Vintage Dreams

Yesterday, my friend Amber and I got up super early and went to the flea market!  We had a great time and found some goodies.  Here are some photos of what I found:

 Vintage frame and pendant:

Antique album from the Victorian Era:

 Inside the album:

A modern album with some great photos, like a pumpkin carriage for the prom!

 A child's set of dishes:

I've been going to flea markets since I was a tiny thing.  My parents have always loved antiques and used to drag me to early morning markets and antique auctions for as long as I can remember.  I used to really hate the auctions, and so my parents would bribe me with candy and quarters so that I'd go and sit quietly and draw, ha ha.  But I guess all of that exposure to old stuff started to wear me down, and pretty soon, I had caught the collecting bug!  

It all started with Snoopy.  My mom had collected Snoopy and Peanuts stuff before I was born, and once she showed me her little collection one day, I was hooked.  So I finally had something to look for when my parents took me to the flea market...  And I found tons and tons of Snoopy goodies.  I still have a few things today, packed away in the garage somewhere.  

It's interesting: all that "early training" really paid off, and I now know a lot about antiques.  I also have an appreciation for older things much more than most people my age do...  My house is an eclectic mix of old and new, antique and modern, vintage/repurposed and new/shiny.  I'm going to post some fun photos of where I live soon, but for now, here is a little shot of my favorite room (decor-wise), the dining room:

The first photo is old and dark, the painting in the middle is unfinished and from a garage sale, and the final little piece is a Camilla Engman postcard I framed.

Since I have so many vintage goodies, sometimes there is an overflow, and those things go in my Etsy vintage shop, Nostalgia Factory.  I am planning to add a few new items to the shop this week!