I must confess: I have an addiction.
It starts each year when I begin looking at home-decorating magazines in the middle of January and grows in intensity as the weather warms up.
Yes, I admit it: I love garage sales.
No, I should confess the whole truth: I love rummage sales, estate sales - in short, any sale that offers once-used treasures at a bargain price.
But you see, finding that treasure is not really the problem: It is how to use that treasure in a new and creative way once I get it home.
Each week I'm going to go out and look for that "special" piece that calls my name. It might be what seems an average vase, a partial quilt, a sadly single wineglass with class or a vintage, unused kitchen tool. I'll share with you how that "plain piece" can be made over to become a "special piece" that brings oohs and ahhs from family and friends.
From 'Vly' to 'flea'
Like lots of things historical, the phrase "flea market" has a part of a forgotten, misplaced story. Most people think the phrase "flea" refers to actual fleas and means that the goods offered are not only secondhand, but of lesser quality.
Paris does has a very famous secondhand market, called Le Marche aux Puces, which does literally mean "the market of fleas." However, that French phrase was not translated and used by the English until the 1920s. And America has had flea markets and rummage sales since before the American Revolution!
So where did we get the word? Not from France. Here's the misplaced story.
Pre-revolutionary New York City was an amazing mix of old Dutch settlers; eager, young English businessmen looking for that golden opportunity in a new land; legal seamen; and semi-legal privateers. Down in Lower Manhattan, near the sea, was a small ravine or "valley" (now gone, of course) called the Vly Market area by the Dutch, where extra items from incoming ships could be sold. Housewives and merchants walked among sailors and captains looking for that luxury item at bargain prices.
The Dutch correctly pronounced the name for the "valley" location as "Vly," but the English quickly changed it to "flea" market.
Flea markets continued from pre-Revolutionary days until 1816, reappearing during the Great Depression and continuing until the present day.
Off to a running start
This coming week I'm off to the Greenwood Garage Sale Day, sponsored by the Phinney Neighborhood Association, on Saturday, April 22. Call 297-0875 for directions, etc. But before I head out (and I hope to see you there), I have an idea how to change that plain vase into a treasure you'll enjoy year-round.
COLOR-CASTING THAT 'NEW' VASE
Water down an acrylic paint in your favorite color just slightly. Paint the smooth bottom of a vase and let the paint air-dry. (You can speed up the process, if you need to, with a hair dryer).
When you turn the dried vase over, the color will shaft up the glass, giving your whole vase a lovely, new color tone.
And when you want to change the color, just rinse off the paint with warm water and repeat the process.
Ana Kinkaid has worked with private clients for more than 10 years converting rummage finds into treasured decorative accents. She would enjoy your comments at BetterSecondTime Around@gmail.com.
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