Heather Bullard

My Holiday Home

   

After day of Christmas shopping and lunch with The Man, it's so nice to come home and see holiday decorations. Funny how simple things can add such joy to my Christmas spirit. Hope you're taking some time to celebrate the season too. I'm off to wrap presents!

Christmas Collections

 

Do you have a special Christmas collection? Maybe it's reindeer, santas or snowglobes? For me, it seems the only Christmas item I can hardly resist are vintage ornaments. Everything else has been pared down over the years and my ornament collection is the only one that has grown. I bought a box of vintage ornaments at the flea market a few weeks ago and thought I'd show you a few of my favorites.

Some are a bit tarnished or chipped or even slightly broken but I still find beauty in them. And don't you just love the old shapes? It's like they say...they don't make 'em like they used to. This little mushroom was my absolute favorite find in the box.

Notice the ombre top? I love how the color fades from dark to light. It's surprising how many vintage and antique ornaments have survived over the years. They are still readily available at antique stores, flea markets, garage sales and online thanks to Ebay and Etsy.

This is the exact box they came in. It was sitting under a table with the lid still on. I'm so glad I didn't pass it up and was curious enough to wonder what was hidden in it. They were destined to come home with me. So tell me...what do you collect for the holidays?

Matilda's Mouse

On Friday, I was invited to attend the monthly antique barn sale at Matilda's Mouse by my friends Gale and Sandra. They are both vendors at the sale and have incredible style and I knew everything would be over the top gorgeous. Here are some images from the day with limited interuption...

 

The historic home and barn were once owned by Betty Crocker and the grounds are so charming. I especially loved all the boxwood hedges lining the walkways.

Isn't it a beautiful location and aren't the displays incredible? It's the perfect place to take your girlfriends shopping for an afternoon. They even have a coffee truck with hot java and goodies for you to fuel up on. And there's nothing like a day of Christmas inspiration to get you in the holiday spirit! For me the inspiration carried over to Sunday at the flea market where I continued buying vintage ornaments. It's contagious I tell you! Thank you ladies of Matilda's for a fantastic day shopping and visiting with you!

The next sale is December 11-13. They are located at 29200 Miller Road, Valley Center, CA. If I were you...I'd plan on going to this one. I heard it was going to be a winter white extravaganza! 

Repurposed Utensil Holder

 

One of my favorite purchases at the Junk Bonanza was this vintage German utensil holder. Originally it was meant to hold ladels and spoons near the stove but I thought it would make the perfect jewelry holder.

It has a small tray at the bottom which is perfect for holding rings, bracelets and pins. One of the reasons I loved it so much was because of the black & white calligraphy. Such a timeless combination. 

Does anyone know German? I tried to translate the words but only came up with roast, roasing, fry, pan, cook and bake. I can barely remember my years and years of French in school and think I would have failed German miserably. The words seem so hard to pronounce.

Although these pale blue enamel utensils were not part of the holder I thought they would be nice to serve jams, jellies, chutneys or nuts and their color was so unique. I'm looking forward to using them. It's funny what you end up with when you're at an antique show. You never know what will strike your fancy and in what ways you'll be inspired to use it. 

Brocante Carnival

  

What is it about a secondhand market, also known in French as "brocante," that stirs our souls? It is where we search for weathered chairs, vintage books, and antique linens. It is where we find objects that sing to us as we invite the power of potential to unleash our imaginations as we seek to elevate how we live, what we create.

If the hunt for flea market treasures is something you’d like to discover for the first time, or enjoy in the company of like-minded friends, it is our hope that you’ll join us for a special outing as outlined below:

Heather Bullard, Pam Garrison, Amy Hanna & Jenny Doh

Cordially invite you to

Brocante Carnival

Date: Sunday, November 8th 

Place: Pasadena Rose Bowl 

Start Time: 9:00 a.m.

A limited number of goody bags will be dispensed at 9:00 a.m. at the front entrance gates. Once they’re gone, they’re gone. After the goody bags, we will enjoy quick introductions, followed by a review of friendly flea marketing tips, and some fun surprises. And then, we will all enter the grounds to shop. You are free to roam the aisles alone, or with other guests, or alongside Heather, Pam, Amy, or Jenny.

Lunch Time: 12:00 p.m.

At noon, you are invited to join us at the green picnic tables with a lunch that you have packed for the day, or purchased at one of the food stands. During lunch, we will enjoy the best part of flea marketing, which is a "show & tell" of what you’ve found with others. After we have re-fueled, Heather, Pam, Amy, and Jenny will award very special handmade prizes to those with the best flea market "tote-ables" as follows:

    Best flea market apron

    Best flea market cart

    Best flea market totebag

Notes:

Brocante Carnival — in terms of the activities planned by Heather, Pam, Amy and Jenny — is a free event that will officially conclude with the best tote-able awards, but of course everyone will be welcome to continue shopping until the flea market closes at 3:00 p.m. Please note that in order to enter the flea market, regular admission of $8.00 per person will need to be paid at the gate. For details regarding admission, please visit the Rose Bowl Flea Market site here.

You are encouraged to visit my blog post containing some of my best flea marketing tips to help you prepare for the event here.

Throughout the day, photographs will be taken as we aim to cover the adventures of Brocante Carnival in a future issue of Somerset Life magazine.

Will we be seeing you there? Let us know. We are looking forward to meeting local flea market loving people from the blogosphere! xo

{Update: No need to RSVP, just show up if you feel so inclined that day}

The Bins

Have any of you heard of the Goodwill Bins? I never had. Absolutely no clue such a thing even existed. On my recent trip to Washington state I had the opportunity to see what it was about. From the outside it looks like a regular Goodwill store but inside is a different story. There are gigantic plastic bins on rolling carts all lined up like little soldiers. And swarms of people standing in lines waiting for the cart to stop before they take a dive in them to see what they can find.

Apparently they are filled with things the Goodwill stores don't want. Interesting, yes? For me, I couldn't handle the pressure of bumping elbows and jumping in line so I wandered over to another corner of the store and looked in the "book bins". No one was swarming this area at the time. I was able to find this big pile of vintage sheet music. The calligraphy was beautiful. L-O-V-E me some great script. I carried my stash to the register where the lady rang me up a sweet deal. Can't say that I'll go again, I'm just not that agressive. But I am completely thrilled with what I brought home. So....maybe, just maybe with some elbow pads and a bodyguard I might just take the plunge again. 
 

Would You Like To See Some...

Here are a few highlights of the Junk Bonanza. I hope it gives you a feel for what the vendors had to offer. Really, there was so much great stuff. I saw lots of towering displays, big furniture pieces, galvanized everything, letters and more letters, really awesome clocks, jewelry galore and row upon row of fantastic finds.

Hope you enjoyed the little tour. If you ever have the chance to shop the Junk Bonanza you won't be disappointed or come home empty handed. Everyone of us were loaded down with treasures to bring home. Here's Nancy Soriano in her killer vintage dress wrapping her goods to be shipped home.

I can't wait to tell you the funniest story about how we all wanted the exact same item. It can get dicey when you're shopping with folks that love the same things. Guess I better edit those images next!

Back from the Bonanza

It's been a whirlwind this past week and I have SO much to share but don't know where to begin. I think I need a day or so to gather my thoughts and go through a thousand images on my computer. Right now it's running at glacial pace because of photo overload. I'm hoping it doesn't crash and burn anytime soon.

I have to say that being away from home is much easier when you get to spend it surrounded by the most amazing people. Ki did an outstanding job bringing spectacular vendors to her show and giving shoppers an experience they'll never forget.

Matthew Mead is incredibly funny which only adds to his charming character and stellar talent. His wife Jenny was delightful and full of quick wit herself. They make an adorable couple. It's so great to be working with them and I'm looking forward to a shoot next week with Jenny. Did you know she's an incredible photographer?

And to top it all off were Nancy Soriano, former editor of Country Living and Jo Packham of Where Women Create. Spending time with them and sharing ideas, stories, goals and news of their upcoming projects was very inspiring. The three of us also had the chance to do some serious shopping. Let's just say there were boxes shipped home, stuffed on airplanes and hauled away in freight trucks. Black belts in shopping. 

I'll have more stories to tell after I go through all my photos. While I was in Minnesota, I did some work for Jo, another project for Ki and worked on some things for the Flea Market Style Magazine which creates a traffic jam of images. In the meantime you can check out the FMS blog because I'm going to share some fun behind the scenes stories over there. I'm going to get back to work and check out what a few of you have been up to. Time for some blog hopping!

Junk Bonanza Blog Party

Well in a few weeks thousands will be flocking to the biggest junk round-up in the midwest and I for one can't wait to get there. From September 17-19th, the famous Junk Bonanza will feature many of the best dealers in the country along with book signings with The Farm Chicks, Matthew Mead and Ki Nassauer the founder of Junk Bonanza.

To add to the excitement there will be plenty of activities during the show including a Happy Trails Blog Party filled with prizes, drawings and treats on Thursday, Sept 17th from 1-2pm. We hope you can come by our meet and greet to say hello and if you're lucky...win some great prizes! 

Vintage Horse Show Ribbons

     Two months ago at the Rose Bowl, I brought home this GIANT box of horse show ribbons from a dealer who did not want to pack them up at the end of the day.

     There was a minor amount of negotiating before a deal was struck. I think he was happy to see them go since he closed the box up with tape and put it in my cart. Customer service is alive and well at flea markets.

     There is around 100 or so ribbons with most being from the Santa Barbara area and from the late 50's thru the 60's. I love all the muted colors together.

     They've been stored away in my warehouse waiting for an idea to strike me or an opportunity to use them and sure enough one has come along. So now I'm going to be ironing all of them for a photo shoot this week. Funny how you pick something up at a flea market without any reason other than because and eventually find a way to use them. Something to be said for tucking things away. Now let's hope I just don't burn any. Ironing isn't my strong suit.