Flea Market Fresh: July 2013

Last weekend I made a trip with the boyfriend to his dad's house to do some very late spring cleaning. I was awarded the job of looking through old boxes of junk in the garage and deciding what would be donated to Goodwill. Boy oh boy did I love my job! As it turns out, years ago my boyfriend's father won all the props from a movie set in the 1950s at an auction. To my delight I discovered these props in boxes upon boxes just filled with treasures. Some of these treasures were authentic 1950s memorabilia including perfume boxes, face powders, laundry detergents, teas, and match boxes. But what I loved most of all were the bottles! In this dusty garage, hidden away in boxes to be thrown out, were dozens of glass bottles in all shapes, sizes and colors.

Bottles are so fun to decorate with and very versatile. They spruce up any nook or cranny. I love adding layers by strategically placing bottles.

Here are some examples of how I decorate with bottles:

Bottles look best when bunched, meaning placed near another bottle. Mix shapes, colors and textures to create the best design.

One bottle holds a wooden spool, the other a yellow tissue paper flower. Sweet and nostalgic.

In my bathroom I've added a textured candle to the mix. The orange and blue remind me of beach glass.

Feel free to leave comments!

Questions:

1. Do you collect interesting bottles? If so, what types do you like best?

2. How do you use bottles to decorate?

My family is no stranger to spontaneity. Growing up my friends' parents would spend weeks planning elaborate vacations to Europe or the Caribbean while my own family made absolutely no plans for how to spend the upcoming school break. My siblings and I would be prepared for a week of TV and junk food induced comas when suddenly, one morning, instead of waking us up with her usual rise and shine gimmick, my mother would literally yell at us to get up out of our beds and into the car. It was like an evacuation. And just as our school drills had taught, we did not take anything with us. So we'd hop into the car completely unprepared with no shoes or underwear, thrilled because we were on our way to... well, somewhere, somewhere not home, but typically somewhere on the coast.

When I think back on my childhood those crazy, unplanned road trips, were some of the most memorable highlights. However, I've found that as an adult it is a bit more difficult to be so carefree - having a job and what not. That is why I was delighted when on what was supposed to be a Sunday drive to the beach for lunch my boyfriend caught the spontaneity bug and just kept driving. We found ourselves in Santa Barbara checking into a hotel for the night with only what we were wearing and a faithful credit card.

View from our hotel room

I had read about a vintage and consignment shop called The Mermaid's Chest in a flea market magazine and was lucky to accidentally stumble across it. Owned by local Debbie Moore, who greeted us with a sly smile and debutante wave of the hand, The Mermaid Chest is a great place to dig up unique finds. Debbie runs the store from 12pm to "6ish" and stuffs it full of furniture, jewelry, clothing and anything else she happens to like. I found the prices to be a bit high but The Mermaid's Chest is in Santa Barbara after all.