OH MY GOODNESS! Aunt Kathy and I went on a super treasure hunt on Labor Day weekend at the Packwood Flea Market in Packwood, Washington! Talk about some serious shopping and fantastic finds!
We scooted out of Astoria early in the morning and made great time to Packwood. Upon getting to town, we were greeted by tents as far as your eye could see, and parking options left and right trying to get customers with the best pricing. We drove through all of the tents and parking to the other end of town, turning left just after the Shell Gas Station. Although we paid $5 to park, which was the highest price on parking, I think the price and the location was well worth it! The guy running the lot was very friendly and was able to answer our questions and give us suggestions since we were new to Packwood! Plus since we were at the end of town, we avoided as much traffic as possible, and it made it easy to walk up one side of the highway and back down the other on our way back to the car.
There were booths selling EVERYTHING under the sun, literally..., and more. Kathy and I are both into vintage items, country chic styling, and good deals! So some of the booths did not apply to us. But if you're searching for sunglasses and purses that aren't in a car trunk (at least not this weekend), enough Crocs to outfit a football team, or recycled cell phones... Packwood is still for you!
On this adventure, I told Kathy that I was hoping to find an old mailbox for outside my classroom door. You know the thin kind that hang on the wall and have the flip top? So we were eyes peeled!
We found endless amounts of Pyrex, Corning, Blue Willow, and other glassware. Below are a few fun photos that I snapped while exploring! I am a fan of the bright Pyrex colors and the pig tumblers!
We scooted out of Astoria early in the morning and made great time to Packwood. Upon getting to town, we were greeted by tents as far as your eye could see, and parking options left and right trying to get customers with the best pricing. We drove through all of the tents and parking to the other end of town, turning left just after the Shell Gas Station. Although we paid $5 to park, which was the highest price on parking, I think the price and the location was well worth it! The guy running the lot was very friendly and was able to answer our questions and give us suggestions since we were new to Packwood! Plus since we were at the end of town, we avoided as much traffic as possible, and it made it easy to walk up one side of the highway and back down the other on our way back to the car.
There were booths selling EVERYTHING under the sun, literally..., and more. Kathy and I are both into vintage items, country chic styling, and good deals! So some of the booths did not apply to us. But if you're searching for sunglasses and purses that aren't in a car trunk (at least not this weekend), enough Crocs to outfit a football team, or recycled cell phones... Packwood is still for you!
On this adventure, I told Kathy that I was hoping to find an old mailbox for outside my classroom door. You know the thin kind that hang on the wall and have the flip top? So we were eyes peeled!
We found endless amounts of Pyrex, Corning, Blue Willow, and other glassware. Below are a few fun photos that I snapped while exploring! I am a fan of the bright Pyrex colors and the pig tumblers!
There were also gobs of vintage books, both hardback and paper! I found a couple neat ones at the local thrift store that are 1960's math textbooks for the 4th and 5th grade. Maybe I should supplement this year??
There were all sorts of odds and ends! I was so excited to snag the Pepsi Cola crate, but was so torn between it and the bright red Coke box! My allegiance to Pepsi won out, but Aunt Kathy decided to the give the Coke box a new home too!
I just loved all the details spotted around the flea. Boxes of padlocks, crocks with quality stamps, pinwheels for the 4th of July, some summer time lawn games, and a secret fave... Edgar. He is just too cool!
Not only did we shop the vendors and the thrift store, but we also had to check out this cute looking store! I just loved their signage and cheery colors. The inside could use a bit of this punchy color and fun though!
Outside of the antique store Kathy found an old phone booth. She tried to call for help because we were lost in a world of treasures and weren't sure if we'd make it back to the car. Too bad it didn't have a phone!
Stopped in a booth that was full of many car related finds! Vintage road maps, oil signs, tools, and whatnot. I have to say, although I'm not a collector of these items, there were some very cool things like the RAILROAD two piece sign below! Bonus, the booth was arranged/displayed so well! I appreciated the owners use of burlap and wooden boxes!
After searching for almost 5 hours for one little mailbox, coming up empty in that department, but striking it rich elsewhere, we came upon a big booth space full of vintage charm! We asked the owners if they happened to have a mailbox and... THEY DID! Kathy and I both celebrated and took pictures of the exciting find, and I was over the moon and giddy about the whole thing! The vendors were the nicest folks and said that I was the most enthusiastic customers they'd seen and were happy they could help! I told them that they made my day! They told us to come back anytime to just say hi because they liked our attitude! Haha! Or they wanted to see if I'd go off the deep end again and hug an old treasure in triumph!
While at that booth I also found a couple great sets of vintage ornaments! I picked up the brown box below, with the "Made in occupied Japan" label and some fun striped finds! And if you want to get a small glimpse at my mailbox frenzied excitement, just peek below too!
Oh my! I am so excited for my purchases! Not pictured is an awesome old metal bed that I snagged for a low price! It's in need of a little TLC to bring it to real glory, but it's nothing a wire brush and spray paint can't fix! You'll have to stay tuned for that blog in the future! You know I can't let a good project go! Oh and I hope to get up a picture of my mailbox in place! It may or may not be black in the end, I'm still deciding!
The Packwood Flea Market takes place twice a year, Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends. Check out their site for more information!
Packwood is not for the wimpy shopper who poops out after one garage sale, shoppers come ready! Bring a cart or wagon, pack a bottle of water, dive in and get hunting!
