Fancy Flea Market

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall...

There once was this Fancy Flea Girl who had so many mirrors she didn't know what to do.

 
Erica's mirror obsession is reaching critical overload! It is a very good thing The Fancy Flea is only four weeks away. The stacks of mirrors are getting out of control! Take a sneak peek at the mirrors she has stashed away waiting for the chance to "repurpose."

These lovely beauties are waiting for fresh coats of fire-engine red, apple green, bubblegum pink and robin's egg blue paint. This weekend promises to be a great opportunity for painting! Mirrors are hidden everywhere...here are some more patiently waiting in the garage. 

These stashed treasures are a surprise. Anyone want to ponder what these HUGE frames dream of becoming one day? She thinks they are screaming "Make me a CHALKBOARD!" (For some very strange reason, inanimate objects in Erica's house talk to her. She needs therapy but that is another blog post). A gigantic, huge, fantastic, glorious chalkboard with bright and funky colors like tangerine, coral and eggplant.

 
In fact, the mirror and frame crisis is getting so bad...Erica added three more to her growing collection this morning in a mad dash to her local thrift haunt. These cool frames may not make it to The Fancy Flea on May 1st as Erica is redoing her kitchen pantry door this weekend and these will be FABULOUS for the project she has in mind. Pics coming soon...soon as the project is completed. Keep your fingers crossed for her.

 Decisions...decisions..decisions.

Until May 1st and the debut of these great mirrors and chalkboards, we leave you with this lovely inspiration pic. Happy Tuesday!

 

    

 

A Birthday Celebration in Vintage Style

We are participating in Metamorphosis Monday hosted by the fabulous Susan at Between Naps on the Porch by sharing a transformation from ordinary home to an extraordinary 90th birthday celebration. We were so busy putting together the final touches we weren't able to snap "before" pics. Plese forgive us but throwing a party for 30 is very stressful!

The Fancy Flea girls are always working on new projects and new purposes for the wonderful vintage platters and bowls collected on their treasure hunts. One of the best ways to enjoy a beautiful vintage piece is to USE it and not let your collectible glass collect dust on the shelf. Don't let limit yourself to holidays and special occasions -- use your special pieces and share their wonderful stories.

 
Erica had the wonderful opportunity to help throw a Patriotic 90th Birthday party for a special friend. She was busy all  weekend preparing a wonderful feast for the birthday boy and 25 of his closest friends.

Vintage milk bottles were used as vases and displayed fun pinwheels and flags. Tiny metal buckets were filled with crinkled paper and red, white and blue candies.    

Erica prepared the entire buffet and used her special collection of vintage glass and crystal bowls thrifted locally. The large market basket was perfect for displaying fresh rolls and honey ham. One of Erica's favorite collections is Fenton's Silver Crest with it's beautiful crystal and white ruffles. Cocktail sauce has never looked prettier than in a small Silver Crest serving bowl. Many different types of serving bowls and platters will be available at The Fancy Flea in May!

Vintage milk glass vases made excellent centerpieces! Too bad one was broken on the way home. Erica is now on the lookout for another vases for replacement. Word to wise...wrap your vases in vintage dish towels for transporting. Oh well, another treasure to add to the hunting list.

 Dessert buffets are Erica's specialty and the birthday party was no exception! The American press glass plates held a towering display of rice krispy treats, brownies and lemon bars. Pecan pie and Blueberry Lemon Buttermilk pie were displayed on vintage French wire cake stands. Erica decorated more than 72 cupcakes for the party with a fresh French buttercream. Each guest was given a boxed cupcake to take home for late night snacking!  

The party was a huge success and our birthday boy was very surprised! It took over two days to prepare the desserts and buffet! One day to create the decoration metamorphis and hours to clean up (a huge thank you to Keith and Lisa for helping with the dishes and clean-up!). It was a ton of work but worth every minute to see our birthday boy having a great time at his special party! 

The Fancy Flea will be just as exciting and we will be celebrating by providing tons of vintage furniture, decorations, household items and antiques to make your next special occasion...more special. We hope to see you there!

The Lonely Lamp

We are joining the AMAZING Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for our very first Metamorphosis Monday project. 

This is the tale of a very lonely lamp.

Are you feeling a little sideways, yet? It has been a long night so don't adjust your sitting position.

This is the tale of a very lonely lamp Erica rescued from a very dusty corner in Bradenton. This lamp had the ugliest black lace shade hiding the gorgeous Italian crystal base. The little lamp was perfect for Erica's office and would help keep her company during long writing sessions.

Ahh, that's better already. After a very expensive trip to the fancy lighting store (the shade was twice the cost of the lamp), the lonely lamp had a new, designer "hair do."

 The Roman column looking candle holders were not vintage but picked up at Steinmart for 75% -- so they qualify as "thrifted" in our book. The green polka dot vase and green art glass vase were both thrifted from an antique shop in Mount Dora. The green polka dot pottery vase was made in the 1960s by TOYO Next and designed by Jill Rosenwald (please pretend you don't see the random box of CD's that are hiding behind the chair and need to be shoved behind the chair).  

This little office nook was still missing something. Thank goodness someone has been donating TONS of incredible art books to the local Salvation Army. Erica's collection is growing out of control but she never says no to the Renaissance. Never, Ever.

 Ahhhh. much, much better. Surrounding yourself with art books is sure way to impress your friends and add instant warmth to any room. Best part of all, you can pick up plenty of art books at the upcoming Fancy Flea on May 1st and you too can overcrowd your office with priceless works of art. 

Someone please remind Erica to turn the stinking books on the small black table the right way before morning. Slight blonde moment, but you get the picture. For the record, these walls are not "pumpkin orange". We prefer to call them "spice." And, taking naps in this chair while procrastinating and not finishing your thesis is PRICELESS. 

Happy Metamorphosis Monday to all! Be sure to visit  Between Naps on the Porch for many other great transformations. 

The Fancy Flea will have plenty of great vintage lamps, art books and so much more. Have you marked your calendars yet?

Rainy Days and Sundays Always Get Me Down

Treasure hunting is really no good in the rain especially with tropical storm winds. Whew, what a yucky day for shopping. We were able to get in a few windows before the storms rolled through Sarasota.

We found this gorgeous vintage inspired fabric bag and fell in love with the textures and colors. Lori has been collecting scarves for ages. Maybe, we can talk her into making a few bags for The Fancy Flea. This bag is cute overload.

The rain "forced" us to find shelter at The Columbia Restaurant. Oh well, nothing a 1905 salad can't cure. We did manage to find our way into The Columbia Restaurant Gift shop and start drooling over the imported pottery.

Rumor has it that Erica has two sets of hand painted vintage pottery dish sets from Portugal that will be for sale at The Fancy Flea. The craftsmanship and artistry in this style of pottery is amazing. The colors are gorgeous. Who else loves fine European pottery?

These chocolate bunnies caught our eye with their silvery vintage inspired wrappers. Easter is around the corner and these would look great on one of Lori's beautiful buffets.

One last bunny for you to enjoy. Hopefully this weekend will be filled with "high and dry" treasure hunting. Happy Monday! We did manage to pick up two INCREDIBLE garden treasures in Sarasota despite the horrible rain. You will have to stay tuned to find out what we managed to score on our very rainy day in SW Florida!

 

Chippy is the Color of Summer

This is the newest treasure we have been eyeing for a few weeks. This chair makes The Fancy Flea girls think of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream! Can't you see Titania sitting in this chair while watching her fairies dance. We can't decide if we should recover the seat or use the seat as a beautiful flower bed?

So many decisions.... 

We are so excited to have many great patio sets coming to The Fancy Flea. Backyard BBQ's are better with vintage furniture. This set is almost done with rehab and ready for the Flea! Chippy is the new color for summer.

 
Speaking of ready for summer...this patio tablescape was created for Valentine's Day but it could be quickly converted to 4th of July with a couple of edits. Can't you tell we are ready for breezy summer nights and great outdoor dinners with friends.

Who's ready for some sangria and summer entertaining?
 

Sarasota or Bust! Vintage Treasure Hunting This Weekend

Spring is finally around the corner and it's so wonderful to see gorgeous flowers popping up all over Central Florida. The Fancy Flea girls are heading to Sarasota for a whirlwind buying trip this weekend. Tons of wrought iron patio sets and plants stands are calling our name. Who is ready for a great weekend of treasure hunting?

On tap for this weekend...
A beautiful white swirly bistro set
A 1950's Cast Iron Grapevine design 3 piece settee
A FABULOUS wrought iron peacock inspired garden chair - don't miss this

So excited to be shopping in Sarasota and close to the ocean! Antiques and sea breeze is the perfect combination!

The next event is just days away! Make sure you mark your calendar today!