Antiques on Second antiques mall, Milwaukee

There was antiquing, there was crafting, there were overpowering tiki drinks, and there was vintage Leonardo diCaprio on DVD. Yes, after nearly two years of working together, Kate and I finally met in person. We have some projects up our sleeves, so last week I flew from Massachusetts to Milwaukee to spend a few days with Katiedoodle at the Retro Ranch. Kate and her husband Jim were wonderful hosts. High on our have-some-fun-too agenda: A trip to check out the Antiques on Second antiques mall. The store was FABULOUS — 200 dealers on three floors covering 37,000 s.f. We closed the joint down.

Antiques on Second is quite the destination — well organized, well staffed, full of old stuff, including lots of 1950s, 60s and 70s, my favorites. Definitely a place to hit if you are in or near Milwaukee and in the mood for treasure hunting. Kate and I looked at everything — we were well matched as shopping partners — and it took us almost the entire day to go through this place, I am not kidding! The store opens at 10 a.m. We arrived around 10:30 a.m. We broke for lunch at 12:30, were back within an hour, and really, still were not quite through at 5 p.m., closing time.

Above: This set of vintage Ransburg kitchen canisters looked to be in amazing shape. I am pretty sure that there are many readers here who would love to acquire these beauties. I could design an entire kitchen around them!

Above: I really should have snapped up this little Raymor bull. I was not really in the buying mood — mostly because I did not want to schlep breakable stuff back home with me.

Above: I still have not shaken off my Kitschmas madness. There was a good stash of vintage Christmas decor, at reasonable prices, up on the third floor.

Above: There were a pair of these Miller Studios chalkware swans for $19 total. They were in great shape.

Above: A lovely little coffee table with Brasilia-esque lines. Overall, I thought the prices were good at Antiques on Second.

Above: Oh my goodness, look at those little sand owls. Or what do you actually call this craft? I am not sure. This piece of art was in terrific shape, too. Not dirty at all.

Oh, it came to me: Gravel art. There is a second, coordinating piece in the slide show below – wonderful!

Above: Antiques on Second has three stories of dealers. It is chock ablock with treasures. Your head will be spinning. You cannot even focus after a point. I looked up and saw this TV light — I love the piece of glass behind the deer — this piece must look interesting, lit up.