Fall Vintage Market Wrap Up

There truly is such a thing as a “Vintage Market High” and boy did I feel it this weekend. Words can not even describe how amazing these past few days have been and even though we had to deal with a little rain, it was just about perfect.

This weekend I had the pleasure of setting up at the Gypsy Junkers Country Fair in Moreland, Georgia. This is a little local outdoor market that is near and dear to my heart. I have been doing this show twice a year (March and October – you can see a past show here) for the last few years and I enjoy it very much. This market allows me to set up displays and vignettes, which if you know me, is a true passion of mine. It also allows me the opportunity to chat with the shoppers in person. Usually that means that I get to meet a handful of new faces, both local friends and friends who I know online – I LOVE that. This little Vintage Market is just perfect for me for both of those reasons.

As you may have seen in my instagram stories, prepping for a vintage market is indeed a TON of work. I have to find, scrub, mend, pack, unpack, and display all of the vintage goodness but boy I sure do love it. I have always said that if you are doing something you love then is doesn’t really seem like work! Once it all comes together, it truly is SO worth it.

NOTE: You can click here to go to my Instagram page. There I have added a highlight button entitled “MARKET” so you can go and ‘see ‘ the process if you missed it.

Packing

A few weeks ago, we bought a covered trailer, which I have named the “Weathered Wagon!” Isn’t that the perfect name! In years past, we have borrowed our neighbors open bed trailer. This time around, having our own, made all the difference for us. We were able to pack slowly and effectively and we used every square inch! Another bonus, we didn’t need to worry about the threat of rain as we were packing. Boy, was that nice! Even though we had the trailer, we also had to pack the bed of the truck (a few times)! That is where we put all the vintage garden items and concrete!

While we use the trailer for the big things, I try to pack all of my ‘smalls’ in banana boxes. I usually bring those in my car! Having the boxes all the same size – with handles – helps to make packing into the car very easy. Also, I should note that I do try to bring all of my items tagged with a price before I get there.

Unloading

The first thing I always unload (and set up) are my tents. Once those go up, I decided where all of my big pieces will go. I usually have a 20 x 40 booth at this event so I try to bring an adequate number of ‘big pieces’ to fill the booth space. I try to have a rough idea where all the big pieces are going to go before I get there. That way all I have to do is move the big pieces once. Unfortunately, no matter how hard I plan, I end up having to shuffle pieces around a bit! Once that is done then I typically unload the boxes of smalls from the car and drop the boxes next to the ‘big piece’ that they will sit on. I always try to keep the shopper in mind and I try to create a good ‘flow’ for them.

Staging

Once the boxes are unpacked from the car and placed, I get to work unloading them. I try to display them in a way that makes ‘sense’ to the shopper. I want each space to tell a story and to evoke excitement as the people to walk through. I try not to overthink this – which is hard for me! Sometimes I have to remind myself not to get too caught up on the small details because things will get moved around! I like to create many little ‘shopping areas’ for the customers to browse. I can not begin to explain how much fun this is for me! In case you were wondering, my favorite areas to create are always the vintage Christmas and the vintage garden areas!

Show Day

Once the hard work is all done and the booth is ready, then the real fun begins. I love having shoppers wander into my booth and I also really enjoy getting to chat and visit it with them! Another cool thing that never gets old is to hear shoppers say, “Oh, I remember that from my childhood!” Or sometimes I will hear, ” My Grandma had that!” Those little comments just melt my heart! I also love to hear stories about how people are going to be using the things that they buy. That is always so cool – to envision these things that I have carefully collected – in the homes of other people. That makes me so very happy.

Come Prepared

This year there was a threat of rain for the second day of the show. Since the original forecast showed rain for the SECOND DAY ONLY, I staged my booth area for a dry shopping experince for the first day. There were vintage goodies all over the booth space – uncovered! You can imagine how surprised we were to have rain come pouring down at about 11:30 on the first day. As soon as we felt the first drop, we jumped into action and began covering furniture with tarps and plastic. I was so glad that I came prepared and that I had those items on hand. We then decided to switch all of the displays around. Once there was a small break in the weather, we added walls to the tents, moved the furniture inside, and created a ‘store’ type of shopping experience inside the main tent area. We then added a third tent (with no walls) to help protect additional items.

• 

• 

As it turns out, Saturday – which was the day that was forecasted for rain originally- ended up being dry until about 3:30! What a blessing!

Tear Down

All good things must come to an end, and while it is always sad to wrap up each vintage market, there is some satisfaction in going home with ‘less than you came with.’ We have had to load up in the rain for the last two markets that I have done. This time around, we were racing against possible tornadoes! That means that we didn’t pack as efficiently because we were in a hurry. We somehow managed to get it all in though! This particular vintage market, I came home with about 1/4 of the stuff. Considering several display pieces were not even for sale, I consider that a huge success! Once I got home with the trailer, I unpacked it and put everything on the back porch. I needed to dry it all off. I plan to repack displays for the next show and I plan to organize a few of the items to go to my booth!

• 

• 

The most amazing part of the entire weekend is the fact that so many friends, from all over the south, came out to visit and support me. I felt such an amazing connection with all of you who came – near and far – and I am forever grateful that you came out to say hello. I am already planning out the next Vintage Market in my mind! See you all in March!

Thank You

I just want to take a moment to thank everyone who helped. I certainly can not do this without the help of friends and family! I am so blessed to have so many people who support my love for vintage!