My Weekly Down Home Dazzlers!

Our dealers pride themselves in bringing in the best antiques possible!!!  They hunt high and low and travel the continent to do so!  I love when dealers bring a new load in the store - it's so fun to see what they found and what I might "need" for my own collection! Always so exciting!!! Of course, I can't take it all and I'm happy to leave plenty for our customers!!!  A couple of these came in just today!!!!  These are my 10 Down Home Dazzlers that stood out to me today for one reason or another! Fun!

I love studded leather boxes!!!

A wonderful little spool folk art piece ~ perfect as a pedestal or plant stand! 



These tiny dolls are adoreable!!!!

A wonderful paper mache bathing beauty!!!  Love the lashes!!!

A buddy L dump truck  - LOVE it!!!!

I love early iron - the clam rake is so fun!!!

A schoenhut piano with  little cherubs!

This little taxidermy racoon is so sweet - love his glasses!

This is a fun rollerskate case with local skate rink stickers!

I love this general store display case - perfect for all sorts of collections!!!

Come to Down Home and find your own "dazzler" to take home!!!! 

xo, Peggy

Summer fun at Down Home!

I love summer!!!  I love the sun!!  I always have.  I'm sure my skin would be better off had I not sizzled in the sun with baby oil all those days as a teenager at Newport Beach, but those are happy memories. Even earlier than those Newport Beach summer memories, are days spent at Hart Park here in Orange.  As a child, I learned to swim at Hart Park. My twin sister, Patty and I would spend hours swimming at the plunge.  We'd get there when it opened and stay until it closed, coming home burnt, and with clorine clouded vision!  Yeah, good times!  Even now, I tell myself to stay out of the sun, but I worship it.  These days, I do know the importance of sun screen!!!   There's nothing better than a raft, my pool, and a good book.  Ok, how often does that happen???  Not often enough, but when it does... it's a taste of heaven!  Even better is time spent in the backyard with my family.  My three daughters, Ayla, Mollee, and Tessa were little fish and we had lots of swim parties with lots of kids all summer long! And today, we still get together and hang out in the pool.  Yesterday, I spent the day in the pool with my 3 year old grandbaby, Finley.  She's adorable, smart, creative, and talks non-stop! She's definitely a fun person to hang out with!  We had fun coming up with games like "the bumpy bridge" and swimming across the pool from one set of steps to another.  Also we had our new mermaid doll to add tons of fun to our pool time!  And speaking of mermaids, after swimming Finley wanted to watch "Little Mermaid, and it never occured to me before, but Ariel is a collector!!! (Remember that early scene where she's longing to be up in the sun, and she sings..."I've got gadgets and gizmos a plenty, I've got whozits and whatzits galore, You want thingamabobs, I've got twenty, But who cares? No big deal, I want more....)  Yeah, you all need to watch it again- she's one of us - addicted to treasures!   So, even when relaxing, my mind wanders back to Down Home and antiques! Ariel would love Down Home because the store is full of beach related pieces that remind us of summer and the sun....like striped canvas fabric, sand toys, lobster buoys, glass floats, and vintage ice chests.  We even have sea glass!  We have nautical pieces like anchors, ship lanterns, and sea chests.  Of course, there are some wonderful patriotic pieces like vintage flags, postcards, and presidential pieces.  Check out our suitcases and souveniers, like pennants and postcards that are related to vacations and happy memories of road trips! So, I hope you all get a chance to enjoy the sunshine this summer at some wonderful beach destination, but if you want a bit of summer fun close to home without the threat of sunburn, come on in and visit us at Down Home!

Here's a sneak peek of summer at Down Home...Enjoy!

If you can't wait to see more items than come on into Down Home and we'd be happy to help you with all your summer fun needs!

xo ~ Peggy

Little Down Home on the Prairie

We have just added "Little Down Home on the Prairie" to our store.  I've always described Early American antiques to people who don't understand them, as "Little House on the Prairie" kinds of stuff.  By the way, I loved those books and loved the TV show!  I've always looked for those wonderful period pieces and incorporated them into the store, but I decided to devote a space to only those pieces and make a cozy little room.  Those early pieces from 19th century country homes are my favorite!  I love those simple utilitarian pieces - of course I wouldn't want to have to actually use them, but I love collecting them.  Those early settlers had to work hard!!!

The older I get and the more I hunt for antiques, the more I love the early stuff.  I always say, "the older, the better!"  I love old surfaces - the patina of old wood, so smooth and dark and time worn ~ I just want to touch it!!!   I fall in love with things when I clean them ~ that's when you notice all the little imperfections, all the hand made evidence, and the worn surfaces, every square nail, wooden peg, and early dovetail.  I love seeing the old plane marks, scribe marks, and brush strokes. I love early repairs ~ a mouse hole patched with a piece of a tin baby plate, a child's coat mended over and over to last through all the children ~ things were cared for and used for decades.  We have a mix of antiques in Down Home and certainly I appreciate all the different styles and eras of antiques, but when I walk into a space with all early period pieces, I just fall in love!!!  Seriously, I hear harps and see little birdies and butterflies!!!

I love our little room even more because it's lined with wood that sat in the back yard for a few years after we took down our horse arena.  Old weathered ranch fencing created a great backdrop for my early pieces! So every time I walk in there, I think of my little horse girl, Ayla, who still loves to ride!  Of course that got me to thinkin' and I think I have enough left to do one of my bedrooms at home!

Anyway, if you love early antiques and primitives as much as I do, come on over to Little Down Home on the Prairie right in the middle of Down Home.  Hope to see you soon! xo

12 Birthday Open House!

Our 12th Birthday Open House was amazing!  First of all, Thank you!!!  Thank you to our wonderful customers ~ without you we wouldn't exist!  Thank you to our fabulous dealers who constantly amaze me!  Thank you to our employees who are awesome! Thank you to all our friends who came and made me feel the love!  Thank you to my sisters who are always so supportive!  And especially, thank you to my husband, Don, who is my rock and my everything!

We had alot of help from our neighbors to make this a wonderful event!  A HUGE thank you to Rockwell's Creative Cakes who made our fabulous Birthday Cake!  It was gorgeous and of course delicious!!!!  If any of you need a cake for a special event, go to them and tell them Down Home sent you!!!  We've used Rockwell's for some of our family's special occasions ~ Our daughter, Ayla's, wedding cake; my husband, Don's retirement cake; and a "milestone" birthday cake for me (I'm not telling what year!!!)  and we've never been dissapointed!!!  Thank you to our neighborhood Starbucks who supplied us with their wonderful coffee! Tess and I go there almost daily for our caffeine fix!!! And our new neighbor, Avila El Ranchito Mexican Restraunt supplied us with some gift certificates. Thank you so much!!!  We have great restruants in old towne, and Avila's El Ranchito is no exception - I've eaten there twice now!!! We added one of our own gift certificates and raffled them off to our loyal customers who waited patiently in line, some for an hour and a half! The lucky winners were Marva, Peggy & Betty!

Our First Customers in Line-Sharon & Lucy! THANK YOU!

Our Beautiful Birthday Cake from Rockwell's Creative Cakes!

Our fabulous customers kept lining up! THANK YOU!!!

Down Home is my "home away from home",  but it houses the antique businesses of 28 other dealers as well.  They are hard working and constantly searching for wonderful treasures to bring into the store!   They will all tell you I like to come up with rules about what's acceptable, and I get a bit razzed for it, but it works because the store looks amazing!  I am so proud of my dealers and the effort they all put into finding wonderful antiques for our Birthday Open House!  When I walked through the store the night before our open house, it was quiet and peaceful and I got a chance to just look at each space and be thankful of each dealer who carefully placed each item.  It makes me think about all the time it takes to hunt out each item, clean it, fix it, tag it, and display it.  I'm so thankful for the passion each of them have for their business!!!  You can tell by looking at each space, how much they love this crazy antique business! I don't think the store has ever looked better!

Our Birthday Open House kicks off our summer season, and it definitely looks like summer in Down Home!  So many items that bring up thoughts of the beach, the seashore, the ocean, boating, camping, summer vacations, and of course, the Fourth of July! There are collections of boats, thermoses, vintage ice chests, suitcases, patriotic pieces, flags, etc.  There are wonderful pieces of early american furniture ~ pie safes, dry sinks, benches, farm tables, painted cupboards, trunks.  There are some amazing folk art pieces - carved wood pieces, tramp art, pond boats, whirligigs, quilts, an amazing shoe maker's trade sign, and more!  There are lots of signs - ice cream signs, barber signs, farm signs, boating signs, just about any topic you can think of! Seriously, you all just have to come in and see the collection of quality antiques in Down Home right now!!! Gotta run, gotta get started on Year 13!!! Hope to see y'all soon!

P.S. We have lots of pictures of our Birthday Open House and many of the antiques, so check out our website at downhomeantiques.com

Down Home Dealer Road Trip!!!

One day a couple of our dealers were in the store, and we got to chatting about going on a road trip!  And so it came to be - we planned the "First Down Home Dealer Road Trip." Seven of us Down Home dealers decided to become road warriors and head up the coast! 

We had planned to go up to the Alameda Flea Market, but unfortunately a June rain storm canceled the flea market and so Alameda was out!  Well, we could cancel and arrange for a different weekend, or we could go anyway. We had all made arrangements with work and home, so we decided a little rain and a canceled flea market were not going to get in the way of our fun! So off we went.  We piled in a truck and a van and headed up north!  We didn't get too far and were already stopping at shops along the way...Agoura Hills, Summerland, and  Los Alamos.

The shopping begins!!!!

By this time, it was getting late in the day and all the antique stores were closing, so we checked into our hotel.   Then party time!!!  We ordered pizza and ate junk food and celebrated our first day - there's nothing more fun then talking and laughing with girlfriends!!!  Ok, enough partying - we had to get up early and shop til we drop!!! Rise and shine, and off to Cambria, Arroyo Grande, Morro Bay and then down to Ventura.

On the open road again ~ our little caravan of antique hungry dealers!!!!  It rained the whole way to Cambria!!



Peggy's wild ride!! How many U-turns can one person make???



Yep, the girls are still behind us!!!

  

My "Bible" of antiquing!  It goes on every buying trip and for my eyes only!!!

Our new friend, Donna!  She is a special lady who opened her store just for us!!! Thanks Donna!

More shopping!!!

I knew wine was a blessing!  One of my new favorite quotes!!!

Janet, Penny, and Linda!

Everyone felt like Mexican food, so off we go to dinner. And, you can't have mexican food without a margarita, or two!!!  Eileen hadn't had a margarita for a couple of decades!!!  Carl's not gonna let her come with us next time!!!  


Nothing better than Mexican food!!!



We're a bad influence on Eileen, or...maybe a good influence!!!

We thought we could hit the Ventura Flea Market Sunday morning  ~ not as big or exciting as Alameda, but at least there was no rain!!!  Ventura opens at 6:00 a.m. and we were there by 6:05, a major feat when 7 women all have to get ready!!!!

Jacky, Penny, and Tessa!

  

Shopping in Ventura!

We hit the market and start shopping!  By 8:30, we've done our work, loaded our treasures, and off to breakfast - all that hard work has made us hungry, plus we all need coffee!!!  You have not lived until you've seen Linda's impression of a tour guide or a manikin - honestly thought I was gonna die laughing!!!  A bit more shopping at the stores in Ventura, and then we make a bee-line home... well unil we get to Camarillo! 

Waiting for breakfast!

Tess and Me!

Our funny little Linda!!!

One last chance to shop, and then finally, home sweet home...until the "Second Down Home Dealer Road Trip!"