One Great Day at Bella Rustica Vintage Marketplace

Well, I told you I couldn't NOT go to Bella Rustica 2012.

So, early (and I mean early 7ish) Saturday morning, I jumped in my car, dropped by my local Starbucks for a venti skinny mocha, and headed down the highway to the Bella Rustica Vintage Marketplace.

It was about an hour and a half drive and I didn't really know how much of that included the back roads of Tennessee...or maybe I was just really excited to get there because I arrived pretty early...like 45 minutes early.

Hey, I wasn't the only one.

Actually, I was about the 6th car there, lol.

I don't think the parking lot worker appreciated the early arrivals but I'm sure he got over it.

So, here's what greeted me as I turned off of the small, two-lane highway.

A beautiful farm hidden along the back roads of the Tennessee countryside in Pulaski, Tennessee.

I've lived in Tennessee all of my forty (cough, cough) years and I never knew that the Mars Candy Company founder had owned a farm in middle Tennessee.  Pretty cool.

Ok, this next picture is a little cheesy because I'm one of those awkward people that sort of hang in the background till I'm sure of things.

This is a picture of the entrance...taken from my car because I was too chicken to go stand in line with the two courageous ladies that said "Yes! We're the FIRST ones here!"

(See the two ladies under the tent?  Yes, they're the FIRST ones there!)

Me?  I'm in the car...making sure I'm not going to get in trouble for being where I shouldn't be before it opens.

Must be from some traumatic experience of being where I shouldn't have been in kindergarten or something...or I'm just goofy.

Yeah.  I'm just goofy.

Anyhoo, isn't the barn beautiful?  I l-o-v-e barns and a barn made of stone is just the best.  Bella Rustica was held in the barn at Milky Way Farms.  I didn't even get a chance to see the main house.  That'll be a trip for another day.

Inside this huge barn was booth after booth of vintage, chippy, shabby goodies.  Just look at the metal letters and burlap curtains hanging from the ceiling in the main part of the barn.

Sorry for the picture quality.  I took it quickly with my iPhone.  I'm not sure if you can tell but in the distance, you'll notice a haze.  That was the dust being stirred up.  I had to wipe down my boots before I stopped at the store on my way home.  It was so worth it though.   :)

Now for a look at some of the booths.  I'm sorry I don't have the vendor name with these pictures but you can check out the complete list of vendors here.

Vintage cameras and alarm clocks and look at that globe!

Beautiful fabric and colors on these chairs

Loved the look of these pictures

One of my favorite booths...I think I was really drawn to their cute vintage camper!

Letters cut from old books!

Ok, so what great things did I find there?  Hang on to your hats and check out this next picture.

I found Donna of Funky Junk Interiors!!  

Yep, pretty much one of the reasons I drove an hour and a half.  I wanted to meet Donna.  I've followed her blog for quite a while and I can now say, she's as sweet and funny in person as she is on her blog.

Full of great ideas and has such a generous heart to share what she's learned.  She led several workshops during the course of the 3-day event.  I sat in on this one.  She explained what the best tools are for the DIYers.  If you're not familiar with her blog (and I can't imagine anyone reading mine wouldn't already know about Funky Junk Interiors), be sure to check it out here.

I can't blog about Bella Rustica without mentioning that I also met Rhoda of Southern Hospitality.  Ok, I admit it, I drove an hour and a half to meet them both!  Approaching them, I felt like a creeper, lol.  Having followed their blogs for so long, I felt I already knew them yet they didn't know me from Adam.  Sadly, I didn't get a picture with Rhoda.  I sat beside her during Donna's workshop.  I hated to disrupt Donna's workshop but I had to at least speak to Rhoda because I knew I had to leave very soon.  She was so sweet to say hi and chat a little about her house renovations and her parents.  Love, love, love getting her emails announcing new updates to her house.

If you love decorating, houses, and renovations, I'm sure you're familiar with HGTV's Sarah Richardson.  In this season's episodes, Sarah is taking a contractor grade house in a subdivision and showing us how to choose upgrades to make it beautiful.  Well, she is making it beautiful but she's taking a $700,000 home and a $100,000 upgrade budget to do it.  I don't know about where you live but here $700,000 would more than purchase a home that included all the upgrades I could ever want.

I mention that to say, Rhoda's house renovations are beautiful and she's doing it on a budget I can relate to!  You've got to check it out.  Start here and follow it to the latest updates and you'll see what I mean.  Rhoda's journey has been incredible and I can't wait to read the post that says "Move In Day!"

Thanks for stopping by and God bless!
Angie

Bella Rustica 2012

Anyone going to Bella Rustica?  I can't NOT go.  It's only about an hour or so from me and it looks like a whole lot of vintage goodness.

If you don't know about Bella Rustica, check it out here:  www.bellarustica.org   It's being held in Pulaski, Tennessee, this weekend at the Milky Way Farm.  Donna from Funky Junk Interiors is coming to do several workshops during the three day event.  Many other bloggers will be there as well.

I know Polly from Blackberry House (formerly Make Mine Beautiful) will be there with loads of her beautifully painted furniture pieces as well as other items.

I'll be there wandering the rows, probably drooling over so many things I wish I could bring home with me.  If you're attending, leave a comment.  I'd love to meet fellow bloggers.  I'm sure I'll recognize many by face from their blogs.

Hurry if you're wanting to go.  I believe tickets are only available until tomorrow night.  I'm not sure that they will be selling them at the gate.  Proceeds are going to Agape in Nashville, Tennessee.

Thanks for taking time from your busy day to visit!
God bless!

Angie

Antiquing Fun

Monday was spent antiquing in Woodbury, Tennessee.  Quaint little town about an hour outside of Nashville.  I have found that the farther off of the main roads and search out the antique stores on the back roads, you'll usually find better prices : )

There is one store in particular that I love to visit...The Old Feed Store.

Oh the goodies I've found on this porch!

Look at these windows and boxes and bottles!  I love the aqua colored insulators but need to find a great idea to use them for.

I want this!!  I just don't need it...boo.  Doesn't this just scream for chalk paint?

Ok, now, take a look at the price tag.

$65!!  Complete!  

Wow, I really want this bed but my three girls all have nice beds so there's not a good reason to buy it. AND, I really don't need another project right now...at least not one this size.

So, what did I buy?  Take a look.

Adorable vintage sailor's hats from WWII.  These are called Cracker Jacks from the boxed candy character.  They're going my Etsy shop.  I think they would be adorable in a boys room or a coastal theme room or even for a patriotic holiday!

Vintage brass stencils.  These will be great on the mantel during the holidays.  There were others but I chose the letters that would spell JOY.  The stencils are in my Etsy shop too.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the visit.  I appreciate your spending time from your day to stop by.

God bless!
Angie

Happy 4th of July!

I hope you all are enjoying our nation's birthday and celebrating the freedom we have because SO many fought to make it so.

My family will be meeting up with friends this evening to tailgate and watch our city's fireworks display.  Until then, I wanted to share a little project I created last week for the 4th.

Corrugated metal flag

Let me show you how.

I began with a discarded, rusty sheet of corrugated metal.  This was left behind the shed by the previous owners.  I'm sure they didn't expect me to view it as a treasure : )

Discarded metal treasure!

I decided to paint the flag on the other side since it had the nice, rusty spots.

I taped off an area for the field of blue and the red stripes.  For the white stripes, I left it the natural aged silver of the metal.

To add the stars, I had several thoughts.

First, I wished I had taped off stars BEFORE the blue paint so that the stars would have been the aged silver metal.

Too late.

Second, I ransacked my rubber stamp collection looking for a star stamp that I was sure I had.

I didn't.

Third, cut a stencil of a star out of contact paper...and pour myself a glass of wine.

Winner!

The next step went a lot faster than I had expected.  Or, maybe it was the wine : )

I used simple white acrylic craft paint as I hope it fades to match the aged look of the metal.

So, once the stars were painted, the only thing left to do was cut the extra length off.

Hubby graciously offered to cut it for me.

He's great that way.

Only...he didn't do it right away : (

So, here it stood.  In my driveway.  For days.

In passing a few days later, I asked him what he was going to cut it with.  He answered tin snips...then went back into his manland.

Hmmmm.

Tin snips.

Surely, I can at least attempt this.  Lord, please don't let me cut myself too badly...like ER badly.

I found the tin snips and proceeded to make the first cut.

Really?!  Who knew?!  Those things cut through that metal like "budda"!!

It took me like all of 1 minute to cut!

I could have done this DAYS ago!

My hubby really is great.  It's just that his schedule is not the same as my schedule.

My schedule is immediate!  Like yesterday!

I've got projects to conquer!  Thrift stores to rummage through!  And life stuff to do!

So, having taken all of one minute (and a few days) to finish the metal flag, here she is hanging above the door to our shed.

Honestly, I did not add those sunbeams shining down.  I think the angels were singing the Hallelujah chorus because it was finished and hung!

Sadly, the flowers that were planted in the window boxes have all but died because of the heat.  We desperately need rain here in the Middle Tennessee area.

Rusty makes me happy

Oh yeah, don't count the stars and stripes.  I didn't quite make room for 50 stars and 13 stripes.  Or maybe it was the wine.  Good thing it's just for my shed and not the White House.

I hope you all enjoy your holiday with family and friends.  Be safe and thanks for taking time out of your day to visit!

Angie

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Vintage Cabinet for the Kitchen

A few weeks ago I posted about my plate rack that hangs on the wall in my kitchen.  You can read about it here.  The plate rack wasn't doing it for me.  I wanted a bigger, more substantial piece to fill that spot on the wall.  I searched Craigslist for months looking.  Nothing, or at least nothing in my price range.  Until yesterday...well, I didn't find it on Craigslist but I did find something at one of my favorite thrift stores.

It's a vintage cabinet that I assume went to the top of a desk or buffet.  At first glance, I thought it was antique because of the skeleton key lock, flat head screws, nails, beautiful wood, and craftsmanship.  The sticker on the back read Otto Uthman, Cabinetmaker, Nashville, TN.  I researched to find that Mr. Uthman handcrafted reproductions of fine antiques during the 1950s.

Well, I can say, he did a great job.  The piece is beautiful.    Notice the notched shelf brackets on the inside.  It came with three adjustable shelves.  You simply move the wooden bracket into the height that you need...love it!  I don't know my woods or I could tell you what it's made from.  Anyone know?

It included the fringe tassel as well as the original skeleton key.  Bonus!  I may remove the tassel but I left it on for now.

Since I didn't have a buffet to put it on, I added hanging brackets to the back and hung it on the wall above my bamboo table.  I've begun to add ironstone and pewter pieces inside but considering the fact that I was responsible for the securing and hanging of this piece, I won't be adding too much weight!

Oh wait!  I haven't told you the best part...the price!

It had just been donated and wasn't tagged.  I asked the nice man how much they were going to put on the cabinet.  He looked it over and said, "$29.99 plus it's 75% off day on furniture so, whatever that is."  I was quickly dividing $30 in half and in half again...$7.50!?!  "I'll take it...now!"

I told you it was one of my favorite thrift stores! : )

By the way, the bamboo table under the cabinet that holds all the liquor that makes it appear we have a drinking problem...Craigslist find.  Fifteen bucks!  I love CL as well.  And, no, we don't have a drinking problem.  I do like an occasional margarita but the vodka was used for a homemade blackberry liquor and I just had that leftover.  Really!

Oh, and the picnic baskets stacked under the table are, of course, thrift store finds.

I love baskets...lots and lots of baskets.

I'm sure my husband doesn't.

He loves me anyway.

And, as a preview for tomorrow's holiday, a project I just completed.  Be sure to check back on the 4th.

Thanks for taking time from your day to stop by!  God bless!
Angie

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