Making it Lovely

Tag: Randolph Street Market

  • Vintage Finds from Randolph Street Market

    Vintage Finds from Randolph Street Market

    This post is sponsored by Dunkin’ Donuts. They’ve been serving up coffee for 66 years now, selling more than 1.9 billion cups of hot and iced coffee around the world every year. There are over 25,000 ways to order your coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts, and today is National Coffee Day! To celebrate, you can get a medium cup of coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts for just 66 cents.

    The weather was perfect in Chicago this past weekend, so I took my best gal with me over to the Randolph Street Market. We stopped off at Dunkin’ Donuts first before seeking our flea market treasures — coffee for me, frozen hot chocolate and a donut for her.

    Stopping at Dunkin' Donuts First

    Energized and ready, we continued on our way. The Market is held throughout the year indoors, but my favorite time to go is when they have the outdoor portion open too. There’s a booth that’s always there with vintage anatomical models and posters, and every time, I’m tempted to bring a couple home.

    Vintage Anatomical Models

    Bats! Cats! I wanted both of these too, but I restrained myself.

    Bats and Cats

    These gauges and nautical blue pointy things (technical term) were perfectly weathered. What would I use them for? No idea, but aren’t they pretty?

    Gauges

    Giant mirror photo opp! Hello.

    Nicole and Eleanor Balch

    Vintage globes. One is cool, but a collection of them is always so much better.

    Vintage Globes

    I was into these old puppets.

    Quirky Vintage Puppets

    Eleanor brought a toy butterfly with her to the Market, and we left with a collection of real specimens.

    Real Butterfly, Toy Butterfly

    We are now the proud owners of a zillion old butterflies and moths! Such a good score. Some are more interesting and in better shape than others, but we’re both pretty excited about either framing them or coming up with some sort of display under a glass cloche. I’ll be sure to share it here when we do.

  • The #LoveYourThings Shoot with Scotchgard Brand at the Randolph Street Market

    The #LoveYourThings Shoot with Scotchgard Brand at the Randolph Street Market

    hr 644

    A few months back, Scotchgard Brand invited me to Chicago’s Randolph Street Market to hang out at their booth, chat with visitors, and take part in a video about things we love and how to protect them. There are always amazing vintage and antique pieces at the show — you might find your new favorite chair or rug, suitcases to stand in as storage, or maybe an old textile that has been (or can be) made into pillows.

    Vintage Furniture and Rugs #LoveYourThings #Scotchgard

    Vintage Toy Cars #LoveYourThings #Scotchgard

    Vintage Kantha Quilts #LoveYourThings #Scotchgard

    Vintage Luggage #LoveYourThings #Scotchgard

    Vintage Rugs and a Hammock at Randolph Street Market #LoveYourThings #Scotchgard

    The antidote to the all-white interiors trend, eh?

    OK, but then you get your finds back home — these things that have already had a long life — and you don’t want to be the one to ruin them. And that goes for our new things too, of course. You know the pair of armchairs in our living room? Someone once spilled orange soda all over them when we were having a party. The person felt awful about it, and luckily the spill came right up, but if it hadn’t… yikes. Either we would have had to reupholster (two chairs, in this case, because they should match), live with a very strategically placed blanket, or ignore the stain. I use Scotchgard Fabric & Upholstery Protector on them now so nothing like that will happen again, because I don’t think we would have been so lucky had it been a drink like red wine. Once you see how it works, which is what we showed people at the Randolph Street Market, you realize what a good idea it is to protect the things you love with it. It repels liquids and blocks stains and can be used to protect your linens, furniture, rugs, clothes, car interiors and more.

    Here are a couple of behind the scenes shots from our shoot.

    Behind the Scenes, Shooting the #LoveYourThings Video with #Scotchgard at the Randolph Street Antiques Flea Market

    The #Scotchgard Brand #LoveYourThings Display at Chicago's Randolph Street Market

    The #Scotchgard Brand #LoveYourThings Display at Chicago's Randolph Street Market

    Behind the Scenes, Shooting the #LoveYourThings Video with #Scotchgard at the Randolph Street Antiques Flea Market

    And here’s the video.

    I’ve used Scotchgard Protectors for a bunch of our things now. A purse, a couple of chairs, and yes, the crazy floral floor model chair I’m talking about above. I’ll show you how easy it is in an upcoming post. What are some things you love and want to protect?