Julie Vintage and Treasure Hunting Continues….

There is nothing more fun to me, than visiting antique malls, thrift stores, yard sales, estate sales, and even a quick visit to Goodwill.

My car is usually filled to the max with my finds!

Usually what you find at these places are Made in the USA, good quality, hand crafted with pride, lovely unique items that still look beautiful, and that still work because they were made well at the time. Even if they were made 100 years ago.

What most people discard as being “old”, I treasure as being special.

I have inherited so many lovely things from my Great-Grandparents, my Grandparents, and my Great Aunts and Uncles. I treasure them for many different reasons, most of all because the items belonged to them.

Dedicated to all those like me that love nothing more than digging through a good pile of junk!

Julie Lancaster-Whann

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(I wanted to add something here. In the photo above I am plowing through the best antique/vintage/junk mall that I have ever been to. Located in my hometown of Rome, Georgia. The particular booth I am in above is more junk than antiques and vintage. But some of the rooms were absolutely lovely. It was a huge place. It had 3 floors and you could very easily get lost there. All the twists and turns. The basement was underneath the building so you had cement floors but red Georgia clay walls. You might even come across stray animals that had taken up residence there. Cat’s giving birth to kitten’s. The regular shoppers and vendors would even help take care of the animals by bringing food and such. There was even a food court in the basement. But then one day the church that owned that land decided that they wanted to expand their parking lot so the told everyone in that large building that they had one month to vacate everything as they were going to tear it down. Most people got their stuff out in time but others didn’t as the wreaking balls came. Treasures lost. All due to the selfishness of the church. That mall gave people jobs, vendors had a place to sell their wares and make a little bit of money, and it even gave some animals a home. I miss that mall. My house is a testament to some of the treasure it once held.)

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September 17, 2020

Turning a Vintage Suitcase Into a
Vintage Looking Jewelry Box

It was during our Coronavirus lockdown and Brodie’s girlfriend Mackenzie was staying with us, that I noticed that when lockdown was over with that she was loading her car, she was carrying this nice portable jewelry box. It gave me an idea of how I would like some portable jewelry box in my bedroom instead of the upright jewelry armoire that I have. I wanted a jewelry box that I could keep my jewelry that I may want to take with me wherever I may go, or in this era of having to evacuate in a hurry due to Global Warming either flooding us out of our homes, or burning them down with forest fires…..

I started looking online and I did see some vintage looking jewelry boxes that looked like round vintage cases. However, they looked so cheaply made. I then thought that I wished that these jewelry cases looked like my round vintage suitcase. That is when it dawned on me! I can just use MY round vintage suitcase and make MY OWN jewelry box!

MY Round Vintage Suitcase

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I then dug out a lot of my old jewelry cases.

I did lay everything out on our bed to try and decide how I wanted to put this project together. I even used some of my old evening bags to house some of my jewelry.

I am very proud to say that I did not buy one new thing for this project.

I used what I already owned.

I will say that none of my jewelry is particularly expensive.

I prefer vintage costume jewelry that I’ve either inherited or purchased at thrift stores.

I used some of my old crocheted handbags and eyeglass cases I no longer used.

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A few strands of pearls. Fresh water, real, and fake.

Ah! My Alice!

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My Cute Little Red Jewelry Leather Handbags

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Now it’s time to just throw everything inside.

Oh, and let’s not forget the cute vintage travel alarm clocks that still work!

My vintage luggage on display in our bedroom.

And let’s not forget a toy. I always have to have a toy. 🙂

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September 11, 2020

Veronica’s Paintings and Jewelry

This painting I dug out of the trashcan, like I do lots of my daughter’s art she doesn’t like and throws away. It is of Eowyn from The Lord of the Rings. She never finished it but I loved it just as it was. My husband Gordon was working overseas and had sent some jewelry home to us. The pretty set above I thought looked very Elvish and I knew how much that Veronica loved all of the jewelry that Arwen wore so I gave her that set.

Veronica painted this portrait of Arwen of Rivendell.

Just some of the jewelry that Gordon sent to us from abroad.

Jewelry and art make a nice display in your bedroom.

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May 25, 2020

Reworking My Dresser

I recently spent the last 3 days working on cleaning and organizing our bedroom. It’s a pretty big bedroom compared to most. We have a large California King bed with a large antique trunk in front of it and a very nice mirror behind it, 2 end tables, a treadmill, a tall curio cabinet, 2 large armoires, a file cabinet, a large antique chair, a large antique dresser with mirror, another trunk, a luggage rack, my antique chest of drawers with an antique mirror above it, (see below), jewelry cabinet, various shelves, pictures, photos, another antique mirror, etc., etc., etc…..

But, while I was doing all this cleaning and organizing, I looked down at all my jewelry scattered all over my chest of drawers and wondered how can I organize it and make it look more attractive? I do not begin to brag about how beautiful everything looks in these photos, but it sure looks a lot better than it did before, AND, I’ve made use of some of my thrift store finds from the past.

Back left, I glued a glass candlestick to a vintage luncheon plate to create a tall surface to place some of my jewelry onto. The cut glass candy dish with the pink, actually belonged to my Grandmother and was passed to me, although I think it originally belonged to my Great-Grandmother. The two tier cut glass candy dish we bought at a thrift store for $5.00. I like the different heights of the items I have here. That way I can fit more onto the dresser top without it all crowding.

In the photo left, at the bottom left is one of many cut glass and silver coasters that was a wedding gift to me. Seeing as how I always have a drink of something sitting on that dresser, having this pretty coaster fits in well.

You can also see a few vintage dessert glasses that I’ve placed jewelry into. Again, more thrift store purchases from the past. I think I have about 10 of those glasses so I can afford to take these 2 for this project.

The ‘dress form’ in the photo top right was a gift from my deceased friend Trish years ago. To tell you the truth, when it arrived I didn’t like it. So, I just stuck it on my room and never did anything with it until a few years ago I started draping necklaces on it. And now I love it! I am so glad that she gave it to me! It’s funny how things grow on us.

Upholstering Tacks

In the photo top left, I’ve got a few of my necklaces hanging down the side of this mirror, which incidentally I purchased from my Grandmother’s friend Annelle before she died and was selling her household possessions. I actually bought a few of her antique mirror’s. I thought about using thumbtacks but realized they would look so tacky. That is when I remembered some of our leftover upholstery tacks. Although a bit hard to see in the photo above, they look very nice.

My Grandmother’s Chest of Drawers I Inherited

I’m not here to tell you how perfect it all looks. But I am here to tell you how perfect it is for ME!

Oh, and the little blonde girl’s head was a gift to me when I was a little girl from my Grandmother Aycock. It has my birthday on it. I’ve always kept it.

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Cleaning My Jewelry

I laid out all my silver and a few gold chains and bracelets to be cleaned.

If you have real gold and silver jewelry you can clean them very well by using Polydent Tablets for dentures. But, the jewelry needs to be a good quality of gold and silver.

You just place the jewelry into some bowls with warm water and then place a tablet or two of the Polydent Tablets.

They fizz up like a lime gelatin dessert.

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Depending on the Gold and Silver count, will explain whether your silver and gold is nice and shiny or just a little bit clean. You can also follow up with a jewelry cleaning cloth if you need to.

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February 13, 2020

Happy 59th. Birthday to ME!

How many of you still have your baby clothes from 59 years ago?

I’m guessing just me and the Royal Family of Great Britain.

In the photo above to the far left is my pillow cover from my baby pillow.

Also, 3 of my infant dresses.

My Baby Blanket

Everything has held up pretty well considering.

I also put together something of a birthday and childhood collage of me when I was young.

It’s sometimes very nice to revisit those old happy childhood memories.

Vintage Julie

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Vintage Records

All summer long I have been listening to my son Brodie, listening to the music that I grew up with. He fell in love with the movie, Guardian’s of the Galaxy, and they play all those old songs. Not necessarily the records I have posted here, but the music that I grew up with.

I decided to drag out my old collection to show him.

Between my mother and myself, we indexed all of my music.

The upside of being a hoarder. I carry my past with me each and every day. When I told my son of my record collection I didn’t have to dig it out of some attic, or some basement, all I did was to walk into the guest room, open the closet and pulled all of these out. I don’t hide my memories and past away, I keep them very close. 🙂

Julie

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Beautiful Book full of Treasures

I bought this old book for about $2.00 at my favorite thrift store. Not only is the book itself such a beautiful treasure, and at such a wonderful price, but when I opened it all these beautiful things just spilled out of it. Every page was loaded with all these dried flowers.

There were also 2 watercolor paintings in the book as well that someone named Christine had painted. So, Christine, thank you for the paintings. I love them.

Rarely is a book just as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside, but this one is!

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Some Favorite Thrift Store Finds

You can find the nicest things when you go thrifting.

Here is an example of some of my favorite things I find on Saturday morning excursions.

BOOKS, BOOKS, and More BOOKS

There is so much value to be had in books! And no, I’m not talking about monetary value, I’m talking about history, creativity, beauty, tradition, ownership, quality, craftsmanship…..

The artwork that went into the book cover, the book binding being unique, the aging pages, the quality. My god, I could go on and on and on…. To be able to hold a book in your hands feel the weight of it, to turn the pages and feel the quality of the paper that was once used but no longer is. To me there is no comparison between reading a book and reading a book off a tablet. You can have your tablet. I’ll take the book!

I also love finding old barware and cocktail picks and napkins.

I was so pleased to find an antique ice chopper for cocktails.

You can’t find these treasures in today’s department stores.

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January 13, 2018

Mystery Date with Vivien

My Old Mystery Date Game from the 1960’s

Johnny, Sabina and Vivien

We had family visiting from Ireland and I knew I would be spending time with my niece, Vivien, so I got out my old Mystery Date and we played, and we played, and we played.

I won twice, Vivien won once…..

And we had the best time. Even though there is a 50 year difference in our ages.

What was a new game to her was a happy nostalgic time for me.

Vivien looking at her cards underneath the table.

I hope we can play again….

Julie

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June 2017

My Grandmother’s Chocolate Set

My mother, Mary Keith, brought this down for me when she was here last week, it is my Grandmother’s Chocolate Set.

I do think that it originally belonged to my Great-Grandmother, Honnie.

I am so very excited to own it, especially for Christmas this year.

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I will tell you where to find the nicest things at very cheap prices.

Here I have a vintage purse that I bought on Ebay for mere dollars. Also a pair of beaded gloves that I bought at a thrift store for $2.00. Each bead hand sewn by a seamstress that took pride in her work.

The vintage cake plate, luncheon plates, pink bowls, vintage purse and hat, all bought at thrift stores by me.

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I adore these items as they are very special to me and I only paid a pittance for them.

The lovely Asian dress I paid $7.00 for. I couldn’t fit into it, as it was too small, but I did cut it up and use the fabric to cover our canned cranberry sauce for Christmas gifts.