Braving the Cold for.....Vintage Linens

I braved the cold today since I wasn't sure if I would be venturing out tomorrow with a high forecasted at 2 degrees.  With it being around 8 degrees today, I thought it was warm enough.

I'm glad that I did.  I visited a few of my favorite places and found loads of vintage treasures and like vintage treasures.  My trunk was full!  A large white birdcage came home with me.  It is just darling with flowers wrapped into it.  Today seemed to have a garden theme which made me wishful for spring.  At least I can have spring in my house for now.

One of my favorite places to treasure hunt is at the Sparrows Nest.  Today I stopped in at the one in Cary and was in heaven.  Every February, vintage linens of all kinds are put out for sale washed and ironed.  They have an amazing assortment right now.  I found sooooo many wonderful pieces.  I just have to keep a few of them for my own collection.  (Maybe all of them.)  I did leave a lot of them for others to buy.  I also found a navy blue vintage leather Coach cross body purse.  I wanted a cross body bag to use when I go treasure hunting so both hands are free to pick up treasures.  This one was perfect.

Stay warm while treasure hunting and have fun!

Just a Few Things.....

I always love finding vintage Christmas treasures.  I look for them all through the year.  What a surprise it was to find a load of them the other day.  I had seen the sign for a moving sale on Thursday night when Austin and I were out.  So, on Friday I decided to see what it was all about.  The sale had started on Wednesday so I didn't think there would be much left.  How wrong I was!  The back room in the basement had boxes full of vintage Christmas.  My trunk was filled when I left.  I found 14 boxes of Shiny Brite ornaments, a vintage Nativity scene and many other figure ornaments.  I couldn't believe it.  The man said that no one had even looked at the Christmas items until Friday.  I'm glad I got there early.  Usually once a season of looking for treasures, I stumble upon something like this.  I'm still going through the boxes.  They are so lovely.

After that I thought I should keep going and I found another sale.  Behind some other items, I spotted a giant pig that happened to be a bank.  Too cute not to get.  I just have to clean it up and it will be even cuter.  I love the unexpectedness of treasure hunting.  The not knowing what you will find is part of the fun.

But, here are some planned upcoming events:  There is another Rummage-a rama in West Allis WI this weekend at the State Fair Park.  March 5-8 is the Algonquin Library book sale.  Remember that there is a $10 fee on Thursday only.  March 12 is a rummage sale in Prairie Grove on Route 176 starting at 9am.  March 6-7 is a Vintage Shop Hop where over 200 shops will be having sales.  There is a map on Facebook at Vintage Shop Hop for all of the participating stores all over Wisconsin and Illinois.  It should make for a fun 2 days.

I have started spring cleaning in my house.  I like to begin towards the end of February because once the weather starts to warm up, I'm outside in the garden.  I had to buy a new vacuum and it was amazing to see what a bad job my old one did.  The house looks so much brighter after using the new one.

Happy treasure hunting!

Loads of Vintage Hankies

Since we are having a special on vintage linens at Carriage House Antiques, I wanted to share some displays that we have in the store right now.

Karen came up with a cute idea to attach hankies with small clothespins onto a small metal dress form as its skirt.  It is adorable and it is really easy to see all of the patterns on the hankies.  She also came up with the idea to put hankies with crochet trim into a mail sorter.  Karen and Di are so creative with displays.  There is also a bakers rack filled with vintage linens.  It looks so cheerful and inviting.

I tried to display my linens in an easier way so that they all are in view.  I almost succeeded.  I have so many right now that you have to dig a little to see them all.  Isn't that the fun way to do it?

I enjoyed treasure hunting today since the sun was out for awhile.  It actually felt warm.

Happy treasure hunting!

Linens.....

I love to change my vintage linens seasonally.  There are so many beautiful ones that I wish I could display my whole collection.  There are some wonderful hand embroidered pieces, crochet, handtowels, aprons, handkerchiefs and tablecloths.   I have spent time going through them and have put many for sale at Carriage House Antiques.  This month it is 20% off all linens.  (All framed pictures are also 20% off.) It is a nice time of year for me to reorganize and share the treasures that I have found over the years.

Yesterday, since we had so much snow on Sunday, school was closed.  The boys and I went to the Carriage House in the afternoon to set up my linens for the big sale.  I promised them some time afterwards at Starbucks as a thank you.  What a surprise when we got to Carriage House to see how much snow needed to be shoveled in order to just get in.  Something about being outside with all that snow working together to get it cleared.  It was actually fun.  They helped out tremendously inside and out.  As promised, we spent time at Starbucks (so did practically the whole town) and used their internet access.  (We still have problems at times with ours.) So, try to make it over sometime in the month of February to look at the linens and pictures.  20% off is a nice surprise.

Happy treasure hunting!