Summer Flea

Never fear, next week I will be back in  action with some more Unique Picking!

Maybe you are asking, what's the hold up girly...?

Well..

This week we are excitedly prepping for The Unique Bird's first ever Craft show and Flea market
in Columbus, OH.

Image from Columbus Underground

The Summer Flea

Aug, 8th 12-5

 Short North

Fireproof Parking Lot

1024 n. High Street

This one day charitable event is being held to benefit the Mid- Ohio food bank, 

 features local vendors selling handmade and vintage goodies!

I was super excited when I was asked by the talented mother daughter duo from Objet Adapte, (another super etsy shop) to share a booth with them at this event.

The Feed You Need Bag, from Objet Adapte's etsy shop

Vintage Garden - accessory bag, from Objet Adapte's etsy shop

Objet Adapte make beautiful handmade handbags, totes and aprons from vintage fabrics and antique feedsacks.

And from The Unique Bird's world of vintage and repurposed home decor you will find

some new and exciting vintage treasures...

Vintage doggie dish from The Unique Bird.

Vintage teddy bear planter from The Unique Bird

combined with some of our great handmade "Nifty Gifty Wrap".

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Wrap it right - vintage fabric reusable gift pouches from The Unique Bird.

Give your Hostess the Mostest, when you deck out any bottle of wine,
with these vintage fabric wine bottle wraps from The Unique Bird.

Etched vintage champagne glass with one of our vintage fabric wine bottle wraps

Find more details about the Summer Flea in this Alive! article or find information on the Summer Flea Facebook Page.

 

Make this Sunday a fun day, at the Summer Flea in the Short North.

Hope you will stop by!

Unconventional Wisdom

Happy Monday all!

I thought I would take this opportunity to share a little bit of insight into the "Method behind my Madness".
I am not really sure if anyone would call what I do in my etsy shop wise, but some may say it is slightly unconventional.

Image from Black and WTF. This is what I imagine is going on in my crazy brain.

I am sure you all know by now that I am really into following the "rules".
O.K. you can stop laughing now.
I have read so many articles on "How to have more success in your etsy shop".
There are usually lists of guidelines to follow to achieve said success and I do try to... but there are two items in these checklists that I always fail on.

• 
  
  Is your shop easy to navigate? (i.e. are your sections clearly marked, so your customers can easily find what they are looking for)

Well...they are marked just maybe not in the most logical manor. When I first came up with the concept for The Unique Bird, I wanted to be able to show my vintage and repurposed vintage creations in little collections or vignettes. Hopefully giving people ideas on different ways to combine these pieces in a unique way in their homes.
Visit my shop and you will not find sections marked: Table top, Decorative Accessories, Purses and Accessories.
What you will find: just to name a few...

"Signs of Spring"

"Summer Siesta"

"All Dressed Up"

"In the KitschN"

Each section of my shop contains the individual items pictured in my staged groups.

I don't claim to be an interior decorator, I just love to layer pieces from different eras, combine different colors and textures to hopefully give you something a little bit different and interesting to look at.

While logically organized in my brain, I think that I need to give the conventional organization of the items in my shop a whirl.

Heavy sigh...

Clean-up in aisle four: "Decorative Accessories".

image from Tick Tock Toys.

I am still going to introduce my newly listed items as "collections", but will eventually move them to their newly assigned, properly named sections.

You will have to let me know your thoughts on this subject because I am torn. Do I stick to my guns or stop beating a dead horse?

Another etsy selling tip:

• 
  
   Does the name of your item use relevant keywords?

Um...I guess I would get an "F" on the execution of this suggestion for success. You could look at it two ways though. Some may say "F" stands for failure...but "F" could also stand for fantastic

or fool.

image from postcard listed on CardCow.

I don't think I am going to cave on this one though. I have way too much fun naming my listings. I always thought it would be fun to be the person that makes up the names of paint colors or nail polish colors, and this gives me the opportunity to do just that with all of my items.

You know...like this vintage Feed sack quilt is called: "Hit The Sack"

or

This little pair of carved wooden owls is titled "Hoots There"

Yep. I am full of it.

Cheese that is.

Just in case you wanted a little glimpse into the method behind my madness.

Rockin' Auction

Hi everyone,

I attended an amazing auction today and picked up quite a few lovely things that I would love to share with you.

Take a look at the sweet little green house transfer on this plate. I think that is a place that I would like to visit on a beautiful summer day. I hadn't planned on bringing this plate home but was pleasantly surprised when I purchased another lot at the auction and they brought this over to me as well.

My hubby is always commenting that he would love to get a rocking chair someday. I saw this chair and thought it would be a perfect gift for him on a Wednesday. (and also butter him up a bit to get him to grill out) The chair is from the 40's or the 50's. It is in amazing shape and it looks really smart as well!

The best part
Now you see it...

Now you don't!!!

Imagine my glee upon finding out that this great chair conveniently folds away

This is a really great metal tray. it is vintage but I think that it still has a bit of a modern feel to it.

I think it would look really great layered with some other pieces as a center piece on a dining room table.

Kitsch!

I know that all of you out there have a secret soft spot in you heart for little pieces of kitsch! Just imagine the conversations that could be started from each one of these pieces.

I am not really sure of the date on these but I think they are hand made chair covers. I really loved the muted colors and the patterns on each one of them. They look very Anthropologie to me.I wonder if I can make little area rug out of them?

I also found this beautiful quilt from the 1930's. It is in fantastic condition. I don't think it has ever been used.

It is a quirky composition of different feedsack fabrics. The patterns don't really "go" together but somehow they all work together and definitely make a statement!

"I have personality!"


I don't know if you recognize this mirror from a previous blog?

I had purchased this on a recent trip to a flea market over the 4th of July holiday.

All it took was a little TLC and this mirror looked great hanging in my spare room!


I am really proud of this find. I have been looking for an end table for my living room for the longest time. Our couch has really tall arms so it had been quite difficult to find something that measured up.

There it was sitting at a garage sale for $2. It might not be the highest quality antique but It has really great lines and all it took was a coat of paint to make it look new again. (well it might have taken a few nails and wood filler too)

I will be attending an auction in Cincinnati tomorrow at Cowan's

The auction is called the discovery sale. They usually deal in very high end,expensive antiques and collectibles but at this particular sale the offer a selection of items that are still considered antique & collectible but tend to sell for more affordable prices.

If you are in the area I recommend you check it out.

http://www.cowanauctions.com/
This is one of the items that I have my eye on

wish me luck!