Junk Bonanza Minnesota Antique Buying Trip

Now, don't get mad at us because we went to the Junk Bonanza in Minnesota, and didn't take you with us! We weren't able to do a group this year, because of a change in location, and personal time constraints, but at the last minute Michele M and I decided to fly up (for about 36 hours) , do some scouting of the new location for Next Year's group trip, do a little shopping and renew and make some new friendships.....
We arrived late Wednesday night, but that didn't stop us from trying to get a sneak peak, and plan out our logistics......
Bright and early Thursday morning we headed for the Junk Bonanza. The "early bird" entry is the only way to go. 2 early hours of power shopping before the HORDES arrive! The Junk Bonanza was held at the Canterbury Park Horse Track facilities. It was a HUGE waterproof venue, with lots of room and tons of vendors.....

Once again, the displays were amazing, and one of our top favorites was once again...Stacy of
Ramshackled Treasures
But there were plenty of amazing shops, from Mustard Moon to Harvest Moon, Hunt & Gather had 6 spaces full of fun....
Everything "Galvanized" was Hot, Hot, Hot! Many of the booth's major galvanized pieces were sold the first hour...Look at this wall of lockers in Mustard Moon's shop!
Half way through the day we stopped for the Happy Trails Blog Party, hosted by the extraordinary Ki Nassauer, and Matthew Mead. We were also tickled to meet Heather and Linda of the Flea Market Style Magazine team, Jo from Where Women Create, and Nancy who was the Editor of Country Living for the last 10 years. It was so fun to brainstorm and feel the creativity of these talented ladies....

Then back to the prowl......
Loved this vendor who hand paints clocks & eye charts on vintage iron and tin pieces...
Eye candy everywhere!


When we were done at JB, we went to tour a few hotels for next year. We won't bore you with photos of bathrooms, but travel agents ALWAYS take photos of bathrooms (you think I'm kidding?). One hotel was at a casino, so after I pulled Michele off the slot machines (Yes, she WON $65.00!) , we were back to our hotel to wash up. Not to waste a minute of extended shopping time, we headed over to Hunt & Gather where they were having a customer appreciation party that night. We had some marvelous chili and libations, and made ourselves miserable over the large items we couldn't bring home without a truck...Back to the hotel for some "Sample packing" to see how much room we had left and know what we could still get tomorrow in our final 4 hours........
Here are a VERY few of the treasures we wrangled and had to figure out how to pack....

Perfect Pink architectural for our "Blanc & Noir with a Touch of Pink" sale on October 31st, benefiting Breast Cancer research...
Of course, we can ever get enough body parts...

Michele, had to have this sign to put behind her desk, but would it fit in a suitcase? (not so much)


Here are two mystery items.....any guesses?
Up early again. We needed some new shopping locations for next year that are South of the city,...so the scouting continues... First we met Deb Haupt, at Haupt Antiek Market....
And hooked up with Margo, from Margo's Junkin Journal (robolady)....who had been at the Junk Bonanza all week long!Haupt's had lots of darling displays and fun foreign goods from Deb's European travels...
Next stop was "A Cat & A Fiddle A Fair".. Love the name! It is a group of 5 historic houses and 35 vendors.....We met gracious Cathy, the owner and Tom the resident artist....
Once again, interesting and fun shopping.....
We were on our way to Cottage House when this sign made us screech the brakes....(It was only about 11AM)...
Who could pass it up? Someday we want to do an "All Garage Sale, Minneapolis trip"..
Then on to Cottage House.....We adore this place and it didn't disapoint even though it was Friday and they told us when they opened for their occasional sale on Wednesday, the lines were around the block!

I'm sure this was one of Ted , the owners, works. He was featured in Country Living with his globes painted as pumpkins...........Ok, now a little diatribe on why we hate all airlines who charge a baggage fee....side door..
trunk.............

Stuff that wouldn't fit in our luggage (or they would charge us an arm & a leg)for "Heavy" bags... So off to a hardware store to beg for a box and then to the post office to ask for their "slowest and cheapest" shipping rates....
We are happy to report we mailed the box on Friday and it arrived at the Red Shed on Tuesday! Stay tuned for more photos of arriving treasures!