From the category archives:

Collecting

Reusing Vintiques Makes Me Happy

June 8, 2009
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Vintage trays are a hot, hot, hot collectible.  I’ve sold so many in my space at the antique mall.  YES, I want them all back.  Painted metal, 60’s plastic, copper, silver — I love them all.

I did manage to hold on to this beauty.  It is so me – the soft pink, hand painted white [...]

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Perle In Jar

April 16, 2009
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Shiny, soft, brilliant color.

There’s nothing like vintage perle cotton … kept in an old marinated artichoke jar.  The dryer sheet removes any musty odors on the perle and a precaution against lingering artichoke aroma.

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Connections to the Past

April 8, 2009
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I believe I’ve mentioned before that I collect patterns — leaflets, books, magazines, and even digitally now.  The form just doesn’t matter.  Antique and vintage patterns are a special favorite.  When it’s a well-worn publication, it gets an even deeper place in my heart.

There’s an unexplained kinship with needlewomen of the past - wondering which patterns they worked and to [...]

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Picture Pink

March 2, 2009
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The last time I browsed our antique mall — I know, I know I’m supposed to be selling NOT buying – I must have been in a pink frame of mind.
My camera found the French pink, the soft vintage pink, the professional pink.
This clever vendor creates clocks using all vintage materials. Here she applied bits of pink vintage jewelry to [...]

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Mom’s Sewing Box

February 23, 2009
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Some little girls get into mom’s makeup and jewelry. I was into her sewing box. Along with the treasures within, I adored the embossed knight and castle scene on the top.
The 16×12 inch tin was once filled to the brim with German lebkuchen, lebkuchen being gingerbread cookies. Tins like this are still given as gifts around Christmas. In fact, [...]

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Lovely Little Things

January 24, 2009
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It’s a rare object in my house that simply sits there. When you live in a small space, there isn’t much room for useless stuff. Objects simply have to function. That doesn’t mean, however, that function can’t be beautiful.

It’s the little functional items in everyday life that can bring the most joy. Used day after [...]

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Der Belsnickel of Pennsylvania Dutch

December 18, 2008
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Perhaps it’s my German and Pennsylvania Dutch heritage that draws me to these rather stern versions of St. Nick.

Whether a chocolate mold under a cloche …

or a detailed hand carving from a thick block of wood, I simply love the old world charm of him — the precurser to our modern jolly Santa Claus.
“Nicholas in furs” [...]

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O Tannenbaum

December 15, 2008
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Our modest little table top tree, loaded with entirely too many ornaments — just the way hubby wanted it.  Believe it or not, he didn’t even put all we had on the tannenbaum. There’s still a bin and a half full.
That’s what happens when ya downsize.  We went from a 7 footer to this cute [...]

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