The Funny Farm: Antiques & Junk Shopping

This past weekend was an event I look forward to all year long. Every fall there is an Antique sale outside of Mayville. They fill up their barn with fabulous old finds and their prices are AMAZING!!! Every year that I have gone I have found awesome items that have become important pieces in my home decor! This year I was ready weeks in advance with my calendar marked and my money saved up. I invited some of my dear friends (Leslie & Shyla) to come join me and we all brought our kids, our mini vans and we lined up early to get the best finds. Part of the fun is standing in line outside the barn craning your necks to see what treasures lie inside. You can't go inside until 9am sharp, but you can look from the door all you want. They pass out pages of "sold" stickers so you can tag your big items without slowing down- and me & the kids strategized while we were waiting as to which items were the most important to get to first! There was a cool vintage black cupboard that we could see and I told Simon to run for that first.

Do I need a cupboard? No.

Do I have a place to put it? No.

Did I know the price when I asked him to tag it as sold? No.

Did I buy it without hesitation anyway? Yes.

See that crock in the picture?

Simon saw that piece of Red Wing Pottery "on the way" to the

cupboard and asked me if I wanted it. Umm, yes please!

Matt and I became familiar with Red Wing a few years ago when we visited the town in Minnesota while going to the 100 mile yard sale along the Mississippi River. Red Wing pottery is quite collectible and can be pretty expensive. This piece was only marked $7 because the bottom was broken out. It is stamped December 1915 & besides the bottom part & a missing handle, it is in really nice condition.

Julianna spotted a black framed mirror from the doorway,

and that along with a cool glass jar were her first targets.

(Does anyone know what exactly that was used for??)

When it was finally time to go in and shop, I grabbed the garden arch first

(at at the CRAZY price of only $10 I think it was probably the best value of the day!)

Then I snagged a few other cool odds and ends....

A printer tray- a super find at $7

A wash board, a bench, a flower box, other glassware...

I went a little nuts!!

I got this chunky throne like chair too.

What am I going to use it for? No clue- but it is fun to sit in!

And this heater of some sort? I don't know what this is at all, but it was only a couple bucks and I think I will use it in my garden as a plant stand.

(again, if you have info here, please tell me about it!)

Oh yeah, and this trunk simply because it is piratey.

I also got a small brown desk & chair that might be perfect in my upstairs hallway.

We left with a full van and arranged to come back for the big pieces later!

Next stop?

We came to the farm to unload all the goodies and the kids played with the animals

Shyla's kids were pretty excited and were quick to explore and make friends!

After hanging at the farm for a bit- we were ready to hit the road with an empty (again) van and a travel mug of coffee. Our next stop was "Junkerama" a junk & antique sale in Gardner. Twice a year they put on an event, and it just so happens that their fall sale was on the same day as the Mayville sale.

We got there around lunch time, but there was still plenty of great finds!!

A potting bench, a wishing well, a copper boiler, an old wash tub, 2 birdhouses, a cream can, a handmade side table and a rusty crate later- my van was full AGAIN!!