Another Junk Bonanza in the books

We had a wonderful, crazy, busy Bonanza week! It started with set up on Wednesday and then we were in full speed junking mode early Thursday morning. 

One of our favorite additions to our booth this year is our green parts spinner. We picked it up from a farmer guy in the middle of Wisconsin and it was well worth the drive. We had our letters and numbers all sorted out and it worked great!

Another awesome item we had in our booth is a WWII trunk that is thought to be painted by a Disney Artist. How cool is that!!?! $750 and it's yours 

We had a great time talking junk with everyone, meeting new friends and reconnecting with old junking buddies. Thanks for making this our best Junk Bonanza ever! 

Cheers!

Ben & Jenni

Gearing up for Spring Junk Bonanza!

It's almost that time of year again: JUNK BONANZA! We are starting to gear up for it and with a few JB's under our belt we have a better handle on what it takes to be a successful vendor. Though we are by no means experts, but we wanted to share what we've learned with other Vendors and soon-to-be Vendors. So we have compiled a checklist of: things to remember to bring, things you may not need, and general how-to's about booth set up.

First a little back story...I started selling at craft shows a few years back. Mostly crafty items with a few upcycled items sprinkled in. Then with the encouragement of my sister and another crafter I started on Etsy. Long story short, I found that vintage was selling WAY better than crafty items. So I recruited my husband to join me in this venture and a Vintage Parcel was born! We decided to apply for Junk Bonanza Spring 2013 and were put on the waiting list. TWO WEEKS before the show they emailed us saying that a spot had opened up and we were in! HOLY COW! We had to move into high gear and come up with a booth idea, gather more product and PRICE it all!

So here is what we learned and wanted to share it with you!

DIY Tabletop Faux Finish

While browsing Pinterest a few weeks ago I came across a DIY paper bag flooring technique. We have hardwood floors and they don't need refinishing. However I thought it would make a great finish for a tabletop. So I started hunting for the prefect table to try this technique on. I found this perfect old round school table at one of my favorite stores: Empty the Nest.

I brought it home and got started with the project. First I ran to Home Depot and got my supplies:

1 Quart of Stain ( any color you wish )

1 Quart Clear Polyurethane ( I went with water based )

1 Roll of Brown Builders Paper

1 Gallon of Elmers Glue* (you don't need this much for 1 table, but I plan to do more)

*Couldn't find the Gallon of Elmers Glue at HD. Went to Joann's Craft store and found it there.

 That's a lot of glue!

 Step 1: Mix your glue with water. I went with 1 Part glue to 2 parts water. Since it was a relatively small project I went with 1cup glue : 2 cups water. I mixed it in a shallow square plastic bowl.

 Step 2: Tear up pieces of paper and crumple them. I tried to keep them all about the same size.

 Step 3: Dip each piece of paper in the glue mixture, let the excess run off and flatten it down on your surface. I wore a pair of gloves and it worked great.

 Step 4: Overlap the pieces since they do shrink up a bit after they dry. I let the table dry over night.

 Step 5: Time to Stain!  I used a lambs wool stain applicator and poured some stain in the same kind of bowl I used for the glue. I just spread out the stain and let it sit for a few minutes. I then wiped it off using an old towel.

 Step 6: Let it dry overnight. It still felt slightly tacky in the morning but I was ready to Poly!

 Step 6: Apply the Polyurethane in thin coats. I used a paint brush to apply it. I waited a few hours between coats and applied 5 coats over two days.

It turned out so great! It's nice and shiny and it looks like leather. I can't wait to do another table.

Thanks for checking out my post! And thanks to Ashley at Domestic Imperfection for the idea.

Have a great day :)

Top 5 Creepy Estate Sale finds

We frequent a lot of Estate Sales, Garage Sales and our Favorite place to visit is Empty the Nest ( a company that cleans out estates and sell the items in their store)
So it should not surprise you that we've come across some crazy things. We usually buy these crazy items because what we've learned is: People love crazy things!


Here are our top five things that we have found. Some of them are for sale and I'll include a link in case you HAVE to own it!

Number 5: Used Parachute Rip Cords

We bought a whole box full of these used parachute rip cords (about 20 or so). All of them were mounted on plaques and included the name of the person that the rip cord either SAVED or DID NOT SAVE. Some of them had happy endings like the one above. Others were not so lucky and perished in the fall. This is the last one we have of the lot and are going to be keeping it. (sorry)

 Number 4: Molar in a Jar

This tooth with roots intact came in this cute little jar. The tooth appears to be in fairly good shape. Not sure why it was pulled, but apparently it gave someone some trouble and it was yanked.
This guy is not yet for sale, but it will be. Interested? shoot us a message on Etsy.

Number 3: Creepy Dolls

Oh man these dolls are CREEPY! One is just a head, but she's watching you! The largest one has some mildew on her face that takes on a ghost-like appearance. We keep these creepers in the garage so they can't get us at night. Want them to come live with you? You're in luck:

Little Creepy Doll

Large Ghost- Face Doll

Doll Head

Number 2: Articulated Dental Model

Nom, nom, nom. This set of chompers help dental students practice filling, tooth extraction and other "fun" procedures that we've all endured. It completely flips open so you can see all the teeth at once.
This beauty is not listed for sale yet, but it will be shortly. Favorite us on Etsy to be alerted to all our new items for sale.

The Number 1 Creepiest Thing we've bought:

Dreadlocks!

Seriously, so creepy. Someone was done with the Rastafarian look and shaved 'em off and put them in a box. Ben came across them at our favorite store Empty the Nest and had to have them.

Lucky you- they are available to purchase! 

Check them out here:

Dreadlocks

So there you have it. Our creepiest finds.

Be sure to follow us on:

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Pinterest

Announcing a Partnership in "Junk", a perfect match!

Hello fellow friends, and fans ;-)  We may have been quite on the blog front for the past month but we certainly have not been sitting idle!  

As implied by the title aVintageParcel is announcing some HUGE news!

We are officially going to have a permanent local outlet for our wares at a wonderfully eclectic store by the name of Junket!  See the link below!

http://shopjunket.com/

After meeting the owner, Julie Kearns, at Junk Bonanza we stopped in at her soon to be expanded store and knew the fit was right!  The plan right now is for us to be part of the new expanded space, along with several other local vendors, that is planned to be open for the weekend of November 15! So soon!  The store will be open for sales every weekend after that until Christmas.  Find that special gift that just cannot be bought no matter how hard you look at target or best buy ;-P

We are hard at work planning and building our display that will be chock full with 1000's of vintage parcel's nifty little, and big, items.  We have been stockpiling treasure in anticipation of this announcement so you will be treated to lots of items not found on our etsy store if you stop in :-)  It will be so great to have a permanent local outlet for our items!

Watch for lots more info and progress on this endeavor! Feeling excited!

This is why our neighbors think we're nuts...

Maybe it's because we have this currently built in our driveway??

Or maybe because or garage ( workshop, storage area) is bursting at the seams with awesome junk!

Could be either of those. But really to us and to lovers-of-junk like yourselves it means one thing:

Junk bonanza is almost here!! 

We have been working our our booth display (which is what that structure is in our driveway) getting ready to make our way to Canterbury (Beverly Hillbilly style ) for the Fall Junk Bonanza Sept 26, 27, & 28. The cost is $9 admission- but it is so worth it my friend. Aisles and aisles of awesome rusty, crusty fabulous junk!

But before that we are at a 1-day Junk Market that is free and outside on Sept 21st 8am-5pm. It's in Burnsville on Cliff Road and Hwy 13 in the Parking lot of Touch of Home and Jimmy Johns. Come visit us there and then the next weekend come to the Bonanza!

Yikes we have our work cut out for us this week. (who signed us up for back-to-back junk markets anyway? Oh wait that was me!!)

Jenni

avintageparcel.etsy.com

A Vintage Parcel Wedding

On Saturday we (the owners of a Vintage Parcel) renewed our wedding vows.  (married for 12 years :) It was a small ceremony with our parents and siblings followed by a great party with lots of friends. The best part was is that it was held at our house and we used a lot of our cool vintage items to decorate our yard.

Most of these items are  (or will be) available either on Etsy or at Junk Bonanza.

 Here we are, newly renewed :)

Even our Dog Bailey dressed up. (Can you see the bowtie under his scruff :)

Recognize the "table" top? Yep it's the tailgate that we use for our sign. We LOVE the turquoise dresser! That will be making an appearance at Junk Bonanza in a few weeks!

A closer look at this beautiful thing. Also featured are our aluminum letters in a track. And yes a wedding photo from our original wedding in 2001.

We have this SUPER cool old slate Chalkboard that we are considering renting out for weddings. It's too cool to sell!

A close up of the tailgate table. We also used vintage metal fridge drawers to hold ice and drinks.

Did you know that you can send a photo to Jones Soda and then you can order custom bottles of soda pop with your photo on the label? So cool!

We have tons of vintage frames that are perfect for photo shoots like this!

Even our 5 year old had fun with the frame :)

Love that Ball brought back the vintage Blue canning jars. They looked great with the sunflowers!

We even had a few of our letterpress letters out for decoration. We have a huge selection of them. Check them out here.

It was a meaningful ceremony, a wonderful celebration and a fun time with friends. Let us know how we can help you decoration for your special day :)

:) Jenni