Our day at the Ocean Grove Spring Flea (2016)

This past weekend we went to the always awesome Ocean Grove Spring Flea. It was sunny and the temp was right there on the threshold of warm and hot. And luckily it stayed on the warm side of that threshold for most of the day. As far as locations go for a flea market, it doesn't get much better than Ocean Grove. The town is right on the Atlantic and it's full of super cute victorian cottages and B & B's, plus there is a whole neighborhood of these tent houses like the ones you see in the above pic. 

Yeah, they're amazing. We always walk by very slowly and peek inside like creeps, and if I was even creepier I'd aim my camera inside so I could get some pics for you guys to see. ha! But in lieu of that just take my word for it that they're magical outside and in. Old iron beds, antique dressers, chandeliers...not exactly what you'd expect to find in a tent.

We've blogged about our trips to the OG Flea it a few times over the years. We missed last year since it was happening at the same time as the Country living Fair. But we blogged the previous year here. This year was great because my parents are down for the summer and my mom came to the flea market with us. 

Here's Aaron in front of the Great Auditorium. We blogged a bit of the history the year before last (and coincidentally we took a pic in nearly the exact same spot).  The illuminated cross atop the auditorium was a gift to the town from Woody Allen after filming the movie Stardust Memories, in which the Great Auditorium played the titular role of the Stardust Hotel. 

If you have been reading this blog for a while, you'll know that I am a sucker for vintage holiday collectibles, especially anything paper mache! Paper mache candy containers are my absolute fave! Within the first 5 minutes of shopping I stopped in my tracks when I saw these Jack o' lanterns. They were a bit out of my price range, but definitely pic worthy! ;) 

I was just talking about vintage lady head vases the other day on instagram! This happens to be my favorite style. I had a Business English teacher in High School named Mrs. Brown and she held onto the beehive hairdo well into the 90s. These gals always remind me of Mrs. Brown, and every time I think of her I recall just how crazy my Business English class was. My daily assignments consisted of things like organizing Mrs. Brown's wallet and checkbook, and cleaning the junk out of her giant pocketbook. So I'm thinking that the term "Business English" means "grown-up lady chores"?

Loved this antique child's pastry set! And it was in such great shape! 

I love that these vendors put together a mix of similar items all from different eras. 

This huge illuminated Santa was so cool, and not a style that you see too often. About an hour later we saw a woman walking through the flea with it under her arm! (I always want to give people a cheesy thumbs up when I see that they grabbed something I was into)

Anyway, I'm psyched that it has a new home and I wish I could see where she displays it! 

The flea market spans two big fields, it's always super crowded, and there is endless stuff to look through. 

We ran into our friend Mary, and she had some great stuff in her booth! This glass case was full of an assortment tiny treasures.

This little booklet grabbed Aaron's attention. It's like a pocket sized morality tale that was printed and distributed by a church group. Kind of R. Crumb-esque illustrations.

One of the things on our wish list for the day was a really big framed vintage seascape. This one hanging here was the size and style I was looking for, and the price was great. But it was just a bit too sepia for us. It was actually even more yellow looking in person, so we passed on it. 

How cute is this little Worcester Ware tea set? 

We saw a few of these antique iron Michelin man lawn ornaments. They had some hefty price tags! 

Aaron hits the brakes for books. I really didn't get any pics of the great Ocean Grove houses, but the town is just loaded with gingerbread cottages and huge old victorian bed & breakfasts. The flea extends from the Great Auditorium straight through to the ocean. And the to the left and right of grounds are two streets lined with amazing old B & Bs. You can see some in the background here. 

I love kitschy cute shell art! 

We buy from this gal every year! She makes the cutest dog treats! Look at these little pizzas! 

And burgers! 

I loved this strawberries sign! Years ago we used to paint TONS of vintage style signage, so this piece brought back memories. 

Ok, so I got home and was editing pics and putting together this post, and as I'm looking closely at this photo I notice something peeking out from behind the strawberries sign...

AHHH!! It looks like the top of a chocolate and vanilla swirl soft serve ice cream cone sign!! HOW DID I MISS THAT!!?? I was kicking myself! There's just so much to see, and so much going on. 

I'm thinking that just as I was checking out this booth a woman walked past pushing a stroller filled with 3 lil' weiner dogs! So of course I got side tracked...anyone would. 

I feel like if me and my little brother Walt went halfsies on a booth it would look a bit like this one. Of course the stuff in the foreground is my half, and the live edged tree slab tables in the back would be his. 

This face is ubiquitous on our part of the Jersey Shore. It's Tillie, the mascot of Asbury Park. A mural of Tillie adorned the old Palace Amusements building forever. 

This local artist was selling Tillie necklaces she made, and the details are perfect. 

Pickles on sticks! 

I think I snap a pic of  The Albatross Hotel  every single time I'm in town. And I'm certainly not alone in loving this building. If you were a fan of Boardwalk Empire you might remember Nucky Thompson living in the Albatross Hotel for a season or two. Only it wasn't exactly this building. The set designers had pretty much an exact replica built.

I just loved this sign! I bet it was originally a darker purple, but the sun made it the perfect shade of lavender. 

We were also looking for framed rose studies. This one was super pretty, but not exactly our colors. It was also priced super low! I hope it went to a good home.

Cute little boxed bow ties. 

Loved the little lavender wood bathroom set. And right alongside were these babies that were just so weird. I knew I could do some creative googling using their names...John, Mary, Alice, Irene and Peter.  

And here they are. They were part of the Renwal Hospital Nursery Set! I found an auction site where this set in it's original box went for over $400.00! Seeing them in this context might make them seem much less weird, but at the same time there is definitely a super creepy factor despite the pretty pastel tones. 

It goes without saying that I would love to own this set!   

And while we're on the subject of weird...this guy had a jar of dentures. He was a character too. I think he offered us a discount, but only if we tried some on for size! 

Also, when I saw these I instantly thought of Kaylah (The Dainty Squid). 

Aaron and BOOKS! While I was looking at homemade bath bombs Aaron was talking with some ladies about the books they had for sale. They happened to have a 1968 first edition of one that he'd been wanting for a while, "The Studio" by John Gregory Dunne. Of course he started nerding out a bit and commenting on how this book is "one of the quintessential Hollywood books", and then the lady told him where it came from. It turns out that the producer of The Godfather has a home nearby and he recently got rid of a bunch of his old books. Right away Aaron was looking inside for notes or an inscription...he didn't find any. But he did notice some handwriting sorta embossed into the glossy cover. Someone had written an address on a piece of paper and used this book as the writing surface. So Aaron used his forensics expertise (held it up to the light above our kitchen table) and figured out the address. After googling he was disappointed to learn that it wasn't Pacino's pied-à-terre...just some industrial building near The Bronx...oh well.

And oh yeah, all of this nerdy fun only cost him 1 dollar! ha!

I love vintage porcelain animals. I was hoping to find a chihuahua, no luck. But this mama and kittens set was adorable! (there were also a couple super cute mice in there.) 

I LOVED this vintage sand pail! And loved that the vendor had this post card stuck inside! Matching pails! 

Also, the pink table and those bits of aqua def stopped me in my tracks. 

At the end of the day you see everyone walking back to their cars carrying their finds. Most likely blocks and blocks away, unless they got there at 6 am! We've done that in the past because parking is really tough sometimes. The streets are narrow and not many houses have driveways since they're little seaside cottages all crammed together.

 I snapped a pic of this cute couple with their stuff in front of the tent houses. I yelled: "Smile like you had a GREAT DAY!" 

It took them a second to register that I wasn't completely crazy. 

In the end we didn't buy a whole lot. These days we really have a pretty narrow wish list and kinda stick to it. But one thing on my list was vintage shell collections, specifically this type...specimens. The type that you'd buy at souvenir shops. They remind me of one of my favorite exhibits at the Museum of Natural History. "The Spectrum of Life" in the Hall of Biodiversity. You can see pics from that trip here. 

Ocean Grove holds the Big Flea 2 times a year! The next one is the Fall Flea and it's on September 10th! So if you are looking for a fun day trip or weekend getaway on the Jersey Shore, you might want to plan it around this! You can find more info on the town here. 

Ok, that was a little bit of trip to the OG Flea. We'll be back soon. Thanks so much again for reading! xo Jenny...and Aaron

Our day at the New Egypt Flea Market

We've been meaning to share our day at the New Egypt Flea Market with you guys for a while now. I think we went the same weekend as the Country Living Fair. It had been such a long time since we hung with my sister Melissa, aka Missy, for the entire day. We used to all the time but it seems like our schedule has been so full lately that we barely get any time away from the studio. Well this particular day was perfect. We spent it zig zagging all over Jersey, stopping at flea markets and antique shops in search of things to add to our respective collections. It's actually shocking that we had never been to the New Egypt Flea before. We've spent yeeeears traveling the Jersey back roads and stopping in every little hole in the wall junk shop, but somehow we never once ended up at the New Egypt Flea Market. We had heard very little about the place and really had no idea what to expect.

Well we pulled in to see all of this. Rows and rows of these gravel lanes full of tables, and all of those little buildings are individual shops that are full of all sorts of stuff.

The place is nestled into the woods and sorta feels frozen in time. Apparently all of these buildings (maybe 40 of 'em in total) are old army barracks that were trucked here from Fort Dix in the early 1970s.

Missy found this little handmade cabinet in one of the first shops we came upon.

We parked in a central location behind a row of buildings, so it was convenient to carry stuff back to the car periodically throughout the day. 

And besides these little shops there are also all sorts of storage containers and big trucks kinda being eaten by the surrounding wilderness.

The shops are full of antiques and collectibles, but there are also lots of tools, semi new things, and even handmade stuff like this Folk Art by Bob Justin. 

I loved this big Santa cut out! love the pink bear and doll...she looks like she could belt out some Italian Opera music. And see that marble top dresser?…it was sooo cheap.

We were trying to get Missy to buy these. 

Sweet little Charlotte. I prob shoulda bought her. But I'm telling you…it was like this whirlwind of goodness and weirdness overload. I guess I was more focused on the place itself and less focused on the actual shopping.

I also probably should have grabbed this entire bin of candy colored vintage plastic doll house furniture that was sitting out in the sun. 

I had to come in to see what the "Nick Nack Nook" had. Because we all know Jenny is beyond down with Nick Nacks! Well they had souvenir plates galore! Totally right up my alley! 

And lots of pennants! 

I was hoping for a Wildwood or an Atlantic City pennant, but no luck. 

But I did score this sweet Wildwood plate! 

Here it is hanging in our bathroom among our little Jersey shore souvenir plate collection! :)

Ok, back to the Flea…a box full of kitty figurines basking in the sun.

As soon as I downloaded the photo of the box full of kittens to my computer I was reminded of this classic pic I found on the internet years ago.  

And while we were there Aaron decided to open his own shop. Ha! I actually don't remember what was in this shop. But if it really was Aaron's it would only be Kluttered with BOOKS! (And by the way…he bought about a dozen books on this outing. He's crazy.)

Ahh and this sweet lil guy! The perfect Flea Market pup. And we heard from his owner…or to be more  politically correct, his Human Companion…that this was actually his first day at the flea market! And he couldn't have been more friendly. What a sweetie! 

I love these little buildings!

If the New Egypt Flea had a mayor, or a spokesman, or a poster guy...this fella should be it. I had to take his pic. 

This gal needs a tubby and some moisturizer. 

Missy got this awesome bag!

This is Kevin and Denean, the owners of This or That Store. They had great stuff. And in our brief conversation with them we learned some interesting things about the Flea Market and about their own past. Kevin was once a famous New Jersey professional wrestler known as The Pine Baron. And keeping in true pro wrestler character, he popped on his shades right before I snapped this pic.

They had a great selection of old bottles. We'll definitely be going back and next time we're going to bring our shopping A-game.

This is Keith, the manager of the place. Here he is holding a painting of the place done by a local artist. I wish I wrote down the name of the artist!

I can't tell you how much I love this sign on the door. 

After we visited every bit of the New Egypt Flea we got back on the road and instantly had to stop at a diner to recharge. If you are road tripping in Jersey, diner stops are a must. We are the diner capitol of the world. 

 Ok, so I have to explain this pic. That's my plate bottom right. Aaron's plate is on the bottom left, our shared fries in the middle, and Missy's plate on the top right. Missy's is a Chicken Caeser Salad Wrap, which came warm, no actually hot. And the whole idea of a hot salad was a complete turn off. She was not thrilled. And Aaron, for some crazy reason strayed from the tried and true and ordered the "Swiss Cheese Sandwich". Yeah, even the waitress had to double check the menu for that offering...like really? She had to double check to see why in the world the menu would list something so boring. And in the end Aaron concurred…it was capital B Boring. 

I was the only smart one who stuck with tradition and got "The Happy Waitress"…which is grilled American cheese on white with tomato, and a pickle on the side. You can't lose with The Happy Waitress. It's my go-to. 

After the diner we ended up in Point Pleasant, grabbed ice coffees, and hit up some antique shops. Missy scored some great stuff that she'll be using for her pop up shop displays, and we saw some good stuff but nothing that we HAD to have. And apparently we didn't take any photos in Point Pleasant…sorry folks!

After Point, we headed to Asbury Park, which is where Missy lives. It had been a while since we had been in town.

We ended up running into some old friends and staying out way too late. We got delicious Korean street tacos at Mogo's and ice cream on the boardwalk, and laughed a ton. It was such a fun fun day. 

We hope to do some more weekends like this before the summer is up. And of course we'll come back to share all about our adventures. Thanks so much again for reading!

xo, Jenny…and Aaron says hi!