Prairie Treasures

Have you ever had a dream that you just had to follow?  I've had one --- having a booth at an antique place and/or high end boutique.  Well, over the weekend, everything fell into place and I am now following that dream!

If you follow my blog, you know that I love to go antiquing with my husband.  I love to look for little treasures (I've run out of room for larger ones.) and display them with my art work, make something with them or use them in unique ways.  My husband and I were antiquing at a new place, the Harristown Depot.  I overheard the owner talking to another couple about selecting a booth.  I was interested and then talked to her myself.  When I got all the info, I said I'd like to sign up.

I had her show me around to all the available spots about 3 times.  I wanted the perfect spot.  I think I made a super great choice!  She had 3 sizes of booths available.  I knew I needed table space, to display some of my framed projects, so I went for the middle size.  It's a good thing, because I've totally filled it up!  My booth has 3 walls and even a window, so it's light and has good display space.  Yesterday, my wonderful husband helped me load up all my boxes of things I'd marked the night before and we set out on a new adventure.

I covered 1 wall with white fabric, to lighten it up a lot.  I covered 3 card tables with vintage table cloths and added bits of burlap, for a rustic look.  I have a Fall and non-seasonal table, a Halloween table, and a Christmas table.  I hung up some of my framed projects and a couple of wreaths and attached a card holder to the wall.  My cards are kind of spread out throughout the area.  I needed a bit more table space, so I looked around the store and found a neat old wooden ironing board.  I bought it and added that to my display, covered with another vintage table cloth.  By the end of my setting up, I even used a couple of my boxes, covered with burlap, for extra display space.  I probably won't have as much after the holidays, but wanted to show as much as possible for now.  I ended up marking about 155 items.  See?  I needed to follow this dream!!!  I'm also waiting to see about a second booth in downtown Decatur.  That should come about in October or November.

Thanks for letting me share my new adventure with you.  If you should happen to be in the Harristown, Il area, stop by the depot.  They have lots of antiques.  It's under new ownership.  She's only had the place for a few days and has already rented out all or nearly all of the booths.  I'm glad I acted when I did or I wouldn't have gotten the one I wanted.

Gee, I'll bet you'd like a sneak peek.  OK, here you go!  I've named my booth Prairie Treasures, a name my husband and I came up with together.

See, you can cram a lot into one little booth:)  I'm really excited about my new venture.  The hardest thing for me will be to be around all the other delicious antiques and fun stuff at the antique mall while working on my own booth:)  Let me know what you think!
Enjoy your Labor Day holiday.  I have a busy day, with company coming, working on another display item for my booth, finishing my prep for scrapbook club...