Junkstock

Twice a year I have the opportunity to go extreme antique hunting and for some reason I always have an excuse not to go and I beat myself up over it for days….except today! I finally made the drive to an antique lovers dream land and it was totally worth it.

Many of you don’t know what I’m talking about so let me explain. Twice a year, in the spring and fall, vendors from all over the midwest venture to Waterloo NE to partake in one of the largest antique/junk shows around. Thousands and I literally mean thousands of people come from far and wide to attend this event. It’s a pinner’s of pinterest paradise, but you have to be willing to put in the work and milage because there’s so much to see and a lot of ground to cover.

I arrived around 11am and already the place was packed. It feels like you’re in constant tunnel vision. You aren’t even looking at the people who are walking by you, you’re constantly looking up and down, making sure your eyes are covering as much ground as possible trying not to miss any hidden treasures. I’m about 15 minutes into the chaos and I set my eyes on a wooden handle galvanized round tub. I picked it up checking it over, perfect size, great shape, and to my surprise they only wanted $30 for it. One of the many lurkers came over to inspect my find and told me I had something pretty special and kept a close eye on me just in case I might set it down, but I was already committed and wasn’t going home empty handed. I ended up buying my tub for $27! 

Like I said, there is tons and tons of vendors from all over. Some of them sell anything to everything, while others only sell certain products like candles and soaps. This vendor pictured below was one of the many who had a little bit of everything.

This vendor had some pretty unique finds like this bicycle converted into a bench/table

If I could make a living on just traveling to antique shops and shows I’d be a millionaire, but I was on a strict budget today. Unfortunately, there was a lot of stuff that was overpriced but I was still able to find things within my budget and the vendors were pretty open to negotiation.

Loved the way this vendor set this table! They had a lot of french cottage decor

I ended the day with my one purchase but I took tons of pictures of some really cool ideas that I hope to one day create into my own master piece. I can’t wait to attend the next Junkstock show in the spring!