Texas - Day 3

a little souvenir from yesterday

The group headed out to McKinney which is on the north east side of Dallas.  In the many years I have been coming to visit my sister, we have never been to this area and you know it's always an adventure when you get to go someplace new.
McKinney has a great downtown and like many towns in Texas (and many other places) there is a big courthouse in the center of town.  The stores and restaurants run all the way around the courthouse square.  I will share the best stores we visited...some you may have already heard of, but all are worth the trip even if it's just for the inspiration.

Shop No. 1- Smitten



from the upstairs loft



A really great shop on the square...lots of things we wanted to take home with us.  Deb got a darling little lamp that just needs to be rewired.  We also picked up some german glass glitter, beautiful old ribbon and vintage velvet flowers.

old ironstone, a true classic

german glass glitter in every weight and color..."I would like it all please"

Shop No.2 - Patina Green
This newly opened shop is the one we first read about that spured the visit to McKinney.  The shop is part antique store and part restaurant and they do both things very well.  Visually beautiful, the whole space is exploding with good things.

small white pumpkins in a wheelbarrow at the entrance...notice the wallpaper (I did). 

love all the little bottles lined up in a row...a little pricey at $10 a piece though.



preserved roses



And then there's the bathroom...no words needed here.

 Even lunch had fabulous packaging...a grilled sandwich wrapped up in brown wax butcher paper and a cookie for dessert.

Shop No. 3 - Chase Hall
This shop had new and old things...great decorating inspiration. Love the original brick wall and sign.

Shop No. 4 - The Antique Co
Probably the best antique mall I have ever been too.  There is one or two vendors that have multiple booths that were right up my alley.  We all had a great time looking for just the right things...deb got vintage prize ribbons and old pictures, Patty got a flower frog, Ellen got acrylic letters and numbers and I got everything else (really). 

Here's a few pictures of our finds for the the past two days.



water turn off handles, glass bottles, cigar boxes, small salt shaker, graduation diploma...



pharmacy boxes from the 1800's, file folders, small black leather books



and Patty's buy of the century...chalkware stackable casserole dishes (about 5 x 6") for $2.99 for the whole stack.

We're off to Waco tomorrow (Friday, Sept 24th) to teach at Crop, Paper, Scissors.  We have a free make and take from 4:30 - 5:45 and a journal class at 6pm.  Saturday there are two classes, the house we have been teaching and a letterblock tray.  I think there is room in the Sat classes for all you not going to the begining of antiques week down south.  You can call the store at 254-751-7020 for information.

Texas - Day 2

Today Deb and I and our sisters were up at the crack of dawn (literally) to head out to Quanah, TX to a junk store that rivals the one we visited in Australia earlier this year.  About 3 hours from Forth Worth, Quanah is in a long line of VERY small towns that you pass on your way from Forth Worth to Amarillo (assuming you wanted to go to Amarillo). 
This place is right on highway 287...it's easy to spot because of all the junk outside.  I think the pictures will speak better than any words on this one.  Here we go...

On the road to Quanah.  Look at how low the clouds are to the ground.  The landscape goes on like this for miles and miles.  Just beautiful.


big sky of Texas

We stopped at a VERY nice rest stop on the way.  This was the sign going in...there was another one right by the playground. 
"Sure, go play kids, but watch out for the rattlesnakes"

Inside the rest stop was this sign...something you never see in California.  We have enough problems with the earthquakes and fires.

Deb and the sisters going in...you are not going to believe this place.  I must admit I only took pictures in part of the building...there is MUCH more here than what the pictures show.  It's one of those "see it to believe it" places.

Rows and rows of stuff.  All meticulously catagorized and priced.  It was hotter than Hades in there and the mosquitoes were swarming around our feet, but that wasn't going to stop us from looking.



pool balls $2



shoe forms $3-5

 

giant tubs of marbles





dishes and glasses



bottles, ink wells by the dozen



a whole outside area of junk

There was a huge shed building that had a gate that was closed.  My sister asked if it was open and the man said, "I'm just too lazy to open it today".  So, we didn't get to go in the shed.
We all walked away with something (I'll try and take some pictures tomorrow)...I do know Ellen got this metal thing.  She asked the man what it was and he said, "I forget", she bought it anyway.  Patty got cigar boxes and a small license plate with her name.  Deb got a fabulous tomato pin pushion full of old hat pins (for $3.98).  I got more cigar boxes for my junk, some small leather books, and a whole group of small bottles with little red labels (and maybe some other bits).  All in all it was a fun day other than the fact that after we left the junk place we had to drive directly to the local grocery store for some Benadryl for my mosquito bites!

Tomorrow were going east to McKinney, TX.
I'll let you know what we find...

Texas - Day 1

So here we are in Texas.  I arrived on Monday and Deb will come in this afternoon.  So I had to do SOMETHING today (I couldn't just sit around)...so my sister and I headed out to a new place, "Working the Flea" on Camp Bowie in downtown Fort Worth. 



love the message in the window

The store has new and old...a nice mix of good stuff.  We wandered through the store picking out some fun stuff to take home, and then we wandered around again and found some more! 



at the cash wrap

Lot's of jewelry and charms mixed with funky vintage.

Look at these sconces!  They wear FABULOUS!  I would guess they were at least 2ft tall.  $385 for the pair.  That is a great deal.  If these were in a Rachel Ashwell showroom they would be $1200 each.

Here's our find of the day...(more in our price range too)...vintage counting cards.  I have never seen these before so we snatched them up for only $10. 

 Lucky Day.

Tomorrow we're on a day trip driving to Quanah, TX with some stops along the way (one of them will surely be Sonic).  So stay with us...as the girls shop Texas.