Hens' Holiday Treasures

The Hens' obsession with antiques and old stuff is never more apparent than at Christmas. Between the three of us, there are approximately thirty-six plastic bins stuffed full of Christmas decor. No kidding!  

Among the treasures are the off-white celluloid reindeer that always graced the mantel in Kathy’s childhood home. There is a lace covered table showcasing the vintage snow globes that Susi’s mother collected as a child in the 1930s and 40s. Carrie’s collection of vintage bottle brush trees decorate her home as they did in her grandmother’s grand Victorian house in Washington many years ago.

Do you remember when women took old Christmas cards, strung them together into a star shape (1950s-1960?) and hung them from light fixtures? Kathy found one in a Cayucos antique shop and proudly hangs it from her living room ceiling fan every year. Carrie also has a fabulous collection of old plastic and felt elves that sprawl across her mantel every December.

Then there is the amazing collection of vintage Shiny Brites glass ornaments that all the Hens collect and cherish. They fill antique dough bowls on dining tables in all their homes. A bit of natural greenery, pinecones and Shiny Brites....you can’t go wrong.

Susi’s most amazing decoration is her display of antique and vintage Santas. All are very old, very delicate and make for a stunning focal point on her mantel.

Other Christmas treasures the Hens collect and display include old manger animals and manger characters, antique and vintage Christmas cards and postcards, hand blown and hand painted ornaments and figures from Germany, strings of old fashioned garland beads, beautiful vintage hand-decorated Christmas stockings and fabulous angels from every decade. And anything old and fabulously Christmas kitschy, of course!

There is nothing that brings warmth to your home and to your heart like the old fashioned Christmas decorations that take you back in time. The hunt for these treasures all year long is part of the Hens’ passion. Just look at some of these beautiful finds from our fall show!

Facebook us now and let us know of your most cherished holiday decoration. We are giving away 2 tickets to our spring show (April 30-May 1) AND a special holiday gift to one lucky winner THIS FRIDAY just for sharing your wonderful memories with us!

The Hens wish you a very Merry Christmas and happy hunting!

The Hens Go to Market

How many people does it take to create a fabulous weekend? You romantics will say two, but we know it takes about 140 dynamic dealers, a staff of 40 worker bees, over 7,000 ecstatic shoppers and 3 very tired, very thankful Speckled Hens. 

Once again we broke a record with the attendance at our October show! Your continued support and love of all things antique, vintage, repurposed, redesigned, and reimagined keeps us energized and continually striving to bring to you the best quality flea market in the West. Take a look at some of these gorgeous vendor displays and items found at the fall show!

   

 

One of the ways we Speckled Hens fuel our vision for the task of improving each show is to travel the country to attend other shows. We love being able to attend the Farm Chicks in Spokane, Goat Hill Fair in Santa Cruz, and we recently found the Vintage Country Flea Market in Willows, CA. One of our all-time favorites is Ki Nassauer’s Junk Bonanza in Minnesota and now in San Diego and Ridgefield, WA.

So what did these three exhausted Hens do three days after our October show? We flew to Portland, Oregon! We rented a large van at the airport and a darling 1920’s cottage in the Arts District of Portland. We made our prerequisite run to the grocery store (yogurt, yummy bread, coffee and munchies are a must) and then on to purchase the necessary ingredients for our nighttime cocktails! Our IT Chick and very good friend, Lettice, rounded out our group. It is so special to have a close group of friends to travel, shop and laugh with.

Next stop, Portland!

With that said, what happens on the road, stays on the road! We can share that we had an amazing time at the Junk Bonanza in Washington, bought a van full of wonderful finds, and ate Peruvian, Thai, German and Mexican cuisine (giant margaritas anyone?). We met amazing people all along the way, and we are already planning our next “work” trip! Enjoy some of our photos from this amazing junket.

Happy Hens with our friend Ki Nausser of Junk Bonanza

Hen Carrie scored one of these amazing night lights. 

We all loved the decorated cow skull!

We were fortunate enough to meet Matthew Mead,
a contributing editor to Country Living Magazine. 

We visited Kennedy Elementary School
which is now a McMenamin's Hotel!

The cafeteria was converted into a restaurant.

We made sure we never went hungry.

Pok Pok was worth the wait!

We never went thirsty either!

Our IT Chick taught us how to take selfies!

The ever fabulous Junk Girls hooked us up with their
friend, Robin, who had a warehouse and barn full of treasures!

Our van filled to the brim! 

Another great find was a darling couple who created a store
inside of their barn on an old apple farm. 

RED! One of our favorite colors! 

Sightseeing in Portland and Olympia, Washington.

Rooftop dining in the darling town of McMinnville, Oregon. 

Have an fantastic fall. Hug your loved ones. Be thankful for all you have. We are so very grateful for you, our amazing friends.

The Hens

P.S. Don't forget the Hens are going green. As a reminder, we will no longer be mailing out our event postcards. So if you haven't done so already, please be sure to sign up for our email list to receive the latest event updates and Hen news! Follow the link to join our email list and pass along to your friends! JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST

Dealer Spotlight: La Petite Chaise

Can you believe it? There are only 9 DAYS LEFT until the Three Speckled Hens Antiques & Old Stuff Show, October 3 & 4, 2015. Time is running out to purchase your tickets online! Tickets will only be available online until noon on Friday, October 2 so be sure to make your online purchase soon! If you are unable to make your purchase online before time runs out, tickets will also be available at the gate. We cannot wait to see all of you next weekend!

Our fourth and final installment in our fall Vendor Spotlight series features the quaint shop, La Petite Chaise. Mary de la Vega shares insights into her antiquing career, style, and all-time favorite finds.

How did your career in antiquing begin?

In a nutshell, it all began after I left my career in information technology and took an upholstery class as a kind of creative outlet. I started going to auctions to find projects and fell in love with all of the other beautiful old things I found. In 2000, I dubbed my business 'La Petite Chaise' after my passion for chairs and started out in an antique shop in San Juan Bautista. I opened my own shop in Mountain View for a while, but then decided to leave the shops behind and sell at antique markets like Alameda Point and Three Speckled Hens.

What do you enjoy most about antiquing?

I feel especially good about the fact that vintage is good for the environment – it is the ultimate in recycling, reusing and repurposing. They really don’t make things like they used to. Vintage is beautiful, functional, and green.

Tell us about some of your favorite finds.

Things have to be interesting and useful. My favorite finds are the kind of things that have great potential to be used in different ways like the large metal shelf that once hung in the dining room of the Cooper House in downtown Santa Cruz. That same shelf could work in the garden or large kitchen or in a winery where it ultimately found its new home. Or like the homemade workbench that could so easily be used in a craft room or as a rugged bar inside or out. 

Are there any items you have just never been able to part with?

Years ago I found a large glass cloche that I haven’t been able to part with. It was surely used in the garden and has a lovely purple hue with all the bubbles that you find in blown glass. I must confess that I also held onto a glass tank that holds my collection of glass floats.

Explain your style to us.

My style can be described as rough and refined. I try to put things together in interesting, surprising ways. Offering everything from flatware to furniture, primitive to industrial to traditional, it’s all in how you bring things together that make it work. Going with the original finish is my preference, but I’ll paint and repair to make sure it’s a great piece in quality and function. I mix elegant silver and delicate china with an industrial cart or primitive cabinet repurposed as an island, and everything is better on casters! I like to bring collections of seemingly ordinary things together like spools of thread, curtain rings, alarm clocks, flower frogs, paintbrushes, pulleys, and books.

What sets your pieces apart?

I don’t sell fussy antiques that you have to worry about. Instead, I want people to find beautiful, functional and quality items to add to their homes and truly enjoy for years and generations to come.

Do you have a favorite antiques show?

Selling exclusively at vintage fairs and markets as far south as Paso Robles and north to Petaluma, Three Speckled Hens is one of my favorites – there’s so much enthusiasm and excitement about what you’ll find and how it will be displayed. So many talented and creative vendors gather in one place. I love being part of that. Coming up with a theme or inspirational piece to build a design around and then putting together a collection of vintage finds is what really keeps me excited about my work. I look forward to seeing how shoppers respond, what they’re looking for and their excitement in finding just the right piece!

We are flattered! What types of items can we expect to find at the show?

My home is full of items that I love – each one has meaning to me – the giant spool of twine from my dad’s garage, the vintage bowl of sea glass from a family trip to Mendocino alongside the Audubon bird prints like the ones my grandmother had in her home. I try to bring that same sensibility to the fairs and markets I sell at.

For more information on La Petite Chaise, please visit www.lapetitechaise.com. You can also contact Mary directly at mary@lapetitechaise.com. You can also follow La Petite Chaise on Facebook and Instagram.

Vendor Spotlight: Farm Girls

The countdown is on! ONLY 2 weeks left until the Three Speckled Hens Antiques & Old Stuff Show on October 3 & 4, 2015 at the Paso Robles Event Center! 

Have you seen our list of vendors for the fall show? Make your game plan now by checking out all of our new and returning vendors at www.threespeckledhens.com. Don't forget, Early Bird Admission grants you access to your favorite vendors 2 FULL hours before the crowds arrive on Saturday. Purchase your Early Bird Admission now! 

The third vendor in our fall Vendor Spotlight series features the dynamic duo of Janet Stevens and Kamille Hughes. What started out as a hobby over 25 years ago, has led to a full time business for these two Farm Girls.

Janet, how did the two of you get into the antiquing business?

I started out working in the grocery business but always had a passion for design work. After being in different antique stores, I took the plunge into the staging world with Chic Staging & Design. It was around 2008 when the staging business and every other small business starting going under due to the economy.

Kamille had also just lost her job as a promotions director due to the struggling economy; so the two of us teamed up and started painting furniture to the max. Well, we have always done it, but this is when it really took off! After being in several antique stores we decided it was time to pull out of the stores and open up 4 days a week on our property. So a couple of years ago we quit staging and changed our name to Farm Girls Vintage Finds. As our family and friends say, "they have created a 'monster'." 

How did you get that name?

When Kamille sold at the Swap Meet, customers started calling her Farm Girl. It just stuck!

We hear you are a “Jill-of-All-Trades.” Tell us more.

It is just the two of us. We do everything from finding the items to refinishing them. Kamille wears many hats. Painter, builder, IT girl, bookkeeper and does all the marketing. I am the shop keeper, decorator, painter and show coordinator. We have three goats to keep the kids (and parents) entertained. 

Tell us about the shop.

The shop has a different vibe than you will find in a strip mall or antique store. All in all, we enjoy what we do and appreciate all our wonderful customers that make this job worth it all! Our shop is open Wednesday and Thursday 10am-4pm, Friday and Saturday 12pm-4pm. We are located at 7200 Shafter Road in Bakersfield, CA. You can also purchase a handful of our items online at www.farmgirlsvintagefinds.com.

To learn more about the Farm Girls, visit their website at www.farmgirlsvintagefinds.com, call 559-430-7816, or email farmgirlsvintagefinds@yahoo.com. You can also follow them on Facebook and Instagram.