Junk BoNaNzA 2015!

I’ve been to the Junk Bonanza a couple times now (in 2012 and 2013) but had to skip last year since both my mom and I worked during the festivities. This year we both had time to go the first day of the event and were pretty pumped. Though we don’t always come away with things there’s so much cool stuff to see it’s always worth a trip. Plus, the things we have picked up there are pretty awesome and some of our favorites. This year we went on the first day and boy was it busy. The first main room was super crowded and it was a bit hard to make your way into different booths as you were kind of swept forward with the crowd. Luckily the other three rooms were far less crowded. There were a lot of cool pieces but I left empty handed again this year as I had a pretty small budget and didn’t see anything I needed within it. When I go to any sort of antique/vintage event I’m always looking for things that are unique and hard to find at Thrift stores, estate sales, flea markets and/or really cheap vintage stores, so I sometimes come away empty handed if I don’t see anything amazing that I can afford. It’s still fun to browse though and you never know what you’ll find. So here are a few of the cool things I saw while walking around the bonanza.

 I’m really into these old organizational and industrial pieces but the majority of them were out of my price range. 
  It’s this guy cute? I have no idea where I’d put him but I like him/her.
This vintage kids ride was really cool. I think It was for sale but I have neither the money nor the space for it. 

Cute yellow chair.

This booth had a lot of cool mid century modern pieces. 

This cute lamp for example. 

My favorite from this booth though was this mod/ MCM birdcage. I’ve never seen one before and I kind of love it.  I Kind of regret not going back for that one. 

Burnt out (I think) Light bulbs! these were super cool and I’m sure some crafty person could make something awesome out of them. 

This booth had some cool Mid Century Modern lamps. These were nice, but i’m at a point where an atomic lamp has to be “can’t live without it” cool for me to pick it up. These I could live without. 

   

        This vintage horse head mount thing was pretty cool. It would be pretty awesome in a kids room.

                                                  Skeleton keys are just the coolest

     Cool vintage daybed 
I actually really liked this picture and it was only like $22.00 but I didn’t end up coming back for it. 

Pretty sure this lamp is made of an old plant stand and a vintage industrial mixer blade, kind of awesome.

Cool Tripod floor lamp 

How cool is this huge radiator cover? 

BABY!
Santa and his roller set beard. 
More cool industrial pieces. 

50’s Doctors Cabinet. 
Giant Diaper Safety Pins. 

This beer sign was pretty cool but I see them a fair amount at Estate Sales so I passed.

I love a good vanity and am currently obsessed with a few Mid Century ones I’ve seen on the interwebs. This one was really cute but I’m not big on painted wood and it’s not the vanity of my dreams. I do though love the Mongolian lamb fur they upholstered the seat in. I’m semi-obsessed with some pillows from West Elm made of the same material, but they’re so expensive!

As and avid thrifter I thought this booth was a bit silly. Any thrifter worth their weight knows you can find silver pieces like this for (i’m assuming) much lower prices at literally any thrift store. I was pretty much just baffled at this booth. 

An assortment of cool rotary phones. Back when I was a kid we had a few of these and they always made you feel very fancy, like the number you were calling should be more important because of the dramatic way you dialed. But nowadays these phones would just be catching dust in my house. The only vintage phone I think I’d buy aside from an Ericofone (like the one Roger Sterling had on Mad Men) would be one of those clear plastic 80’s/90’s phones. I was obsessed with those and never had one. Someone needs to make a phone cover for cell phones like that, I’d buy it in a minute. 

Pretty Lampshade. 

Cool vintage Christmas set up and awesome car grille. 

I really loved the lamps in this booth but they were way beyond my price range, very cool though. 

The people at this booth made this old stove into a kitchen island. Isn’t that the coolest idea ever? The great thing about Junk Bonanza is even if you leave empty handed you get to see a ton of cool DIY’s. 

Can you spot the sneak peak of my Junk Bonanza OOTD?

These display cabinets were pretty amazing and reasonably priced, but they were still outside of my price zone. I’m also looking for more closed storage pieces as opposed to these lovely display pieces. That said if I had the money I’d totally have gotten them. 

Isn’t this the cutest bookshelf? It would look awesome in a kids room. The good news is it’s a totally do-able DIY piece if you really like it. 

These hands were pretty cool but I have no need for them. They could make really cool Halloween decorations though. 

That’s it for this year’s Junk Bonanza, even though I walked away empty handed I saw a lot of cool stuff and will definitely be back next year if I can. 

Beach Essentials with Naja

It’s finally summer which means spending as much time outside as possible, or at least trying. And what better place to spend those glorious sunny days than at the pool or beach? We all know a great swimsuit just the first step in getting chic for the beach. So I teamed up with Naja to show you what essentials always join me on a trip to the beach.

Every beach look is centered around the suit and mine is no different, Naja’s Faye racerback one-piece swimsuit , a suit made of recycled plastic bottles, served as the inspiration for this years essentials . The suit looks very Mod with it’s clean lines and waist cinching belt but also has a bit of a sporty flair with it’s sexy racerback. I decided to go with a Mod yet nautical (modical?) theme for this list, playing off the style and colors of the swimsuit. I always like to have options so I also added the Valentina Bustier and matching Carmen Hi-Waisted Blue panties to stuff into my beach bag as a sexy alternative to struggling with a one piece all night. Both the Bustier and panties are also made with fabric made from recycled plastic bottles, how cool is that? Anyway here are my Naja inspired Modical beach essentials:


1. Donut Pool Float / 2. Wide-Brimmed Straw Hat / 3. Naja Faye Racerback One-Piece Navy /
4. River Island Kelly Metal Insert Sunglasses / 5. Valentina Bustier / 6. Carmen High Waisted Blue  /

7. Coppertone Sport Sunscreen / 8. Quite the Catch Bag / 9. Teal Anchor on Blue Stripes Beach Towel  / 10. Portable Beverage Bottle Define Bottle  / 11. Gait Minds Think Alike Sandal In White

Naja is a lingerie and swimwear company that creates quality items with great details, lovely patterns, cheeky prints and recycled materials.  If that isn’t cool enough a portion of every sale goes to Naja’s underwear for Hope program, a program that partners with the Golondrinas Foundation in Colombia which trains single or head of household mothers to sew.  There are tons of cute items and if you’re on the smaller side (bras only go up to about 36DD and some panties go up to an XL or 12/14), you should definitely check them out.

*I was contacted to do this post by Naja, all opinions are my own.