Apple Crates and The Sweet Clover Barn

I'm getting geared up for the August Sweet Clover Barn Sale!  This past month I piled up about 350 vintage apple crates from an Orchard in PA that sadly closed.  After scouring Pinterest, and finding some really great pins, I decided to renovate my space @ The Barn!

Using the 1/2 bushel crates, I stacked them and screwed them all together.  I also picked up a few cool factory dunnage racks with some awesome iron hardware!  I used the rack as a base for my display and continued stacking.  

After I had everything screwed together I attached a few LED lights I picked up from Ikea.  I'm going to add someone before the sale, but was excited to share the look with everyone!  I filled it with some of the vintage goodies from my space, and I must say, it turned out enter than I thought!

The lovely ladies of Sweet Clover also used my apple crates to build some shelving and a cute little window seat in the Inspiration Cottage!  (I bought that awesome little green clock in the wall, going in my kitchen!!). These crates are so versatile!  You can make ottomans, coffee tables, table bases, island bases, book shelves, display stands (Fall is almost here and you can use them with your pumpkins!), you're only limited by your imagination! 

Swing by The Sweet Clover Barn!  We're open this weekend Fri-Sun 10am-5pm.  The apple crates will run between $12 and $15 depending on size and condition, with a discount for anyone who buys 6 or more!

4051 Stanford Ct Frederick MD

Old School Amusement Parks

I've always been a fan of the kids rides in the old amusement parks in Ocean City MD and Rehoboth Beach.  The bright colors, bright lights and early to mid 1900's styling are classic American boardwalk!  It just so happens we have a 4 year old that LOVES the old rides, the slower the better!  Unfortunately they removed the old wooden carousel horses years ago and replaced them with the more durable fiberglass models.  The other rides still retain the age and patina of thousands of kids enjoying them.

Bruges Antique Market

My wife and I recently took a short vacation to Belgium.  Our 5th wedding anniversary is in the beginning of August and we had some leftover airline miles and credit card points.  We flew out of Dulles on Sunday night, had a short connection in Frankfurt, and landed in Brussels.  We stayed in Brussels for a few days, Poperinges for a few days, and Bruges for a few days. (I'll post more of those pics later).  On the last full day we were in Bruges, they held their tri-annual antiques market. This thing was HUGE!  Unfortunately, we weren't really there to shop as we weren't prepared to bring much back.  I was able to pick up some awesome vintage grain sacks, enamelware, license plates, and a very cool antique camera tripod.  If I had a container, and could negotiate pricing, I would have bought everything shown below!

This guy had some awesome seltzer bottles and terra cotta confit pots.

I really LOVED this cast iron enameled parlor stove.  Look at that awesome blue!

There was a good deal of religious pieces, here's a cast iron garden statue.

This vendor brought some pieces back from the states.  He had piles of 7up crates and tin stars from Lancaster.

These awesome leather and brass stools would've come home with me  if I had the space!

Lots of sweet vintage signage!

I would want these for my dining room!  They even came with the colored gels.

I've got a thing for wooden shoe forms.  

PILES and PILES of vintage bottles and crates.

More awesome religious paraphernalia 

Awesome advertising and medicinal pieces.

I've never seen so much religious pieces.  Loved the look!

This was an awesome French wrought iron wash stand.

Leather luggage like there was no tomorrow!

Everywhere I turned there were these awesome cloches with bases.  Many were for religious items, others were for family heirlooms or wedding mementos.  Here, they were full of bobbins from a lace factory.

Great book bindery presses.

I'm a sucker for industrial bins!

I should have bought this.  Hand painted Netherlands school map.

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Never enough time.

This week is turning out to be quite difficult.  To start off, my sweet Golden Retriever Sunni, who is 12, is dying.  She has a thoracic tumor that has enlarged her heart, liver, and pancreas. She cannot control her bowels, and is barely eating.  She can barely get around on her own and I have to lift her up to go outside.  Needless to say, we have to let her go.  Fortunately, there is a Vet that specializes in home euthanization.  She will come to our home tomorrow evening, and sedate Sunni.  Then she will give her a shot that will slowly take her away.  We will have her cremated and will bury her remains. 

Here she is a week after we got her with her doggie daycare pals.

This is by far the hardest decision I've ever made.  I know it's for the best and she truly is suffering more and more every day.  We will miss her with our whole hearts.

Happy Memorial Day!

The family and I are continuing our annual tradition of going away over Memorial Weekend.  The first year we did a farm stay at a Celery Farm in Lancaster PA.  I never would have thought growing celery too so much effort.

Last year we went to the KOA Campground in Gettysburg.  We rented a little Kabin that had AC, a tv, and mini fridge.  I know it's not exactly roughing it, but we save money by not having to board the dogs.  The Gettysburg KOA is awesomely family and pet friendly!  They have tons of activities for kids from magicians and a balloon guy, to tie dye t shirts and ice cream socials.  They also have a mini golf course, a huge playground, and a heated pool!  Last year it was crazy hot, this year it's crazy cold!  Nonetheless, we're having a great time relaxing and spending some well deserved family time together.  

Unfortunately our oldest dog has a stomach issue and we weren't able to go to a scheduled cookout with some college friends.  We were rudely awakened from our food comas by the sounds of explosive diarrhea on the cabin floor.  Not what I want to do on my time off, but we love that old dog!  I'm going to take her to the vet tomorrow and see if they can shed any light on her issue, fingers crossed!

Exhaustion aka 2 Markets at once!

I'm am seriously beat!  Between work, setting up my Barn space and prepping then setting up my space for the Lucketts Spring Market, I've been sleeping maybe 4-5 hours a night!  I can't wait until next month when we will be relaxing in Belgium!  

Be sure to stop by The Stylish Patina Barn Sale this weekend (4051 Stanford Ct. Frederick MD).  I've got some awesome stuff ready to go!

I'll be selling personally @ The Lucketts Spring Market in Lucketts VA.  This is my first "big" sale outside of the Barn, so I'm a bit nervous about not having enough stuff for everyone, or pricing too low, or too high, or running out of change, or a dead cell phone battery, or Claritin...

Here's a link to their blog post about what to expect when coming to the Spring Market.

http://luckettstoreblog.blogspot.com/2013/05/tips-tricks-for-shopping-lucketts.html?m=1

I hope to see you there!!