After a false (but very pleasant) “Spring” sometime in early March, this last weekend in April was just plain horrid! Today, the sky is blue, the sun is shining, and a jaunty little breeze is innocently flipping the fresh green leaves on the trees as if nothing happened!

However, in spite of flooded roads and relentless heavy rain, which was at times being blown horizontally past the windows by raging gusts of wind, there was a very nice showing at the second Vintage Fair at Stanwick Village Hall on Sunday with lots of cheerful bunting decking the halls. Stalls of lovely vintage goodies and superb handmades filled up the main hall and spilled into the broad foyer this time, providing lots of variety for visitors to enjoy, as Vintage aficionados arrived to buy and then stayed to take tea and eat scrumptious cakes at Betty Bakes’s very pretty and welcoming pop-up Tea-Room.

What was there?  There were rails of fabulous Vintage fashion, even some vintage sarees, plus Vintage costume jewellery, silk scarves, handbags and shoes, handmade bead jewellery, silver jewellery with seed pearls and semi-precious stones, Vintage china tea things, chargers, and stoneware pots, collectable coins and silverware, retro and vintage kitchenalia, painted furniture and pretty dekkos, beautiful quilts and knitted items, wonderfully nostalgic handmade cards, and tempting homemade jams and pickles.  There were sweet-smelling handmade candles, fabric posies and purses made from gorgeous vintage fabrics – lovely for weddings.  There were vintage cushions, tablecloths, and pictures.   Among the more unusual items were wonderful comic book superhero inspired picture frames, canvasses, and soft furnishings, a Snoopy phone, and even Basil Brush!  And a neat little yellow retro table for two with matching stools drew a lot of attention in the foyer.

The Vintage Fair will be returning to Stanwick Village Hall on 2^nd September.

Here’s wishing everyone a great Diamond Jubilee Summer!

www.mid-gift.co.uk

The last Vintage Fair of this Spring will be back at Stanwick Village Hall on Sunday 29th April, at the venue where the first Spring Vintage Fair was held. That was a wonderful day in spite of the rainy weather and this next Vintage Fair promises to be another wonderful day. Perhaps with sunshine this time!

If you are looking forward to the Summer with the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations and the nostalgia of street parties, lemonade and bunting, you can begin to enjoy the fun right away and find all things Vintage at Stanwick Village Hall, Spencer Parade, NN9 6QJ. This is a lovely new building, completed only last year.

Vintage Fair visitors can expect to find many Vintage things, Collectables, Retro, Shabby Chic, fabulous Vintage Fashions and accessories, Vintage costume jewellery, textiles, painted furniture, mirrors, pictures, homewares, kitchenalia, interior soft furnishings, and a wide variety of beautifully handmade items. There will be some newcomers to the fair who have been in their attics and will be bringing fresh Vintage treasures never seen before at any Vintage Fair.

The Vintage Fair will be open from 11am to 3pm. Admission £1, children free. As well as vintage delights and handmades to treasure, visitors can take refreshment in the pop-up Tea Room with tea, coffee and lovely cakes served on pretty vintage china by Betty Bakes.   

Visitors to the Vintage Fair at Brigstock Village Hall on Saturday 14th April on a fine Spring day found bright bunting over the door and inside there was a great array of Vintage things in a great friendly atmosphere and Glen Miller playing in the background. For those looking for adornments, there was a selection of Vintage Fashion, Vintage shoes and bags and other accessories like Vintage silk scarves and Vintage costume jewellery. For the home there was Vintage Kitchenalia, pretty china, painted furniture, pictures, curly gilt mirrors, and some real antique pottery. There were beautiful handmades, too, uniquely designed knitted baby blankets, knitted bags and wonderfully cuddly knitted cushions. There were the most lovely fabric dolls, floral fabric cats, fabric bags and door-stops.Betty Bakes provided the excellent refreshments with gloriously indulgent cakes served on vintage china in the pop-up Tea-Room where visitors relaxed with their purchases over pots of tea and cups of coffee. We observed some visitors with newspapers who were possibly checking the runners and picking a winner for the Grand National! 

Our area is very much on the map for its wonderful Vintage Fairs this year, so put on your glad rags on Saturday 14^th April and come to the latest Vintage Fair which is being held in Village Hall in the centre of the beautiful village of Brigstock, situated to the South-East of Corby. It is surrounded by the remains of the Royal Forest of Rockingham and near Fermyn Woods Country Park. Brigstock is an ancient settlement, maybe as early as the Bronze age. It is certainly mentioned in the Domesday Book, bristles with gorgeous covetable listed buildings and has a village cross erected as a monument after Elizabeth I passed through. The Village Hall is beside a brook with a bridge and the village cricket pitch.

Visitors to the Vintage Fair can expect to find Vintage of many kinds, with Retro, Shabby Chic, Vintage homewares, fabulous Vintage Fashion and accessories, Vintage costume jewellery, period fabrics and furnishings, beautiful handmade items, and creatively up-cycled items skilfully made from vintage materials.As well as vintage delights and handmades to treasure, visitors can indulge themselves with tea, coffee and wonderful cakes by Betty Bakes, served in the pop-up Tea Room area on vintage china in a deliciously nostalgic atmosphere.

The Vintage Fair will be open Saturday 14th April from 11am to 3pm at BRIGSTOCK VILLAGE HALL, Bridge Street, NN14 3ET. Admission £1, children free. There is car parking available.

A great display of vintage and handmades were to be seen at the Vintage Fair at Moulton Village Hall this last Saturday. Panic at the petrol pumps (thanks Prime Minister!) may have made some people from further afield think twice about setting out, but plenty did come and good sales were reported. The tables in Tea Room area looked gorgeous with fresh white cloths, pretty polka-dot runners and posies of fresh flowers. The teas and coffees were served by Betty Bakes in delightful vintage cups and saucers and the cakes, as always, were delicious. Outside bright bunting fluttering in the breeze showed visitors to the entrance. Temporary yellow arrow signs strategically placed in the village also helped guide people to the right place. There was a very good showing of vintage fashion and accessories – there was a bit of a run on vintage handbags! Handmades, especially knitted items, were popular, and pretty china was being bought, too. In addition to vintage items, vintage costume jewellery, vintage fashion, and expertly hand-sewn and knitted items, there were wonderful handmade soaps and body butters and pretty handmade candles all adding their enticing scents to the mix. Of the larger items, some beautiful huge vintage lampshades were on offer and some lovely painted furniture went home with new happy owners.

The Vintage Fair will be back in Moulton in the Autumn on Saturday 13^th October 2012.

Colourful bunting flapping in the breeze welcomed visitors to the Vintage Fair at the Village Hall in Stoke Goldington on Mothers’ Day. Opening with an initial rush of visitors the Vintage Fair saw many daughters and sons accompanying Mums on their special day. The long windowed terrace room with its pleasing outlook over the playing fields was busy all day with people enjoying tea and coffee with a wide variety of yummy cakes provided by excellent guest bakers ‘Moving Morsels’.

There was a lovely selection of Vintage goods on offer with fabulous clothing, shoes, handbags, costume jewellery and other accessories, delightful china, kitchenalia and furnishings, beautifully handmade items including cushions, aprons, painted furniture, teacup candles, Kawaii jewellery, and vintage inspired gifts and stationery. Altogether a very nice day in a charming venue. The Vintage Fair will be back again at Stoke Goldington (MK16 8NR) in the Autumn on Sunday 23^rd September 2012.

All set for our first Stoke Goldington Vintage Fair tomorrow. Happy Mother’s Day! Samantha, Gillian & David. http://www.facebook.com/MidGiftVintage

For those of you not from round here, the W is silent, it’s pronounced Stannick.

On Sunday, we held our very first Vintage Fair at Stanwick Village Hall, possibly the newest village hall in Northamptonshire (do let us know if you know of a newer one!) The weather, after several lovely Spring-like days, decided to change abruptly and it rained. It rained all day. But as we were warm and dry in a lovely bright brand new hall and not in a field, the weather did not spoil things and the only flood we experienced was a flood of visitors with raincoats and umbrellas as soon as we opened. We even had some trade buyers before we opened!

We’d like to thank all our stand-holders for coming to this first event and displaying their wares in such a pleasing way. There was a great mix of vintage clothing, vintage furniture, dainty vintage china, decorative and ornamental homewares, kitchenalia, metalwares, and antique items, lovely things skilfully and creatively made by hand including quilts, cushions, bunting, bags, dolls, and chickens, gorgeous knitted items and finely made jewellery with richly coloured crystals and freshwater pearls. Also beautiful cards, hearts, little birds and many other decorative items. We heard many comments of approval from visitors from far and wide on how good it all looked. Visitors to the fair from the village and nearby told us it how nice it was to have something like this right on their doorstep.

We are pleased to report our first fair a Success! To say we worried whether posters in shops and centres and handing out flyers, sending emails, comments on facebook and twitter, mentions in the press, the local newspaper and the magazine Vintage Life, listings on the internet, newspaper adverts, and word of mouth would be enough to get anyone to come would be an understatement. But come they did. To those who sent us their good wishes, we really appreciated it.

We must give an especial thank you to Betty Bakes for the teas and coffees and her wonderful cakes served on pretty vintage china. She will be working her magic in the kitchen at most of our Vintage Fairs. We will have highly-recommended guest bakers covering those she can’t do (details will be on our website) so that wonderful cakes can keep on coming.

The next Village we are coming to is Stoke Goldington, just over the border in Buckinghamshire and Moving Morsels will be there to offer an exciting range of cakes with the teas and coffees. We will be there for Mother’s Day – so a good way to treat Mum with lots of lovely Vintage and Hand-mades to see and buy with a nice cup of tea or coffee and delicious cakes as well.

We have a now have a nice new facebook page to stay in touch with our friends and fans. Pop over and take a look and tell us if you ‘like’ our page! www.facebook.com/MidGiftVintage