“Welcome to the Club” Button
$12.00
Woven Cylinder Purse
$20.00
Mod Clip-On Earrings
$6.00
Vintage Taylor & Ng Mug
$32.00
Mod Tri-Daisy Brooch
$10.00
Swedish Folk Art & Hot Plate
$28.00

Vintage Find: Liquor Labels

My husband and I decided to stop in Galena, Illinois on the way home from our annual Minnesota camping trip. If you haven’t been to Galena before, it’s a beautifully historic city with an architecturally stunning downtown that features restaurants, specialty shops, and antique shops galore. Although I usually stick to estate sales and thrift shops, one antique shop caught my eye. Piles on piles of vintage items stared at me through the window—now that’s my kind of place!

I could tell the owner was a life-long collector with an affinity for vintage cameras. I can relate. But I was looking for something more unique, and more within my budget. I’d know it when I saw it.

An overflowing pile of color caught my eye—a box of vintage unused labels in pristine condition. The digging began. I ended up selecting four liquor labels for their delicate design, unique typography, stunning colors and gold sheen.

Now, it’s about time I put them to good use. I’m thinking of framing and hanging them on our wall so we can enjoy their typographic beauty everyday. But I’m still open to suggestions—what would you do with them?

Flea Market Stop: ScreenDoor in Asheville, NC

Stopping at local vintage shops is one of our favorite parts of traveling. After finding ScreenDoor on Yelp (one of my favorite apps ever) and reading reviews of how unique it was, I knew we had to check it out. As we approached the giant warehouse-barn—tucked off the beaten path with a ton of stuff in the front yard—I knew we had stumbled upon a vintage lover’s gem.

I’m not sure exactly how to describe this picker’s place of wonder, but it wasn’t your typical hanky-sellin’ flea market. It housed a wealth of mid-century modern furniture, industrial items, architectural salvage, and many one-of-a-kind pieces (along with some antiques and shabby chic to appeal to all). Not only did they have amazing items, the place itself was stunning—the building structure, the lighting coming through the glass windows… Two hours later we walked out with an industrial slide file box and a ton of inspiration.

Next time you’re in the area, stop by and let us know what you think!

“Established in 1999, ScreenDoor offers 25,000 square feet of unique home and garden accessories from more than 100 vendors. There is always an exciting selection of architectural, antique, mid-century modern, industrial and country furnishings to reflect your personal style.”

featured spaces: photos 1–3, frances domingues found design

 

Road Trip (Appalachia Here We Come!)

Happy Friday y’all! We’re packing up for our vacation to Gatlinburg, TN and Asheville, NC tomorrow. SInce we’ll be busy hikin’ it up in the Smoky Mountains and sittin’ back in downtown Asheville, our Etsy shop will be on vacation too. The shop will open back up when we return with lots of new items to come!

We’ll also be bringing our vintage goods to the Champaign-Urbana (C-U) Flea #3 on Saturday, Oct. 20 from 12-3. If you’re in the area, save the date. Have a great couple weeks!

The Thrill of the Hunt

Note: This post was written as a guest contribution for the News-Gazette’s Area Extras blog. Thanks to Meg Dickinson for asking me to contribute! See the original post here.

When I was growing up, I used to play detective. I’d make up stories, investigate mysteries and record them in my trusty day planner (bought with my allowance instead of toys like the other kids). I’d search for treasures and find old chairs and tables in the woods, believing that at one time this was home to a living civilization. It was a thrill to go out into the woods and not know what I’d find.

As an adult, the detective in me lives on when I head to an early-morning garage sale or an evening church rummage sale. This time, instead of carrying my trusty day planner, I’m armed with tote bags ready to fill them up with found vintage treasures — ephemera, office supplies, housewares, local history, fabric, photographs, postcards, books, travel posters and anything else that catches my eye.

What can I say? I’m addicted to the thrill of the hunt.

While going “sale-ing” has been a long-time hobby of mine, I never dreamed I could turn it into a small business. As the new owner of an online vintage shop, Dear Home, I get to spend each day doing something I have loved since my childhood.

Although I never became a true detective, I find myself “playing detective” as I head out into the neighborhoods to find treasures and return home to investigate my finds. It’s exciting to find more items for my personal collections and special vintage pieces for my shop that others can enjoy.

Is there a childhood pastime that you still enjoy? Do you have a hobby that you’ve been thinking about turning into your day job?

DIY Ideas For Vintage Wallpaper Scraps, Fabric Swatches & Postage Stamps

I’ve been a long-time fan and attendee of the über cool Pygmalion Music Festival in Champaign, IL (did I mention that I’m super proud to live here?) and decided to show my support by sponsoring the festival this year.

As a sponsor, I got to put something in the swag bags for festival passholders. I pondered many ideas—pinback buttons, custom guitar picks, a simple flyer… but then it hit me. Why not give everyone a “piece” of Dear Home? So I put together Grab Bags containing a piece of vintage tack-tastic wallpaper, an out-of-this-world fabric swatch and an intricately designed postage stamp, all ready for a Saturday afternoon DIY project.

If you’re a passholder at this year’s festival, here’s a couple DIY ideas for using your Grab Bag pieces. Or if you’ve got some left-over wallpaper, fabric or old stamps lying around, give these a try!

Vintage Wallpaper Ideas

  1. Glass coasters from Martha Stewart
  2. Covered matchbooks from Morning Creativity
  3. Covered clothespins from KraftyDesign on Etsy

More ideas: Tray embellishments; Drawer liners; DIY envelopes

Vintage Fabric Ideas

Photo: Fabric buttons from Design Sponge

More ideas: Swatch portraits

Vintage Postage Stamp Ideas

Photo: Postage Stamp Notebooks from Krrb

More ideas: Collage; Coasters

Send us a photo if you try one of these DIY ideas out, or if you have an idea yourself please share!

Welcome to Dear Home!

Since I can remember, I’ve had an affinity for collecting—whether it be collecting physical things like a concert ticket, images through photography, or just really awesome stuff. I love surrounding myself with beautiful, interesting things that spark my inner curiosity. After years of collecting, I’ve reached a point where I’m knee-deep in stuff. I figure, it’s about time to let some things go to a new home. That’s one of the reasons I opened a vintage resale shop.

Introducing: Dear Home. As I find vintage modern treasures, I’ll be listing them on the Dear Home Etsy Shop. The shop will feature mid-century modern items, international pieces, ephemera, office supplies, kitchenware, knick-knacks, and lots more. I’d love for you to check out what’s in the shop now, with lots more coming soon!

Hunting for vintage goodies is always an adventure, and every adventure has a story to tell. The Dear Home Blog is my place to share these stories and ask you about yours. I’ll be sharing these adventures, new and left behind items, fab houses that I dream of, and more right here.

Here are some ways to stay connected with what’s going on at Dear Home:

I love chatting about anything and everything vintage, so feel free to send me an email at dearhomevintage@gmail.com to chat, or, if you have specific item requests. Here’s to the hunt!

I’m Christina, owner and curator of Dear Home. I live in the small, but fabulous city of Champaign, IL, and am proud of it! Besides being a collector, I’m a typography nut, fitness fanatic, and domestic architecture geek who loves to ponder the idea of home.

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”

— William Morris