Recapping Vintage Market Days of East Texas

Last week, we got to participate in our first Vintage Market Days of East Texas event! Twice I had turned down invitations to join the show when it was in Nacogdoches. When it moved to Lindale, we were able to join the show!

Of course, anytime we have to up a tent for a show, you can count on it raining. We've been in a two month drought and the farm girl will always appreciate a good rain. Just a few days before the event, I was standing in our very low pond... anyways, the week of the show, Tropical Storm / Depression Imelda developed in the gulf and was predicted to head straight for us in east Texas at the exact time of set up and day 1 of the show. I declare, we need to start scheduling a August show, so we can get some late summer rain and avoid these droughts ;) 

Anyways, it was a rain or shine event, so we took extra precautions to protect our products. I bagged a set of shirts in each size and style, bought and customized a big umbrella, loaded the mud boots and slogger shoes, bought extra stakes and tie down straps in case the wind got up. Each weather forecaster give a different path and prediction - from a 1/2 inch to 3-6 inches of rain and wind varying from 5 - 35 mph. While we set up on Thursday, we dealt with a little bit of drizzle, but nothing major. On Thursday evening, the rain started at home (33 miles from the venue) and it rained all night. 

Loaded down! 

Let's go, Vintage Market Days, here we come!

 Friday morning, I woke up and checked the radar and guess what?!? The rain had passed over Lindale, while the farm got over two inches of rain! The best of both worlds!!! We were in the clear!

Tropical Storm Imelda passed us by! 

My mud boots and umbrella never got out of the truck! We got busy Friday morning and got our tent ready for business! Since we were expecting the big storm, we had only put up our props and tent on Thursday and didn't finish set up. Friday afternoon, we had about 5 minutes of rain and had to move a few things inside the tent, but we survived and our tent didn't blow away! 

The line forming to get in on Friday morning!

If you shop at Vintage Market Days, you probably love all these things as well! 

This was one of our smallest spaces ever, but oh how we packed it full plus we restocked daily. 

One of our favorite quotes from one of our favorite customers "You can never have too many baseball tees!" 

We were one of the smaller booths (and it was the smallest booths we’ve ever worked.) We still had lots of shoppers in our little space, sometimes waiting in line to get inside! You told us we had the cutest clothing there, which was a high compliment, since there was lots of clothing boutiques. You see, we are the makers and our items are all made locally and not mass produced. Our hearts and hands have prepared every item.

We were also told we were the most helpful. Helping ladies try on flannels, finding sizes, and even watering dogs and creating a make shift dressing room. It’s what we do! We are here to help you. 

Cookie was one of the cutest customers on Friday! And his mom picked out 3 flannels! 

Here's a video I did on Saturday morning. 

 Angea and I have had so much fun preparing and working this show! So happy to have a friend like her, who shares many of the same creative ideas as I do and we can share the booth spaces.

 Sunday morning, we got to walk around the venue and see several of the booths and took a few pictures in front of the take me away back drop.

 With the threat of rain gone, we were able to put some of our shirts on two sides of the tent and it really helped us show case many of the shirts and different designs. Since all of our flannels and plaid shirts are one of a kind, it really was a game changer to help the shirts be seen.

Donuts, snow cones, and food trucks... oh my yum! 

What goes up, must come down! 

We are so thankful for Jeff and Randy (Angea's husband) who helped us with set up and tearing down the tent! As we were getting the tent back in the bag, Jeff said "it's like putting skin back on a fish!" I'm sure everyone around us wondered what was so funny and if you've ever taken down a tent, you will be able to relate!

The show was over...On down the road we go...

As we were all loading up the playlist with your favorite songs was still playing. Willie Nelson sang “Here we go, on the road again
Like a band of Gypsies we go down the highway
We're the best of friends
Insisting that the world keep turnin' our way...” 

Seemed most appropriate for this traveling road show!! 

The event was well organized and advertised and we can’t thank Amanda and the VMD staff for hosting a great show and giving us an opportunity to be involved in a premier event.

We appreciate each and everyone of you who came, shopped, and shared about our business. Y’all are the best! We are grateful, thankful, blessed.

Miss the show or too far away to make an in person event? You can shop online in our etsy shop gypsyfarmgirl.etsy.com or our website rustandromance.com 

In October we will be at our usual booth at the Mineola Antique Fair, where we have lots of junk and all our clothes on October 11-12. 

We will also be returning to the East Texas Yamboree, where we will have an indoor, air conditioned, rain and wind proof space at the fair grounds in the "blue building." We are super excited about our home town show and have some exciting things in store for that show, so stay tuned! It will be October 17-19 in Gilmer, Texas. 

A Preview of our Mineola Antique Fair Booth

It's time once again for the Mineola Antique Fair! Angea (aka Rooster Tails) and I  got our booth ready this morning and recorded a short video to show you around our space!
 





If you can't make to Mineola this weekend, we will be in Lindale at the Vintage Market Days of East Texas next week, or you can find some of our items in my etsy shop. See something in our pictures  that you like and can't find it in our online shop - just send us a message and if it's possible, we will ship it to you!

Hope yo see you soon!

Getting Ready for Vintage Market Days of East Texas!

So (almost) every Thursday, Angea and I get together and go junkin'  or work on items for our booths. The next two weeks, we will have back to back shows at the Mineola Antique Fair, followed by Vintage Market Days of East Texas in Lindale. This week, we did a little junkin' and decided to drive over to Lindale and prowl around, figure out exactly where the venue was at, which route would be the best travelling, and shop at a few stores we've heard so much about. We figured this was our last opportunity to check it out, before we get really in the thick of things. 

 Picker's Pavilion was very easy to find and the drive wasn't bad at all (about 33 miles from home). It's right off Hwy 69 and FM 16 in Lindale and just a couple miles from Interstate 20. Miranda Lambert's store, the Pink Pistol is caddy corner from the venue.

 We stopped at the Pink Pistol, then ate lunch, went to Main Street Market that we've heard so much about, and then stopped at this quaint little candy store called Kaitlin's Confections.

I can't even recall what this thing was called, but honey hush, it was good! 

We made a couple more stops and I know everyone in town is excited about the event moving to Lindale. (It was previously held in Nacogdoches and will be held in Lindale for the first time.) 

 So with our busy show schedule coming up, we have been working like crazy getting things ready. We've been ripping up wedding dresses and sewing lace on jackets and shirts, we've been creating t shirts, and distressing flannels since June!

We are in the process of getting everything organized and ready to go for our next two shows... This is  is maybe  a 1/3 of the inventory scattered out on my bed! I'm trying to get everything labelled, tagged, and sorted by designs. 

This week we will be at Mineola Antique Fair and the following week in Lindale! Busy and fun times! 

It's Yam Time!

It's (almost) Yam Time! We are in a county fair state of mind and have created original graphic tees to celebrate a few of our favorite fall things! The Yam themed shirts have a heifer wearing a flower crown, while that's a picture of my Prize Winning Yam Pie on there, plus a basket of sweet potatoes and leaves that once decorated the Band Stand. We've got other show animals, a Ferris wheel, and a blue ribbon... All items that embody the spirit of the our local fair!

The fair has been a part of our life, since we were a child. From watching the parades from the back of our truck to riding our horses in the parade with 4-H a few years later. Carnival rides on the square, corn dogs, funnel cakes, and then the decorated yam contest when I was in the 4th grade to attending the Queen's coronation pageant the following year. 

 In high school we participated in the Livestock Show with our steers and heifer. (Our favorite part of the fair!)

As an adult, I have made many arm bouquets for the Queen's and Duchesses and helped decorate the band stand. I've also entered pictures in the photography contest and carried out a family tradition, winning the Yam Pie contest in 2010! A picture of that winning pie is included on the shirt.

 In 2015, we had our very first booth at the East Texas Yamboree, where we debuted our camper, Miss Gussie! What Angea and I expected to be a one time show, has turned into a fun ride we have only got busier! We've got 7 shows lined up between now and December. We've missed the Yamboree the last two years and will be returning this year, with a large booth inside the Exhibit (Blue) Building at the fair grounds.

You can say that the county fair runs deep in our roots! My grandmother and aunts were also a winner of the Yam Pie Contest! 

We are currently taking pre-orders for the Yam Time Shirts, to be made in plenty of time to wear in October.

Message me to reserve yours or find them at gypsyfarmgirl.etsy.com  (Unfortunately, comments here don't always show up or set up as no-reply, so please email, message on Facebook, or through etsy.)  

We are also planning to have some in our booth inside the Yamboree Exhibit Building, October 17-19. 

 This shirt features more of all fall favorites... leaves, boots and flannels, football bonfires, pumpkins, fun, and county fairs... This one is currently available in all sizes in my etsy shop, along with several other fall designs.

Ol' Blue

I found a picture of Ol’ Blue, recently. Some of you may remember me telling the story of her before. If you haven’t, well here goes!

I started driving Blue, a 1980 Ford, when I was 4! Yes, four! My daddy would load hay in the back of ol’ blue and we would head out to feed cows. My mom was expecting my brother and didn’t go out to feed with us. Daddy would stick her in granny gear (1st gear) and stand me up in the seat, jump out and start throwing hay out to the cows as the truck inched along. Now I don’t remember the day I must’ve drove crooked, but I’ll NEVER forget the day I drove straight!

As daddy was getting out of the truck, he kept telling me to “drive straight.” As I approached a big water hole, I pondered his words and my 4 year old self reasoned that if he wanted me to drive around that water hole, he wouldn’t have pointed me in the direction of the wet spot and emphasized “drive straight.” So I didn’t go around it. When ask why, I said “but daddy, you said drive straight!” We walked home on a cold winter day and got the John Deere tractor and went and pulled her out.

Flash forward 10 years and I drove her all over the community, to church, grandmama’s house, checking cows and following the tractors between hay fields. (I got my first paycheck for driving a tractor at age 11.) Drivers Ed was only a technicality and the first time I ever drove an automatic... where was the clutch?!?

The air conditioner spit water at you (it felt good on a hot summer day) and operated with a light switch, the radio only worked with a wire running from under the steering wheel and wrapped around the radio dial. More than 1 pillow had been lost in the seat. The bed was held together with a cable, because too many loads of hay and fire wood were wearing it out. Daddy locked his keys in it one night and reached through the floor board and opened the door. A wheel took off in the opposite direction of the truck one time. Everyone teased I would drive her to school when I turned 16. I always said no way!

One day daddy called from Lone Star Steel and said to meet him when his swing shift was over with a truck and trailer. Ol’ Blue had died, just a few months before I turned 16. I was relieved I didn’t have to drive her to school... but dang, we lost a good farm truck that day!

As today is “Labor Day,” I’m reminded of our upbringing - this long weekend would have been a prime square baling weekend. Daddy usually would take vacation from work to work even harder in the hay fields and we would be out of school to drive tractors, rake hay, and pull hay wagons. There would be many loads that looked similar to this!

We were taught “work before play.” Take care of your responsibilities, before the rodeos, play days, and 4-H shows, etc. We worked hard, but we played hard too! Today I’m thankful for a family that taught us the value of hard work and responsibility!