Frecklewonder

collections::vintage linens

i've got a major 'thing' for vintage linens. it's something that's always on my mental "must find" list when i'm cruising around an antique mall or junk shop. my eyes are always peeled for these bad boys. i just love, love, love funny tea towels, feedsacks, pretty floral, polka dotty + bird print tablecloths and napkins, and i find them incredibly tough to resist. no, i don't really need any more than what i already have and believe me, i have a gigantic collection. but. you know how it goes when you're in there and you find a little treasure! it's impossible to just leave it in the store!!!

anyhow, i thought it would be fun to share a few of my favorites. enjoy!

have a great weekend, all! thanks so much for the lovely comments this week! i try my darndest to get replies back, but it isn't always possible-- so please know that i really appreciate each and every one of your comments, questions, and peeking out and saying hello!

i'll be back on monday with a fully re-stocked shop! yahoo!

collections::vintage children's books

another collection to share with you all. this one is ever growing. i find tons of inspiration in these amazing books from the 50s, 60s and 70s. the colors and the illustrations are just tops. these pictures are from just one set that i have. i would guess that i've got, oh, 100 or more books right now that i just love, love, love. where do i get them? mostly, i find them in the book bin at the good will. yard sales  are also a very good source. it's often a toss up for me when i walk in the great big doors of the goodwill: should i hit the dress rack first, or the kid's book bin? dresses win out about 8 times outta 10, but the book bin almost never disappoints. and how could it at 35 cents a book?

collections::vintage cookbooks, the insides

as promised, here are a few shots from the insides of some of my vintage cookbooks.

i ask you: how can i possibly resist these things?

collections::fabulous frocks

a handful of my favorite vintage cocktail dresses:

a gorgeous 60s mandarin orange dress with rhinestone buttons.
thrifted for $3.

on the left: a super space-age sparkly silver mini dress, purchased at a local vintage shop. it was a splurge at $40.
on the right: a gorgeous emerald green gown (floor length, i think i will eventually chop it to just below the knee) with amazing jeweled neckline, thrifted for $4.50

a super sweet bubblegum pink & gold 60s tent dress, also thrifted for $4.50

a lovely mustard yellow velvet mini dress with jeweled neckline, thrifted for $6

and this fabulous silver gown (floor length, perhaps will be hemmed to the knee as well), thrifted for $4.50

with stuff like this in the closet, you can't sit back wait for a dressy function to present itself. and stuff like this shouldn't be just for holidays or weddings. do what i do: MAKE the occasion yourself. life is short!

have friends over for dinner and ask 'em to dress up. surprise your sweetie after work with a bottle of wine in the park. toss one on when you're at home listening to old records and windexing your windows. no matter the occasion, it's impossible to have a bad time in such a fun dress! (especially at such great prices!)

collections::vintage cake plates

i don't even eat cake that often, but i absolutely cannot resist a sweet little vintage cake plate! my collection is matching in a very mismatched kind of way. i do have multiples of some of these (the starburst ones and the polka dotted ones, for example) but i don't often use a matching set when i have occasion to do so. it's much more fun to have each one be different! the state souvenir plates are always great, and good for a laugh or a story. 

and besides, how can you really beat 4 plates for a dollar?! that's what my favorite thrift store usually sells 'em for. whether or not i'm on a budget, i say poo poo to a kitchen filled with white plates!

collections::vintage cookbooks

it's a good thing i have large built-ins in my kitchen. otherwise, where would i store my ever growing collection of vintage cookbooks and kitchen themed books?! of course i have several modern cookbooks (a few marthas, some jamie oliver, nigella lawson) but there's something so much more fabulous to me about the oldies. no surprise here, i'm sure. i admit, often times, the photos of the actual dishes look horrendous. (think: 1970s orange toned casseroles from better homes and gardens). i'm not so much interested in those.

usually, the ones i go for are from the 50s and 60s and are filled with amazing illustrations, colors and type faces. and while i have certainly used them for the actual RECIPES (hello, amazing date bars i made around the holidays, thank you betty crocker) i am just as into them for a little creative inspiration. just like i would flip through a magazine, i'll pop on an old record and flip through an old cookbook. and love every minute of it.

am i just a total nutball, or what?

next up: i will share with you some of the incredible illustrations found within these babies...

collections::matchbooks

another collection. this one might seem odd to you though. but here it is. vintage MATCHBOOKS.

it's a fairly new collection, maybe a year or so old, i think. i came across this big box of matchbooks at an antique mall that i used to be a vendor at... it was something like 10 for a dollar, but the lovely owner and i go back a few years and she said i could have 40 for a dollar. and just like that: a collection was born. i think i must have spent over an hour rooting through that box, setting all the best ones aside. and since that day, i have come across vintage matchbooks two times, and yes- i bought what i saw both times. what the hell am i planning on doing with all these matchbooks, you might ask. do i smoke? no. do i burn a lot of candles? no, not really. do i really need all these matches? no. but, i don't really need all those bird things either. they just make me happy.

what i will say is this: there are some real treasures in this group. some amazing images, great color combinations and interesting fonts, and they have actually served as a bit of inspiration, believe it or not.

plus, it's cooler than just whipping out a bic lighter when somebody needs a light.

collections::birds

a few weeks ago, i gathered up these things from my bird collection, and re-vamped the bathroom in my workshop. (sorry for the bad lighting, but it's a bathroom with no natural light, ya know?)

so anyhow, among many, *many* other things that i collect, is this. Vintage Bird Stuff. figurines, books, prints, tea towels, drinking glasses, fabric, whathaveyou. birdy things are high on my list of collectibles. and my eyes are always peeled when i'm out in the land of the thrift.

what about you? what do you collect?

collections::random things

I'm a crazy collector of vintage things. I have so many collections happening, that I think this sort of thing deserves it's own category. Pyrex, matchbooks, harlequin romance novels, enid collins bags, fabric (linens, tablecloths, tea towels + napkins), kids books, bird themed things, deer themed things, coffee mugs (especially those great ones made in japan), costume jewelry, juice glasses, mccoy planters, buttons, stamps and other vintage ephemera, and so on. I'm really not too picky. What can I say, I love old things.