Thursday, May 20, 2010

Brimfield Show Part II HOLIDAY finds


While browsing Brimfield or any other fair or yard sale we are always on the hunt for anything to do with Holiday decor. We didn't find a whole lot of that here at Brimfield, but the little we found was either not jumping out at us or a little pricey for what we wanted to pay.
We are so not the bargaining types when it comes to these shows. I know, I know everyone talks about how bargaining is the fun part. We feel that they mark the items for a reason and when you question a price on an item they always come down on a price so for us to counter offer.. this seem very weird. Maybe it's the artist in us but when we do shows we don't appreciate it when people try to bargain with our ornament prices.

Anyway, here are some fun Holiday finds we did come across.







This collector was also a fellow designer who had these wonderful vintage Holiday postcards. We regret not picking some of these up. We could have framed them for our new studio space.
Here are some Christmas images above


Easter


Valentine


Halloween
There were so many more we wanted to take pictures of but we didn't want to offend him.



some fun Santas








Hey does any one need an extra elf on the shelf ?


We did see lots of glass bulbs but we didn't have the time to see if they were really vintage or not.






These Easter bunny chocolate molds were awesome. What a fun displays these would make.


More holiday odds and ends


This booth looked like it was chalk full of Holiday decor but of course by the time we came to it they were packing up for the day so we only were able to catch a glimpse of a few of the items


check out this small soft tinsel tree




Holiday finds... aren't they great?
Tell us what Holiday finds you have come across over the years?

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Swirling around Brimfield Antique fair... part one


We have been MIA lately here on our blog to be honest. Some days we don't know if we are coming or going so we are really going to try to be better with our postings.

We thought we would take a little break from the Swirly studio on this beautiful clear Saturday and visit the Brimfield Antique and Collectible show. It's the largest outdoor antique show in the world, held since 1959 in Brimfield, Massachusetts, three times each year, with thousands of dealers attending! With these shows you really need to come with a game plan. We tried to do our homework and reread Flea Market Style magazine for tips and wore comfortable shoes. We did some serious walking....6 hours straight! We weren't going to subject our little ones (a 1 & almost 5 year old) to this long day of looking but don't touch, so we dropped them off with family.

The show is always fun. The last time we were there, it was before kids, and we found some nice treasures. This year we didn't have the same luck but it was nice to get out in the fresh air and be inspired.

Here are some photos. They are not the greatest; we took them super quick as to not to be to obvious, because we felt a little weird taking pictures of the people's collectibles even though no one said we couldn't, but we still felt the eyes glaring.

So enjoy and our next post will be more on Brimfield Antique fair and what we at Swirly designs live for... the holiday decorations.



tons and tons of tents


it was extremely crowded but since it's outside and there is so much to see it's not that bad


the show goes on for miles and you never see it all. We only made it half way down the street then crossed over and came back and that took 6 hours.


The show has everything from fine antiques to just plain junk


these were cool springs... visually pretty but not sure what to do with them.


we looked high and low for these knobs for our bedroom doors and of course we got something else and now we see them everywhere!


It was a good thing our five year old wasn't here or else we would want to get this fire truck.


lots of kitchen decor like these wire baskets








Some of the vendors had some clever ideas for displaying their goods


and others would just dump them in boxes.


pretty spools of thread


more door knobs


the old toy vendors always draws a crowd. We both point out the toys we had as kids and wonder if we only kept them in better condition. Of course this Animal doll from the Muppets looks like he's hanging himself... Yikes!


You gotta love this Dukes of Hazzard lunch box.


and check out this giant hot dog...this is perfect way to end part one of this post.
Enjoy your weekend
~Lianne & Paul