Buttons, Baubles and McCoy, Oh My!

The only thing better than a day of antiquing is two days of antiquing! We headed down to Nashua, New Hampshire last weekend for my "little sister" Joanne's 50th birthday party and made a much-needed mini-vacation out of it. New Hampshire is full of antique and consignment shops and we hit as many as we could along the way. I'm always on the lookout for anything old and funky, especially if I can find it at a good price. I especially keep my eyes open for peach or white McCoy pottery, M. A. Hadley pottery, old postcards and ephemera, and vintage sewing and craft items. Those of you who share the passion for vintage items surely know the thrill of the hunt and the fun of finding something you didn't know you needed until you saw it! Even better when you find it old, dusty, and under-valued. Here are a few of the treasures we brought home with us:

Two big Mason jars full of vintage buttons, a set of children's alphabet blocks, two wonderful postcards, and a bag of vintage lace...



I can't seem to resist old buttons. I'm not even sure of what I'm going to do with them all but they make me happy. Some will be used for sewing and craft projects and some will just live in old jars on the shelves of my craft room for awhile. Sometimes I just like to think about where the buttons may have come from and who might have worn the clothes they were once attached to. Were the rhinestone buttons on a special prom dress swinging to the music of Tommy Dorsey? Did the  scarred old red ones come off of a well-worn favorite apron? Maybe I caught the button bug from my grandmother. She, like many women of the Depression generation, never discarded old clothing without first removing the buttons to use on something else. Grammy had even taken the time to carefully sort and label her jars by of buttons by the number of holes they had. I still have her handwritten labels reading "two holes" and "four holes" and  like to think of her sitting there sorting through her buttons, as I now do.

I sort my vintage buttons into jars by color. I have to say, the white ones I bought on this trip were beyond dirty so...a little bleach...and voila! Think I have enough?

I think I might cut the blocks in half and use them on craft projects...

I was thrilled to find these two old postcards from Wells Beach, Maine. We spent our summer vacations there as kids and I love the memories these old cards invoke...

Couldn't resist this old hanky for $1.00. The old lace is for a Valentine project I haven't thought up yet...

This treasure was $14.00 in a consignment shop. It's an old blackboard that I will oil up and use in my dining room as a Menu board when our "Gourmet" group gets together...

I lucked out in the last consignment shop we checked out and and found this piece of signed peach McCoy for $18.00 and 20% off...had to buy it to add to my collection. This one will probably be used for a centerpiece or as part of a future trayscape in the dining room.

So...thanks, Joanne, for turning 50 and giving us an excuse to get away for the weekend. And thanks to Andi and Dave (sister #2 and her husband) for a lot of fun antiquing together (Dave turned out to be quite the treasure hunter himself!) Once I actually make something with all of these buttons, blocks and trims, I'll try to post photos of the results...anybody got some new craft ideas to share?

I am linking up to:

Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Friday Pretties at I Love Pretty Little Things

Junkin' Finds Friday at A La Carte