Jen/Juniperr: Teacher. Biker. Scientist. Fiber Arts fanatic. Animal lover. Craft-a-holic.
Jaryn: Rockstar. Baker. Chef. Outdoor lover. Adventure Seeker. World Traveler. 
After yesterday’s antiquing fail, the Beefy Broads (Deb and Jen) were excited to put the past behind us and make antiquing our bitch.
DH and I picked up Deb and her partner, Caroline, and we headed to the Antique Mall in Verona, our old standby. One of the largest antique malls on I-81, it’s hard not to find something that you love. Leave it to Verona not to disappoint. Within 10 minutes of walking in, I found my new craftroom lighting for a mere $32.
My new vintage glass light fixture.
I thought it was simply gorgeous as is……But, wait for it………..
OH MY!!!
Look at it lit up! It is AMAZING! Now, I know what you’re thinking. Jen, you were complaining about not having enough light in your craft room, why buy a light that won’t help? Hello!?! Have you seen this beaut? Look again. I also found a pair of pinking shears (brand new) for $12, which is a fantastic buy since my grandmother’s aren’t sharp and it costs an arm, two legs, and your first born to have a pair sharpened. Caroline found a great new pair of eyeglasses for $2.10. She was even videotaped for a new commercial for the antique mall to boot (while holding my light — so really, it’s as if I was interviewed, too). I felt upon leaving Verona that we had more than made up for our antique disappointments of yesterday.
After Verona, we decided to try an antique store that we’d never been to in Lexington, VA – Duke’s. We were pleasantly surprised. Although it has about 100 stray cats hanging around the entrance and a ton of rusted junk strewn about the outside, it was a treasure trove. I found a great, old picture frame that I plan to spray paint silver with blue flowers for my craft room. Not sure what to frame, though……any ideas?
What shall I frame?
I also found a really beautiful, albeit largey, knit wool sweater. After a burn test to ensure that it was indeed all wool, it was purchased for $20. I will unravel it (with reverence for the person’s time and effort who originally knitted it) and it will have a new incarnation. Again, any pattern ideas?
What will I become next?
Lastly, I found a bunch more sewing notions (buttons & bias) for $0.25. Caroline and Deb bought a bunch of old books to make picture frames out of. Even Todd came away with something, a pig picker. It sounds disgusting, but really it’s just a large chisel for his woodworking. (As a vegetarian, I needed to have that explained to me before allowing it in our home.)
With 15 minutes until 6pm, we decided to drive another mile to the other large antique mall in Lextington. We just wanted to see if it was worth coming back to at some point. Wouldn’t you know, another fantastic antique mall. We decided to play a game to see who could find something worth purchasing first. After agreeing upon the rules, we literally took off running through the shop. Deb and Todd went straight for the tools, whereas Caroline and I split in opposite directions, zig-zagging through the store. It felt like Bladerunner.
I’ll have you know dear readers, that as I ran I was selflessly looking for additional tools for Todd. Aren’t I a good girlfriend? While I didn’t find any worthy tools, I did see a nice wool sweater out of the corner of my eye. At first, I thought that perhaps I had found another wool sweater to unravel for wool — but upon closer inspection, I saw that this was an Eddie Bauer sweater (one of Todd’s favorites). Even more amazing was that the sweater was size large TALL. What were the chances? Often we cannot even find large tall in actual clothing stores.
So, I grabbed the sweater and ran up to the register. No one else had found anything. Todd quickly approved the purchase– and it was sold all within 1 minute of 6pm. That’s what I call winning.
