Like a Needle in a Haystack
Thank you all so much for the kind words and encouragements on my last post–burnout is no fun! 🙂 Time for some retail therapy. 😛 This past weekend I headed back to Canton Trade Days with my dear friend Sang. I’ve posted about Canton before (here and here), but it’s just too good not to revisit.
Imagine this. One of the United States’ largest flea markets- open one weekend a month, only an hour south of where I live. Don’t you think it’s my duty to go? 🙂 Canton Trade Days is enormous. I have been 5 or so times now and there are still parts of it I haven’t seen. Rumors are there is an exotic petting zoo? Perhaps one day I’ll find it. Regardless, Sang and I planned a girl’s trip out there and had so much fun digging for treasures. We both love the “junk” section- hundreds of dealers with boxes and tables full of items. Imagine it like a cool vintage garage sale or something. Sometimes there are boxes you can dig through, sometimes you just paw through piles. It’s like a needle in a haystack- looking for that illustrious thing that catches your eye.
This was the first time I headed to Canton without a list of certain things to find. I had one thing on my list- opera glasses, but spoiler alert- I didn’t find any. 🙂 But I did find some super cool treasures to take home- we’ll get to those soon, but first I have so many photos I want to share to give you all a taste of the craziness of Canton. I love it so much!
First of all, please note the amount of dead animals you will see. This is just a sampling:
Don’t worry- you might find some alive ones! How cute were these puppies? We played with them for a good 30 minutes or so, but didn’t bring any home. Scott was quite upset about this when he saw these photos.
I even found a Bella look alike! How precious!
Of course we couldn’t leave Canton without posing with these random giant metal chickens we saw everywhere!
There are also plenty of interesting people to meet in Canton. There was a man that randomly blew out of this bugle complete with a baby doll attached. He was happy to demonstrate how the dolls eyes blinked open and close depending on the angle he was holding it. 🙂
We also reconnected with an old friend we met last time at Canton. He is a Jar expert. He knows everything there is to know about collecting, selling and trading old jars. We always are so impressed with his passion and knowledge every time we talk- such a wealth of knowledge! Makes me appreciate my jars more!! 🙂
And then there is just all the random things you see at Canton that words are inadequate to describe. Like an old carriage for instance. Mr. Darcy where are youuuu? At least it was a good opportunity for Sang to make her Lost Child face (check out her hilarious blog here)
Need some beads? Electrical supplies? Car doors? Old creepy dolls? Old furniture? Something else? Check check!
Of course we had to split our traditional funnel cake to give us the sugar rush half way though to finish our hardcore junking spree. 🙂
So what DID make the cut and get to come home with me? Check out this awesome chair I snagged… FOR FREE. Yes, that’s right, it was 100% free. I was looking at it and the guy said he was tired of looking at it and that it should go home with me. Well, okay sir! DONE.
Here it is in our living room. I love it. It has this really cool southwestern pattern weaved in.
I also got this turtle shell…for $3. I have a few fun ideas in mind for it. For now it’s sitting on our kitchen counter in a grocery bag which is a terrible idea since every time one of us looks inside we almost have a heart attack! 😛
This was my “big ticket” item of the day. I spent $15 on this cool, old, chippy frame that has chicken wire stapled to it. This was actually something Scott and I have been talking about making, but we had a few things on our plate and never got around to it.
My plan is to hang it on the wall and use clothespins or something to hang different things on it. I even know the first few things I want to hang…these vintage Valentine’s Day cards! I love them so much- aren’t they cute?
I think my favorite item for sure would be the chair. I’ve been wanting a wicker throne for awhile. 🙂 And since the day after Canton happened to be Game of Thrones premiere weekend and since Scott and I happened to be dressed up for the Opera (we’re so fancy!) we put that chair to use with a GOT mini photoshoot. 😛 One of our dogs didn’t do so well. No names…:P
The family that slays together stays together? Who knows. But either way I have some fun plans for this chair (Besides just playing dress up and sitting on it!) Aren’t we super cool? 🙂
Tania Griffis is an accomplished writer, blogger, and interior designer with a Journalism degree from the University of Oklahoma. She started her popular blog, Run to Radiance, in 2011, demonstrating her design expertise through the personal remodeling of six houses to millions of readers across the globe.
Tania also owns The Creative Wheelhouse, a respected ghostwriting agency for bloggers, further showcasing her talent for creating engaging and informative content.
ha, so fun!! i almost forgot about those nasty vintage paper cups and those creepy teletubbies hahaha. oh canton. i love our finds and am honored to be featured in this post! 🙂
Yes those cups were the worst…especially for like $60!!!!
Oh my word! You got that chair for FREE???! I’m so calling dibs on featuring it for #thriftscorethursday so you’d better share it on Instagram 😉
Also, I’ve never been to Canton! Can I tag along next time pretty please? There’s no way I’m ever convincing my husband to go with me 😛
Yes Brynne please share! 🙂 And yes!! Come with us! We’ll probably go again in June, that would be so fun!
OMG! How fun! I want to go! I like that chicken wire frame, can’t wait to see it hung up 🙂
I’m still making some minor improvements to it, but I will be sure to share soon! 🙂 I still need to find a place for it too…hehe.
I haven’t been to Canton in ages. It looks like you had tons of fun! That chair is seriously amazing. Your dogs are both so adorable. I love the family pics in the chair.
I really love the chair. 🙂 Our dogs are pretty cute, but high energy!!!
First of all – I almost spit my coffee everywhere when I saw the baby doll bugle. SO.FUNNY. That man belongs in Austin.
I cannot believe you scored that peacock chair for free! I’ve been wanting to shop in Canton for years and have just never made the trip. I ‘m convinced now! And you know when they build that train between Dallas and Houston I’m gonna be shopping every month! 😉
Hahaha we were so confused what was going on when he kept blowing it. And he was so excited to show us how he got the doll on there…very interesting.
i didn’t know they were building a train!?!? YES. That is awesome!!!! Come shop with me! 🙂
That flea market sounds amazing, I love looking through vintage stuff too. You totally scored with that chair, the family pics you took with it totally reminded me of GOT haha.
Although I would have taken home the puppy too, he was just too cute!
Yay, glad we passed the GOT test! 🙂 He was so precious, but they grow up and get big!!!!
LOVE the wicker throne. That is so amazingly awesome. I need one of those! And that flea market looks like such a fun place to explore, hang out and shop. I wish we had such interesting places here in Toronto.
Char come on down to Texas…you should come during the State Fair – you will see things you would not believe. LOL.