Searching for vintage treasure is one of my favorite things to do!

Early last week, we decided to take a little trip down South to visit our three children in Alabama and Florida. And of course, it also provided an opportunity to stop at some of our favorite spots to search for vintage treasure.  

It was a bit of a whirlwind trip, and we didn’t find much to bring back with us, but we enjoyed spending time with the kids.

I thought I would share a little sneak peek of some of the vintage pieces that we did find.

I knew that we didn’t find much on this trip, but didn’t truly realize it, until we got home and unpacked everything.

It was slim pickins! I’ve noticed recently that it’s getting harder to find pieces that reflect the Edith & Evelyn style. I usually only buy pieces that I love myself. Of course most items will go into our online shop, but sometimes I find something that I want to keep for myself. 

One of the things that I did find is another chair to add to my collection. I say collection, because hoarding has such a negative connotation. Lol!

I have such a weakness for frenchy chairs, and if I find one in good condition and a good price, it’s hard for me to walk away. For some women, it’s shoes and handbags….for me, it’s French chairs.

The chair was in fantastic condition, and would you look at the carving…..the feet….and those arms?!?

Did you notice the carved fleur de lis on the front?  It caught my eye pretty quickly at the estate sale.  

The upside to being a French chair hoarder…..umm…..I mean collector, is that hubby doesn’t even ask what I’m going to do with them anymore. He’s gotten so conditioned, that now he just loads the chair {or chairs} into the trailer without a word. {I always knew he was a very quick learner.} 

Now, if you know me, you know that I’m not so crazy about this fabric.  It’s pretty…..just not my style. So I will be putting some new upholstery on it at some point.  

Something else that I bought for myself is this great game table.  

The top opens up and folds back, then the back legs slide back to support the top, making it double the size.  

I looked at it quite a few times at the estate sale, trying to decide whether to buy it or not. So I posted a picture of it on our Facebook page, asking for opinions, and over 150 responded with “YES”!  So I listened and bought it. You can see the makeover that I did to this table HERE.

Though we didn’t find much, we did pick up some things that I really love. And other than the chair and table, everything will be going into the shop. At least, that’s the plan. There are a couple of things, that I’m on the fence about….so we will see.

We brought back a few more European dough bowls. We can’t seem to keep these in stock, and there is one in particular that I’m really fond of. It has a monogram of “B” in both ends of the trencher.  I love finding the old trenchers that have personal characteristics or remnants of old repairs.  

These old paper mache goose decoys are so fabulous! We found a pair of them. I’ve been lucky enough to find a few of these in the past and they look great displayed in a kitchen, or dining room, with a small preserved boxwood wreath around their neck.

We found quite a few old Italian and French rosaries, an antique spelter cherub salvaged from a French chandelier, and a wonderful French jardiniere.

This lovely parian bisque cherub statue is one of my favorite finds. I just don’t find the parian bisque very often, and this little guy is precious.

These century old cherubs are one of my favorites, a rare find, and I’m going to have a hard time letting them go.

Made of old painted spelter, they are a wonderful timeworn, storied piece of 19th century French history. Their patina is gorgeous.

I found some great religious pieces, one being this priest’s traveling sick call/communion box, with the silverplate crucifix candelabra, holy water font, and accessories.

And this vintage French laundry basket is fabulous.  It’s in wonderful condition…..it’s something else that I’m not sure I want to sell, {how many times have I said that?}. This is the problem I run into when I only buy what I love.

I was so excited when I found this old wood cow sign, with the remants of the “Farm Fresh Milk” graphic still showing.  

I have a feeling this sign, at one time, sat in an old country store somewhere, or at a dairy farm advertising that they sold milk from their own milk cows. It’s a great size with wonderful patina, and would look great displayed in a farmhouse kitchen.

One of my favorite finds that we picked up in a little Florida shop was this very ornate antique cast iron footstool base.

It could be turned back into a footstool so easily and upholstered in grain sack. Or, it would also be fabulous to have a butcher block top cut for it and sit on top of the kitchen counter.  It’s very shallow in height so it would work perfectly for some type of display.

Though it’s not very old, I couldn’t pass up this little carved wood angel……the lamb is what grabbed my attention.

I came home a little disappointed that we didn’t find much on this trip, so it was nice to find a couple of shipments from France waiting on me when we arrived back home.  

Inside one shipment were these two gorgeous French plaster Madonna statues. I have collected these statues for a long time and they are hard to find and usually I can only get them from sellers in France.  

I was so pleased when I unpacked them to find them unbroken and a nice size. Not adding these to my own collection is going to be difficult.

We offer a very curated selection in our online shop, so when out vintage shopping, I always try to go with my instincts and only buy what I love. Hence the dilemma I create for myself in letting something go! A few times, I have been on the fence about a particular piece and I walk away. Only to realize later on, that it was a mistake not to buy it.

I saw this wonderful antique oil painting in a little shop in Florida.  

It was framed in a gorgeous old gesso frame, and the colors in the painting were beautiful. It was painted in soft colors that had aged over time, and the scene showed a little chapel in the background. I looked at it for the longest time, picked it up, put it down, walked away, went back, picked it up……you catch my drift. In the end I didn’t buy it. I didn’t listen to that inner voice. It nagged at me all the way home and I couldn’t stop thinking about it.  

My son lives in the same town as this little shop and I told him that I really regretted not buying it. He sent me this picture of the painting this morning, after he went back to the shop and bought it for me.

I hope you enjoyed this little sneak peek of the vintage treasure that we brought back. We have a few other goodies that we didn’t show, so there are a few surprises!  Most items will be going into the shop if you’re interested!

Cheers,

           Cindy