If you are a long time reader of the blog you know that we are big fans of the Country Living Fair. We've attended a few of them and plan on making our way to lots more in the months and years to come. This was our second time attending the summer fair in Rhinebeck NY, which we blogged last year here. And while on a teaching trip down in Atlanta, GA we spent the day at the CL Fair down there at beautiful Stone Mountain State Park and blogged it here. And then we were lucky enough to have Country Living make their way back near our neck of the woods for a special holiday bazaar in Tarrytown, NY which we blogged here.
This year's trip to Rhinebeck started with the perfect deja vu moment. Once again, exactly like we had done last year, we met our friend Marlene at Dunkin Donuts, and would you believe that once again, just like last year, it was National Donut Day! So yep…two years in a row our excursion to Rhinebeck started off with FREE DONUTS!
And like I said…the whole morning felt like a repeat performance of the previous year. It was the same silly trio…Me, Aaron, and our dear friend Marlene. I was about to say that the three of us get along like peanut butter & jelly, but that's a duo. And as far as trios go…we're a bit more mature than Huey, Dewey, and Louie…not as abusive as Moe, Larry, and Curly…slightly less frenetic than Snap, Crackle, and Pop…and our falsetto prowess falls short of the Bee Gees. But seriously, the three of us make a great team when it comes to day tripping and browsing antiques and collectibles.
Here we are (or I should say "here are our hands") entering the fairgrounds. Repeating last year's pose with our tickets. And as you can see...we had complimentary weekend passes! Stella Shows was super sweet and sent them to me along with two more pairs of tickets which I awarded to a couple of Instagram followers in a giveaway I hosted the week before. I'm honestly one of the CL Fair's biggest fans and I loved having the chance to give tickets away to two lucky people.
The location was the same as last year, the Dutchess County Fairgrounds in New York’s Hudson Valley. We've been to so many flea markets that offer no relief from the blazing sun, but here almost all of the vendors have a roof over their heads. They're in barns, tents, or open air pavilions, which makes for a much more comfortable shopping experience. And the ground is covered hay and wood chips, which gives the fair a great country feel and I bet the hay and wood chips are great on rainy days for preventing mud.
Always such a great time visiting our friends Stash Style! We love their aesthetic so much! They've got their signature look, but with each season and show location they'll change their set up, tweak their displays, add new collections, and expand their palette to include the latest fashions that they're designing. Maybe the word "curated" is a bit overused, but I think in the case of Stash Style there is no better way to put it…they are perfectly curated. And they totally win the prize for coolest dressing room! This teepee is accessible from inside their main tent!
And they travel with a vintage airstream trailer. At previous shows the airstream was an extension of their shop, with racks of clothing lining the walls. This is a new one pictured here…well it's not new, I should say this is a different one, and it serves a different purpose for them. This is their little nap spot for when they're on the road. What a tranquil, cool vibe.
Is this amazing or what? Love their style so much!
Stash Style have their own line of tees, clothing, accessories, and also carry gift & home items like paddy wax candles.
Loved these bohemian floor cushions!
This shirt rules you guys! ;)
And this is a cool side note…I was recently on a little shopping trip here on the Jersey Shore and of the shops I went in just so happens to carry Stash Style's line of tee shirts.
And Stash Style also offer one of Aaron's fave brands of boots!
Another fave vendor of ours is Findings. They are fellow Jersey girls, a mom & daughter duo.
I really really liked these scrimshaw style necklaces!
We got a kick out of The Worlds Largest Match Book! And Aaron loved that football illustration. He's now full of regret over not purchasing it.
And this here is an item I am kicking myself for not getting! A German bread basket from another of our fave booths French Vanilla!
We all flipped when we saw these vintage egg cartons! The graphics are way too cute! the pink plate! the salt & pepper shakers! Marlene couldn't pass it up. She bought one and...
...to go with her egg carton, she also nabbed this adorable butter package! I Love the toast photo!
HiHo Home's booth was so fun! So many great, colorful vignettes!
We were so psyched to find this Miami Maid faux bread! It is a foam bread form in a vintage bread wrapper! It was Marlene's purchase, but I was so psyched about it. She nabbed the egg carton, the butter box, and then the bread! None of these work with my personal color scheme so I was vicariously shopping through Marlene. I kept congratulating her. I'm one of those people who get really excited about other people finding great stuff. ha!
This mantel was sooo beyond cute! It's pink and white, and just look at the little built in box for holding tools or logs. It wasn't for sale…it's just a booth prop. I'm sure they were asked about it a million times.
Possibly the cutest thing in the booth was this old timey tv made into a picture frame! Look at that pup! The perfect mascot for their booth!
Also in this same booth was this clock. And guess what?...we bought it! Why? who knows?! We just thought it was great! And it's not like we have some big clock collection or anything. This thing just spoke to us. It's homemade…like very homemade…super rudimentary woodworking skills. It's just plywood painted white with some black painted numbers and hands. And we've been trying to figure out just what the heck goes on at 10 minutes to 12:00? I figured it would be fun to display somewhere in the kitchen…maybe like it's kinda hinting at something…"ten minutes until lunchtime!"
Or we can maybe use in a New Year's Eve display…"ten minutes to grab your party hat, noise maker, and your champagne or sparkling cider!"
The CL Fair is a great place to find all sorts of cute things to create vignettes throughout your home. Those little extras. The pops of color and interest that make a home a home.
Our friend Cari's booth was fantastic as always! Her RePurpose paints are just amazing!
And Aaron was in love with these…and is kicking himself for not buying one for his daily iced coffee.
And look at this piece! Such perfectly chippy paint! And you can't see it from this angle but it's really deep. Those drawers go waaay back.
No matter what your style, favorite era, or color palette, you will find all sorts of vintage treasures!
Loved these carnival prizes!
And this wall of kitsch was just so so FUN!!
These gals were amazing! I can see a diecut version in our future! Back when we had a furniture line and a store we used to paint gals like this often. We offered a few coffee tables with full length girls on top.
This was the sweetest little farmhouse dollhouse! I think Marlene was wishing she had gone back for it.
Lots of big, fun signage!
As a collector of vintage ice cream advertisements and packaging, I loved this Bing Crosby sign! I've come across Bing Crosby ice cream cartons a few times in my searches.
You really never know what you'll find at the fair! These, would make such fab and unexpected art pieces!
This year instead of Falafel I went with traditional pierogies. Seriously, food trucks, is there anything better?
Aaron and Marlene went with Thai lemongrass spicy tofu sandwiches.
And Aaron and Marlene both got ice cream cones.
These are some pieces by one of my all time favorite folk artists Laurie Meseroll. I adore her "mud cakes".
Another fab Earth Angels artist is Nancy Wiley. I love her colors!
One of my fave fave booths at the Fair is always South Porch Antiques. The sweetest husband and wife duo. There is always great styling and always something unique to be found. Loved this table and pink dishes combo.
Lots of bottles too. Like these cute little amber bottles for $1.50 each. Of course I bought a few.
We were so looking forward to seeing what South Porch's handmade items would be this year. Last year we picked up one of their wire and wood niche's, and it's one of our fave things. This year they had a similar offering…these great shadowboxes and shelves. Each one is totally unique and made from bits and pieces of vintage stuff.
These chairs were sooo perfect! Loved them! And this table! ahh!
I got a big kick out of these prize ribbons…especially the red ones that simply tell it like it is…you weren't excellent, or great…you were simply "Good"... ha!
And Angelica, NY is very near where my parents live now.
I've come across these a handful of times over the years, and it was very cool to see so many in one place. And of course, now that we are home, we are wishing we bought one for our bedroom. Outdated also has a shop/cafe in Kingston, NY. We really would love to take the train up there for the day. Maybe they'll still have some of these.
These composition books...loved the different covers.
Last year Aaron tried their scones, and this year he bought a three pack of their brownies. They also had these cookies with flowers. Read more about Outdated in this great article on Design Sponge.
We never truly have a day off since we work for ourselves. But we wish we could implement one. Maybe before bed on Friday nights we can hang this sign on our studio door so that when we wake up on Saturday we know that we're barred from entering the studio.
I honestly could have taken 1000 photos of all of the amazing things at the fair. Stacks and stacks of stuff that you'll rarely find outside of events like this…such as these letters.
This booth had matted prints of rare book pages. There were dozens of these that we'd love to take home. Print after print featuring all manner of cakes and french pastries.
This is my fave purchase of the day. I've come across them over the years only a scant few times, and would you believe the booth where I found this had Three for me to choose from! It's a vintage doll face mold. And I love it because it's just the face and not the entire head. That means that the doll face was probably attached to a stuffed animal body. Much like our Bunny Baby diecut!
Really, I wouldn't even begin to scratch the surface if I were to list off the fantastic things we came across at the CL Fair. It was such a fun day. And the weather couldn't have been more perfect. Last year was really really hot, high 90s…but this year it was in the 70s and sunny all day. Seriously perfect. And the drive up there through the mountains is so pleasant.
If you have the chance to attend the Country Living Fair…do it!!!
Thanks bunches for popping in and reading! Hope you enjoyed our recap!
We'll be back soon to share some pics and tales from a day of flea marketing with my sister! Wow… Me, Aaron and Missy…that's another perfect trio. More on that next time!
xo Jenny... and Aaron says hi!
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