stellar shops: odana antiques in madison, WI

For fear of boring the pants off anyone who looks at my blog, I wanted to save this post for another Friday in the future - my last stellar shop was an antique shop, and I don't want to inundate anyone. But because I haven't yet put together a post about any of the boutique-y places I've visited recently, this will have to do. Bear with me and know that future stellar shops are totally worth the wait. They won't be all antique stores, promise.

Odana Antiques
6201 Odana Road
Madison, WI 53719

http://www.odanaantiques.com/

I meandered around Odana Antiques for probably close to an hour and a half, and I got maybe halfway through the ground floor. I took photos of some things that caught my eye.I was impressed by many of the displays.

I WANT TO BUY ALL OF THE ABOVE TEXTILES.

my sole (gorgeous) purchase

Overall, Odana Antiques was a bit pricey for my cheapo, petrified-of-going-deeper-into-debt self -- especially since I've gotten so spoiled by flea market finds lately. It's probably the top tier antique place in Madison, and there were a lot of wonderful displays and good quality finds, but I think I prefer to dig in grimy bins for my treasures. I'm one for cheap thrills! I wouldn't turn down going there again, but I'm not going to seek it out next trip because it's just too torturous to see so many handkerchiefs, tablecloths, quilts, buttons, floral prints, framed ephemera... all way above my price range. I'm not a glutton for punishment.

But if I'm ever rich, oh, I will certainly be back to Odana Antiques in a heartbeat. (I'd have to marry rich, though. After all, I'm going to be a librarian.)

stellar shops: glitter workshop

Happy Friday! (How sad is it for our culture that I can't even type that without Rebecca Black coming to mind?!)

The first hint of sunshine is emerging this morning after an entire week of doom and gloom outside, making today the perfect day to introduce a new weekly feature called stellar shops. You see, I've found over the last few weeks that I've been ogling and taking lots of photos of cute boutiques, antique stores, and other miscellaneous little places that might easily get overlooked since they aren't engulfing all other surrounding forms of life (a la big box stores). So, I've decided that each Friday I will feature a new shop that I find delightful on this blog.

This week's shop is:

GLITTER WORKSHOP

6138 Mineral Point Rd.

Madison, WI 53705 

While I was home this past week I did some shopping in Madison with my mom. She headed to one of her favorite quilt shops, Stitcher's Crossing, on the west side off Mineral Point Rd. It's a great place; I bought the fabric for Neil's birthday quilt there last summer. However, this past week I knew better than to get all googly-eyed over $9-a-yard fabric. I'm heading off to grad school in the fall and staring straight at approximately $40,000 (give or take) in student loans -- all so I can be an academic librarian, underappreciated and underpaid. At this point, I've got enough nice fabric to play around with, and buying more will hardly help the future of impoverishment that looms so ominously ahead. (I'm just naturally sarcastic and cynical like this. Despite it, I'm actually quite excited about librarianship, FYI.)

So instead of hitting up the fabric store, I lingered in Glitter Workshop, which is located right in the same strip of stores. It is a gorgeous place, combining an affordable assortment of both vintage and handcrafted pieces. The displays are all soul-renewing eye candy, and very well set up, in my opinion. I'd been to Glitter Workshop once or twice before, and I always vacillate between pure joy that there are others who share my style sensibility and despair that I don't possess most of the objects there!

The owner of Glitter Workshop, Naomi Richardson, very kindly allowed me to take some pictures for my blog. Enjoy the loveliness.

Even the outside of Glitter Workshop is almost too cute for words!

However, the inside is even better.

Artsy jewelry, vintage tablecloths, birdcages, embellished frames, flowery headbands... it's like an overload of things that drive my happiness levels way up. Neil was clicking through my photos after I took these and he exclaimed, "Wow, this sure is a Bri-ish store!" Yes, yes it is.

I loved this father's day themed display

plethora of magnets. (I am coveting that blue polka dotted suitcase.)

don't usually go for paisley, but I loved this dress.

I also got the chance to peek in the back room, where all the glittery, crafty projects are created during workshops. 

As if I need more temptation to keep hoarding buttons... these pretty platefuls don't exactly dissuade me...

I'm extra curious to find out if these fantastic suitcases are going to be used in an upcoming project or whether they're future displays for the store.

And, last but certainly not least, Glitter Workshop has a cute little room off the main area that kids can play in while parents shop.  

Naturally, I didn't leave without making a purchase... I think it was well worth it, though.

I bought this bag from Glitter Workshop for $15 (told you it's affordable!). The floral design is on both sides, and it's in near-pristine condition. I buy things to use them, not to have them sit on a shelf, and I think if I had paid more for this (which I probably couldn't have afforded anyway) I wouldn't have felt like I could use it in my everyday life. Expensive, pretty old things sometimes take on the status of relics, and while that's nice, I'm a proponent of practicality. Hence why I won't let it's excellent condition and craftsmanship intimidate me.

I've just discovered that Glitter Workshop also has an etsy site. I highly encourage you to check it out. The vintage samsonite red carry-on bag is something I almost bought...sigh...

madison thrifting adventures

As I mentioned in a previous post, I did some serious thrifting while I was back in the Madison area. My family lives in Sun Prairie, which is only a 5-minute drive from the east side. I hit the Goodwill, Savers, Salvation Army, and HospiceCare Thrift Store with my friend Bill last Tuesday. I discovered that Bill, who I've known since high school, is an avid thrifter. This is huge: I found someone who doesn't think I'm crazy or brave or lowering my standards or some other bizarre judgment for treasuring old things that have had previous lives of love and use. Someone who just understood, and enjoyed the hunt as I do. It was really enjoyable to not feel like I was dragging someone along with me against their will (ahem.... Neil).

I also did some thrifting on the west side of Madison with my mom. She was able to hit her crafty stores and I was able to stop by the Odana Antique Mall, the Salvation Army, and another Goodwill.

framed 1890 magazine art: $29, Odana Antique Mall
yellow chair: $10, Savers



Nancy Drew: two from Half Price Books ($3 apiece), one from Salvation Army ($2)
Golden books: 50ish cents apiece, Savers
Gardening/miscellaneous books: 50ish cents apiece, Salvation Army

these vintage sheets are even pretty crumpled up straight from the dryer

As you can probably intuit from these photos, I started a new collection:VINTAGE SHEETS! I'm kind of ecstatic...

I've seen plenty of bloggers posting photos of their gorgeous, soft, dreamy-looking patchwork quilts created from pretty vintage sheets, so when I kept spotting the same sheets for $1.99-2.99 at the thrift stores, I was inspired to take action. I'm sure the last thing I need is a new collection (other collections include buttons, handkerchiefs, old quilts...and I'm adding things all the time) but I couldn't resist: I love eclectic, unmatchy, easy patchwork quilts above all else. Oh, and floral print. Did I mention that I go wild for floral print?!