Cassie, Missy, Andrea and Lynette
Living in a small community, everyone just kind of "knows" everyone else, but it wasn't until Cassie and Missy tried the "antique shop" venue while Lynette and Andrea were trying the "flea market" venue that we discovered our common love of junk! We were all having a blast hunting, creating and selling. Who could ask for anything more!?
Then the antique store closed. The flea market was too far away. Hmmm what to do?! That's when the lightbulb went off!! We joined forces, and started an annual JunkFest, bringing a one of a kind sale to our area. It all started in Cassie’s garage. From the moment we made the decision to have an Autumn JunkFest, we started hunting, gathering, repairing, and painting all the junk we could get our hands on. Time was short so we got done what we could, and to our surprise...we managed to fill Cassie's garage and even had overflow. We threw some flyers around, and bit our nails...hoping someone would take note of our little sale. The morning of the event came and we (along with help from some dear family members) scurried to put finishing touches on our arrangements.
Then to our surprise and amazement...could it be??? Dust in the air down the country road? Not one, not two, not even three vehicles heading our way!!! It was a caravan and we couldn’t believe our eyes as a crowd lined up for the opening!
We wanted everything to be fabulous, including the signs leading the way to the sale. Below, you'll see sweet little Sambo. He was so kind to patiently sit and point the way to our first sale. Then tragedy struck. You see, Sambo so kindly offered to point the way to the next year's sale as well. Something must have gone terribly wrong...because Sambo has been missing since that day. Have you seen Sambo? We would really love to have him back safe and sound. Poor little guy.
After the first year we decided we needed a larger venue for our sale. The local fairgrounds seemed to be the logical choice, providing a large building, plenty of parking and bathrooms. We got ourselves and our trusty and faithful helpers matching t-shirts, and went about preparing as we had the year before. Would "they" all come again for our little sale? And sure enough...there was a line at the door! Once again friendship and laughter filled the day, and the readied treasures found new homes.
Another success. Another awesome day. Would we do the sale again? Absolutely! Year three brought with it a few surprise changes. We decided to host our first ever Flea Market in conjunction with our sale. We also allowed a few local youth groups to set up food booths. It was fabulous...junk, music, food, flea and fun! The day was gaining more and more of a festival atmosphere, just as we hoped it would. And again...they were lined up at the gate!
Every year we tried to be creative with our products. Here is a "piano bar" made out of an upright piano!
Years 4 and 5 have come and gone, and yet every sale day feels like the first sale. Butterflies in our stomachs, and we are just giddy about all the fun. The flea market has grown by leaps and bounds. Year 5 we added an admission charge, with those proceeds going to two local charities. And our lovely visitors still line up!!
We've had such a great time hosting JunkFest and the Flea Market...but some of the BEST times we've had are when we go junking together!
We've managed to score some pretty awesome...and some pretty crazy things! Some of our past faves are a 18 drawer galvanized pheasant hatching rack, an upright piano which became a “piano bar”, and one that became a fabulous console table. And dressers that become wine buffets! Look at our past sale posts for more…we love it all! And we often have “seller’s remorse”.
We've got some exciting surprises up our sleeves for JunkFest 2010! So watch our blog for updates. The event will be Saturday September 11, 2010 at the Foster County Fairgrounds in Carrington, ND from 9:00am-3:00pm. Get there early!
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