Ben and I recently hit an indoor flea market a little south of Boston that I had assumed was defunct. I hadn't been there in over a year and was very pleased to see that they had expanded from one floor to two. However the old industrial building still had little heat and I had to leave my gloves on while sifting through piles of old junk. The best find of the day has to be this collection old metal people. Aren't they amazing?! Some of my best flea market and antique store finds were hiding in inconspicuous boxes, just out of reach. If they had been on display and simply just in sight, they would have long been snatched up. These guys were hiding in an old cardboard cheese box with the lid closed. It actually had "Christmas village" written lightly in pencil on the outside and I completely expected to find cheap plastic houses or something of the like inside. Even after I opened it, it took me a moment to notice the lead figures. They were mixed in with some other junky Christmas stuff. Of course the vendors at this flea market are always wandering around so I had to track down the guy and was crossing my fingers for a good price. Finally I found him...or rather his daughter found him. "Twenty five dollars for this and that". (I had another item you'll see further down in this post). It was an amazing price for just the figures alone, but he seemed kind of mean, so I pushed it, "I'll give you twenty". "How about thirty?" he said. "How about twenty?" I said politely. He relented. I felt bad for bartering when the price was already great, but oh well.
Also in that box were these fancy figures. Bisque, plaster, wood and a little paper mache snowman. Those German stick animals are some of my favorites!
At another booth I spent a fair amount of time sifting through piles of random old junk. I picked out quite a few goodies and bargained a little with the vendor there too, although this time it was necessary as his price was much higher than I had expected.
Those tiny white scissors have a slight curve to them and I've been using them quite a bit in my studio!
I pulled these large pieces from the pile of junk too. Not sure what the wooden thing is, but I imagined putting it somewhere and hanging necklaces or something off of it. The other piece is from an old toy railroad set. Who knows where this will end up.
Also from the pile of junk...baby shoes! I've been meaning to do a project with the shoes I already had, but the idea just has to stick in my brain for longer than three minutes! Baby shoes, baby shoes, baby shoes....
I had a mini mission of finding some new old frames for my collection upon entering the flea market. Three dollars for the metal double frame (it's a reproduction...but oh well) and one dollar for the mirrored art deco frame. Yay! I already put some old family photos inside. I'll show you my collection later.
At long last I found another music book! This will be where all my sheet music paper for my hats and leaves and what not will come from for my spun cotton characters. Several years ago I found a similar book at the local "ghetto" flea market, and haven't been able to find a good one since. My old one only has a few pages left...so the timing is perfect!
I simply can't resist old cake plates...especially if they have lids. I don't know if this is an original pair...but at four smackaroos, it works for me!
This baby is the other piece I bought along with the lead figures. It's square and old and rusty and for some reason I imagined a Ralph Lauren or Tommy Hilfiger store using it as an interesting store display piece for gloves or something. I'm not sure if I'll use it for visual display and storage or use it for it's original purpose, which appears to be an oven of sorts. It even has a little tray for coal. Neat!
This display cabinet isn't old, but I had to have it because it has glass sides. I'm a sucker for any kind of cabinet with glass sides. They remind me of apothecary, medicinal storage cases or something. This piece is actually two doll display cases set side by side. I plan to paint it with shiny black lacquer and add glass shelves for an old school looking display case. We'll see how it turns out!
I also wanted to show you my latest ebay acquisitions. Since I haven't been able to go garage saling consistently for a while, I find myself spending waaaay too much sifting ebay, but luckily I don't come out empty handed. These cuties will join my wedding cake topper collection.
And this guy I bought with Ben in mind. He isn't particularly religious or anything, but it's old and fits nicely in with my wedding cake toppers.
So there it is! My brand new old pride and joys! :)
Ben and I were down in New York City this past weekend. While we were there we spent some time walking around downtown and thought a visit to this store would be fun. Obscura Antiques and Oddities is a wildly unique store that focuses on antique medical and natural history objects. Strange surgical instruments, possibly even some for brain surgery, real human skeletons and mummified heads, and unique and old taxidermy. It was amazing!
This store is also the feature of a new show on the Science Channel that Ben and I have been watching called Oddities. If you haven't already seen it, I suggest you watch! It's so interesting. And strangely enough, we were only allowed to stay in the store for about 20 minutes before they kicked us out to film. The store is even tinier than it looks on TV and they needed some room to move. What were the odds that they'd be filming on that day? If you see a guy with a pinstriped suit and a pony tail on the show...he came in last Friday! lol
This mummified human head was the first thing to grab my attention. It even had eyelashes! The large domes flanking it were just as amazing and I immediately wanted them. Real birds in a natural history museum setting complete with dried grasses and plants. I reeeeeally wanted them...but their price tags were a tad high. :(
The small amount of floor space in the store brought you up close and personal with the old skeleton in the casket. It was dusty and amazing. I wonder who it belonged to and when they lived?
This strange orthopedic shoe was quite interesting too. I wonder who had to wear it?
Wouldn't you just love to have this entire display case in your living room? Those wax face casting at the bottom were calling my name too.
Interesting wall art...
A denture key chain anyone?
One of the most amazing stores I've ever been to. Next time we'll have to stay longer and hopefully find something to take home to add to my own collection of oddities! :)
