An Exciting Announcement!

We love creative collaborations...and it doesn't get much more creative than this! I are so happy to announce that Old Glory Antiques will be working with The Makerie again this year! Ali, the creative genius behind this retreat, is great to work with and we are so lucky to know such a great lady. She has a wonderful perspective on creativity, on business, and on life in general and I am constantly inspired by everything she does. 

The Makerie is a weekend retreat in beautiful Boulder, Colorado designed to nurture everyone's creative side and give participants a weekend to recharge, be inspired, and just simply create. I attended last year and loved every second of it! The classes offered this year range from crochet to letterpress to block printing (and more!) and are taught by wonderful teachers from across the country. From the warm sense of community you feel from the minute you arrive, to the delicious food, to the beautiful scenery all around, this retreat is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. (I love this beautiful video about last year's event!)

This year, Ali has created a second retreat the weekend after the Makerie, the Makerie Sewing! The workshops all sound so interesting and inspiring, and they are taught by well-known and endlessly talented and creative teachers from all across the country. Old Glory Antiques will be funding a scholarship and travel costs for one lucky person to the Makerie Sewing. More details will be coming soon.

We are so proud of Ali for turning this event into such a successful, inspiring, and now multi-dimensional retreat!  And we can't wait to continue to collaborate with her. Visit the website & the Makerie blog for more information and to sign up before the classes fill up! And be sure and "like" the Makerie Facebook page for updates!

(all photos taken from the Makerie's Facebook page)

Fall is Coming!

Our favorite time of year is approaching! I love fall--the chilly mornings, crisp days, changing leaves, and colorful pumpkins are just a few of the things that make it so great. And another favorite part is getting the shop ready for the new season! I love refreshing and redecorating for autumn, a season of beautiful colors, rich textures, and endless inspiration for bringing outside in. I thought I would share with you some of our ever-growing and changing collections of found & favorite things for fall.

The warm, rich, beautiful colors of the changing leaves outside provide wonderful inspiration to make the shop--and our homes--feel warm and inviting. We love anything rusty...these rusty flowers add an unexpected touch of whimsy to a room, while these rusty pieces of furniture and baskets add interest and warmth to any room!

And of course pumpkins are a huge part of fall, both inside and outside. They taste delicious, and they make wonderful additions to table decorations, countertop arrangements, tablescapes, and just about anywhere else in the house. We will be getting our first load soon! Pumpkins and gourds are always one of our favorite things to unpack and display around the store. The different colors and textures provide endless decorating possibilities! 

With the days getting colder, I can't wait to cozy up inside...the texture and colors of these rugs add that cozy touch of fall! We have a wonderful selection of both cotton and wool rugs. 

And we just unpacked these wonderful new candles that smell just like our favorite coffee and tea flavors! Fall is the perfect time to decorate with things that create an inviting sensory experience of warmth and coziness. 

And come in and grab a scoop (or two or three!) of our scented pumpkin pods! They smell wonderful--the perfect combination of spice & pumpkin sweetness--and can add even more festiveness, pops of color, and texture to any room.

And wicker baskets like this one are the perfect addition to make any room feel warm and cozy and organized. The texture and color echo the season outside...and they are great for storing blankets, toys, books, and just about anything else!

What I love most about this season are the family traditions and celebrations, the ones that have been around since my children were young and the many new ones that we start each year. From picking out pumpkins and carving them with funny faces, to trick-or-treating and dressing my boys in matching Ninja Turtle costumes, to simple Sunday night family dinners with a seemingly endless supply of squash and pumpkin, I love everything about this time of year! 

We can't wait for you to come in and celebrate the new season with us. We are constantly adding to and changing our displays with fresh merchandise for fall and great new furniture finds, so stop in!

Happy fall!

I spy something beautiful...

I was photographing these mirrors at the store and discovered that I had captured so much more! 

I see... a light fixture made from vintage door plates. This is one of my favorite repurposed items in the store!

I see... a piece of artwork by Rebecca Puig of Sugarboo Designs. I love her work and we always have a wonderful selection of Sugarboo pieces in the store.

I see... some wonderful architectural pieces...windows, columns, doors. Architectural elements are always on our shopping list!

I see... pieces of vintage silver...oh, we have fun with our vintage silver!

The mirrors, beautiful in and of themselves, share so much with what they reflect.

Junk Bonanza 2012!

The Junk Bonanza is coming up fast, and I couldn't be more excited! I'm counting down the days until I leave for Minnesota, just a little over a week away! For the past two years, this has been one of my favorite trips and weekends out of the whole year, and I know that this year will be no different. Ki & her team work so hard to make this show a success and it is always amazing to see the happy shoppers, the beautifully full vendor booths, the incredible selection of merchandise, and all the little details that make the Junk Bonanza such a wonderful event. I can't wait to go again! 

The good news is that this year, I get to join the early-bird shoppers (thanks to these tickets)!

The bad news is that I'm flying in so I won't be able to bring anything big home with me. But that doesn't diminish the "thrill of the hunt!" I love this show--it is so well-run, and the curated collection of vendors has such a varied and wonderful selection of treasures and one-of-a kind pieces that I could shop for weeks and keep finding new things to buy!

With over 150 vendors, it's hard to remember everything I've seen over the past two years, but here are a few of my favorite finds & vendors. 

Beth from Blue Star Collections has a great assortment of carefully selected & repurposed items that I love. I bought two of these wonderful old factory carts last year...so beautiful and so heavy! Surprisingly, though, not the heaviest pieces I came home with!

Junk Refunkery, another great Midwest vendor, has wonderfully repurposed and recycled "junk," unique pieces and finds perfect for adding a touch of whimsy, of imagination, of distinctive beauty to any home (or store display!). This beautiful old cupboard wins the prize for being the heaviest piece in my load last year...but oh so worth it!

I met Cammie, from Daffadowndilly's, at the Junk Bonanza back in 2010 and we have become good friends! Cammie has a great talent for finding amazing amounts of "stuff" and I love it all!

Treasures and Trash is another great vendor from the Midwest, with beautiful barn wood furniture and other reclaimed pieces. I love this wonderful cart I bought last year.

Salvaged and Rescued Art, a local Minnesota vendor, always has such artistic and unique pieces, like this old bicycle-seat-turned-jewelry-display that came home with me last year.

Vintage Home Accents specializes in creating beautiful frames, letters, art pieces, and other home decor pieces from salvaged materials. I have bought Todd's products online for a several years...what a treat to see all of his merchandise "in person"! All of Todd's products and pieces have a distinctive beauty and whimsy that I just love!

(photo taken from Todd's Etsy shop)

Mimi-Toria's Designs specializes in creating beautiful and interesting jewelry, all one-of-a-kind and made from vintage finds. Gretchen combines history, beauty, whimsy, and her own love of all things vintage in her jewelry and each piece is a work of art. And jewelry is definitely something I can bring home with me on the plane.

(photo taken from Gretchen's website)

Last but not least, here is my very favorite find from Junk Bonanza last year and, of course, I cannot remember where I purchased this beautiful piece! I hope I can find them again this year so I can tell them how much I am enjoying the trophy.

Be sure to visit the Junk Bonanza blog to see more of the great vendor profiles that they have been posting over the past several months. It's just another element of this event that demonstrates all of the detailed and dedicated hard work that goes into planning such a big show! I am so excited to shop from all of these vendors and to hopefully meet some of them in person! The friendly, outgoing, and infinitely talented people I have met the past two years are some of the biggest reasons why I am so excited to go again this year! 

In just over a week, I'll be landing in Minnesota, ready to hit the ground running with my shopping shoes on and my checkbook in hand. I'm excited to meet new vendors and visit with old friends, get some inspiration and ideas to bring back to Old Glory, and most importantly, to shop!