DC Big Flea (What I Dragged Home)

Kittens,

I've got tons o' pictures of crap I didn't buy at the DC Big Flea (which I will blog about, because that stuff is way more fascinating than what came home), but this is the story of the stuff I did buy. If you want the short story, I basically bought three things: wall sconces, jewelry, and kitchen stuff. If you want the long story, read on. Also, I'm including prices not to be tacky, but because people always seem to have a curiosity about prices when it comes to secondhand stuff.

Wall sconces. These may look like wood, but they're plaster. Ol' (fuh-laaaayyyy-ming gay) boy who sold them to me said they came off a building being demolished in New York somewhere. They were gray--not white--when I bought them. I cleaned them with a toothbrush, then cotton swabs, then I vacuumed them with the brush attachment. They were very dirty, and not in a good way, if I ain't bein' too subtle. ($130 for pair)

I decided to hang them on either side of the Arkansas map I showed in an earlier post. Here's a shot looking up the stairs...

And looking down:

Jewelry. Or, more specifically, brooches. I love these things and I wear them so often that people ask me where my brooch is when I'm not wearing one. ($10 each; redbirds $15)

Here's an owl:

And a ballerina:

And a reindeer (SO much cuter than a hideous Christmas sweater or a--GOD FORBID--Santa hat. Vom):

And the absolutely unbelievably adorable two little redbirds, sitting on a branch, with four Christmas ornaments dangling underneath:

Even when I'm not wearing them, I get to enjoy them because, except for necklaces, I keep my jewelry in dishes on top of my dresser. How pretty is this?

Kitchen stuff. It's just a set of little covered glass dishes with an adorable design on the outside in this really pretty turquoise (a tie for my favorite color, along with pink). As soon as I saw them, I knew right where they'd find a home. ($20 for the pair)

My salt container is hideous. It's always bugged me, but not really enough to take any sort of action. It's a recycled peppercorn jar, plastic, with half the label torn off. The reason I kept it around was because of its perfect size. I can be a sucker for function and practicality to a fault, although you could say the same thing about my weakness for cute stuff with no function whatsoever. I'm hopeless.

Anyway, here's what a little chunk of my countertop looked like with my old, ugly salt holder. See how it sticks out like a sore thumb?

Not only is this a better container for my salt, it's MUCH better for pepper. I have ground some pepper in there so that I can just reach in and get some without having to grind it as I use it.

And that is it. That's everything I bought, not counting the cinnamon-coated almonds I bought upon arrival at the concession stand. Have you ever smelled those things? I walked in and the smell was EVERYWHERE and I was powerless. But I digress.

A note: I did not pay the marked price for anything I bought. Maybe it's the economy or maybe the vendors are easing up, but haggling isn't usually done until the last day of the DC Big Flea. In any case, I was well served every time I said, "Is this your best price, dick?"

Be on the lookout for other stuff from the Big Flea. I had my free-with-contract camera phone out, and I wasn't afraid to use it! Stay tuned!