Happy Mother's Day Lavender

Sending a Mother's Day message out to the "simply wonderful" women in my life.

To my mother, my special girl friends, and the many women friends I am honored to have met along the path of my life, especially those from here on my blog... Happy Mother's Day!

I wish you a splendid day with those you love.   ~Jen

Early May Flea Market Loot

As promised, here are some photos of the wares I picked up at the flea market this weekend.

Just some bits and pieces and a few special items I have been actively looking for.

Since I have been looking for a true antique silver, domed breakfast server/warmer I was thrilled to find this one. At over 100 years old, this English piece is quite nice, although tarnished on the outside, it is perfect on the interior and has all its trays and locking pin. The sliding lid has a chased detailing and the top of each leg features a peacock. With a little cleaning it will be lovely.

The antique glove form has been on my want list for some time now and this one is in great shape. 

I was also lucky to find a couple of small vintage Italian micro mosaic frames with their original glass.

How great is this vintage needlepoint? A young boy in his tartan kilt with his dog all on a black background... love it! I have a sweet little antique stool I may cover with this?

Miscellaneous antlers, large and small will be used in fall displays. I would like to fill an extra large cloche with them until then. Also, a pair of vintage Dutch silver, repousse candlesticks, they are very tarnished but I will be cleaning them and posting the before and after in a day or so... stay tuned!

Yes, Julia Child's classic Volume 2 of French Cooking -always a favorite.

The beautiful, large, antique iron frame has already found its way to my glass man where he is fitting it for a new mirror (hopefully he will find a nice vintage piece to use).

Lastly, this nice vintage alligator covered, make-up case has a full size mirror inside (as pictured in an earlier photo with the glove form in it). This is a great display piece and or storage box. As you can see there are a few other fun items, all-in-all it was a good market for me. 

Watch for an upcoming post on the silver candle sticks.

Happy Hunting!

May Flea Market Treasures

It looked more like January than May at the flea market this weekend. The good news is most of the shoppers at this particular market are fair-weather shoppers. That meant a smaller crowd and more motivated sellers.

Here are a few shots of some nice offerings.

 One of my favorite vendors makes her annual appearance at this market offering vintage Louis V

 I always make note of display ideas. I love this old wooden box holding silver and framed art.

Authentic English transferware is getting more and more difficult to find these-days but there were a few nice pieces.

Antique and vintage glass bottles are currently a hot accessory item.

Love this bench for a display riser and really wish that I picked up this raisin canister.

Baskets and decoys were in abundance and went on my short list for Fall displays.

Always love books for risers and this very open weave jute is a nice way to add texture and allow the color of your linens to show through.
Working on my loot shoot. I have a lot of unique treasures to share. Stay tuned.
Happy Hunting!

Happy May Day

Just a quick photo of the roses at the shop on this beautiful, first day of May!
Happy May Day!

Our 6th Paris Flea Market

Well, yet another Le Potager event is under our belt with the celebration of our 6th annual Paris Flea Market this weekend. We had the most vendors ever at over 20, even with a couple of last minute cancellations. The weather was warm and sunny and the crowd was happy and inspired to shop!

This is looking into our Le Potager booth from the outside aisle.

Our guest sellers outdid themselves by providing great wares, displayed beautifully.

I hardly had time to complete setting up our space and orchestrate vendors arrivals etc. before shoppers showed up and therefore I am so sorry to say that I did not get many photos.

Looking into the Le Potager market space.

This has become such a fun event for everyone involved. Our annual event that has now, after six years, built quite a following from shoppers throughout southern California. The French music and food trucks add to the ambience and allow shoppers to spend ample time in both the flea market and the shop. Oh how many times I was asked if we would consider holding the Flea more than once a year.

My answer? Well maybe... juggling in-store events, holidays and inclement weather do we dare?

I am thinking long and hard about that.

Thank you everyone for a really wonderful market!

Next weekend... off to a local monthly market. Post to follow.

Happy Hunting!!!

Estate Sales Reveal Treasures

Greetings! It has been far too long since my last post. Having held two estate sales as well as creating a showcase of our British wares for a special event, I have not been home before 11:00 pm on any given evening! This schedule has been a challenge that I have met with great gusto! Next up is one of my favorite events of the year, Le Potager's Paris Flea Market this coming Saturday.

I wanted to share some of the wonderful estate treasures we found among a households made up of 99% everyday items, making these few items truly stand out.

This beautiful vintage English door knocker was found in a box full of paints in a garage.

This pocket frame is from the Civil War era and holds a period tintype photo of a country gentleman.

This little table held a quaint surprise... a sewing table with upper drawer and lower pivoting notions area complete with thread spool posts.

Of the many dolls, this antique German, porcelain headed, muslin bodied beauty was among my favorites.

This fabulous half-trunk was found in a shed.

This was the biggest surprise of all... An amazingly beautiful French-made war Chaplain's reed organ.

It was also found in an out-building, in very nice original condition.

Made by Alexandre Pere et Fils, Paris - these organs were only made between 1872 and 1891.

As you can see, on the right, these portable instruments were transported from camp to camp during war-times to provide much-needed inspiration to the troops.

Almost as exciting as finding these items is knowing how each went home with new owners who will appreciate and maintain these pieces.

Lastly, just a quick shot of our booth for The Olde Ship event at the Muckenthaler Cultural Center.

We featured antique and vintage British wares from the shop as well as additional items we compiled especially for this event. It was a great day.

I will check in again after our Paris Flea Market on Saturday, Have a wonderful week.

Happy Hunting!

Weekend in the Garden

Happy Easter to all this beautiful spring Sunday!

Here are just a few photos from the garden to celebrate the season.

I hope you enjoy the day with those you love!

Happy Hunting!

Happy First Day of Spring

I hope you can get outdoors today and enjoy the beginning of the spring season!

A Quick Weekend Shopping Stop

Just a quick post before my very full week.

On my way from point A to point B and eventually to point C this weekend, I rewarded myself with a couple of stops at charity thrifts.

Isn't it always the way, when you have the least time you find the best treasures? 

You want to dash in and dash right back out to stay on task but you start picking things up. Next thing  you know you have too much to carry! 

Lastly, you have to make some serious decisions... take it or leave it? Even though this large frame had some damage on the corner I had to take it- the details are wonderful.

I also picked up three volumes from a 1950 encyclopedia set. I use a lot of books for risers and displays at the shop so I am always on the lookout for unique books.

Although these are not the least bit pretty on the outside, inside they were quite nice.
That gave me an idea...

I took the covers off and basically turned them inside out so the marbleized paper now looks like the cover.

Perfect for display risers.

I have been working on adding to our collection for the Paris Flea Market that we will have at the shop next month, hence the emphasis on French decor items. I was most excited to find the authentic French Absinthe glasses to pair with the Absinthe serving plates I featured in a previous post. It has been fun to  put together different themes for our flea market booth. From the looks of these photos you can see that I am leaning toward a section with a culinary focus. My search continues.

Have a great week.

Happy Hunting!

Wearing Many Hats This Spring

This month has proven a real scheduling challenge for all things including posting here. Today I received yet another call, from a dear friend, telling me "my people" were missing my posts.  So here is my quick check in to share the happenings.

The shop has been set with new spring decor and garden wares with shipments continuing to arrive.

Garden pots are full of strawberries,

 lettuces and herbs.

We are wrapping up one garden landscape project and set to begin this one next.

Then there are the estate sales... I am currently in the middle of preparing two homes for estate sales.

This is a collection of antique glass, handled serving dishes from one home.

An antique plate found in our client's sideboard with a wonderful family note attached:

This plate is all that is left of the tea set given to Grandma Hastings by her girl friends in Brattleboro, Vermont in about 1884. This was one of two biscuit plates.

This just adds to the beauty of an otherwise wonderful dish.

These are just a few of the treasures we will be selling at these estate sales... yes, almost everything goes, right down to the vintage light fixtures! 

Although scheduling can be a challenge this spring, it is indeed a fun time.

Hope to check in sooner next time.

Happy Spring and Happy Hunting!