Brooklyn Flea

The Flea will be closed the weekends of December 24-25 and December 31-January 1. We will reopen January 7-8, 2012.

As celebratory and joyful as the holidays are, we are very sad to say goodbye to you for the year. Today, Thursday, December 22 (from 2–9pm), is the last day of the Flea for 2011. We will be closed for the next two weekends and will resume our regular weekend schedule on January 7, 2012.

Yesterday we told you all about the amazing vendors who set up on the mezzanine and in the vault, so today we're giving you the rundown on the ground-floor folks. There are a million incredible gifts sitting in One Hanson right now, just waiting for you to buy them and to give to someone you love.

Upon entering the gorgeous confines of Skylight One Hanson, there are a few vendors set up in the entryway and front lobby: get a hot cider or warm almond milk drink from Tipsy Kettle (the winter-drinks project from Brooklyn Soda Works) to get you ready for some spicy-sweet ginger syrup from Morris Kitchen, heirloom seeds from Hudson Valley Seed Library and a gift set of New York City salsas from the Brooklyn Salsa Company. Also set up out front you'll find the Bike Ambassadors, representatives from Transportation Alternatives who are working to make NYC more bike friendly.

As you work your way around the old bank building, we've got vintage, vintage, vintage! Totally Bruce, Fancy This n Fancy That and Jarontiques are right by the doors with killer collections of antiques and collectibles; Shane Da Bikejack holds it down with bikes, antiques and a whole bunch of surprises; Alphaville and Dan's Parent's House specialize in toys and charming collectibles from the last century; Jellyroll Vintage, Bleecker Street Antiques, City Owl Vintage, Adele Amore Antiques, Windsor Place Antiques, Hippie Danish, Today's Vintage and the Gifted Putterer (whose reconfigured mason jars—now soap dispensers!—are pictured above) all sell old, beautiful things with deep histories and tales to tell. For more re-use and recycling, look to Retrogreen, NY Salvage, Kings County Salvage, Blank Frames, Long Island Eddie and typewriters from Brady & Kowalski.

And the clothes! Dress yourself and your friends and family with finds from Papushka Vintage, ConRags, Sue Harmon, Nenenn 155, All Seeing Eye and A.S.I.S., and then accessorize with new jewelry from Bonbon Oiseau, Citybitz, Jewels by Maya, Elma Blint, Jessica DeCarlo, Birdhouse Jewelry and Christina Stankard. Or go old-fashioned with vintage jewelry from Harry Cooker, Estate Jewels by George & Raf or Brooklyn Watches, and then add a pair of never-worn eyeglasses from Extinct Optics.

Then there are the incredible craftspeople who spend all week in their studios so they can sell you their handmade wares on the weekends (or on a Thursday, as the case may be): Winter Water Factory's adorable silk-screened clothes; Twig Terrariums' tiny, mossy universes; Maptotes' awesomely clever posters and totes; Alyssa Ettinger's pretty pottery; Flux Productions' super-stylish bags, shoes and tees; Loyalty & Blood's cool jewelry and silk-screened t-shirts and accessories; WrecordsByMonkey's vinyl creations; Kate Durkin's kid-friendly animal pillows and prints; cards and prints from Michelle Han; the cutest ceramics in town from Susannah of SKT; Mercato's flattering headscarves and hats; and soaps and bodycare from Australian Scent and Apotheke.

Art-wise, there is tons of talent here. Check the pretty, moody prints from She Hit Pause; Ilia Pasymanski's etchings and cityscapes on wood; Lon Black's vintage postcards; and Claudia Pearson's charming, colorful illustrations.

Something for everyone, indeed. Happy holidays, everyone. See you at the Flea!

It's the Wednesday before Christmas, and, what? The Flea is open? Yup—today (Wednesday, December 21) and tomorrow (Thursday, December 22) from 2pm till 9pm, the Brooklyn Flea is open for business at Skylight One Hanson!

Come down and join us for so many reasons: because you haven't finished your shopping yet and this is the perfect place to do it, because you're hungry and craving Mighty Quinn's BBQ and Dough donuts for dinner, because you love the Flea and want to stop by One Hanson on your way home from work just for fun.

Remember: The Flea is open Wednesday and Thursday from 2pm till 9pm. The market will be closed on the weekends of December 24 & 25 and December 31 & January 1. We will reopen for the weekend of January 7 & 8. SmorgasBrewery will also be on hiatus for the holidays, and will resume its regular schedule on Sunday, January 8.

Today we'll tell you about some of the vendors who set up on the mezzanine and in the vault—tomorrow we'll run down some of what awaits you on the ground floor.

Upstairs on the mezzanine (great views!) you'll find extraordinary Indian fabrics transformed into covetable home-design items by A Little of India. Look for reconfigured antiques handcrafted by Interior Bliss, and well, amazing vintage finds from Parry's Amazing Vintage Finds. Mama Can't Sing's jewelry is made from Lego pieces (pictured above), typewriter keys and all other sorts of unexpected items—perfect stocking stuffers right here. Martine's Dream has unique quilts, scarves, bags and jewelry, all designed by the super stylish Debbie Hardy. Arthouse will satisfy all of your fine-art and photography gift needs, while Classic Specs can provide the glasses with which to see that new art all the better.

In the vault (the most interesting shopping locale in all of Brooklyn, by far) you'll find a crazy array of vintage clothing, furniture and more: Koichi and Monroe Garden are holding it down at the bottom of the stairs with quirky collectibles, while Manny Maldonado takes over the vault's entrance with records, magazines, comics and tables filled with neat stuff. Invisible Brooklyn has tons of weird and fascinating vintage signage and found objects; more weirdness is found at the Hunters and Gatherers booth, where the proprietors display natural objects like bones, bugs and animal sculptures. Eldorado Deluxe and Travis Sylvester keep the guys stylish with men's clothing and accessories, while Interwoven, Camel Girl and Bogart & Moore do the same for the ladies. Lamps, home decor, art objects and ceramics can be found at both Adelaide and at Frank Fazio's stalls (along with charming conversation). Gorgeous rugs at Anthony Franck's corner will make you want to redecorate. Live Poultry's Brooklyn-centric T-shirts would make perfect gifts, as would Pookshop's cool pendants and Thai imports, Brooklyn Junior's cute clothes for kids, and pretty much anything from the tables of Octavia & Brown and Vintage Dust Shop.

And the food! Feed your friends and family well this holiday season with edible presents from Whimsy & Spice (cookies), Slant Shack Jerky (beef jerky), Danny Macaroons (coconut macaroons), McClure's and Rick's Picks (pickled everything), D'Vine & Olive (olive oil and vinegars), Fine & Raw (raw chocolate), Fats & Flour (animal fat cookies!) and Tin Mustard (the caviar of mustards).

For dinner tonight, we recommend Saucy by Nature's fresh, creative offerings, Mighty Quinn's ridiculous BBQ, short rib or pork meatball sandwiches from Landhaus, Mexican deliciousness from Choncho's, classic Solber Pupusa plates and Dough's outrageous donuts for dessert. Plus drinks and gift-ables from Blue Bottle, Thirstea and the Stand!

See you at 2pm, and remember that we're open until 9pm tonight and tomorrow. Happy holidays!

Flea shoppers just happen to be excellent photographers, too. We love to showcase your shots each week, so make sure to hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Flickr, Instagram (tag us! #bkflea) or any social media you like. We'll highlight them here next week.

Thank you thank you thank you to katieisms, ihultquist, leiti h., opheliadream and our in-house Flea photogs.

Something's up—the same baby won both Scavenger Hunt prizes this week? This kid has some prettttty smart parents.

Note: The Flea will be closed on the weekends of Dec. 24 & 25 and Dec. 31 & Jan. 1. We will reopen the weekend of Jan. 7 & 8.
Check back on Friday, Jan. 6 for the next round of the Scavenger Hunt.

Remember that the Flea at Skylight One Hanson will be open Wednesday, December 21 and Thursday, December 22 from 2-9pm!

From left, click images to enlarge.

Liz from Octavia & Brown reports on the baby's first skillful spotting: "Jared Levine and his son Jackson located this awesome milkglass compote at my booth, on Saturday morning. Jared lives in Clinton Hill with his family. While he said he would love to keep the compote, he plans on giving it to his father as a Christmas present for his desk. He's excited to see what his father will use it for."

Octavia & Brown recently launched a new website: octavia-brown.com. As collectors of all sorts of amazing vintage houseware accessories, they love to help with weddings and parties and can help source vintage items to add a special touch to any event. They'll be on  buying trips all throughout January, so in the New Year be sure to check in with them at the Brooklyn Flea and at their online shop.

Our next winner is named Hannah Stark and she plans to gift the adorable silk screened onesie to a friend who's expecting a girl. But that is the same baby in both pictures, right? That kid's got it going on.

Winter Water Factory makes super-appealing prints in the greatest colors on the softest cotton around. Their distinct style is seen on this beautiful hand-silk screened gift box that they'll have at the Flea this week!

How's your holiday shopping going? Even if all your gifts are wrapped and sitting pretty under the tree, we recommend a trip to the Flea on Friday, December 16, when you can come to One Hanson between the hours of 2 and 9pm and find all of your favorite Flea vendors (and food too!). The Flea on a Friday, you say? Amazing! Not only that, we will also be open on Wednesday, December 21 and Thursday, December 22, again from 2pm to 9pm. We will, of course, be on our regular weekend schedule this Saturday and Sunday, December 17 + 18 (but remember that we will be closed on Christmas and New Year's weekends).

On Friday you'll find a handful of vendors who you haven't seen in a while along with all our old-school regulars.

Morris Kitchen will have their ginger-laden products on hand, while Hudson Valley Seed Library will be selling seed packets and gift sets (pictured above). Perch Design makes gorgeous modern ceramics, Twig Terrariums craft entire universes inside fishbowls, Pookshop sells frocks and accessories imported from Thailand, Winter Water Factory silk screens the best patterns and Brooklyn Junior makes cute clothes for the kids. For all things vintage, look for the Gifted Putterer, Invisible Gallery and Vintage Dust Shop, top-notch pickers all.

To eat, all the finest Flea food is in the house: Asia Dog's hot dog madness, Mighty Quinn's ridiculous BBQ, the Vendy Award-winning Solber Pupusas, terrific tacos from Choncho's, serious sandwich goodness from Landhaus and a brand-new tapas menu from our fishy friends Bon Chovie (whose new menu includes an anchovy-laden Cesar salad, boquerones, herb-marinated olives with cured chorizo, sweet dates stuffed with Marcona almonds and wrapped in jamon, and albondigas, which are meatballs simmered in spicy marinara). Delicious!

The outdoor market is closed for the season but will reopen on April 7th. In the mean time, come visit us Sundays at Brooklyn Brewery for SmorgasBrewery.

If there's one thing the Brooklyn Flea vendors have taught us, it's that every object tells a story. Especially for those dealers who specialize in running estate sales, collections of items are imbued with an entire narrative, a long life summed up in the physical stuff that's been left behind. Aline Ridings and Giovanna Sgarlata of Bleecker Street Antiques love to point out the interconnections between the items on sale at their stall—a black-and-white photo of a young baseball player on one table turns out to be the man whose deputy sheriff badges sit in a velvet case nearby. As estate-sale coordinators and savvy antiques and collectibles dealers, Aline and Gio curate a collection of objects that maintain their significance from one owner to the next.

Bleecker Street Antiques started setting up at the Flea in June 2008, just a few months after the market's launch. Aline and Gio are both native New Yorkers who spent the last several years living in Sag Harbor; in April they relocated back to Brooklyn (welcome home, we say!) and with that came a dedication to the Flea for both Saturdays and Sundays throughout the One Hanson season. Antiques are now their full-time gig; Aline had a long career in the printing and publishing business, while Gio was a painter, specializing in faux finishes, and also worked as a sound engineer and musician. Both women continue to pursue their creative passions—documentary and landscape photography for Aline, and Gio writes and plays music.

"When I was a kid I was fascinated with old photographs, especially of NYC, and started collecting," says Aline. "Fifteen years ago I began selling on eBay and it just grew from there." Their tables are neatly arrayed with toys, china and glassware, tabletop sculptures, cases of jewelry and badges, a rack of silver spoons, stereocards and viewfinders, boxes of postcards organized by location and holiday, vintage photographs and paintings, musical instruments and books and magazines dating back 100 years. Aline notes that the 20-something Fleagoers have a keen interest in old magazines; copies of Esquire from the '30s and '60s are big sellers (Mad Men helps that along), and 40-year-old issues of Playboy don't do so bad either. "There's a real energy around this stuff," Aline observes.

Overall, "we have a wide range of interests," she says. "Some of our favorite objects that we've sold at the Flea were the Marx Merrymaker Band, a tin wind-up toy from the 1930's; a Lionel Speed Boat, also from the 1930's; and two Goya etchings from the 'Los Caprichos' series. If we really love something that we purchased for the Flea we'll hold on to it for a while. Sometimes it takes a while to let go."

The Flea gives Bleecker Street Antiques a chance to interact with customers, and sell not just an object but its story. "We love when a customer gets excited about something that they've just purchased in our booth," Aline says. "It's great to see old objects find new homes where they can once again be appreciated."

Vendors old and new contributed to the Hunt this week; the winners themselves represented the very experienced and the brand-newbies.

As always, check back on Friday for this weekend’s items.

From left, click images to enlarge.

Saturday, Dec. 10: Ariel (right) is a regular shopper at the Flea and scored the earliest win ever, right as the doors opened! Way to be on it, Ariel. But she's got some experience on how to play the game, having won the Scavenger Hunt no less than four times. Total pro. She will add the cute little Gowanus Furniture board to her collection of beautiful cutting boards.

Gowanus Furniture is a brand new company who represented at the Flea last weekend for the very first time. Right now they've got a line of cool and unusual cutting boards which can be monogrammed with a single letter or a customized Morse code message. With grand plans ahead to make large-scale pieces and more lighting, shelving, bike racks and wine storage, we expect great things from this fledgling woodworker.

Sunday, Dec. 11: Lisa (pictured behind the booth) is an athlete from Melbourne, Australia, who is visiting NYC and staying in Times Square. She said that she really liked the feel of Brooklyn, and rightly so! She recognized the item right away and was pretty excited about it; Citybitz booth staffer Evan helped her pick out a chain and cut it to the right length so she could put it on right away.

Citybitz is Brooklyn-based Joan Huggard's accessories line, the entirety of which is an homage to the beauty of New York. Her stained glass and photography-based pieces are perfect holiday gifts for the NYC-lover in your life. Look for earrings, necklaces, cuff links, card cases, pill boxes and flasks that showcase images of Coney Island, the Chrysler Building, the Brooklyn Bridge and many other famous landmarks.