Going to the Chapel – Chapel Market 2014

When I was sitting in my college dorm room dreaming about the day I would have a house to decorate, or looking for inspiration for my very first apartment there were a few places I always turned to first. These ladies are well known in the blog-o-sphere and even though they probably have zero idea who I am, reading their blogs makes them feel like friends. Of course I’m talking about Marion from Miss Mustard Seed, Shawna from Perfectly
Imperfect and Layla from the Lettered Cottage. For me, these ladies are the big three of blogging, I read their every post and love to find inspiration in their words. Last year Layla put together the first ever Chapel Market
in Pike Road, AL and after gushing about it to my mom for a couple months (I’m not kidding, it was months) she bought me an airline ticket to come down and go to the market. This year I was a little closer, Pike Road is only about an hour and a half from our new house and the best part was that without an airline ticket my hubby was able to go with me!

It was so much fun to show him all of the fun little things, plus it goes to show how much he really pays attention! At one point we were walking across the grass when Layla went zipping by in a golf cart and my hubby went “Isn’t that the one whose adopting a kid?” He pays attention! Layla and her own hubby are in fact in the middle of adopting a little boy from Haiti, and I must talk about it fairly regularly for my own hubby to remember (love you honey!). We reached the chapel at around 10 am, so the festivities were already well underway, we’d hoped to be there early but we both woke up feeling groggy. Of course we powered through and the gorgeous blue sky and wonderful weather helped to chase our groggy moods away.

This year the Market was jam-packed with vendors, not only did Miss Mustard Seed and Perfectly Imperfect have booths set up but so many other talented ladies (and gents!). Of course we headed straight to Miss Mustard Seeds booth and by 10 am she was already fairly picked over. Most of her large pieces had sold signs and the little items were fairly scarce. Photos on her blog revealed a blue scale like the one I’ve been dreaming about but it must not have been meant to be because it was long gone by the time we got there! We did manage to snag a gorgeous blue antique wagon, it still rolls but the rust and patina give it a bit of age. It is absolutely gorgeous and as soon as I decided where to put it… well y’all will be the first to know. Promise. My only wish is that I had thought to snap a picture of the hubbs rolling the wagon out of the chapel and down the hill to our car. He just refused to pick it up but it was so adorable to watch this tall 6’4 man pulling a little blue wagon 🙂 .

While I waited to get a chance to talk with Miss Mustard Seed herself I had plenty of time to peruse her booth. I think my favorite piece was this tall white dresser in the corner. All of those drawers make my heart go pitter patter, of course it was sold already… the lady who brought that baby home was a lucky lady indeed!

Miss Mustard Seed

Miss Mustard Seed

Miss Mustard Seed

Perfectly Imperfect always has a gorgeous booth, but since Shaunna’s store is literally 30 minutes from my house I feel like I get to see most of her swag all the time. Alot of it has come home with me too 😉 . The Urban Farmgirl has been another one of my favorites ever since I saw her little white truck years ago, The gal always has an array of adorable little vintage cars, trucks and various automobiles. I’m not sure why but they call out to me. Last year I splurged and bought a little pink and cream pick-up truck from her booth. Even though it was a bit over my budget I’ve never regretted it. I absolutely love that little pink truck! This year I was tempted by this tiny cream colored horse trailer, but since I had already purchased my blue wagon I held myself in check. Aren’t you proud of me?

Perfectly Imperfect

Perfectly Imperfect

Urban Farmgirl

After we looked inside the Chapel we headed out to the big white tent where there were several vendors selling fabulous things. I loved all of the neon letters, I’ve been looking for an S (for Smith) but the only one I found was HUGE! I’m not sure I want to give up so much real estate… I’ll keep looking for a little cute one!

Of course the hubbs found a few fabulous typewriters, he’s good at that! While these handmade, solid farmhouse tables caught my eye. We don’t have the room for one right now, but a girl can dream can’t she? One day!

A booth at the back of the tent had all sorts of wonderful salvaged materials, if you were working on a renovation project… this guy could seriously hook you up! I loved all of the antique hinges and doors but my favorites were these glass doorknobs. My Nana’s house had one on every door and I suppose they remind me of summer’s spent at her house. After those I stumbled upon these gorgeous labels from Littleville Blue, if you’ve read my post about blue glass bottles you know why these tags would catch my eye.

Years ago my mom bought me the cream colored cast iron bed that now sits in my master bedroom, it was the dream bed I never even knew I wanted. Moms are good like that 😉 . Ever since then we take special notice when we come across a cast iron bed, what does the headboard look like? Do the rails attach properly? What’s the overall condition? I suppose the spur of the moment decision that led to purchasing my bed all those years ago leads us to quantifying that purchase every chance we get. I’m happy to announce that after all these years, looking at all of those beds, I love mine the most! I guess Mom really does know best (but don’t tell her I said that!).

Since I’ve been working on several wall galleries my eye automatically goes to wall art these days, these were a couple of my favorites. Below is the map that sits at the front of the chapel… no it’s not for sale! My husband actually saw a picture of it and asked “is that our map?” Silly boy! I guess it looks a little like ours… not really! It has little push pins for all of the Chapel Market guests to say where they came from, it’s so much fun to see how far all these lovely ladies have traveled from!

We had such a great time at Market, if you have a chance to go next year… don’t miss it! Check back in a couple days to see what we did after the Market… it was a sunny day and we had time to spare!

P.S. I’m still a big Chapel Market fan… click here to see the 2015 Market!