Fall Shopping Tips-Welcome to PA DUTCH COUNTRY!

Whether it feels like it or not, fall is on the way!  There are many great places to shop for unique treasures in my area and if you are lucky enough to be in day trip distance, I'd like to share some with you! I generally consider myself in a PRIMITIVE hot spot.  Farmhouse and shabby is plentiful in PA Dutch Country.  One great thing about my area is that work and spending ethics of the prior generations led many to hold onto their items so we are good picking for not only primitives, but MCM as well.  Some great fall shopping can start at the great flea markets and antique shows in the area.  Renningers Antiques (renningers.net) hosts 3 EXTRAVAGANZA's throughout the year and the final weekend is September 22-24. The Kutztown location offers Thurs-Sat shopping and Adamstown, about a 1/2 hour southwest is open Sunday.  Make sure your grab a $1 off coupon on their website towards admission!  The market is all outdoors and vendors bring all sorts of goodies. Be prepared to wheel and deal!  There is great food inside the farmers market to grab a cooler and take home some PA DUTCH delicacies.  Don't forget to stop by Fleetwood Antique Mall, fleetwoodantiquemall.com just south of Kutztown!  My space is on the 2nd floor, rear but there are a few others selling MCM so check them out!  The mall has a very unique selection of curiosities and it is a fun stop.  GRQ used furnishings is housed there at the moment as well so many nice things at reasonable prices. 

Another fun place to shop is Jakes Flea Market http://www.jakesfleamarket.com in Barto on Route 100 just north of Boyertown.  Open Sat and Sun, the earlier you arrive, the better.  By noon most vendors are packing up or already gone.  Also pop in Fensty's Flea Market http://fenstysfleamarket.com which is just north as you head into Bally.  This indoor market has just expanded and includes a bid board area, flea market and many vendors.  They have hours Friday-Sunday, with an anchor shop, Another Man's Treasure, having some weekday hours.  

My favorite Flea market has to be Shrupp's Grove http://shuppsgrove.com/ . It is in a wooded area and under the shade of trees.  It almost feels like a fair.  This market is open Sat and Sun and is in Adamstown, south of Reading.  Adamstown is full of retail antique shops and you really need a few days to get through them all.  You will need to pick to find great deals but the selection cannot be beat.  This is definitely a higher priced zone so if you are shopping on a budget, be prepared for sticker shock! 😜 

I hope you are able to get out and enjoy some fall flea markets and I surely hope things cool off soon around here!  There is nothing like a good road trip and keeping your eyes peeled for thrifts and sales is so much fun.   

Not in my area?  No worries!  I ship almost everything in my inventory!  

Need more inspiration?  Please check out this great blog post on Invaluable, which even cites Bucks County PA as a top place to shop......I agree, but you need a fat bank roll.  It is a great area to visit and I usually hit the Golden Nugget Flea Market in Lambertville, NJ just across the Delaware River,  a few times a year.  :)   http://www.invaluable.com/blog/roadmap-for-summer-antiquing-in-america/

SHOP NEWS

I have been working hard the last few weeks and things are moving out.  If you have your eyes on something, don't wait much longer!  I still have some beautiful restored chairs looking for homes and many fun lights.  Reach out at anytime with questions or to request shipping info.   

I am adding new items to the etsy shop often. Please check back.  My eBay shop (eBay.com/usr/madmodworldvintage) is featuring new items I get from my wholesaler, Primitives by Kathy. Very cute items I feel enhance my brand.  I just added a nice collection of cotton throw rugs/door mats I feel are perfect for home or camp!  The booth space is stocked with Halloween and I just sold some larger items so added some new pieces.  Getting ready to restore some ceramic Christmas trees and beef up my listings for the holidays! 

Xo Malissa

These beauties are still available! 

Check out the new items at the shop!  

Thank you and welcome!

I know I picked up some new followers this week and many folks stopped by to check out my shop and web page.  Thanks for coming!  I appreciate knowing people care about what I do!  Lots going on in the last week in my personal life and as many of you are aware, Verizon is on strike.  My husband is a technician there so we are really in a position right now.  I do appreciate any sales no matter how small as my hours at my job are now at about 12, which really is not going to help much in our household.  I am working hard listing and promoting, but I am at the mercy of the market and with that said, I actually have been cross listing a few items on ebay and set up a shop there.  I really do not want to sell in that market but at this point, I just need to sell.  Please share my info with anyone you know who is looking for items I have!  With that said, I have an album of Pyrex I plan to take with me to a swap in May.  You can find it on my Facebook page:  Facebook.com/madformodmalissa PLEASE stop by and have a look.  I will ship any item you wish, so please email me or message via FB for a shipping quote.  I also just listed a few items I never planned on selling from my personal collection including a JAJ yellow snowflake space saver and an orange Cathrineholm lasagna pan with carrier.  If you are in the market for them, act quickly as I do believe these items will not be available long.  If they are not sold by the time my husband gets back to work they are going off the market. 

The spring sale at my booth space in Fleetwood Antique Mall is in effect through the end of the month.  10% off a single item, 20% off multiples. All of my pyrex will be removed at the end of the month for my swap meet. 

Back to the Diamond Chair…...

This beauty is coming along and I hope to have some pics early next week.  It was determined the original finish on these 50s era wire diamonds is definitely a baked on finish similar to powder coating.  I know the current finish is Rilsan, a plastic which the chair gets dipped into and I believe would sand blast off.  The blaster decided that my finish did not need blasting and his powder coat would adhere to it as is.  He arranged to have it welded at the end of last week and I chose gloss black as the finish for powder coating.  I am dying to see it!!!!  There is little info available on the Knoll site on these classic chairs as they are only selling the smaller, dining height chair now.  There is a limited edition 24K Gold plated version out in honor of the 100th birthday of Harry Bertoia.  The whopper price tag is $2000+!  Surely it is beautiful to those who can afford it!  And of course, a fabulous tribute to such a great artist.  I am ready to tackle reconstruction of the cover but have been moving slowly only because I shifted gears to try to get more things listed and promoted.  I hope my next update has some pics to share, even if they are taken at my dear friends home in NJ!  With that said, the fellow who has been doing all of this coordinating is xtremeblasting.us.  He has done 6 old metal chairs for my friend plus some items at his home and my chair.  Prices are beyond reasonable!  I do not know what my welding is going to cost yet, but he quoted me $35 for the blasting so for that price, why do it yourself?!  Sometimes you have to pick and choose what battles you are willing to do yourself……I prefer wood over metal.  

To close, I will add a few pics of a little photo shoot I had today for some of my chairs.  Sometimes I think my pics really suck!  I don't have a nice wide open space to photograph nor proper lighting inside.  I try to take them all outside in natural light as I do think that is the best showing of the colors.  Today the sun was setting, and that always gives a bit of a warmer glow.  I set up in the grass today because some of my favorite vintage ads have to be Dunbar!  I purchased the only affordable book on them last year when I was restoring the pair of dining chairs I had.  A lot of the ads featured in the book were taken outside in the grass.  This chair lover is kind of loving that feel!  Do a little search and find some to check out!  If you are ever lucky enough to find some Dunbar items, covet them as they truly are the best made and most beautiful furniture I have touched to date!  xo Malissa

Orange accents.  Reasonably priced Viko Baumritter in Vinyl, Heywood Wakefield in Vibe Sunkissed fully restored and swoon worthy.   Indian Sari quilts in my shop as well!  I have 4 at the antique mall and 2 at home.  Great for music fests, picnics and soccer games.  Twin sized.  

Baby blues.  Would love to keep them together as found but will split them up.  Beautiful new Vibe Aquatic upholstery and restored worn arms to original champagne.  I am a huge Heywood fan and collector.  Much love was put into all 3 chairs and each took about a week of labor to restore.

My cute photo bomber! 

Birthday week!

Another year older for me this week!  My week has started off great with my first sale on Chairish.com last week and my second sale this week! 🎉🎁✌️. That said, I am meeting my buyer in Elizabeth, NJ midday This Friday, so if anyone in the area would like to meet up for something delivered, please reach out!  Also anywhere on I78 through NJ and ABE.  It's a birthday road trip for me!  I will find something exciting to do on the way home for sure.  

BARWARE!

I will be picking up some fabulous barware soon from a collector downsizing.  I mean nice sets of 40's era Hazel Atlas.  These are high end collector pieces.  If any of you are interested in barware, please shoot me an email and I can let you know first what I have available after I collect and go through it. I promised I would find good homes for this collection and I may keep a set for myself, because, well PINK ELEPHANTS!  😍😍😍. 

NEW CHAIR! 

I just added a GREAT chair to the etsy shop today.  It is US made by Norwalk Upholstery Co and dated 1974.  Norwalk is still in business making custom upholstered pieces and weathered many ups and downs but are going strong.  Always good to support these companies manufacturing in our country!  This chair is styled like a Danish lounge chair, made of heavy hardwood (maple or birch, my guess), stained a medium pecan with gloss finish.  A little chunkier than their Danish cousins, I am liking the gracefully sculpted arms.  So many companies made chairs of this style and unless marked, it is sometimes impossible to figure out it's origins.  This one is tagged.  Upholstery is really in excellent condition! No tears or stains!  Structurally, the seat could take some web tightening but at this point it is not bad off and I do not want to disturb.  I did have some webbing and foam done on my England chair and it was very inexpensive at a local upholsterer. (That cutie is still available as well!)Have a look!  It is a lovely khaki green with orange tweed.  I took the pics in the rising sun so a tad warmer than reality but you get the idea. 

 https://www.etsy.com/listing/271417550/norwalk-upholstery-co-lounge-chair

Inside light last evening. 

The Heywake chairs are still in my booth and will be for at least another week unless they sell online.  Please stop by if you are in the area and see them!  I would love your feedback! Have a great week! 

Xo Malissa