tag sale tales

There's nothing like thrifting to raise your spirits!


It's cheaper than a new haircut or fresh flowers;


Fewer calories than a pint of Rocky Road;


Keeps you from whining to your sister, again;


And gives you something to talk about on your blog!

i recently went through a giant stack (a few years worth in fact) of martha stewart living magazines to cut down on the clutter in my home. and going while through them, an article about vintage pans struck really my fancy. it makes me wonder, are baking pans a common collection? are they easy finds at thrift stores?
i can imagine them making lovely displays hung in a mass on a wall, with their delicate but industrial shapes looking like sculptures. and imagine the cake shapes you could make! i'm sure that there have been remakes of vintage pans, but something about pulling out some perfectly shaped brioches from an antique french mold is extremely romantic.
or what if you started a collection of vintage baking pans from all over the world? now that would be a tag sale tale.
(photographs by jose picayo)

one of the most intriguing things about thrifting, to me, is knowing that i find one-of-a-kind treasures that existed many times over at some point in time. i often ponder how unique my finds actually are - i cheat and look them up on ebay and find that there are more than one of what i found out there! it truely amazes me that somewhere out there, someone, or possibly more than one, owns a copy of these thrifted finds of mine!

does someone out there have this vintage milk glass spice jar set with cute little pink metal tops that sits in my kitchen, sitting in their kitchen?



does someone have a yard or two of my most prized vintage fancy chickens fabric that's stashed among other piles of uncut fiber in my sewing room, in a pile in their sewing room?



and to think that someone else in the world could be looting the same exact thing that i found yesterday in a thrift in philadelphia - it is unbelievably bizarre! what are the chances of that happening? my answer would be slim to none, but a few times in my thrift career i have found something twice!

has this ever happened to you?

This colorful display in my aunt's home really sparked my imagination about how something as inexpensive as a glass bottle can make such a big impact when grouped together as a collection.

Location is also important when planning a display. Here my aunt took advantage of a mirrored built-in cabinet and used tiny lights to illuminate them (pictured above). A porch rail or window ledge is also another great way to display glass, the afternoon sunlight brings out its translucent qualities. Below is a picture of my vintage miniature bottle collection. Last spring I moved them onto my kitchen window ledge to display sweet pea cuttings.



Here are a few random ideas for creatively displaying vintage collections:

Draping vintage hankies diagonally on a shelf so the corner triangles are hanging over the edge in lieu of vintage scalloped shelf paper.

Display folded stacks of colorful vintage linens on open shelving arranged by color.

Try not to be a slave to convention, instead use an object out of context to show off your ingenuity. Old metal wire egg baskets are great for storing things such as art supplies, and something as common as a old metal beach pail can breathe new life as a clever brush, soap, or towel holder on a bathroom vanity.

Backs of old postcards can be re-used as apothecary bottle labels with spray adhesive, the image showing on the reverse side through the body of the bottle.

Items in a display can be completely unrelated in theme as long as the colors harmonize. Try looking to the past for color palette inspiration.

By moving objects around in your home every now and again, you'll feel as if your collection is brand new!

so how much is luck involved in finding?

well, you visit several hit-or-miss shops, every so often, you come to know their strengths and weaknesses. the one on main street always gets the best shoes, while the one on the other side of town gets the best cardigans and paperback books. you visit often, but don't always win with a treasure to come home with. you sometimes go out of your way and leave empty handed. you leaf through dirty piles of unwanted items to find it. your toddler gets terribly bored and begins to hide under teh unwashed smokey smelling racks of coats and you just ran out of hand sanitizer. your hair gets sull of static when you try on that sundress. and its pilled all over.

and yet, with all that planned time and effort, being in the crowded, smelly thrift store with the rude sales people...somehow...when you do arrive at the just so straw beaded structured spring bag for a mere dollar...you credit lady luck.