Spoon River Drive 2017

Well it sort of feels like Fall in Illinois. This week the 80 degree temps finally dipped a bit and allowed for boots and a light cardigan. With leaves changing comes pumpkin spice lattes, chunky sweaters, boots, apple cider, pumpkin-patching, plaid...you get the point. But maybe best of all, my most favorite weekend to kick off all things Fall: Spoon River Drive flea market weekend. 

Every year this event is on our calendar. My mom, sister and I load up in my dad's work van and travel the Spoon River Route popping in and out of vendors booths, antique shops, and flea markets. We typically fill every inch of the vehicle with treasures.
We usually follow about the same route every year, sometimes changing it up--sometimes not.

2016 Route:
Hannah City
Farmington
Canton

Hannah City: Go to Hannah City for the junk vendors. This town is typically filled with vendors on the side of the road, in parking lots and front yards. It's the first town on our route and a pretty good warm up. The can't-miss-it-stop is a guy selling antiques and junk in someone else's garage and driveway. Last year he told us it was his last year. We sincerely hope he lied to us.

I bought two of these tiny little school chairs for Ben for $5 each from the Hannah City garage man. He had a bunch of them, I should've snagged them all. Flea market regrets, sigh.

Off the Beaten Path: After Hannah City, we headed towards the next stop on our tour which is Farmington. Last year, we ventured away from the actual route a tad. We randomly followed signs for a 'BIG BIG SALE' to a sort of scary one lane gravel road into the woods. We were a tad nervous that we were being fooled into a kidnapping plot.

Quick side story: a few years back, we followed the random signs that said things like 'BIG BIG SALE' and 'TURN HERE FOR DEALS' and we did, and it was a bust. A super bust.
So why we decided to take another chance, I do not really know, but we were glad we did.  We were not kidnapped. We had actually hit the jackpot of junk stops. We ended up at an old farm house in the woods with a few barns---completely filled with junk. I mean filled. The new owners had bought the property completely full and were trying to make it through the stuff.
They were practically giving stuff away.  I can't even tell you what we all bought but this is what our vehicle looked like when we left.

What I do know is that I got this bar cart for $10. It was a rough looking golden beauty.

I cleaned it up and spray painted it ORB for my basement wine nook.

So basically the moral of my story is, if you see a bunch of random signs on Spoon River Drive telling you about a BIG BIG SALE, it may be the jackpot of all junk spots--or it may be a trick. May the odds ever be in your favor.


Farmington: I suggest you plan to spend some time in this town.

First, take a pit stop at the Moose Lodge's pancake breakfast for a quick bite. The food is very good and quick. Get the biscuits and gravy and a cinnamon roll to go! Plus, clean bathrooms. The parking lot all around the Moose is full of good vendors. Junk, antiques, crafts. We typically find a few good booths here.
There is pretty good sized craft show at the park in Farmington. We've skipped it the past few years. Mostly crafty stuff, less junk/antique stuff. But if crafts are your thing, go. Be sure to visit booth with the ladies who sell homemade breads and pastries, they have really delicious baked goods. Take home some raisin bread for the week.

Next, and most important, head to the fairgrounds. You have one goal for the Farmington Fairgrounds. One goal. Get the apple fritters. I mean it. If you do anything in Farmington, stop at the fairgrounds flea market and wait in the line for the apple fritters. The line looks sort of long, and it is long.  I promise after you take a bite of the warm apple fritters your only regret will be that you placed one order, and not two.
There are vendors all along the way to the fairground in town. Stop and see what they have to offer too. Then after you get your fill of fritters, take a walk around the flea market at the fairgrounds. Several rows of fun booths, plus tents fills with cheap socks and kitchen strainers.

Then turn around, and head towards Canton.

Canton: Again, go for the junk vendors. Junk vendors are everywhere along the Spoon River Drive. Stop when something catches your eye. Buy all the junk.

My mom bought these random drum things from one of our favorite vendors and I don't even know why...but my sister is lucky they didn't have more or she'd be calling herself an Uber.




That's it folks. I will try to post a recap of our weekend and flea market finds before Spoon River 2018, but don't count on it. If you want to find your own Spoon River Treasures, see below for info.


What: Spoon River Scenic Valley Drive
When: First two weekends in October; 7-8 and 14-15
Where: Fulton County, Illinois
More Info: http://www.spoonriverdrive.org/
2015 Let's Just Build a House Spoon River Recap: Spoon River Drive 2015

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Vintage Tavern Sconces & other Basement Lighting

It's pretty obvious that I can't design a space in my house without using something vintage. We searched flea markets with our basement design in mind but didn't really come up with any lighting fixtures that fit our taste. Well, my dad came to the rescue with these awesome old tavern lights.

They looked pretty junky when he handed them over. They were full of grime, crusty decades old cigarette smoke from the tavern where they lived combined with being stored in a musty dusty garage for years after that. But I love a good vintage find, and Adam loves old beer goodies so we took them home and cleaned them up.

The pair of Schlitz Bottle Sconces will go behind the bar next to the barn beam floating shelves. They're for sure from a local tavern in my hometown area, and from the late 50's. Just for fun, I did a little bit of googling and I found a few sets listed on Ebay. Guess how much... almost 300 bucks for the set! YIPES. That wasn't even in our budget to buy new sconces! Glad we got these babies for free.
Can be found on Ebay here: Schlitz Bottle Sconces.

1959 Schlitz Tavern Light

My dad also gave us a globe Schlitz light. This one is magical because it not only lights up but the globe spins. A quick google search verified this one was not as old, from the late 60's. I found the Schlitz globe light listed on Ebay too.  I'm surprised they are going for this much. We're not ever selling them, but it's fun to look up the going price of these old finds!

These oldies have been cleaned up and fitted with new wiring for a new home in our basement bar.

We also have been pretty annoyed with each other over the search for pendant lighting for the bar.
I wanted something ORB, and rustic looking.
Adam wanted small--like smaller than they make. But they lights still had to be 'manly enough' for a bar, and had to be adjustable height.

We ended up with 5 Kenroy Home Carson mini pendants.

The color and finish is perfect, and we both agreed on the shape. At 8 inches, they are a little larger than Adam wanted, but we compromised and he's hanging them a little higher than I normally would agree on. Who knew so many ridiculous arguments could be had over lighting. Now we know.

When we were building I had about 95% control over the lighting choices. Adam only vetoed a few of my picks and mostly because they were over budget. This time, he counts the wet bar as his space, so we had to compromise.

Under Construction Basement Bar

Our contractor is building us a beam in the ceiling to help show a separation of the wet bar and the family room. We have a nice separation with the flooring and I wanted to carry that up to the ceiling too. These pendants will be attached to that barn beam.  You can see above where the electrician roughed them in yesterday.

We'll have a few sconces on the barn beam poles in the hallway. We decided on these Globe Electric lights.

We think they'll pair nicely with the pendant lights, and the rest of the fixtures in our home.

We plan to have most of the lights in the basement on a dimmer so we can set the lighting to whatever we like for movie nights, parties, or just hanging out as a family. We're really looking forward to getting this space finished up in the next month or so. It's been lots of work on evenings and weekends.

What do you think of our lighting choices? Would you pay $300 for a vintage light fixture?

Fall Front Porch + Family Photos + Cutest.Turtle.Ever.

I figured I better get going on my Fall Front Porch post. In another month I'll be decorating for Christmas already! I can't believe it. This year has gone by faster than others. I swear. Plus, I don't want Brittaney to lose anymore sleep over not seeing my front porch--which she demanded on Instagram.

Well, and what good is a Fall front porch photoshoot without people (and dog). Here's our front porch in action:

Scout never really looks impressed in photos. Don't let him fool you, he likes being included.

I went for a quick and simple design this year. I don't have a ton of time, to mess with decor and hem and haw over things...now I spend most of my free time chasing Ben around. He's crawling and boy can he move!

The rusty raised tub is from my parents garage. Thanks mom and dad! 

The chair was a $1 estate sale find. It's probably on it's last leg, but it was the best $1 ever spent. I truly love this chair and it's chippy goodness. 

I hung my thirfted tobacco basket on the door and stuck a wreath from Homegoods right inside.

I love the layered look.

We snapped a few fall family photos last weekend. We didn't have time to get with our photographer, but we really wanted to have a few photos taken at our home when the leaves turn. Luckily one of my very best friends visited and brought her camera along.

The Photo Crew...

GLAM PLAID SQUAD. Gets you maternity photo ready in a jiffy.

And is this not the CUTEST turtle you ever did see? Adam's favorite turtle when he was little was the blue one, Leonardo. So therefor, it is Ben's favorite turtle...until he can decide on his own that is.

He learned patty cake last week.

What was your favorite ninja turtle?
Did you take fall family photos? Professional or snapped a few at home?

Flea Market Flip: Sifter Screen Message Board

Remember this sweet 2 dollar find from the flea market earlier this week? Well, when I bought it I knew exactly where I would put it...

RIGHT HERE. In this weirdo shaped wall in my kitchen.

I had planned to put a plate wall here. But then I got lazy and could only find ugly grandma plates at the thrift store. Not even cute grandma plates.

One nail, and a few magnets...

And now I have a nifty bulletin board for the kitchen to post pictures and recipes.

Pretty snazzy for 2 bucks and a pack of magnets, don't ya think?

I love the old rustic patina and the detail of the label holder on the bottom. $2 bucks and 2 minutes. I love it. My kind of flea market flip!
I'm still not sure what this thing is, some sort of sifter screen.  If you know, please share!

Spoon River Drive 2015: A Recap and Flea Market Finds

How does 100 miles of flea markets, antique, junk and craft vendors sound to you? It's the flea market lovers dream.
Spoon River Drive is the first two full weekends of October every year. It's a festival in Fulton County, Illinois with several flea markets, craft shows, festivals, and junk, craft, and antique vendors set up along the Spoon River Drive Route. There are vendors setting up shop in yards, parking lots, barns, churches, just everywhere.  My mom, sister and I make a day out of it and hit a few towns each year searching for goodies and deals.

This year, I hardly spent 20 bucks, but did not come home empty handed.

My favorite buy was this giant screen drawer thing for a whole 2 dollars. I have the perfect spot for it. I love the tag holder on the end too.

Do you know what this is?

This $5 beauty will find it's new home in our basement...

my vintage carrom board

A few items I passed on, but caught my eye.

Brass horse and apples.

I already have a flipping awesome old metal bed. Believe me when I say, I super wanted this one too. I refused to ask how much they were asking otherwise it would have probably been in the car.

This old metal bed is everything. 

 More cool horses. Neigh.

Who wants this retro orange sofa?

A few years ago, I scored this fantastic old radio for less than 20 bucks. It does still turn on, but we haven't gotten it to work. Would have been pretty neat to listen to the Cubbies win on it last night though huh? We should probably work on this.

Philco Radio from the 40's

2015 route:
Hannah City
Farmington
Canton
Smithfield 

Hannah City: Go for the junk vendors. Our first stop is usually a guy selling antiques and junk in someone's garage/driveway. Great deals and usually we make our first purchase here.
Farmington: Go for the apple fritters, stay for the flea market at the fair grounds. Farmington has vendors on the sides of the roads too, along with 3 large vendor filled stops; one flea market/antique stop at the antique mall parking lot,  one fairground flea market, and one craft show at the park. We skipped the craft show at the park this year and opted for more time at the flea market.

GET THE APPLE FRITTERS at the fairground. They are worth standing in line for. I seriously am not kidding. Go.

Best apple fritters in the Midwest.

Canton: Again, go for the junk vendors. Junk vendors are everywhere along the Spoon River Drive. Stop when something catches your eye. Buy all the junk.
Smithfield: My opinion; this one is skippable. We heard good things, we drove, we walked around...and questioned why we heard such good things. Then we left. This town had very few vendors (maybe 20) but the town was bustling with people. We weren't sure why they were all there for only 20 vendors. We had high hopes but will not return on this stop next year.

Next year we plan to change it up again, while still hitting our favorite towns & vendors. And of course, get our favorite apple fritters.

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Have you ever been to Spoon River Drive? Share your route and tips!
Check back later this week. I'm sharing what I did with that $2 screen.

Flea Market Find: Vintage Metal Bed

Hello!  Not only have I not been blogging...but I haven't been to a flea market since November. That's like not having a diet coke since November, or candy. Rough times.

One Saturday, Adam ran some early errands and when he walked in the door he said there was an estate auction in town then quickly realized what he had said...

Of course there was no taking those words back. We loaded up the car...baby and all that goes with--and headed into town. It was a gloomy, rainy day. Serious auction goers know when you go to an estate auction when it rains-it pays. Not many people want to stand in the rain. I was right, everything was going for a steal. I practiced resistance and did not bid on every little thing. Even all the cute chairs that were going for 3-5 bucks. I had my eye on one item. A metal bed. A rusty as heck metal bed. 

I'd seen photos on pinterest of awesome iron and metal beds and I wanted one for our master bedroom. 

The sweet rusty patina. 

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With muted bedding and other flea market finds all around you while you are snoozing....the perfect dream land!

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Antique ones usually come no bigger than a full. We have a king now. There would be no way we could downgrade. Plus, Adam is so darn tall we can't really get a bed with a foot board anyway. My vintage bed dreams didn't seem like they'd go anywhere. Until that day...

See, if you are new here I will let you know, we're in the process of finishing our basement. Lucky for our friends and family not only will there be a family room, a full wet bar, but we'll also have a guest suite down there.  This was my chance to get that rusty patina iron bed in my house--even if I wouldn't be the one getting beauty rest on it.

Here she is. It looks like a pile of junk to some people. To me, a serious treasure.

After outbidding one other person... the bed was officially mine, and only for 10 whole bucks. A serious deal. The flea market gods were smiling down at me because the rain held out too.
Unfortunately for Adam they were not smiling at him...the downpour began as soon as he was loading it up. Ben and I were already waiting patiently in the car. Oops.

I cannot wait to get the basement bedroom situated and set up in it's new home. It's going to be so dreamy. It only needs a little fixing up before it's ready for dreamland.

Jamie from Southern Revivals explained how she sealed in rusty patina on her fab antique metal bed frame she scored. I plan to do the same to mine.

Please only pin from original source at Southern Revivals! 

Gah hers looks so cute in her son's big boy room. Those arrow stripes are so awesome too. Now I will be on the lookout for a twin version for Ben's someday big boy room...

Score anything good lately at a sale or flea market?

Ben's Vintage Inspired Nursery

Photos of Ben's nursery are here! I'll provide more detailed info on our DIYs in the room in a later post. Today, we'll just share the vintage goodness!


Vintage Rocking horse, a gift from Ben's Great Aunt Wendy sits in front of his Jenny Lind crib.

This giraffe used to hang in my childhood bedroom.

My dad made this zen garden for me a few years back. It sits on his side table.

A view of one side of the room.
The chair is missing from the room right now, as it sits in our bedroom for now.

The bookshelf was a DIY which we will share later in the details post!

Plenty of room for more books!

I used scrap fabric from the baby showers to tie back these Ikea curtains.

This corner of the room turned out perfect. The dresser was a DIY makeover. Can't wait to share this makeover... you won't believe the crazypants "before"!

We used the Billy from Cardboard Safari above the changing table. We'll talk about this DIY with you coming up too!

You may remember this hilarious President Scout print from Uncommon Goods I shared a few months ago.

His mobile was a gift from a dear friend.  It goes perfect in the room, and is something I would have chosen for the nursery myself.

All photo credit in this post goes to the talented Andrea Beltz from AB Photography. She did our newborn photos which we L-O-V-E and snapped a few photos of the nursery for us too! Sharing one of our favorites of little Benjamin below.

Isn't that face the sweetest? Happy Friday!

Oh, p.s. A reminder we have a GIVEAWAY going on right now with Body After Baby! Ends in a few days! Awesome for new moms, expecting moms too...would be a great baby shower gift too! Enter here!