Kids Exchange Event

Sunday my husband, son and I decided we were going over to the fair grounds and check out the flea market again.  Unfortunatley because of the weather there weren't a lot of vendors there.  So once we finished checking out the few who were, I remembered that I had read something about a "Kids Exchange" going on that weekend in one of the main building.  Always looking for a bargain I asked Ken if he wanted to check it and and he said sure - so we tramped across the fair grounds.  Once inside I could never have prepared myself for what we found.

It was the biggest and I mean biggest yard sale for kid items I had ever seen, jam packed with hundreds maybe thousands of people.  The place had to be as big as two Sam's clubs put together.  There were clothing, toys, books, shoes, furniture and vendors.  You could easily have outfitted an entire nursery or kids room from that place.

If you live near the Raleigh area and are interested to find out more about the next one you can check it out at Kids Exchange.

So after about 15 minutes of shopping, the entire time Ethan repeating the statement "I am not wearing used clothes," both the wonderful men in my life grew weary.  In the hopes of buying myself some uninterrupted shopping time I told them to go over to the toys and see if they could find any Legos.  In the meantime I did some quick shopping in the boys department sizes 8-10.  Within a few short minutes they had returned claiming their were no Legos.  I suspect it was more the case of dad not wanting to bother looking.  Either way I decided to go ahead and check out.

The line was all the way to the back of the building.  Yes the back.  But wait, it gets better.  Then once you got up to the front of the building you did this zigzag type of cattle train like the lines you stand in at Disney World.  Yep, those lines.  Deciding  the money I was saving was worth the wait, bless Ken's heart, he agreed to take Ethan outside and walk around while I stood in line.

Thirty-five minutes later I was checking out.  I purchased 9 items for him and they averaged out to just a $1.60 each.  That was thirty-five minutes well spent in my opinion.  I'm looking forward to the next one already.  Next time though, I'll leave Ethan with dad for the day and bring lots and lots of shopping bags!

Retro Metal Coffee Trays from the 60's turned Magnetic Message Board

A week ago Saturday while my husband was in Florida, my son and I took advantage of a beautiful Saturday morning and went to the weekly Flea Market at our states' fair grounds.  I hadn't been there for a good long time, at least eight to ten months so I was very excited to check it out again.

Once I got Ethan set up with a bag of kettle corn and a fresh squeezed lemonade I was ready to hit the booths for treasures.  It was fun to look at a lot of old things that Ethan had never seen before and explain what they used to be used for.

I found a vendor who sells new kitchen equipment, kind of like a Crate and Barrel without being fancy and he carries more obscure things.  I purchased a yellow mustard holder, the one you would see in a cafe because we buy our mustard in these huge 2 quart containers from Sam's, a scoop for all those mixes I made a few blogs ago and a flat wedge scrapper for cleaning dishes since mine disappeared somewhere into never, never land.

I also purchased a lovely lavender Pashmina scarf from a guy who had a boxful at $10 each or 3 for $25.

Finally out among the more traditional type of flea market vendors I found these two amazing trays.  I think they are from the 1960's.

So after taking them home and cleaning them up...

I attached a tooth hanger onto the back with super glue...

...and made these two retro magnetic message boards.  Perfect for a kitchen, sun room, office, porch, wherever.

I then listed them on my Etsy Shop.  You'll notice my Etsy name is Hippie Chick2, so don't freak out if you see that, you're at the right place.

Would love to hear what you think about them.

And don't forget to check out the dishes in the blog below and vote for your favorites at the top of the page.

LOL, Jamie