The joys of junking
By Hollie Eastman
It's a good thing that the back seats of my van fold under. I had it packed. I mean packed so full that our baby car seat was hidden under the middle seat stash of treasure. The back sported two vintage bikes, crate upon crate of ‘oh my goodness' finds, and, if I recall correctly, I still managed to fit my sister into the passenger seat. I remember my first big digger sale like it was yesterday, the excitement of finally finding the antique farm off of the twisting back roads, the rush of seeing tables laden with treasures for my eyes to carefully comb, and not one, but three outbuildings. Oh joy!
I still have the same feelings when I pull up to a sale that I just know is going to be good, really good. And it all began when I first visited an antique show in Fairfield called the Farm Chicks, in the spring of 2004. My mom, dad, husband, sister, one year old and I piled into the above mentioned van (man, is it good to have space when you're a Junker!) and headed to a show I'd seen and circled in the back of Country Living magazine. My excitement built as we passed the signs leading us into the town that held my junking destiny. When we parked and walked past the small town park and then by the garage sales that had cropped up along the streets I felt something electric in the air. Then I entered the grange and the course of my life was forever altered. A junker was born. I didn't know it at the time, but once you've experienced the joys of junking, you are hooked. Let me share how you too can catch the love of junk.
WHERE TO BEGIN
Get newspapers and magazines, get on the road, get online, and you will find sales & shops - whether virtual or storefront brick and mortar. You'll start to find the best neighborhoods for your style; you'll meet people who share information with you about your finds. You will be sure to find stores with vastly knowledgeable experts and antique shows with fun, eclectic mixes of booths filled with visions of junk restored, repurposed, renewed. So, find an address, find an online site and then let your adventure begin.
LOCATION
It doesn't matter whether you look for treasures at an open air festival, inside a grange filled with history, dig through boxes at a garage or estate sale, or grab your treasures off the rack of a thrift store. It's the spirit of the junking, the thrill of pursuit, and the joy of discovering something that has held meaning for someone else and now is made new again and finds life with you. Once you have the junking bug, you will find treasures near, far flung, on road trips or right under your proverbial nose.
SEASONS OF JUNKING
My first season of junking was spring, almost summer, the bonanza season for finding. Garage sales, estate sales, rummage sales, any town, almost any day of the week (oh the thrill of finding a Monday sale my friends!); finding a sale in the summer is as easy as finding Melmac. The wealth is spread throughout the country and city and everyone is certain to find a treasure waiting, it just takes the right turn on the right road. I'm known for braking for sale signs, literally. Early spring and early fall, you can find some sales outside, but mostly it is in the warm and sunny months of the Inland Northwest you will find the largest array of sales to quench your thirst. Winter, ah, winter, well then the thrift stores and flea markets and antique shops are your best bets, and most of the time things are already cleaned up for you, and you have the double joy of contributing to a worthy cause, either a charity or just supporting your local shops.
THE FINDS
Now this is the fun part. Everyone's version of vintage/antique/retro/kitsch/funky junk is all individual. That's what makes it so colorful! There will be items that speak to you, like how vintage postcards and paper ephemera speak to me. Or how old scratched up marquee letters and numbers speak to my designer sister. My mom has a collection of salesmen dress samples and thread cabinets. My dad, as a result of our family's combined junking, has a large collection of vintage and retro football memorabilia, everything from books to footballs. And my husband has had a collection of antique math books and vintage rulers foisted on him by his junking addict wife. Whatever it is, you'll know. And then the amazing thing is seeing how the item catches a memory, and all of a sudden your junking find is a treasure.
 
THE REAL PRIZE
I'm getting excited to go junking just writing this. The junking and searching part, yes, that is super fun. But the relationships, that's the cement. That is what keeps me coming back year after year, to collect, to fill my garage and house, to sell my finds at my show and other venues. There is a deep and wide community that I have found in junking that has truly made it a joy beyond what I expected. There are many, many people that I have met and that I truly call friends. We have shared tears while setting up for a show, laughter while out junking a "digger" sale, and we have seen each other through dark times - helping each other find the light again. These are friends who share the road that I travel and stop at every garage sale sign along the way. This is the true joy of junking.
So enjoy the weather this summer, enjoy the freedom, but most of all, let yourself be inspired, your creativity fueled and your life enriched by the joys that only junking can bring.
Funky Junk® Antique Show & Crafts Market is a twice yearly show held in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho; Spokane in the spring and Sandpoint Labor Day weekend. Jennifer Wood and Hollie Eastman are the co-owners and originators of the fun and funky show that has been held since the spring of 2007. They met at The Farm Chicks show in 2005; two booths down and immediately recognized each other as junking soul sisters. Their husbands, Nathan Wood and Mark Eastman have hauled junk and held the girls together over many a show and season and have earned badges as official Funky Junkers. A love of old and repurposed antique, vintage and retro items as well as hand crafted goods has filled their granges and shows with inspirational and talented vendors for soon to be eight shows and counting. It is their hope that whoever visits Funky Junk finds love, fun & junk of their own.
FALL SHOW: Labor Day Weekend
Sandpoint, ID; Oden Hall Grange (just 7 miles NE of Sandpoint, off of Hwy. 200. 134 Sunnyside Rd.)
Saturday & Sunday; September 4th & 5th
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Admission: $2; 12 & under free (good both days)
funkyjunkantiqueshow.com
funkyjunkshow@yahoo.com
funkyjunkshow.blogspot.com
yesterdaysgirl.blogspot.com
Hollie Eastman is a stay at home mom of three adorable boys. She has participated in junking shows for six years and for four of those years has co-run her own show, the Funky Junk Antique Show. She is married to a math teacher who is often puzzled by her junking accounting system. Junking is her addiction, but she also makes time for scrapbooking, reading, music and good times with friends and family. She resides in Spokane, WA.
Comments
Post a Comment
Comment by Ballyhoo Girl (Chrissy Dunham)
7/29/2010 3:02:14 PM
Mermaids - I love this inspirational story and this incredible woman!! Thank you for sharing!! Take care - the Ballyhoo Girl
|
View all recipes ...
|
Exercise TV
If you are having trouble getting to your workouts, have no fear - Exercise TV is here!
|
View all products ...
.JPG)
|
Re-use your beautiful greeting cards
The Mermaids love finding ways to re-use items. Here's a fun way to remember warm wishes and greetings sent from loved ones. Re-purpose them as book marks!
|
View all ideas ...
|
|
