On The Crush List because…
It’s the country equivalent of Austin’s monthly Citywide Garage Sale.
The Lone Star Gallery is a star to me because during the antique off-season it runs Texas Trade Days on the second Saturday of every month. It’s such a comfortably chilly time to shop Warrenton. See how the shoppers in the picture below are wearing parkas? Probably even socks! How many women in socks do you see during the Spring and Fall Shows?
The Lone Star takes up a couple of big buildings that at one time housed antique cars, and it’s a great mix of tidy booths and big old tables piled with things like aprons. I use it as the foundation of my winter weekend Round Top Field Trip agendas. I just add some pie, some culture and a stop at my usual year round retail faves and I’ve got a real nice day on my hands.
Of course you can also shop the Lone Star during the Show weeks. It’s nice and chilly then too. A/C!
My office was once in a toolshed in our backyard. It was all silk-purse tricked-out with nice paneling and a huge window, but we still called it the “Sow’s Ear.” The best part of the space was the no-sew (is there any other kind in my world?) window valence I made out of old aprons. You should try it. Just get a rod or a branch or a pipe or whatever and then use the apron ties as tab ties. It sounds kind of over-countrified, but if you use the right aprons it can look better than you’d think.
Have you heard about that One Red Paperclip guy who turned a paperclip into a house in fourteen online trades? My favorite was his trade of a year’s rent in Phoenix, AZ for an afternoon with Alice Cooper.
So how about a Texas Trade Days Trade Challenge? Buy something like the treasures in the photos below and see what you can trade it into. Good luck!
