My not-so-subtle obsession are Finnish flea markets. Luckily, there are loads of them filled with gorgeous used children clothes, Iittala/Arabia plates etc, Marimekko fabrics, toys, books, furniture, hats – in short everything. There are car boot sale type flea markets, but more and more hall type of self service flea markets where the sellers hire a table and leave their stuff there with price tags on among other tables. Some of these are even specialized for children! Shopping is easy as you can hunt through all tables and when finished proceed to the till where usually also cards are accepted (dangerous!).
I usually look for children’s books (as these are expensive in book stores), toys (lots of brio – today saw a Dachshund for €4 and last week Brio stove for €25, plasto, lego etc) and children’s clothes (despite having my own shop – clearly need some therapy). I also keep my eye out for Iittala/Arabia glassware but usually sellers are aware of the value of rare moomin mugs – for example spotted a brown Nipsu mug this morning priced at €60 in a flea market! Other than that, estates usually dump homes into the flea markets and there are lots of old Arabia ware that offers a great starting point for collections or topping up existing collections!
Our recent finds have been Julia Donaldson ‘Hide and seek Pig’ book (in Finnish) for €0.50 and moomin laptop €12
Nordic Mum's Notebook 