Happy Memorial Day! Thank you to all those who put their life on the line for this country. Your service and bravery don’t go unnoticed. (Special shoutout to my awesome roomie, Rachel Baker who is in Army ROTC, you rock.)
As I’m sure most of y’all know by now, I love anything farmhouse/vintage home decor, so when I saw on Facebook that an event called “Vintage Market Days of Lexington” was coming to the Kentucky Horse Park, I was beyond excited.
Imagine a crazy redhead running out the door, sporting a messy bun, purse in tote and coffee in hand: that was me on Saturday. I literally could not sleep the night before because I was so excited. I know that sounds lame, but I live for this kind of stuff.
This is the first time this event has come to Lexington, but I know they will be back because of the great turnout. A portion of the proceeds went to Old Friends Farm in Georgetown, KY where they rescue old racehorses and give them a home. Each event has it’s own theme and this one was “Home Sweet Home.”
The event was this past weekend and boy, was it fun. Friday was the first day and was the “early buying event” as customers got the first pick of everything. Customers were given blue wristbands which allowed them re-entry for the rest of the weekend, including free parking.
I actually got to experience both sides of this event as a worker and a customer. I wanted to go to the Friday show, but my friend, Sabrina, who was going with me had work that day, so we went on Saturday instead. So on Friday and Sunday I worked the event. They even gave us these cute little aprons to wear. I loved those. Eric and Mimi Griffith are the owners of the Lexington VMD franchise. They put so much work into this event and I’m sure were “running on E” the whole weekend, but they were so kind and welcoming to both the workers and the customers.
I won’t bore you with the “behind the scenes” things that I did as a worker, but I will tell you about Sabrina’s and my customer experience Saturday!
Let me tell you, this event is so awesome. There are over 80 vendors from 18 different states and they all have amazing items for sale.
I should probably mention, my school friends and I got an on-campus apartment next year, so I have been searching for decor items for that. This was the perfect place to find rustic, farmhouse style decor for any space!
I went in knowing that I wanted to buy some cotton stems, but other than that I didn’t have anything else in particular in mind, just whatever spoke to me!
The doors officially opened at 10 and the first 25 customers in line got a special VMD bag that they could use to put their treasures in and there were also some goodies in there as well. Unfortunately, Sabrina and I weren’t the first 25 in line, but we were okay with that.
We actually purchased our tickets ahead of time, which I HIGHLY recommend. This speeds up the process so much, you just hand them your ticket, they slap a wristband on you, and off you go to find your vintage treasures!
When you first walk in, there are a few vendors on the upper level and a plethora of others on the lower level. Sabrina and I noticed that the flow of traffic seemed to be to the right on the upper level and it was extremely congested, so we said “I don’t know about y’all but we’re going to the lower level!” There were hardly any customers on the lower level because they were still on the upper level so we basically had the whole place to ourselves!
These pictures are just a glimpse at the types of items vendors were selling:
I found a few vendors that had cotton stems, but they weren’t long enough for what I was needing. I was planning to put them on a dollar store vase I bought and painted white (thrifty!) which was 9 inches tall, so the stem needed to be at least that long. I finally found some at the Rosewood booth (their main store is located in Harrodsburg, KY) which were 29 inches tall and were $8 a piece when you bought 2 or more (score!) I’m telling y’all and Sabrina can attest to this, when I saw these cotton stems I literally made a beeline towards them and didn’t look back! I was so excited I found some that were long enough. So I bought 3 and went on my merry way to find more vintage goodies.
I also found a glass dome that I was wanting in the back of my mind. I wanted to do something similar to this picture (with the wood circle on the bottom, but with the bark still on.)
I knew Home Depot had some on their website for $11, but I got this sucker for $6 at VMD. I was beyond hype, but I think Sabrina was even more hype than me, because when we were looking around more a little later, we saw similar ones for literally over $40, so I got a steal (insert emoji wearing sunglasses here).
The last thing I bought was a wooden tray for my coffee table, which I still need to repaint and retain (find that post here) It’s beautiful, sturdy, and at $25, a great price for the quality.
As soon as I got home I went to work styling my coffee table vignette (ok, I lied, I took a nap first because I was exhausted), but after that I played around a little with the vignette, moving pieces around and seeing what I liked where. I think I settled on this design, but who knows, I will probably change it 15 times before I actually move in. (If you’d like to know where I got the other pieces, feel free to comment below!) I’m planning to put a bright pink flower in that mint julep cup to add a pop of color.
There were also a TON of blanket ladders (these are literally wooden ladders that you put blankets on, decorative and functional!) I had actually already bought one at a garage sale for $10 (another steal), but if I hadn’t, I for sure would have bought one here. Most of them were $22-$25 (such great prices!) Below is the one I have:
Sabrina had a few things catch her eye as well. She bought an adorable wooden piece (pictured below) that you could put a multitude of things in (silverware, plants, makeup brushes, etc.), but since she is an education major, she plans to put crayons or colored pencils in it and maybe paint the front to say “Teacher” or “Ms. Spillman” (or whatever her new married name will be ;)).
She also bought a cute little vintage tin cup that she plans to put a flower or succulent in. Who would have thought of that? I’ll tell you who: vintage market people.
Sabrina is also obsessed with cacti (I’ve taken a liking to succulents, hence my header on my page!) So she also bought a cute little succulent decal that she wants to put on a piece of cardstock, write a cute quote on it, and frame it.
Overall, we came away with some great pieces and had a wonderful experience! The Kentucky Horse Park is having another VMD event October 20-22 (my birthday weekend, so you know I’ll be in there like swimwear). I debated on whether or not I should tell y’all because I want to keep this amazing event on the DL (more goodies for me!), but I also can’t help sharing my great experience and wish you the same.
Hope to see you there in October!
Much Love,
Alyssa
P.S. If there is something y’all would like me to write about, just comment and let me know!
akentuckygirlsthoughts 
Great job on the blog. Oh the places you will go
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