The Olde Farmhouse Vintage Market has now come and gone. And whadda weekend!
Here’s how it all went down… literally.
I borrowed my neighbour’s trailer once again, (thanks Rudy and Corinne!!) and with a truck stuffed to the rafters (most likely overweight), friend Erika and I head out the day before to set up.
I’ll just say now, I would have died without Erika’s help. This kinda set up is not a one person job. It’s like you’re moving house and home, even though I didn’t bring super big, heavy stuff.
Once we arrived, we were amazed at the size of our tent outdoors. I think it was a 10′ x 20′!
I’ve always dreamed of having a booth where I would have the room to do demos all day long. And this one gave me room (to spare) for both woodworking AND stencils!
Once we fiddled around with positioning stuff, we took a little walk around the grounds to gather our bearings. And spotted an old rotting table in the weeds destined for a burn pile.
Brainstorm!
We propped it on one end and shoved it against the tent for our old signs display. It was perfection!
Find the Old Sign Stencils HERE.
I was so excited to set up a woodworking station. All my best friends joined us, waiting to get a good workout.
Doesn’t this make you want to play?
Our tent was on the edge of the property so we got a really pretty view out one side.
Double bonus… our booth was large enough to offer Erika plenty of space for her beautiful New Skin Botanicals product line too. She makes all of her natural products from scratch and let me tell you, they smell Heavenly! Her display married my style perfectly!
I scooped two mineral scrubs to take home in mocha and vanilla, so I can’t wait to try it!
When I walked the property during set up, another booth had these AMAZING fence boards. I gasped and thought out loud, “Those need to be in MY booth!”
The owner of the fab boards overheard me, and she agreed. So she sent 21 over on market morning to sell them there in exchange for bringing a few home with me. YES!!! It’s a deal!
At the eleventh hour, Erika asked where my stencil menu board was. Oops. I didn’t have one. So I whipped up this bulletin board painted black, with a fence board frame at midnight the day of. It worked out great!
My intent had been to blog about the rustic bulletin / chalkboard project once home, but the prop ended up selling. Oh well. 🙂 Guess I’ll have to make another one.
I really loved it, but was proud that I had the nerve to go through with the sale without getting tired of it first. 🙂
A sample of each stencil was hung from a rusty mattress spring frame, with the remainder in file folders in the shutter toolbox down below. This way customers could help themselves if I couldn’t get there fast enough.
We also had some junk tables inside the tent.
We tried some table coverings of paper and burlap for the table tops, but it didn’t look right. So we ended up with nothing on the tables.
If I did this again, I’d invent some kind of skirts to fit under the tops to hide our surplus. I just wasn’t sure how the setup would be, so now we know.
But it was ok. It had a real junky workshop look, and that’s works for me!
While in town, I found these fabulous shopping bags topped with burlap, so while working the show, I stencilled up a few. So cute! I’ll be bringing this one to the beach! While the 10″ Route 66 looked really neat, it looked cute done in Coffee too.
You can see all the stencils HERE.
The bulk of our junk (the above was picked over already) sat outside on two ladders with planks for shelves. We were so fortunate we could spread out so much! That gave us lots of moving room inside the tent.
If you ever have the fortunate opportunity to be in The Olde Farmhouse Vintage Market, you will be pampered. It was SUCH a hot day, but they saved the vendors with this fabulous kitchen full of fresh ice cold cut fruit, sweets, veggies and dip, soft drinks and all the bottled water you could handle.
It was like a hug seeing all that stuff, as tired as we were.
After a long day of setup, it was time to go home, only to get up at 5am the next day.
Good morning! We are officially ready for business play! Isn’t this cool?
There were two long barns, several outdoor buildings and this lawn area to shop from. With 90 vendors, the event was HUGE and fabulous! I quickly ran around before the gates opened, but ran out of time to take pictures.
Once the gates opened, things went crazy. This is where I wish I had hired a photographer. We didn’t have time to take pictures! With a one day event, it was a frenzy all day long with little breaks.
Luckily my son came for the day to handle the money part. I also educated myself on The Square, which totally saved the day. Boy, that thing is slick! And much needed if you carry a retail product line.
Although this was a junk event, most of my time was needed at the Old Sign Stencils table. How cool is that? They were a HIT!
(note my very tired boy above? 🙂 )
Would you believe most of the ready made signs did NOT sell? They wanted the stencils instead. And I couldn’t be more thrilled!
It was so fun to teach and allow others to try them out all day long.
I hosted two workshops. At 11 there was the stencil one, which was brimming full. So exciting!
And then the 2nd woodworking one at 2. By this time, I think many had already left for the day, but I could still see the stencil side buzzing. So I hopped on one side to the other (nice to have both stations side by side!) so I could help where needed.
And then this happened…
One of my long time readers stepped up to the plate. She wanted the full meal deal on how I built reclaimed wood branch handled toolboxes, so I cut the wood and she did all the rest.
This was her first time EVER holding any tools. First. Time.
And you better believe, she took HER toolbox home with her! And this is why I love what I do.
And I do have the best followers. One reader wanted to come to the show for her birthday, so I made sure she left with something cool. One reader couldn’t come because she wasn’t feeling well, so I made sure her young daughter stencilled her a cool little coaster. And some of the vendor readers left me feeling like a movie star.
I even got a visit all the way from Hawaii by Lianna of Not Too Shabby!
This blogging thing seriously draws out the nicest people in the world! And that is the very best part of all. The connections and friendships you gather along the way.
It was a pleasure being in this amazing show. If you ever have a chance to be in this one, just do it. Leah will take exceptional care of you. The weather was perfect too, so I couldn’t have desired anything more.
And as a side note, the stencils were equally as successful as the junk. With only 12 designs in stock, that gets a ‘just wow’ from me.
A big HUGE thank-you, Leah, for one of the most fabulous events I’ve ever had the pleasure to be a part of!
To Erika for taking TWO DAYS from your family to help, and her husband for looking after things at home.
And to my son, giving up his beloved sleeping in kinda weekend to work for his ‘ol mom.
And to all the amazing readers I got to hug. Thank YOU for coming out and supporting me in many more ways than one!
It was a PERFECT day!
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The Olde Farmhouse Vintage Market is a one of a kind vintage annual summer event, and Christmas event, hosted at the beautiful Albion Fairgrounds, by Leah Faulkner. They will also have a Christmas Show this year at the Abbotsford Tradex. You will see handmade and as is vintage treasures by the droves!
Follow them on their Facebook page HERE.
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Neu Skin Botanicals is a plant based skin care system, handcrafted by Erika Penner right in Chilliwack, BC. She purchases all safe and natural ingredients and makes the best of the best. From body butters, mineral salt scrubs, to even sunscreen, not only are you using the best you can, they smell amazing, scented with essential oils too! Erika’s products are so popular, they sell out quickly!
Sold in some stores as well as privately throughout the lower mainland, BC Canada.
Follow to find out more on their Facebook page HERE.
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Funky Junk’s Old Sign Stencils are designs emulating vintage signs. New designs are being created on a constant basis.
You can purchase them online HERE, or visit any local Fusion Mineral Paint Merchant HERE to see if they carry your favs.
If I do any shows, you can be assured they will come along for the ride.
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Next up, I’ll write a post on my best market tips on setting up, pricing, taking down, and everything in between. Coming soon!
Disclosure / I teamed up with The Olde Farmhouse Vintage Market for this event to host talks, etc, but am blogging about my experience to simply share. I’m sharing New Skin Botanicals because it’s an amazing product that my friend Erika sells out on constantly. All my opinions are my own.
You ARE a movie star, my love, and I am SO excited for you! Congrats on a successful event!
90 vendors!! And of course you did well, you have great junk. I swooned at the pics. Congrats
I want to attend one of these events! What fun & how wonderful that you teach attendees how to use stencils, etc. By the way, your stencils are amazing!
Thanks Debbie! The demos were worthwhile. I was able to teach my best tips to anyone that desired to learn. Every single one of them aced their own sample. They were all gorgeous!
I’m really picky about how they turn out so I guess it’s time to shoot a few videos on my technique… coming soon! Yikes… 🙂
And thanks for the kudos!
A Big congratulations on what sounds like a very successful show! How cool are those stencils?! I think I just might need some of them for my own projects around the house. I live in a 100+ year old converted barn… think they would look awesome?!
Get some much needed rest now.
Hugs,
Beth p
Dear Beth, I want your house. 🙂
The stencils make making old signs effortless. I never thought I’d be a stencil girl but blame it on my love for all things typography. I need numbers and letters in my life, and this is the easiest way to do it!
I wanna be like you! Love it all. Trying to create a business myself along the same lines and just not getting anywhere yet. Tips?
Hi Deborah, this is a loaded question! I should really do a blog post on it. My business just came about organically. I started doing what I loved, then grew from opportunities that came to me from being online and public about it.
My best tips are to do what you LOVE… and build an online presence whether that’s on Facebook or a blog / website. Then see where things take you.
Thanks for taking me along to another fantastic event Donna – love it!
Your booth looks amazing! What a great idea to use the old door to hold your signs…so many clever ideas! You have an awesome team!
Ya know Betsy, it took everything out of me to not be able to stay all night and dress it up more and more and more. But the tired in me had to stop! 🙂 I could have spent days just decorating it. I have no idea how some of the vendors created what they did in such a short amount of time. Mind blowing. I have a lot to learn.
Sounds like you had a fabulous time! I’m so glad you had so much fun! Did most of your treasures find new homes?
I can’t believe I didn’t add that… my pictures are all over the place! haha! I came home with a full truck and trailer but went with 2 so some went for sure! But I’m secretly glad I got to bring some favs home with me again. 🙂
This looks like a really interesting show. Is it annual? I live in Manitoba but my husband and I are thinking about moving to the Chilliwack area as we have three small grandchildren who all live in B.C.. We like Chilliwack and miss our “babies”. We hopefully would be there for next year. Love your blog and find it very inspiring! Thanks.
Hi Beth! Yes, the summer show is annual and they also host one near Christmas!
Is there a way we can purchase your stencils on-line? I live in Illinois and would love to buy a couple.
Please let me know.
Thanks,
Stacy
Yes, absolutely! Two ways!
You can visit my online store at / http://funkyjunkinteriors.bigcartel.com/
Or visit a local Fusion Mineral Paint merchant’s store to see if they have the one you’re after. They carry the best sellers. / http://fusionmineralpaint.com/where-to-buy/
I did add the links to the stencils in my post, but they are obviously not obvious enough! haha Off to go fix that!
From the look on the photos it appears you had a beautiful day. I loved the look of your booth. If I would have been there, your booth would have been probably my one and only stop. I never would have wanted to leave. Thanks for sharing the great pictures.
Well I would have loved to paint with you! 🙂 Seriously.. the best idea EVER is to do demos at a booth. Folks love to try out what you sell. And it’s more fun to learn something for free as well!
I’m so happy for you Donna! Looks like you had an awesome day. Your stencils are wonderful – nothing else like them out on the market – why would you ever think they wouldn’t have been so popular? I just wish I lived closer to you, I’d be at all of your shows!!!
Yay–so glad it was a success and what beautiful weather you had!!
Girl, you LIVE your craft! Junking is so much more than a business for you; it is a way of life and self expression. Joy shows on your face and in the words you use to describe everything you do. As my beloved Cajun husband would have said, “You are autentic, Sha!”
God bless you!
Oh, what an amazing day! It looks like you had glorious weather for it and I absolutely love the way you set up your booth…everything about it is perfection…and what a brainstorm to use the old table to showcase your awesome signs! I can’t believe they hardly sold! Give them to ME!!! 🙂 But I guess it kinda makes sense when you take into account that the stencils were so popular…people were yearning to use them to make their own signs. I think what I loved reading about most is your demonstrations…how much people loved them and how wonderful you were with everyone, which is not a surprise by any stretch! One day, I swear, I am gonna get out to meet you and maybe you can get me over my fear of saws? hehe! I am seriously sooooo happy to know you had such a great time, Donna…thank you so very much for sharing it with us!
Wow, what a show! And your stuff looked amazing. Makes me want to shop…and stencil…and build! Amazing.
Donna, this was such a great post. I could feel you smiling. I’m super happy for you. Glad you had a successful event. Teresa
Your booth space looks like so much fun! Wish I could have come and woodworked with you. So glad it went well and I knew everyone would love your stencils. Now it’s time to get some rest!
Wow reading this post made me feel I was there it looked like so much learning and FUN and I wish I was but I live too far away boo hoo. But I loved it 🙂
That is one amazing booth! Congrats!
That looks like so much fun Donna! I bet your stencils sold because they are fantastic! I love using square too… it is a deal breaker (or deal maker I should say!) Wish I lived closer!
🙂 Susan
Donna, I’m so glad the Market Day turned out well with great weather for you!! I wish I lived near you!!! Keep the blogs coming!! You’re awesome! 🙂
I wish I lived closer so I could come to something like The Olde Farmhouse vintage Market. My bucket list includes a trip to BC Canada to see Funky Junk and visit some of the places you talk about.
Gosh! What fun! You are sooo inspiring to me. Because of you and much to my husbands dismay I’ve purchased several power tools and have actually used them.
My first stenciled piece (and old piece of metal roofing) sold in one day and I found the roofing on a construction tear down site so it was free 🙂 Double bonus 🙂