Stews + Little Prairie Girl = an awesome Friday

Today was our 3rd sale at Little Prairie Girl. It was a full day of removing our last sale items and restocking with Eccentric Christmas decor! I was overwhelmed with attempting this feat in 3 hours, so I asked my good friend Cassy to help.

Also, my fellow Junker, Emma, from "Stew's", had her Grand Opening this weekend in Cedar Falls! So, she couldn't be at Little Prairie Girl at her booth, so we got Cassy to help there too.

So, of course, on our way up to Little Prairie Girl, Cassy and I stopped in Cedar Falls to see what Emma had been up to. Her store was adorable and resourceful. She gives "junk" a good name.

 

 Emma doing her thing at Stew's

She's got large Metal Letters by the dozen! $22 each.

 She's got beautiful Christmas decorations.

 And, great taste for staging!

 

 

 Love her Apple Cider and cookies. What a hostess.

 Here's the cutie Emma! She's such a go-getter! She is so talented and driven!

 And here's Emma and Cassy. They are both as cute as can be.

 

So, we go to Little Prairie Girl and Cassy got comfortable with Stew's Booth!

 Beautiful Farm Table!

 More Metal Letters

And then, Cassy and I slaved away to get Simply Rooted's booth up to par.

We did it. The day was a success. Checking out Emma's new shop, and completing Little Prairie Girl Barn sale #4. And, I couldn't have done it without Cassy! Thanks Lady!

West End Architectural Salvage

West End Architectural Salvage in downtown Des Moines is a mecca for unique finds. Karen and I took a little road trip westward on Wednesday and had to share some photos from this incredible store.

 Love the arch window, with stained glass... I could spend all of my money here!

 Mirrors are hot!

 Their style... mmmm... their style...

 I'm not sure what that contraption does, but its amazing looking.

 Love bins and letters!

 I'm always a sucker for turquoise.

 Multiple drawered furniture! YES!

 Old school edgy.

 This shop is in an old warehouse type of building. Sturdy with thick walls, brick and iron work - amazing.

 Signs rule.

 The ole' windmill fan

 Not sure what it is, but its awesome.

 Windmills. The item that I covet the most.

 Think what you could build with these scrap pieces!

A plethora of old doors. Beautiful, just beautiful.

What a treasure in Des Moines. It felt so right to be shopping within those brick walls. You should check out the place yourself some day soon. It is so worth the gas money to get there.

WhatCheer

WhatCheer is an awesome flea market for central Iowans. We love going to buy or sell. And, one thing you can always count on is horrid weather. But, Iowans aren't raised weak, so hundreds of people still come and brave the elements. At the August show, it was blazing hot, then a torrential down pour, and then chilly. This October sale was straight up freezing! At least it didn't rain, but the wind was unforgiving.
We still managed to have great sales and sell some "junk".

WhatCheer Flea Market

Remember, Whatcheer Flea Market is this Thurs - Sun.
Simply Rooted's booth is just east of the food building. We're on the cement driveway (take a right, right inside the gates, and go about 1/2 way down).

I'll be there Thurs afternoon and Friday, and Cohort Karen will be there Sat and Sun.
We've got lots of goodies!

Farm Girl Finds

We're excited to be vendors at The Calico Press Market near Birmingham IA on Oct 13th from 8 til 5.
Directions will come soon!

Little Prairie Girl

So excited to be accepted to Little Prairie Girl! We have a space in the hay mound - I pretty much fell in love when I found out that's where our booth would be --eternal smile--

Come and check out her sale! There are so many talented vendors there!

P.S. Holland is just west of Waterloo...
Also, check out her blog: http://littleprairiegirl.wordpress.com/

Ball Jar Love

Mason Jars are the new thing. Who knew that young mainstream culture would embrace relics?
I'm totally into it. With our economy tanking, it is high time we all grouped together to savor the objects of old.

My embracing of the ball jar started in preparation for my wedding. The Ball jar is an old-fashioned decor that is easy to come by in rural Iowa. I started collecting the "blue-green-ish" colored ones -- because they're beautiful. And, after getting a hold of enough, I found that some of the jars had no lip at the top under the lid, and had thicker glass and air bubbles in the glass. Turns out, those are the older antique jars that dated before 1910! Who knew? Bob Clay knew. He wrote a paper on the history of the Ball company. Check it out here:
http://home.earthlink.net/~raclay/DatingBalljars.HTML

And here's his reference guide to date the jars according to the emblem style. How handy. Thank you Bob.
Enjoy.