Treasures abound at the Rebel Junk Holiday Market
DEVIN WEEKS/Press Rebel Junk Holiday Market visitor Trish Garcia examines a festive wooden sign Saturday at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds. The Rebel Junk event welcomed a few thousand guests over the weekend who were looking for something unique to give their loved ones this holiday season, or even just to take home to add to their own collection.
An early 1900s dress form for fitting clothing was one of the many interesting items for sale Saturday during the Rebel Junk Holiday Market in the Jacklin Building of the Kootenai County Fairgrounds. (DEVIN WEEKS/Press)
COEUR d’ALENE — The Jacklin Building at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds was aglow with Christmas cheer Friday and Saturday during the annual Rebel Junk Holiday Market.
A few thousand guests browsed nearly 100 booths to find a tantalizing smorgasbord of creative gifts, handmade goods and one-of-a-kind antiques that tell the tales of yesteryear.
"We found a lot of things that we don't need, but we have to have," said Ali Koski of Coeur d'Alene, who found a 1950s schoolhouse clock she couldn't live without.
"I got vintage spools and old books," said Koski's friend, Carrie Gridley-Schenfield, a collector and appreciator of vintage junk.
"It's the treasures people bring that are not holiday-related that just draw us to hunt," she said. "I think it brings back all the memories of my grandparents, decorating that way, and I think that older stuff is just so much more fun. It's got more character."
Nearly 100 booths beckoned to buyers as they discovered antique birdcages, repurposed furniture, framed winter scenes with twinkling lights, homemade fruit preserves, wooden signs that read things like "Namaste" and "Crazy doesn't run in our family — it gallops" and so much more.
Rebel Junk owner and show coordinator Dixie DeRocher said many of the vendors traveled from places including western Washington, California and Montana just to participate in this show.
"They brought something different that Coeur d'Alene hasn't seen before," she said. "We do have local vendors, but we try to bring in a variety from elsewhere and other markets."
DeRocher has been putting on these markets for about 10 years. She said a lot of younger people are excited about incorporating the old with the new and repurposing long-forgotten items rather than just tossing them to the side.
"What I love about it is ... it's the whole excitement of everybody, finding the thrill of a new piece or an old forgotten piece," she said.
Rebel Junk hosts markets each March and November.
Info: www.rebeljunk.com