchases.  It was like having an assistant! (thanks Mom).  
I'll have a post up soon on the show itself. Another fun Farm Chicks show come and gone!

Farm Chicks 2015...The Loot

Farm Chicks was good to me.  I never seem to buy big things like pieces of furniture (my house is so full), but gravitate towards littles.  These treasures were found at the show and also junking while driving to and from the Farm Chicks.

How could I not buy the cutest little nut cups ever?  These squirrels are darling and I love the fringe detail.

I think this is the luckiest I have ever been at Farm Chicks with spun head finds.  The little graduation heads are tiny and love the eyelashes. Deer frolicked into my path.

A tiny beaded couple. A super Haeger vase in a great pink color. It is currently on my dining room table full of hydrangeas from my yard.

Lots of littles for crafting. One of my favorite finds.  EGADS..this would have made that swoon worthy post I did last week.  A crepe paper bride and groom and 3 bridesmaids. 
Look at those curls.

A cute little duck candy tin and a pie plate for my collection.
Another crazy find was this #7.  It was a grocery aisle sign.  My lucky numbers are 7 or 3.
A doll for crafting and a bunch of chenille storks.
A pair of sunflower wall pockets and a Farm Chicks shopping bag. 
A swim cap for my collection. This one has little fish frolicking about on it.

Here I am!  I am not sure what this mirror was originally from. It has a white enamel back and sides. I have a couple of funky enamel framed mirrors that I will display together someday...I need a couple more. I wear vintage clothes occasionally and could not pass up this sweater.  Love the colors and the sprinkling of flowers.
Some fun vintage curtain fabric.  Note the darling deer and the rabbit skipping rope.
The last two items are for my "someday beach house". I could not resist this little seafood cocktail set in the original box.

Adorable little shell shaped plates.
This last find is one of my favorites.  I was in a booth and saw this box. GIANT INFLATED TOY?
Then I saw this on the side.
The seahorse was inside and neatly folded. I don't think it had ever been used. I  bought it and when I got it home I blew it up.
What a fun show and fun finds!  Until next year Farm Chicks...

 

 

 

Farm Chicks 2015

Once again my Mom and I made our annual trip to Farm Chicks.  This was our ninth year hitting the show and once again it did not disappoint.  The show is full of vintage stuff, but it is much more than that too...it is a time when I see friends and it feels like a party and reunion of sorts each year. 

There is always a long line waiting to get in. Once the doors open it moves quickly.  This year I stood in line with my Mom and Erica (Pyrex Sister).  Each year when you walk in the door Serena (the woman behind Farm Chicks) has a great display to greet shoppers. We always wonder what she will come up with. This year this tree house fit into her camping theme. It was darling.

The show was really crowded when it opened.  In some spots it was hard to navigate there were so many people. The booths were full of eye candy as usual.  The show is held in the fairgrounds so the ceilings are high and vendors can really go up with their displays.

Great vendor with the funnest chairs covered in a mix of fabrics.
This booth had the market on oversized letters.

It was fun to see the mix of so many things.  
 

Very clever display with the chalkboard and the frames drawn on it for emphasis. This was a coin operated horse that this little girl was actually riding.

The linen/tablecloth booth is huge and has piles of tablecloths, quilts etc. Amy always hits it.  When I walked by it after opening it was a flurry of women rummaging through the piles.

My Mom and I usually take a lunch break and leave the show.  We shop Spokane a bit and eat lunch.  When we returned later in the afternoon the crowds had dispersed..the linen booth was much tamer.

We shopped the show from 9 a.m. till about 5. We left for a bit, but my Mom and I really hit the show hard.

I really loved the CAKE WALK sign. When I was a kid I would win every cake walk i entered.

I was tickled that this plastic hen and chicks was being sold with the original box.  I love stuff like this that is saved.

Such a great show.  So fun to see friends and meet blogland and IG folks (hello Syd and Emilie..hope I got that right).  So fun.  Until next year.

Post coming hopefully tomorrow my finds. I found some REALLY great stuff!

 

Farm Chicks. What Came Home With Me

I found some fun stuff at the Farm Chicks show this year.  I never go to a show expecting to come home with a full car of stuff. I am spoiled by estate sales and their prices.  A show is a vacation for me...the stuff I find are my souvenirs of that event.

I found a swim cap for my collection...for my "someday" beach house.  It is cute as it has a bow on the top.

And of course I found other stuff.

The F L A G letters have already become part of my Fourth of July display this year.
I cleared out one vendor when I bought 18 kewpie dolls. They will be crafted with.

A vintage plastic deer and two pink ceramic deer.

This is the same type of snowman head that I found in Round Top last year.  There are two of them...one inside the other.
A bag of pink honeycomb umbrellas and a church pamphlet container (I liked the graphics...Coming Soon!  I am not of the Penecostal Evangal faith).
A big red, white and blue welcome sign.  It is already part of my Fourth of July display. The old horn is weathered and I am not exactly sure where it will end up.

A chippy red and white can opener that I thought would be a fun flag holder.  I really had patriotic red, white and blue on my mind as I shopped. The plastic bird is red on one side and blue on the other. The bugle call book will find a home with my Fourth of July stuff as well.  The cricket box I just thought was quirky and would be fun to work into some sort of display.
Silly purchase, but this waxed dixie cup is a bait container with fun graphics.
I love the cover on this old record.  Hoping to hang it on the wall of my "someday" beach house.
There were 7 yards of this fun trim that came home with me. I know I will find some project for it.

A few puzzle pieces.

Last but not least this great Stanley Tools safety sign.
It is two sided and I have the perfect spot to hang it in my family room.  It will be outside of Tom's workshop.

Fun shopping and quirky finds.  I sure enjoy the Farm Chicks show. I just never know what will come home with me.

 

Farm Chicks Weekend, The Show

My mom and I made our annual visit to Farm Chicks this past weekend.  This is our eighth year and each year is a bit different...but so much fun!

It is about a five and half hour drive from Portland to Spokane, WA. We leave on Friday and spend Friday and Saturday night in Spokane.  Saturday a.m. we were in line for the show at about 7:45.  The show opens at 9.  The wait never bothers my Mom and I as we tend to gab with the people around us. The wait goes quickly.  We were about 150 people from the front of the line. By the time the show opened there were probably at least another 400 people behind us.

The show is very crowded when it first opens.  I love the displays and there are plenty of vendors to shop.  Here is a little bit of what I saw. This is a long post...

Despite the fact that my Mom and I were one of the first shoppers in this aisle this Christmas sign had a SOLD sign on it.  (I think it probably sold to another vendor) I would have so bought it.


This clever string of lights was made from old snocone cups!




Despite all the big eye catching displays, my eyes still found the little details and finds that I love so much.

The graphics on this tiny bow leg clothespin box.

Tiny swans a swimming.

I have mentioned in earlier posts that I started doing Instagram recently. Farm Chicks had a great thing going with Photoboxx this year. When you posted to Instagram about the show you hashtagged your photos with #thefarmchicks.  There was an area of the show where Photoboxx had printers and they would output your photos that you had posted. Here is one of my photos printing out.

A bunch of tiny souvenirs and a brilliant idea.
So much fun stuff to see.  We shopped the whole day at the show.  We did leave for a couple of hours for lunch and to hit a few vintage shops in Spokane.
In addition to the great show, I always see a ton of people I know.  Amy and Pam also came to the show and we had dinner together on Friday night at my favorite restaurant Chaps. 

The owner, Celeste is an amazing woman and I love seeing her every year.  I also got to meet a blog reader (hello Michelle) which is always a treat.
I love Chaps so much we ate there for breakfast as well. I ALWAYS have the baked oatmeal.

Fortified with oatmeal we headed to the show for one more round before we headed out of town. Vendors restock and rearrange so one more visit it worth it.

A wonderful weekend.  My Mom and I had a great time.  Here we are at the display that greeted shoppers as they entered the show.  (There is always some fun display each year that we are always eager to see)

Until next year...

Post coming on my finds tomorrow.

 

 

My Favorite Road Trip

My Mom and I are road tripping up to Spokane, Washington for Farm Chicks.  This is our eighth year heading to the show and I could not be more excited! I look forward to this time with my Mom every year.  The show is amazing, I see tons of friends and I get to eat a bowl of my favorite oatmeal at Chaps!

Post will be coming upon my return. Happy day!

Farm Chicks 2013, My Finds

Fun finds at Farm Chicks!  A child size suitcase with little girl graphic, a metal trash can and a galvanized blade from a windmill. The suitcase will be used for studio storage.  The windmill blade will find a spot in my yard.I was happy to find the little metal trash can.  Here in Portland, Oregon we have a composting program for kitchen scraps. The city provided plastic compost buckets are UGLY.  I will use the trash can for our compost (I use a biodegradable bag to line it).  The can also has a metal pullout liner and a foot opener pedal so it is perfect.

There was very little vintage Christmas at the show so I was pleased to find this old cardboard fireplace. I have one similar to it, so this one may end up at one of my Christmas sales. A vintage deer and the tiniest ear warmers for a child. I need to find a bust for the ear warmers to decorate. A few spun heads and some old Rexall drug signage.
A nifty child size toy washer.

Hello, said the celluloid head. A Farm Chicks mug and tote. A long metal drawer that will be re-purposed as a display frame.  Right now it holds one of my best finds - an assortment of Irwin toy dead stock from the 1930s-50s.  They will be great for some Easter fun!

An old push card with super red, white and blue colors.  I liked the names that it had on each push dot. 

If I was in baby mode I would use the names on this card for baby naming. There are some old fashioned classics...Agnes, Belle, Bernice, Blanche, Blossom, ETHEL, Daisy. (I am not in baby mode)

I did not get a ton at the show. It was interesting to see what was for sale though. It is also crazy to see some of the things people buy!  I will be sporting my Farm Chicks t-shirt with this darling graphic. Already looking forward to 2014!

 

Farm Chicks 2013, The Show.

This is the seventh year that I have gone to the Farm Chicks show with my Mom. Once again it did not disappoint and it was a gloriously fun weekend.  It is held at the fairgrounds in Spokane, Washington and I always get giddy when I see the sign on the silo each year!

This year it was sunny while waiting in line! We got there two hours early for a 9 a.m. opening.  The line went waaaayyy back and then zigged to the left.  It was long!  I knew that Erica and her friend Rachel from Pyrex Thrifting Sisters were coming this year.   We had been emailing and texting back and forth about the event.  She and I pulled into the parking lot at EXACTLY the same time so we got to stand in line together and visit. (Let me also add that I ran into her almost a comical amount during the course of the weekend...at breakfast, at a farm stand on the drive home etc. etc.)

I had my entry bracelet and was ready to go once the doors opened.
Serena always does a fun display when you walk in the door.  I look forward to it every year.  This year she had an old car with a vintage foraged woodsy look.

Lots of moss and antlers.  Old wooden crates with great graphics. The Farm Chicks always have fun stuff for sale.  Coffee mugs, t-shirts, bumper stickers, books etc.

The show did not disappoint in eye candy displays.  I always love the displays with fresh plants or flowers.

Like a touch of patriotism with the Fourth of July around the corner.

This collection wants me to collect vintage crochet hangers.

One vendor had chair after chair upholstered in a mix of great fabrics.

Davy, Davy Crockett!

If I needed a set of doors I would have bought this set from an old grocery store with great graphics across the bottom.  I do not need doors.

Here is one of my Erica sightings during the show.  Digging through a huge pile of linens (she is smiling and has one on her arm). She did not know I was watching her...heh, heh, heh!

A bar made from an old car.

We hit it again on Sunday. We went to my favorite breakfast spot Chaps for the best oatmeal (saw Erica here too).

New entry bracelet for Sunday with another fun saying.

My mom and I shopped a bit more since some dealers had restocked.  Finds coming later this week in another post.  What a great weekend!