Re-Cap of America’s Largest Antique & Collectibles Show in Portland

Portland Antique Show

I know many of you have been waiting for my re-cap post of the July 11-13 Portland Antique Show in Oregon and it is finally here. My mom had heart surgery while I was in town and then she had a complication so there were quite a few days spent in the hospital. I am happy to report she is now home, recovering, and on the road to good health – YAY!!

Ok, so, my twin sister and I got up bright and early on Saturday, July 12th and headed to the Expo Center. Last year we waiting nearly an hour just to get into the parking lot park the car, this year we waiting only 15mins. We parked and got in line, a long line to get our tickets and get inside when we learned that we needed to get into a different line for purchasing tickets. Luckily there was two of us, so my sister held our spot in the original line and I ran around to find the ticket line…. worked out great, we met towards the entrance. Finally, inside we were!   There were 1,600 booths… the show was primarily in-doors but there were several booths outside and you had to walk past the outdoor booths to get inside the Expo Center. Lots of people attending the show. It was very hot outside and we couldn’t wait to get inside.

Once inside, I noticed right away all the signs saying ‘No Photo Taking’ bummer! I snapped very few pics but did post videos I snuck and uploaded to my Vine account – watch videos here.  I headed for the booth directly in front of me. I couldn’t resist the vintage Christmas goodies!! In case you don’t know, I am obsessed with vintage Christmas items!! I found a pair of Holt Howard Santa Claus candle huggers and some vintage Christmas hankies….I was able to haggle with the dealer and so thrilled that I made my first purchase within minutes of setting foot inside. My sister and I re-grouped, we decided our strategy would be to start at the far end and work our way down the isles.

There was the booth that had aliens, the booth that had so many mannequins, booths that were filled with all kinds of this-n-that, booths that had beautiful displays of vintage and antique toys, tin toys, glass, kitchenware, furniture, clothing, seasonal, chocolate tins and molds, jewelry, etc… there really was something for everyone. Many dealers had amazing setups, their booths were beautiful, and they had their glass showcases too. Lots of care and detail went into setting up their booths and it really showed. I have lots of vide footage here that you can see via my twitter stream @CollectorsTips

I thought the dealers were amazing!! They were knowledgeable and were so easy and open to negotiating with. Many times when we entered booths the dealer came right over to say they will gladly give us a discount and to let them know what we are interested in. All of my purchases were haggled and I got them at a really good price. I should also say that I thought prices were very very good, nothing outrageous what so ever. This was day 2 of the show so I was really surprised that dealers were so open to haggling and were incredibly nice too.

After 4 hours or so, we made our way through approx..1,600 booths!! Good thing my sister insisted we take her baby stroller as it came in incredibly handy to store our purchases and our water bottles too!! We were exhausted. After we made our way to the car and unpacked, I started thinking about how the heck was I going to ship all these goodies back home!!!

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Here are some pics of my antique show purchases. The boxes you see are other items I have yet to unpack that I also purchased while antiquing my way through Portland. This trip was quite literally the BEST trip I have ever had for antiquing in Portland, Oregon. Each store, mall, thrift shop had really good items and I had so much fun with my family and visiting all my favorite spots!!

Visit us at: Crazy4Me EBay  Crazy4Me Etsy

 

 

 

 

Thanks for a Great Oregon Fall Antique Show

Portland Expo Fall Antique Show - Vintage Disneyana

I made it to Portland for the ‘Fall Antique Show’ at the Expo Center by http://christinepalmer.net over the weekend.

This is one of the largest shows in the country with 1,000+ booths!  I first attended the show with my sister this past summer and had such an amazingly great experience so I was eager to come up for the Fall show.

Parking took less than 15 mins this time compared to nearly an hour at the summer show. My sister and I made it into the exhibitor halls within minutes of the show starting.  This year we are interested in growing our vintage Christmas collectibles so we were hoping to find some treasures at the show.

 

The show started slowly. Some booths were not and all items under cover and yellow ‘caution’ tape blocking the entry. Of the booths that were open for business, many of the dealers seemed grumpy… not happy or excited to see shoppers. They didn’t event greet you when you entered their booths.  We decided to pullover in the food court and wait in line for coffee. With coffee’s in-hand we forged onward.

Items being sold seemed different than at the summer show. Yes, there was still those amazing booths with large collections of spectacular tin toys, robots, comic books, Disney and Disneyana,  vintage Halloween items, but the ‘smalls’ I would normally be going for were not really available this time. We did find some booths with vintage Christmas and lots of bottle brush trees and figurines. Some of these vintage Christmas items were super expensive and dealers were not at all interested in haggling or negotiating. When I attended the summer show prices were excellent and dealers eager to haggle.  It wasn’t until a good 2 hours into the show that dealers started to loosen up and get friendlier.

 

We did end up with some awesome finds to include vintage made in Japan Christmas bottle brush trees and wreaths. My sis even managed to negotiate an entire vintage Christmas tree that was all decorated with amazing vintage Mercury balls, Shiny Brite and German ornaments. It was great! We had quite the haul!!

The show turned out to be excellent over-all. It was a slow start and 5 hours later we were exhausted and found the treasures we came for. I can’t wait for the 2014 summer show!!

I am listing many goodies I brought back on my Ebay and Etsy stores!

Shopping the Petaluma Fall Antique Faire 2013

Antique Fair 1

Today we went to the Petaluma Fall Antique Faire. The show is all outdoors and there are over 180+ dealer booths all setup in the historic downtown. We first went to this show in the Spring /Summer time and it was so hot outside but today it was breezy, warm and by the time we were leaving it almost looked like rain. Perfect weather for the time we were there! Lots of dealers from all over the country selling all sorts of things from furniture, jewelry, Bakelite, linens, kitchenware, collectibles, toys, books and magazines, art work, paintings, repurposed and up-cycled items to chandeliers, clothing, rugs, bikes, tools, etc…. something for everyone.

We got to the show about 2hours after it opened and there was a good amount of shoppers. Dealers were not yet quite ready to bargain or negotiate very much, if at all. They pretty much all said the same thing ‘come back in a couple hours and if it isn’t sold maybe we can come down on the price’. I totally understand, but, me too, being a buyer to re-sell, I have to at least give bargaining a try and I think I am pretty reasonable and certainly not trying to insult the dealer.

We did find some cute items like this really rare 1950s Lefton blue spaghetti poodle dog set of mom and pups chained. This blue poodle set is rare because you usually do not find it with the hats/roses and rhinestones. I also found the 1950s pink spaghetti poodle dog with her tam on her head and all these adorable Napco angels for March – St. Patrick’s Day, February – Valentines Day, and November – Thanksgiving. I couldn’t believe it when I found this darling little Lefton Christmas candy cane boy figurine and the pretty vintage blue stenciled ornament, a pair of vintage 1950s plastic turquoise salt and pepper shakers and this tiny yellow vintage Ceramicraft fish wall plaque.

Antique Faire2

Antique Faire 3

Antique Faire 4

I did find a pair of vintage kissing angel figurines with one hiding a comic book behind his back and the other hiding a puppy dog but, it turned out that even I didn’t follow one of my rules and that is – no matter what, each item needs to be fully inspected and I even brought my magnifying glass but thought since the show was outdoors, there was plenty of light to ‘see’ any damage so I didn’t take it out of my bag. When I unpacked the angels, part of the halo was broken in the wrapping paper….when I looked at the other angel’s halo I saw two spots where it was re-glued….bummer!! But, it was my fault. I came prepared and didn’t follow my own rules.  I am really happy though with the items I did find today!!

You can find all these items and more in our Ebay, Etsy and Rubylane stores.

Vintage Ballerinas, Embroidery, & 50s Poodles

The truth is, I can’t stay away from antique malls, flea markets, or estate sales and feel a real ‘need’ to visit these places at least a couple times a month. The weather here in Northern California’s wine country has been pretty rainy but today was dry and sunny and after we ran our errands we headed to the quaint town of Healdsburg to Mill Street Antiques. There were lots of shoppers and the booths didn’t really have great sales. Also, looked like several booths were on the way out/closing down and that might mean new dealers taking occupancy soon (another reason to visit after the New Year to see what the new booths have). My husband found several cool vintage cameras and books and I found these adorable Lefton Ballerina wall plaques, vintage 1950s poodles, vintage linens with embroidered Scottie dogs and horses, vintage hankies and a vintage Napco Christmas spaghetti poodle dog figurine and I was really happy!!

As 2012 quickly comes to an end, I am thinking about 2013 and my dream job – my dream job would be to travel around the country to antique malls, flea markets, estate sales, and private residences touring the locations, meeting the collectors, vendors and dealers, talking about the goodies/treasures in each of the locations, how and what started people building collections and film it all….putting together a sort of  ‘day trip’ guide or ‘best of’ show on what each town has to offer. Hmmmm, I recall a very wise woman once saying “find what it is you love to do and turn it into a job”. Wishing you all a safe, healthy, and prosperous 2013!!

Please visit our online stores:

Crazy4Me Ebay

Crazy4Me Etsy

 

 

Weekend Antique, Collectibles & Auctions Around the Country

Summer has REALLY arrived here where we live in Texas and we are in the tripple digits! I am totally up for some good antiquing and treasure hunting and if you are ready for a weekend of antiques, collectibles, and flea markets then you may want to check out one of these events that are happening in California, Michigan, Texas, and in your neck-of-the-woods. Find more shows, auctions, and flea markets here.


Mining Antique Collector’s Swap Meet & Auction
Nevada City, CA
6/12/2010 9am-4:30pm
Dennis Kurlander


Foothill Farmers’ Market
Auburn, CA
6/12/2010 8am – Noon
Foothill Farmers Market


Antique Country & Folk Art Show
Los Altos, CA
6/12/2010 Sat 6pm-9pm, Sun 10am-4pm

Rose Bowl Flea Market
Pasadena, CA
6/13/2010 9am-3pm


Downtown Santa Cruz Antique Street Faire
Santa Cruz,  CA
6/13/2010 9am-4pm
Santa Cruz Downtown Show


Antiques & Estates Auction
Beverly Hills, CA
6/13/2010
IM Chait Gallery/Auctioneers


Spring Antique Show
Holly, MI
6/12/2010 10am-5pm
Battle Alley Arcade Antiques Mall

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