FleaFinds

I was quite torn last week when I realized that because my husband and I had committed to going to Sunday brunch at the Palace Hotel with his lodge, we would have to miss the Alameda Fleamarket. While the idea of crepes, omelettes, pastries and champagne in a gorgeous setting was seriously appealing, so was a day of row upon row of vintage treasures. I had pretty much resigned myself to a month without a fleamarket fix though when I got a call from my mother, reminding me that the Oakland Museum's White Elephant Sale was going to be on Saturday, so I got to have a full weekend of my favorite pastimes.

While huge, the WES turned out to be more of a rummage sale than an antiques market, but there were still plenty of treasures to be found. I brought home a lovely embroidered pillow with a lyre motif, a flower trimmed straw hat, a 1920s cotton dress that will be perfect for the summer, a big copper colander for my mother and a sweet little framed wedding card. The card is a bit squished into the frame, so I'm going to flatten it out and reframe it at some point.



Since I just started this blog, I thought that I might catch up with some of my "FleaFinds" collections from the past. The picture above is from January. My first find of the day was a little doll from the 20s dressed in a felt outfit. It was love at first sight with her and I could hardly believe it when the seller said that she was only $10. Later on in the day, I found a children's book from the same period with adorable illustrations, the title of which inspired me to name my new doll "Betty Bubbles". The other finds were a lacy knit night bonnet, a tomato pin cushion with a strawberry emery bag, a hat stand with a miniature reproduction Regency-style hat, a gorgeous edition of Wilde's Salome illustrated by Vassos and another vintage children's book, "Little Pictures of Japan".

This collection was from last October: vintage flower stamen, a sweet mohair lamb, an Edwardian bed jacket which I wear as an overshirt, an Irish lace collar, books on Japanese textiles and weaving finishes, a soutache purse from the 30s and some neat shoes that the seller said were from the 1920s and worn for Odd Fellow rituals, which, amazingly, fit me perfectly.

Fleafinds is sure to be a regular feature, so stay tuned for next month.