Salvage, fleas and various other goodies...

The last day spent in the Saluda/Tryon area of North Carolina last week my mom and I headed into Tryon to go to a place that advertised itself as a warehouse of salvage and other such goodies. Neither my mom nor I have ever met a termite-eaten, flaky-paint-covered piece of anything that we didn't like, so we thought it sounded like a great place to spend a little money and a lot of time.

Turns out, the salvage end of things required quite a hefty bit of money, so all we did there was browse. The owners obviously travel to Europe and South America quite often, and bring home some fabulous pieces of buildings and furniture items to share with Wealthy Vacationing Americans. That term doesn't describe anyone that was on the trip last week, so we just admired. I was really wishing I could spring for the antique French bottle racks they had - those A-frame shaped ones that are hinged at the top - but they were over $400 each if I remember correctly. Maybe it was $200... in any case, they were more than my limit of $25 so they stayed put.

We did, however, do very nicely in the flea market that was adjacent to the salvage place! The actual flea market was pretty much like every other flea market... some dishes, some linens, some crap, some old books, lots of record albums... But then my mom needed to find a bathroom, and we found the mother-lode.

In the back of the building, beyond the booths and organized stuff, were piles and piles of stuff that had been picked up, it seemed, at estate sales and office liquidations, and whatever other kind of sales that would garner a person a dozen or so filing cabinets of different vintages, some professional dishwasher parts, and stacks of child-sized school desks. There was a whole lot of stuff we didn't even bother to try to look through (or couldn't reach) but I came away with a roll of vintage upholstery trim, a dozen or more wire frames to some sconce shades, half-a-dozen little brass keys, three small shutters, a couple of wooden turned posts to make candle sticks out of, small antique bottles - 4 for a dollar - and I'm sure there is something I'm forgetting. It was a great haul. I didn't get the sheets I found, but they were just overpriced - I'm used to paying pennies for sheets and pillowcases at local thrift stores, so paying $5 for a pair of cases would have been against my nature.

Now I have to get busy. I have two craft fairs to attend this fall, and need to decide what, exactly, I'm going to sell. I'm thinking that the Snowfolk are a no-brainer - especially at the October fair in Bella Vista. But I'm also going to make stacks and stacks of fabric drink coasters and some smaller hip bags. I have too much fabric not to make it pay off now. No more buying, lots more selling!!!