Grand Opening Celbration Weekend:Oct 24th & 25th

Fall has arrived with snippets of crisper air and Kjersten and I are getting very excited about our official"Grand Opening Celebration" weekend.....the dates are October 24th and 25th. We will be hosting a "fall fair and flea market" outdoors on Saturday the 24th and inside you will find our latest vintage finds from our recent treasure seeking trek that took us from Florida to Maine and back. We have been saving up some special pieces for the Celebration. My favorite "new" antique piece might be the chimney cabinet that Cary brought in or the amazing organ topper that Blake and Kjersten found in Maine or the beautiful Seaman's Chest that found it's way here from New England many moons ago!There are so many ways that you could use any of these in your home, they are all so very versatile! We also can't wait for you to see all the adorable vintage aprons that just arrived, including some Holiday charmers that any "farm girl" would love to tie on over her jeans or the "city chic" with her little black dress!! We have just unpacked some beautiful peices of vintage jewelry that would totally transform last years denim jacket! If vintage hats or clothing are your thing, be sure to check out some of the cutest pieces you will find in Eastern Hillsborough County. Our drygoods section is my absolute favorite, where there are yards of beautiful old fabrics,lace, ribbon, and hankies surrounded by jars of old buttons, threads, quilt squares and more!! If your favorite way to unwind and connect to the past is cooking up grandma's recipes, then I think you will surely find something in our "farmhouse pantry"area to make your kitchen perfectly charming! I could go on and on about our "found stuff" but I hope you will come out and see it all for yourself!! There will be sales throughout the store, and lots of "new and reproduction vintage" arrivals including a few pieces of Cody Foster's vintage holiday collection, blocks of Marseilles Soap from France, beautiful note cards by Kersten at Turn of the Centuries, the sweetest, itty bitty earrings from "pinupsquirrel" by Philadelphia Julie made from precious,vintage bits, and for those refurbishing projects that you have been wanting to get to, we offer Real Milk Paint products! Our Grand Opening Celebration will continue through Sunday with more sales and on both days we will have some delicious, homemade refreshments for all. We hope that you and your friends will take a drive out to see our great, new store. We are located in an amazing old historical building, circa 1926 located at 8102 South Hwy 39! Kjersten and I look forward to seeing you soon! Ginger (purveyor of salvaged goods from the past)

Home again home again

Well we made it home safe and sound. My husband, kids and I went on a fantastic roadtrip a few weeks ago to beautiful Maine to visit our grandparents. We were on a mission to shop shop shop, and that is exactly what we did!! We relaxed a little too.

We found lots of fun treaures along the way, come and see for yourself...

-Kjersten

It's me... Kjersten!

I am attempting the unavoidable and I am going to start blooging here @ Ft. Alafia.....

This has been an exciting adventure i embarked on with my mother in law, Ginger. For years this has been in the works and now it has finally happened (with some tears and hair pulling along the way)!! We have many hopes and dreams for this adventure and cannot wait until they all come true!

Today we got in the greatest package!!! It was full of note cards made by

Kirsten Sparenborg http://turnofthecenturies.blogspot.com/

I love these and want to keep them all to myself, but i won't, i will sell them that way everyone can have some.

Ft. Alafia, Open for Business

Here, Kjersten and I will attempt a daily posting of what is going on at the store, upcoming events, and other newsworthy things about Ft. Alafia Country Store and Antiques. We will also post photos of new treasures as they arrive. If you are interested in anything we post, we hope you will pick up the phone and call us. We would love to hear from each and every one of you!!

The last week has been very exciting! Our opening day was Saturday, June 20th, and what a great first day!! This was not our "Grand Opening", but it sure was a good opening! Without much advertising at all (Craigslist and word of mouth) we had a nice crowd on Saturday and a handful on Sunday. Almost every single customer that came in commented on the amazing building that was built in 1926, and on how nice the store looked! That of course made us very happy! One of the highlights of the day was when Millie and Carey strolled in with a gorgeous bunch of flowers , and all the while oohing over the store!! They really are so sweet and we feel very lucky to have them and all of you as friends and fans of Ft. Alafia!

I would also like to say thank you to our friends and family who gave so much of themselves to help us get Ft. Alafia ready for the opening! We could have never done it without all of your hardwork and support. Once more, you all came to our rescue!! Thank you to Edna, Carmen, Peggy, Dick, Meagan, John Ryan, Chris, David @ Dynamic Printing, Haylie, Megs, Afton, Kyle W, Brett,Blake, Kjersten, Evan, Ellie, Kyle H, Brint, Angie, Brenda, John, Nanette and Dawn! You are the best!

I am so excited to go forward in this new venture with my friend, partner and daughter-in-law, Kjersten. We both have lots of ideas and plans for the store and as we go forward we will share these in our posts. We hope the merchandise we have gathered will "speak" to you like it "speaks" to us. We like the unusual, and we like simple, but most of all we love old things that tell a story! I invite you to visit us real soon.....

Ginger