Thrifty Diversions

Start your deliciously wonderful APRON collection ...

2012-02-26T11:22:00.001-07:00

Ruffled Sheer vintage apron

The nostalgic charm of a VINTAGE APRON ... offers a huge connection to the past for anyone who ever ran home fromschool and straight to the kitchen to see what smelled so good all the way fromthe front gate. This fast-growing collecting trend is part of the popular drawto all things kitschy and a fine example of the ‘tacky’ to some, ‘treasures’ toothers collectibles popping up in vintage shops everywhere. Antique linens ingeneral, including vintage aprons, are just one of the many ‘hot’ items tuggingat the apron-strings of collectors hearts everywhere.

The item alwayshome made with love and featured fabrics, colours and styles as varied as thewomen who stitched them. The most popular collectible style being the near newor never worn examples sporting lovely hand work, embroidery, exquisite sheerfabric and heritage laces and worn only on the best of occasions for the finestof entertaining. The less than refined examples are no less of a draw and thetrims of bright contrasting colourful fifties-era trims and rick-rack zigzagbring a charm to the simple utilitarian item. Another popular style is thereversible aprons sporting a bright floral and matching plain trimmed pocket onone side and when flipped over offer the opposite in a plain apron with thebright floral featured in the pocket. This style offered the style conscioushostess a quick turn-around to a fresh look after cooking but just beforeserving the meal.

Round & Red Ric-Rak fun

Mother size apronswith a matching young daughter-size twins are a special treasure as are theChristmas themed aprons often holding their original starching too special toeven wear. The bridge playing set had a look all to itself with lovely handworkfeaturing black and red aces, spades, hearts and diamond are another hotcommodity. The keen eyed collector mayeven find the apron matching hand-worked linen napkins and card table clothwith tie-down corners to complete the well-heeled hostesses’ afternoon luncheonetteand weekly card game.

Smocked Sweet Vintage

The gingham apronsare always a crowd pleaser and boast popular hand cross-stitched borders andwaistbands and pockets trimmed in a contrasting colour. Many also featurelovely full round hems and smocking delicately stitched into the cinchedwaistbands.

Most women have adraw to the aprons, not only because they grew up always entering a cookingunderway kitchen wearing one style or another, but also fondly remember theirfirst school sewing project and making their own personal apron touting theirhandwork talents.

Festive Holiday Glitter

As a collector onemight still find these gems in thrift shops, although as the popularityincreases, they are getting harder and harder to find. In the vintage andantique shops expect to pay from $10. to as high as $60. or even $80 dollarsfor a prime example of hand work and finery. Once a collection is started itrarely stops at one or two as each style, each print, each trim, brings back afond memory of an era when the kitchen always smelled wonderful and the apronof the day always reflected the occasions, the season or the talents of thecook. Vintage aprons are a deliciously appealing item to collect.

MELMAC mania ...

2012-01-20T12:29:00.001-07:00

check out over 40 groupings of Vintage MELMAC for sale at:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/CndnPrairieAntiques?section_id=6669023

When the trend to vintage campers, boler trailers, airstreams, teardropsand more became the fun thing I knew it was only a matter of time till peoplerestoring the retro camping gems would shift their focus to collecting all thedecorator goodies to make their look complete inside and out. I started stockpiling Melmac almost 10 years back filling bin after bin as friends thought I wascrazy. By the time the hot retro trend showed up I was ready with wonderfulcollections and near full sets collected a piece at a time. In the summer of2009 I packaged it in delightful groupings and I sold it as fast as I stockedmy antique store shelves with this colorful dishware. My online stores stillfeature a great selection although it is getting harder and harder to findfirst hand and the prices have skyrocketed. Melmac will be one of those items Iam happy to say I was ahead of the trend on!

REGAL Sears Warner Spekcaled ware
http://www.etsy.com/listing/80804462/vintage-kitsch-rare-melmac-speckaled

With a history back to the 1930’s the use of melamine particles toproduce hard plastics has led to decades of popularity for what becametrademarked Melmac household dishware. Many manufacturers produced melamineproducts but the Melmac brand carried the highest standards and qualitycontrol. By the 1970’s it declined in popularity as Melmac was limiting tomodern kitchens and was slowly replaced with stone and earthenware that couldgo from the freezer to the microwave or oven, and then into the dishwasher.

In its heyday hardly a magazine household advertisement or full spread decoratingfeature was complete without some version of Melmac featured in the images oflife back in the day. It is fun to thumb through vintage magazines and old cataloguesand discover the many patterns and displays of Melmac. For your best collectingvalue look to find only those pieces clearly marked MELMAC on the bottom.Prices go from the pennies to the hundreds so know your market and whetherreselling or reusing enjoy your collecting!

hard to find the rattan wicker lined melmac is so retro!
http://www.etsy.com/listing/79319468/vintage-kitsch-melmac-hot-4-mugs-with

Antique Printing Press & Cabinet of lead typeface ...

2011-12-23T08:59:00.003-07:00

Chandler and Price
Craftsman Old Style
http://tinyurl.com/7u7f9co

chandler & price PRINTING PRESS
http://tinyurl.com/7u7f9co

ANTIQUE Printing PRESSES are all the rage with many dealers and collectorslooking for these rare nostalgic industrial tools of the trade to recreate authentic printingpress products.

Artists, scrap-bookers, multimedia arts, potters, are on the lookout for not only lead type face lettering but the old press cabinet drawers - so the atwenty drawer cabinet with the typeface contents is an exciting find all on itsown!

This rare old printing press find is a Chandler and Price Craftsman Old Stylewith the tell tale curves on the flywheel. Harrison T. Chandler, an Illinoisbanker, while negotiating to buy an interest in the Cleveland Type Foundry, metWilliam H. Price, son of a builder of printing presses. They founded theChandler & Price Co. of Cleveland to build printing equipment.

This CHANDLER & PRICE hand fed open platen jobbing press is marked:

"TheCHANDLER & PRICE Co CLEVELAND, OHIO, USA"
and has a brass platemarked:

"SOLE AGENTS TORONTO TYPE FOUNDRY Co LIMITED TORONTO MONTREALHALIFAX WINNIPEG"

- marked PAT APRIL 2 87 (1887) No 1060.

The PRESS CABINET has 20 drawers full of original lead typeface and is afabulous find all on its own! A great antique cabinet full of history!

20 drawer PRESS CABINET full of letterpress TYPEFACE
http://tinyurl.com/7u7f9co

Inkwells ... love of an an era gone by

2011-12-20T06:29:00.001-07:00

Moriset & Fount-O-Ink inkwells
http://tinyurl.com/csew9zn

Is it the romance of dipping the feathered quill’s precise sharp nib?The thought of a desperate lover penning a love-sick plea in tear stained inkby flickering candlelight? Perhaps a picture of the astute banker signing-offon a hard earned mortgage-release in the dirty thirties, with the elegance of afine document and the professional dignity of a well flowing pen? Whatever thevision, all are good reasons for the love affair of late with inkwellcollecting in this loss of an era gone by.

It seems as a culture, the more addicted to our computer and the quickstoke of the keys we become, and the more desensitized we are from the days ofa pride in penmanship and the art of the written word, the more we are drawn tothe romance of the inkwell and the dip of the nib pen. For practical purposes we do not sway back to the pocket penfull of staining ink, but we are definitely reverting back to graceful writtennotes on elegant stationery, and lovely desktops with which to sit and writethem from. The draw to the inkwell seems a logical fit and the feverish passionof late for collecting them has been comforting to those who fear the loss ofour written word to the sometimes too-fast paced technology consuming our prideof personal penmanship.

Collectors hunt for a variety of inkwells with some collecting allstyles and others preferring an era or a theme. Popularity is over-ruled bypersonal preference as unique as one’s own handwriting. As with all antiques there arereproductions and fakes out there so buy from a reputable dealer and as always buywhat you love and what is in your collector budget. When a more favourite findcomes along one can always trade-up as your collection takes shape and you findyour area of interest and knowledge. As always enjoy the alluring hunt for theharder and harder to discover inkwells.

Retro Fashion Up-Cylcing ...

2011-12-15T09:49:00.001-07:00

Reduce reuserecycle has never been more true than when it comes to up-cycling clothing! Itis an exciting time in fashion when there is truly nothing in or out but onlythat which speaks to individuality, comfort, nostalgia and a love of all thingsvintage. The beauty of vintage clothing is it has stood the test of time. Thequality of many of the wares and the craftsmanship in the production issomething that is hard to find in our mass produced throw-away culture.

VINTAGE WEDDINGS
http://tinyurl.com/85lsp9g

Steppingback in time and pulling forward a piece of clothing into today’s world is notonly fun to do but especially fun to wear. Whether a casual feeling groovyshirt or a flower power dress, a tartan wool winter warm boot skirt or a fullon vintage elegant wedding dress, the news that everything old is new againwhen it comes to fashion is a welcome way to express your style. It is allgood, as it saves the landfills from too much trash, reduces way too much consumerismby lessening the demand for mass produced goods and gives an old garment asecond, third or even fourth life.

Now that is fashion-fun!

LEISURE Suit LOVE
http://tinyurl.com/7eoukpo

classic PENDLETON
http://tinyurl.com/7el5khs

Typewriter luv ...

2011-12-07T07:04:00.001-07:00

http://www.etsy.com/listing/85779502/vintage-typewriter-corona-floating-shift

Typewriters date back to 1860's and carry as much fascination in today'smodern world as they did almost 150 years ago.

After all, what aspiring writerdoes not want a vintage typewriter hoisted up on the corner of their writingdesk for inspiration?

When I had my antique shop, Inktiques, typewriters ofevery era graced the vintage desks with displays time gone by.

From the book,From Spinning Wheel to Spacecraft, The Story of the IndustrialRevolution by H W Neal: "Up to this timecommunication in business correspondence had consisted of letters written inpen and ink, often by men employed for their handwriting clarity and skill. In1867 Christopher L. Sholes, assisted by Carlos Glidden, Samuel W. Soule andMatthias Schwalbach, designed and produced a "writing machine" in asmall shop near Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The machine, which Sholes named the"Type Writer," had a series of lettered and numbered keys which, whenstruck with the fingers, printed letters or numbers on paper. Eventually themanufacture and sale of the device was undertaken by the firm of E. Remingtonand Sons, Ilion, New York, and one of the first customers to buy a typewriterwas the famous author, Mark Twain. For advertising purposes he wrote a letter whichthe manufacturers printed and distributed. It said:

“Gentlemen:

Pleasedo not use my name in any way. Please do not even divulge the fact that I own amachine. I have entirely stopped using a Type-Writer for the reason that I nevercould write a letter with it to anybody without receiving a request by returnmail that I would not only describe the machine, but state what progress I hadmade in the use of it, etc., etc. I don't like to write letters and so I don'twant people to know I own this curiosity-breeding little joker.
Yourstruly, Saml L. Clemens”

http://www.etsy.com/listing/85779716/vintage-typewriter-royal-quiet-deluxe?ref=v1_other_1

http://www.etsy.com/listing/40660618/vintage-typewriter-underwood-deluxe

Collecting FAB Modernist Ceramics ...

2011-12-03T10:26:00.001-07:00

http://www.etsy.com/listing/87752642/vintage-poole-pottery-delphis-ware-set

With a history dating back to Dorset, England in the1870’s, Poole Pottery, established as an architectural ceramics businessfeaturing tiling, flooring and fireplace surrounds of the day. Growing into adomestic and decorative ware company in the next century and moving fromearthenware to clay, the company flourished but like most found itselfstruggling post war years. The movement to free formpatterns and unique shapes and designs challenging the traditional took Pooleto a new height with many designers and painters lending their name to thisexciting line of pottery.
By the end of the 50’s and for the next two decades andbeyond, Poole became all about bold designs and shapes. The exciting Delphisline rolled into production in the early 1960’s and the 1970’s Aegean warelines were introduced, each piece hand painted with extensive use of richflowing colors popular to the day, the browns, oranges and yellows gave weightybold color to the unique abstract designs.

Poole Pottery became the home of many prolific ceramicvisionaries with a key role in the mid-century art and design movement. Sadlyafter more than a century of production by 2003 Poole Pottery was in direstraights and was sold privately after selling off many of its museum artifacts.Poole Pottery survived the bankruptcy and by 2007 operates under a new groupproducing giftware and unique pieces.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/87754282/vintage-poole-pottery-aegean-ware-large

http://www.etsy.com/listing/87753876/vintage-poole-pottery-aegean-ware-large

Kitschy-Kristmas!

2011-11-28T21:25:00.001-07:00

People have been festively decorating for holidays sincethe beginning of time. From bringing tree branches in to ward off the winterblues, to fresh flowers in a special vase at valentines and even summer fruits and fallharvest to display and decorate the table. During the holiday season, no matterwhat you celebrate, decorations are always a big part of any festivity.

In these thriftier times making crafty fun and repurposing vintage finds is allabout celebrating the simplistic expressions and a draw back to the nostalgiawhen things seemed so much simpler through the eyes of a child.

I came across a few great finds this holiday season to brighten your home and maybeeven give you some inspiration to celebrate in a simpler lifestyle. Thesedelightful vintage silky-sheen ornaments are perfect as they are but are also ideal andsimplistic enough to embellish with ribbons, beads, buttons and familykeepsakes.

Postcards are fun to collect no matter what the season and these sweet-faced angel ornaments are just darling. But the retro-showstoppers for me are thevintage Santa mugs in their original packaging. So retro sweet they ust makeyou want to believe in flying reindeers no matter what you celebrate. Enjoy myfinds and remember you can always send me some of yours to share.Happy holiday thrifting,

Michelle

http://www.etsy.com/listing/87386914/vintage-ornaments-darling-angels?ref=v1_other_1

http://www.etsy.com/listing/87385845/vintage-ornaments-red-satin-sheen?ref=ss_listing

http://www.etsy.com/listing/87387654/vintage-party-favors-sweet-santa?ref=v1_other_1

http://www.etsy.com/listing/87381147/vintage-christmas-card-greetings-from?ref=ss_listing

Black Friday fall-out ...

2011-11-26T09:49:00.001-07:00

Some of you experienced the infamous Black Friday consumerism experience first-hand yesterday but for a lot of thrifters/pickers it was just the day after turkey and the day before Saturday morning treasure hunting. No matter where you live,the weekends are full of yard tag sales, swap meets, auctions, thrift storehunting and general poking around hoping for that one great find. Whether youare a novice junker, an avid collector or a serious career picker the weekendsare not for resting but they are for fun!
Some of the hottest trends right now are household mid-century kitsch. Vintagefunky finds may lack the sparkle of a pristine antique treasure but are twicethe fun and much easier to live with day to day and perhaps why the populardraw to all things retro!
Collecting to enjoy your treasures is one way to go – but living with yourgreat finds and using them daily seems to fit the current up-cycling trend fora good reason. Reusing an old home-grown find is not only recycling at its best by saving it from the landfill but also cuts down on you not buying off shore mass-produced trinketsno one really needs.
Some great ideas to slip into your kitschy kitchen and put to work are vintagecanister, glassware and melmac is always a hit.

Happy Thrifting!
Michelle

http://www.etsy.com/listing/85715927/vintage-household-kitsch-set-of-4-yellow

http://www.etsy.com/listing/79351169/vintage-kitsch-retro-sweet-icecream-set?ref=v1_other_2

http://www.etsy.com/listing/80804462/vintage-kitsch-rare-melmac-speckaled

These great finds are all for sale in my kitschy shop http://CndnPrairieAntiques.etsy.com

Welcome to Thrifty Diversions

2011-11-22T17:21:00.000-07:00

Many of you have followed me over the years. First as customers in my antique store, Inktiques, and then onto my blogs and into my now four and counting online stores full of vintage treasures. What started out as my own collecting hobby, grew into a full on store for many years and now continues as a small empire online via my desk. My busy world of professional writing and my busy hobby of a love for antiques and vintage have always crossed over. So much so that my store Inktiques was dedicated to antiques in the ink world! Even though the store is now closed as I moved cities and lifestyles, I am always avidly collecting, writing daily and as thrifty as ever.

The growth of one online store after another started of course with my love of vintage and collector books and all things collectible in the ink world, Inktiques. Living in wide open spaces brought about my second love of collecting retro vintage from the prairies and my second store evolved, Canadian Prairie Antiques. I have always had a love of vintage clothing and when I opened my own cottage in a small town I also opened another online store of beautiful dress up clothing naming it for my LandLocked Cottage. Naturally a crafter and quilter myself I couldn’t not collect all things vintage in the crafting sewing world to share with you all and that is how my fourth store came about, Writers Craft Too.

Now it is time to rein it under one (web) roof and give the shops a friendly front door to pass through on your way into discovering all that I find and share when I step away from writing and head out for some Thrifty Diversions! I look forward to sharing my great finds, my knowledge as an avid collector and dealer and my adventures at estate clearing. The most exciting news is of course it was only a matter of time before my writing and my picking crashed together into a future book on the thrifting lifestyle now in the works.

Welcome through my front door here at Thrifty Diversions and onto discovering my mall of e-shops, my blogs, my vintage treasure hunting and my joy of writing about it all!

Happy hunting,

Michelle