Pictures from our last "Treasure Hunt"

Beautiful shelf to fill. Needs paint but perfect.

Top hat glass vase. Can't wait to put some flowers in from our garden.

Watercolor in lilac & sage green that will need a new frame to fit our style.

Hanging glass heart with pink ribbon.



"Bearington Bear" Bunny in pinks & greens.

Dreary Afternoon ...

... but it was brightened by our trip to the Antique Mall. Not just because we found some great treasures but because, by chance, I got to meet my favorite booth vendor. Jane is originally from England & has lived in Canada for the last 30 years. She loves to feature lace, china & vintage linens in her booth, all the things I love! We had a lovely chat today & I told her that her booth is always the first one I check out each time we venture into the Antique Mall. I so appreciated the time she spent with me, answering my questions & talking about how she manages her booth & life. We've talked about someday having a booth ourselves, so it was an added bonus to have her share some trade secrets with us! Now that I've met her, it will make my treasure hunting even more special.

Today, our finds included a very heavy & detailed but simple wooden display shelf that will require a new coat of paint & perhaps some floral wallpaper for the back "wall" for $12.50; a small watercolor in a frame that really does not fit our style but for $10, the scene & the size were well worth ditching the frame; a small dark pink, decorative vase shaped like a top hat for $10 (we saw a very similar one in white, with no details & several chips on it for twice the price); a vintage, floral, fringed pillow that is perfect for the lonely armchair in our living room for $8, from Jane's booth; a "still tagged" Bearington Bear in pale pinks & greens for $5 (often retails for $30ish dollars in this size); & finally a pink, floral, glass heart that hangs by a pretty ribbon, with tags on, for $5.

Pictures to follow.

Our weekend was filled with fun family activities as our two oldest children who live in Calgary were up for visits & events. It was action-packed but worth the extra energy. And the wind down was our treasure hunting to end off the warm weekend, full of laughter & food, & the perfect end to a dreary afternoon.

New Finds...

I love our local charity shop. It accepts donations of gently used household items & clothing for sale. The building is supplied by our community, the staff is very small & the volunteers carry the load. All the funds raised thru the sales of items come back to our community in the form of grants for local non-profits. The items are amazing & so reasonably priced that I don't ever go to the VV, GW or SA outlets because I find their stuff often dirty, broken & over priced.

I love my new "Mom" pot. It cost an entire $1 & my plan is to pot a nice spring plant in it, something that will flower all year. This piece of pottery is perfect for my new scrapbooking/painting/writing/library room that is slowly coming into it's own. Pictures to follow one day, once I'm done gathering & the renovations are complete. For now, the new finds!

The new lamp for my desk. Crystal bottom with rosettes in pink & green on the bottom of the shade. I love the soft glow it casts on the walls & the ceiling. The cost? Found at the Antique Mall for $5.

Not quite vintage but still fits within the theme of the space. I loved this the moment I found it & for the very reseasonable fee of .75 cents, who can argue the price on such a pretty paintbrush holder. I never envisioned it as a vase, even though that is the most likely the intended use for it. But in my space, for all my paintbrushes, its perfect!

Beautiful vintage, brocade tiny purse. I have this hanging in our living room on the door handle of my grandmother's antique corner cabinet where we store many of her things gifted to us, like her silver collection, pictures & letters. This purse was discovered at a store that sells vintage items out in the country when we were out for a weekend drive. We paid an incredible $8 for it.

I've discovered that the Bear (my husband) & I are not alone in our quest to create a cozy haven with vintage items. There's a whole new world out there where others share this love of old. I've found the most intriguing websites & blogs that share the journey of others who are busy each day collecting, reusing & treasure hunting. Unfortunately, we do not live in an area where there are frequent sales like seem to happen in the U.S. but we do have weekly garage sales in the spring & summer, we have our favorite charity shop & we visit the Antique Mall in the city often. We've even discovered on our travels that other communities will have the kinds of shops we love to spend hours in, so a new favorite traveling activity is "treasure hunting."


Can't wait for our next trip!