Things That Make You Go " ! "

Qu'est-ce que c'est?!? Our April opening is this Thursday! What is all this?

If we could bottle the "en grande quantité" amount of talent and energy contained in all of our "Fleas" we could sell it and make millions. But instead we like to make our money the old-fashioned way; by gathering the beautiful elements we love, putting them on display and opening the door to our many customers. About this time of the month, the gathering part is done, and what we're left with is this:

Oodles of ornate-ness!


Boxes of bounty!


Piles of pleasure!


Wonderful wire waiting for walls!


Bags of beauty!


Dressers needing knobs and clocks ready to tick!


Chandeliers lighting a pathway to the ladder!


What a mess, but it's a beautiful mess, and that in itself is inspiration to our collective creative "eye"! By this time on Thursday, April 7th, this blank wall will be full of someones creative vision and maybe YOUR new-found treasure!


And don't forget to wear any Spring hat for a chance to be entered into our $50.00 shopping spree! Plus, if your hat has been handmade by you, there's another $50.00 shopping spree contest waiting to be won for the one voted to be the best by our staff!


(Ruffles and Rust 2011)

Hope to see you then! For more information on our April sale, please check out our website at www.parisfleamarket.com

In Your Easter Bonnet

In your Easter Bonnet,
With all the um, uh, stuff upon it
You'll be the grandest winner
In our Easter parade!


(from Ruffles and Rust 2011)

And you'll have TWO chances to win a $50.00 gift certificate! Just wear any "Springy" hat into our April opening (April 7, 8, 9 & 10th) at Paris Flea Market, and you'll be entered to win. Plus, the headpiece voted the best handmade hat will win another $50.00 shopping spree at our store!
Ladies, start your glue guns, and good luck!

We Bid You Adieu~A Peek Into Last Month's Shopping Cart

Have you ever snuck a peek at what the person next to you in the check-out line has in their cart? "What did they get? How much did they pay for it?

And where did they find it because I want one too!" is what goes through our minds! It's a lot like that at the Paris Flea Market during the sale: people are always so curious as to what's been bought and is heading out the door. Well, we know it's not quite the same, but in the interest of quenching your curiosity, we thought we'd show you what were the most popular and fasted-selling items for March's opening. (You can click on the photos to see them larger.)

You could tell we were itchin' for SPRING! Lots of blues, greens and enough pastels held sway over the shop as to make you think you were walking in a spring garden! And at our first stop as we skip down the garden path, is this pretty little flower: four drawers, turned legs, carved wood embellishments and freshly painted in a sweet cottage white! Priced at $165, it was very much swooooonnnnn worthy!

Just a-traveling along, singing a song, side by side. These two nifty side tables could be used at either side of the bed or bookended on your favorite vintage sofa. They were fun while they lasted, but at $23.00 each, what do you expect? They were snapped up quicker than you can say "We know a bargain when we see it."

The more the merrier--another darling side table--this one has a glass knob for extra charm--was hoisted off its dainty little feet, brought up front, and written up (with a price of $34.00), paid for and dashed out to the car!

If it was wood and had cane anywhere on it, it sold last month! Benches, tables and case in point--this lovely chair. In fact the customer who bought this came to Paris Flea Market with a clear vision! She left with ALL of the above! Can't wait for her to send us a picture of how they all look in their new home! The chair was priced at $73.00, and it looked great paired with the other cane pieces she bought. Watch for more caned furniture in April!

And just like a prized rose grown with care, we'd like to present this lovely specimen. Can you believe all those curves? Ooh la la, mon cheri! (Insert cat-call here). We think this photo itself is worthy of framing! The desk, mirror and chair were all sold for a total of $265.00. Get out the smelling salts and call me a doctor!

So there's your peek. All done without any sidelong glances, squeaky-wheeled shopping carts or worrying about picking the slowest check-out line in the store.

Maybe next month you'll see a picture of what YOU bought at the April sale (April 7 - 10th) listed here! (You can also SIGN UP to get the monthly email announcements so you'll be reminded of each sale and any monthly contests just before it happens.)

I See Paris, I See France...

We're going to Provence and YOU can join us! Our customers Nancy, Trinity and Janet, who tried on some vintage glasses, hats, and pearled collars during our March opening, will show you that it's as easy as:

ONE


TWO

THREE!

Do we need to spell it out for you? OK, we will!

Pack your bags and join us on a trip to Provence to go shopping with some of our "Fleas" and "Roomies" for French Antiquities.

Our well-seasoned, well-traveled and expert guide Jill Mitchell (who grew up in the Bay Area) of Le Trip, will be taking our fun group of ladies all around Provence June 2 - 7, 2011, to some of her "secret addresses".

She'll help us with all the ins and outs of this fabulous adventure, so we can all find rare "objets" and so many fun French things for so little money. We still have a few openings for you (and a friend!) that we need to fill. For more information, please email our "Flea-less" leader: Susan Goodman directly at contact@parisfleamarket.com

Thank Goodness For Little Girls

Even the pastries we serve upstairs aren't as sweet as the little girls we get here at the shop! Thank goodness for little girls; they make us laugh, they make us smile and they let us pretend again (if only for a short while)!

Thank goodness for Grace, one sweet face we can expect to see every month, who loves Paris so much she wanted to share this picture she made!

Thank goodness for these two little munchkins, who took a break long enough from shopping with their moms to model some of our fabulous must-have fashion accessories upstairs in the "Le Chic Boutique"!

Thank goodness for little girls who are patient while Mommy shops and then are kind enough to fold the seat down

so Mommy (Lisa, Mia & Monica!) can tote, hoist, and finagle that perfect piece of furniture she'd been searching for and finally found, into the sedan!

And thank goodness for little girls that grow up to become the kind of friends that Kristi can count on to get together on Thursdays nights, to paint the city of Livermore PINK with a little wining, dining and SHOPPING!

Need a little goodness and giddiness in your life? Skip on into our next opening: March 3, 4, 5 & 6th.

Did We Mention We Got A Mention?

We are ecstatic to have been mentioned on this cute blog about "Home, Garden, Design & Living". Starlet (We know; darling right?) over at Can You Come Home has what it takes to be a FLEA. Plunk a vintage hat on her head, and she fits right in!

She excitedly takes her blog readers by the hand as she narrates a little tour of our last month's sale at the store. No detail (from the ribbon trim on a vintage top to the crystal salt cellar) was missed as she heads upstairs to the Paris Cafe to make sure every one is well nourished with coffee and pastries as the tour begins!

(All photos from CAN YOU COME HOME)

She continues on through the rest of our rooms, snapping photos of a single chair, jewels strewn on an ornate mirror and a room full of eye candy, that turn into artful compositions with her creative eye.

The only thing that's missing is pictures of what she bought! We'll stay attentively tuned in to her blog and hope for more to come as she invites us in her home to show us her current decorating triumphs!!!

A Sterling Example

We "Fleas" love something pretty you can use in lots of different ways. All around the shop, you'll see things not being used for the purpose for which they were intended! An old French enamel pan is now potted with an ivy plant, an ornate frame that sports some some chicken wire is now a bulletin board, and well, your mother may cringe at this, but her vintage silver tea service is not seeing many tea bags these days!


We saw silver fall out of favor a few years ago, what with the polishing and the storing for 362 days a year, only to see the light of day on it's shimmering surface during a few special occasions.

But all that's changed recently. Heck, we don't even care if it's shiny--we like the tarnished look just as well! And our customers are now snapping up anything they can see their face in, taking it home and using it in ways their mothers never even thought of! An urned-shaped coffee pot is now a flower pot on their coffee table. Ten of them on a long table, filled with bouquets of flowers make a wedding reception centerpiece never to be forgotten.


A silver creamer pencil cup on your desk at work is just a little bit happier than what you used to have, don't you think? And your INBOX is now safe from prying eyes under a covered casserole dish!


Tri-leveled candle holders don't need a mate to be useful. Secure a pretty china plate to the top of each and you've got multi-layers of multi-purpose cake stands.

A tall teapot can be transformed into a lamp that will light up a dark corner of your kitchen, or shine brightly on a shelf in your china cabinet.

A tray is now a place to drop your jewels at the end of the day or load one up with pillar candles and bright green moss for a quick, easy and elegant centerpiece for your table.

Top off vintage, silver-topped salt and pepper shakers with glitter and you're ready to really shake things up in your craft room!

Sparkling dishes become soap holders in the powder room and bowls are now pet food dishes for the furry love of your life.

Other than the fact that you might like to still see your distorted reflection in the mini fun house mirror of a curvy teapot, we dare you to look at silver the same way again! What will you do with the treasures you find during our February 3, 4, 5 & 6th opening?