My Other Job

I love being a stay-at-home mom and teaching our children at home.  Even on our worst days, I only dream of living on a deserted island, not calling the local school and enrolling them. :)  Well, maybe once I did think of that, but it was brief.

That being said, when I got to know the owners of an antique mall and found out they needed weekend help, I jumped at the chance.  A little extra money has come in very handy around here and it is so much fun! 

this is oneof two isles of the main floor

A couple of Saturdays a month I get paid to meet some very interesting people and look all day long at all kinds of antiques, vintage items and sometimes, junk.  One man's trash is another man's treasure though and you wouldn't believe what some people will buy! 

this feather hat was purchased by an antique dealer from New York last weekend

I've mentioned before how ridiculously sentimental I can be.  You should have seen me the first few times I worked when I was surrounded by things that my grandparents had in their homes.  It was fun, but at the same time it did make me a little sad.

I've done pretty well at not spending all of my money there.  For the most part.  But every once in a while, I'll spy something that I just can't live without and that makes me absolutely giddy to have found.

My most recent treasure cost a whopping $10!  A couple of years ago I read about and saw pictures of paintings by an artist named Carl Larson.  I can't remember where I first read about him, but I loved his work.  It seems he's not that well known over here. The Indianapolis library did not have one book about him and they usually have every thing I have ever looked for.  I did order, from a website, a calendar with his work on it, but other than that I had never seen seen any products with his work.  While helping a customer looking for a bookcase, I saw this hanging on the wall.  The tag said "old frame with kitchen print $10.00".  I grabbed that picture as fast as I could!  I knew exactly where I would hang it in my kitchen.

In my opinion, it is so much more fun than shopping at a mall or big box store.  I've even found a relatively new cookbook that normally sells for $35 there.  I think I paid $14.  Not a thing was wrong with it.  For people who want to keep their money local, you pretty much can't get any more "local" than buying from shops like these.
If you've never been, you should go!  You never know what you may find.