It’s mud season in New England! There’s no better time to go thrifting and antiquing! Everyone is cleaning out their closets, basements, and homes, making their spring cleaning donations. The shops are just reopening, and spring is in the air! Let me share with you a few of my recent mud season jaunts from Maine to Vermont.
You may also enjoy this Antiquing 101: A Guide From the Trail post.
What the Heck is Mud Season?
It’s that wonderful time of year when the snow begins to melt off the mountains and drain into the local dirt roads, driveways, and waterways. The frost on the ground begins to soften, making way for a big muddy mess!
The fifth season between winter and spring.
And it’s no joke!
Even the beastliest SUVs and trucks get stuck, and I mean sunken, right into those dirt road ruts.
In Vermont, we will surely avoid all back roads and shortcuts, and many of us even take vacations…
But it’s also the time that many people choose to spring clean their homes, meaning their trash turns into treasures in the form of donations at the local second-hand shops!
A perfect time to go thrifting and antiquing throughout mud season.
This past weekend I headed to our place in Maine for a few days. My first priority was actually a hair appointment, and then it was onto some thrifting and antiquing. Yes, my hair appointment comes before my thrifting and antiquing:)
I was hunting for some vintage items for our newly wallpapered bedrooms and bathroom.
Unfortunately, I didn’t find much for those rooms, but I did find some curiosities that I think you will enjoy.
And always some fresh new decorating ideas.
Like these decoy ducks displayed everywhere at the Americana Workshop in Kennebunk, Maine, it was a striking idea to hang them on the side of a barn, garage, or outdoor wall. They were fabulous!
You may be interested in bookmarking and saving my favorite second-hand shops from Vermont to Maine for your future reference.
I have been crushing on these bundles of Simplicity and Hollywood sewing patterns I’ve been seeing lately. I haven’t bought any just yet, but I think they would be so adorable in a basket on a bureau, craft room, etc.
The bottle full of buttons hidden in the back also caught my eye.
This pair of pink rain boots fit perfectly into our mud season theme today. I found these cute pink boots in Kennebunk. They brightened up our fireplace while we were in Maine, and then they made their way back to Vermont with me. They are now displayed in my vintage window booth at The Vintage Soul, toting some colorful tulips.
Outdoor vintage garden tools look so amusing in spring gardens, on the porch, displayed in a garden shed, etc… Love, love, love.
You may also enjoy the post, The Best Vintage Garden Variety Market.
Colorful bags hanging in the kitchen with your very own DIY kitchen hooks like these will brighten your decor splendidly during this mud season.
You may also enjoy Irresistible New England Antique Barn Sale | Budget Friendly.
The spring-like colors in this antique tin definitely had me swooning for a spring flower arrangement.
And a few supermarket pink flowers later, this vintage tin really came alive on our breakfast table.
You may also enjoy the post, 17 Best Summer Home Decor Accessories to Thrift.
Really, I wanted to fill this old tin with tulips in various colors, but our one market in town was out. But once the tulips were back in stock, here was the result. See how I keep these tulips standing tall.
You may also enjoy the post, 17 Simple Tulip Arrangements You Can Create Today.
Do you remember these vintage blue cream soup bowls from the post Romantic Antique Table Setting with Thoughtful Design?
Blue stoneware has always been a favorite, and the price was right for this stunning blue bowl.
This antique blue stoneware bowl looks delightful and filled with daffodils during our stint here during mud season.
Oh, and I found 10 of these small vintage dishes for just $2 apiece. I plan on using them to make more dishy kitchen hooks to sell in my vintage window booth for spring.
The pink and gold pattern will add a nice spring accessory to the booth this mud season.
And lastly, I found another reasonably priced and in good condition vintage cobbler rack. I found my first cobbler rack last year at Vermont Vintage Market days and it now resides in my vintage window booth as the “Bargain Rack”. So I really wanted one to display and use as storage in our own home.
See this vintage cobbler rack today in the post, Step Up Your Home Decor Style with a Vintage Cobbler Rack.
This post may contain affiliate links, which won’t change your price but will share some commission.
I cleaned up the old cobbler rack using Restor-A-Finish Maple-Pine. I swear by this stuff, truly! You can refinish a furniture piece beautifully in under an hour. Learn more about refinishing with Restor-A-Finish in this post, How to Refinish a Wood Table in Less Than 1 Hour.
It’s now all cleaned up and has a nice golden vintage color tone. I’m sorry if the difference is a little hard to notice in my photos… It’s there I promise!
Once I was back in Vermont and unpacked, my first outing on Monday morning was to hit up our local farmstand, Dutton Berry Farm for some fresh flowers to fill my newly found vintage curiosities.
The “hubbub” at the market was about filling up our boxes to-go with spring-like necessities to get us through this mud season and onward to spring.
The snow is mostly gone on the ground around us now. However, the snow piles in the driveways and on the roadsides still remain. The crocus is blooming, and I’m still waiting on our daffodils outside to peep through.
It wasn’t until April 25th last year that this little guy sprouted through…
So, we have a little bit of a way to go in our fifth season here, which is called mud season.
You may also enjoy the post, Summer-Ready in Coastal Maine.
A Vintage Affair
If you have any thoughts, comments, or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you. Please share in the comments below. And be sure to share this blog post link with your friends who are also vintage enthusiasts.
Do you have a flair for all things vintage, too? I would love to see and feature you in our Reader’s Showcase Series. A place for you to share and be recognized for your talents and passion for all things thrifting, vintage, and antique decor-related inspired by your time here with Dabbling & Decorating. Email me at annck@dabblinganddecorating.com
This post may contain affiliate links, which won’t change your price but will share some commission.
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* As an FYI, the vintage cobbler racks I found on Etsy were extremely overpriced. In my travels, I have found old cobbler racks in antique and second-hand shops ranging from $200-$400 depending on the condition they were in. Therefore, I refrained from adding many of them to this “Shop the Post” section.
Haha mud season! That’s a new one on me. Here in Florida we have 2 seasons, dry and wet. But even in the wet season we never have mud because of the sand and coral rock everything immediately drains. I love old pattern graphics. Even men comment on those on display. I’ve never heard of Hollywood Patterns. You did well on your excursions, love the decoys. How will you used the cobblers rack?
Thanks so much Pamela. The Hollywood Patterns were new to me too. I’ll be posting the vintage cobbler rack tomorrow morning. It’s in one of our guest bedrooms!
I like old patterns too. I found several and put 6 of them in black frames from the Dollar Tree ($1/ea). I hung them on the wall in the bedroom and everyone loved them, including my granddaughter who wanted them to hang by her sewing machine as inspiration. Also, wish I had those beautiful small plates. I keep looking but to no avail. Good luck shopping
Hi Gail, that’s a wonderful idea and I love that your granddaughter wanted one too. Dishes are so fun to use in decoration!
Thanks for this post, I love seeing what you buy and you did very well.
Thanks so much Marlene!
So glad you found the patterns! I use them all the time…FOR TISSUE PAPER! I fill centerpieces, vintage containers, baskets and gift bags. . They are such a delightful surprising addition and just simply endless ways to use them . Hope you use this idea! LOVE the decoys! Happy Spring!
Lou Ann, thank you so much for sharing that idea, I love it! Yes, I’m definitely going to try it and would love to share it this month in our Thrifting with the Gals post if that is ok with you? If it doesn’t make it this month, then next month.