Menschies!

GUYS! We just found out that we are nominated for a Menschie award! The past 2 hours have been a whirlwind of over-sized novelty bagel deliveries, twitter mentions and anticipation about what hilarious photo will be posted of us.... click HERE if you want to find out! Thank you to the Grid for being a great supporter of our hair-brained scheme turned career XO

Things got festive up in here this month!

 ...and we debuted our super professional Junction Flea Directory which was made by the multi-talented Erin Demille aka Royal Sugar 

 ...AND we had a DJ!

Then we realized that the sound system was only connected to the main hall and had to run out to shoppers and buy an ipod dock. It sounded really tinny, but I guess that's what you get for $40 (thanks Sony). Adam and Davis of Crown Flora have promised to bring their superior Bose system to future Fleas and play some sweet jams for the front room.

The savior of the day for the upstairs vendors where it was about 100 degrees, a clementine-lime ice pop by Augies which tasted like pure Christmas.

Seriously, these are Junction Flea cookies, a Christmas present from Manual Labour Coffee. We also went home with multiple bottles of wine,  a few cases of beer, and lots of Christmas cards because our vendors frigging rule. We've got lots of ideas up our sleeves for the New Year and we can't wait to share them with you all. Thanks to all the enthusiastic customers and bang-on vendors who come out month after month for making the December Flea the best one yet! Sincerely,
The Junction Flea xo

Food at the Flea!

Make sure you come to the Flea hungry this weekend or you will regret it! No crappy overpriced brunch for Junction Flea patrons oooh nooo! Lindsey Bakes/Belly Brothers will be serving up some delicious rosemary grilled cheese, to-die-for tourtiere, truffled popcorn, amazing gingerbread houses, and a variety of cookies! Wonderful food to keep you warm and happy while you enjoy the Flea, as well as great holiday gifts for everyone on your list! 

 PS- my dad bought a tourtier last month and he basically lost his mind it was so good.

Now that we can't fit any of the trailers in the Great Hall Manual Labour Coffee has adapted with another sweet kitchen set up, so no need to buy crummy Starbucks coffee across the street!

 The ladies of  SNACKS food creative will be serving up hot cocoa with whipped cream + crushed candy cane, maple cured peameal sandwiches (aged canadian cheddar + pickled cranbery mustard) (Mmmmmm) with a choice of celery root + apple slaw or butternut squash + red skin potato salad with apple cider & rosemary. As well as prepared foods like dilly beans, dilly pickles, hot pickled peppers, giardinera, homemade mustard, fucking HOT sauce, pickled beets, pickled turnips, bacon jam and onion jam for cheese plates and more..perfect for gift giving! They didn't provide me with a photo so I've taken the liberty of using this one from a recent party at Russet&Empire:

Cam and Ada at FeasTO will be serving handmade ramen and their awesome dumpling combos and most likely dancing behind their booth all day,  because that's how they roll.

First Indoor Flea of the Year A-OK!

 The next Flea is December 16th at the Great Hall, 10-5 with a $5 admission but dude, it is SO worth it!

Vendor profile: FALCONWRIGHT

Falconwright is a line of screnn printed leathergoods handmade in small batches by Sandi Falconer & Danielle Wright in their Dupont Street studio.  They both reside in Toronto and have a thing for chips, wasabi peas, bad action movies, sandwiches, Ted Danson, and leather.

Winter Flea!

It's official, the Junction Flea will be moving to the Great Hall and taking over all three floors for the wintertime! Next market is on November 11th, continuing with our second Sunday of the month trend. We worked outside in a boiling hot parking lot all summer and had a blast, can you imagine what we can pull off with electricity and a roof over our heads! We've been working our bums off to make the best show yet, and we hope to see you ALL at the Great Hall November 11th so we can show you our stuff (we're pretty proud).  XO The Flea

Postcard from the Fall Flea

This is what it looks like when you get to work at 5:45 am in October:

 You know, working by candle light,

Shoveling puddles into other puddles (in the rain),

Mrs Huizenga showed up with the biggest tarp we have ever laid eyes on to keep the rain away

Cam at FeasTO flipping dumplings, they caught way more air but iphone shutter speed isn't that great

 Even though rain was in the forecast alllll day long, vendors brought the best stuff. The Fall Flea was by far the best Flea to date. If you don't believe us, consult twitter!

The crowds didn't stop all day, there were even a few (Canadian) celebs! The best kind right?

I drew the death card with the tarot card reader in the airstream, but it was such a great day I didn't sweat it

Mint chocolate girl guide cookies. I happen to know of one vendor who made herself sick from them as a matter of fact. A neat trick is to be a nice guy and buy them, but then give them away as a gift. You look like a good guy x 2.

Post Fall Flea celebration with libations courtesy of Indie Alehouse. Entertainment by Jon Todd and Timmy Turtle Sr.

Stay tuned for info on the November indoor Junction Flea at our cozy new home THE GREAT HALL!! 

MAP TO THE FLEA

lovely hand drawn map by Leah Fay Goldstein 

Vendor profile: CORIANDER GIRL

Coriander Girl  A flower/antique shop in the heart of Parkdale. Local/organic blooms and craft, no imports here!

Vendor profile: SUGAR MAMMA'S

 Sugar Mamma’s Mini Donuts is an artist owned and operated mini donut collective.  All of our donuts are cooked fresh in organic virgin coconut oil which gives them their unique delicious flavour.  Topped off with some traditional cinnamon and sugar equals yummm!. 

Vendor profile: CAMBIE DESIGN

 Camille Byrne is the founder of the interior design boutique Cambie Design. Before launching her business, she honed her skills as a design consultant, working closely with designers and manufacturers of custom made furniture. She has spent years scouring vintage stores, hand-selecting unique pieces of furniture and building relationships with independent stores that use environmentally conscious and affordable materials.

 Her unique upbringing allowed her to travel frequently between homes in Canada and Peru, developing a likeness of the rich and colourful textiles of Peruvian culture. In the artisan markets of Lima, she met a vendor who sells beautiful, handmade alpaca blankets which she felt some of her Toronto clientele would fawn over. After an overwhelmingly positive response she decided to sell them wholesale in markets and pop-up shops throughout the city.        

All photos by Courtney Lee Photography