Long time since I have written anything.

It has been a while since I posted. My Mother had a brief illness and passed away at the end of June. She was a long time antique collector. When I was a little girl she dragged me to antique stores and shows. I remember that she collected Bristol glass and Flow Blue china then. Her favorite pattern of Flow blue was New Wharf Potteries Waldorf. She started out with a set of saucers. Later she started collecting Carnival glass and Majolica. The last collection she started was Wave Crest. She loved going to auctions with me and always had me bidding on something. Her collections span a life time and show a wide variety of items. She will be missed.

Minnie Mouse costume head

I just found this item when I was going to garage sales this morning. I do not know anything about it but thought I would share it. It is Minnie Mouse. Obviously the head for an adult costume. I just thought it was neat.

Excitiing happenings

Well, our 5th anniversary celebration is approaching. This last week my landlady put in central heat and air for us. Our old unit was originally a  Chrysler Air Temp water cooled unit. It had been converted at some point. We also had an boiler for steam heat. The air had probably been here since the 1950's and the furnace even longer. It will be nice on June 4th to have modern air conditioning when we welcome people to come in and help us celebrate our anniversary.

Vintage cook books

I was going through my recipes yesterday and realized how much I love cook books. One of my favorite cook books was my Great Grandmothers. I would never cook anything from it, it calls for things I have never heard of, but I love all of the handwritten notes she made. I also have one from my Grandmother. In between the pages she has inserted clipped and hand written recipes. I remember her making some of them. When you are in an antique store take the time to browse through the vintage cook books. You will be enchanted.

Planning our 5th Anniversary celebration

My store, Laura's Antiques will have been in business 5 years on June 1st. We are just starting to plan our celebration on Saturday June 4th.  I am excited about this, I hope you are too. We will be serving refreshments and running a store wide sale. I hope to post pictures after the party for those of you who won't be able to attend. In the meantime I will write more about some of the cool items in the shop.

Where do I find items for my shop?

People are always asking me where I find items. There is no one good answer to that question. Since I own the shop I have a number of people either calling or coming in with things they want to sell. This is a good method of buying for me because I no longer have as much time to look for items.

Before I opened my store I had several booths in antique malls. At that time I did not get the option of buying from individuals who came in. When I had the booths I attended auctions almost every weekend. Most areas have a local auctioneer who does estate auctions. This is a good place to purchase vintage and antique items. You do need to have some idea of what an item is worth before you decide to bid on it. While there are bargains to be had, sometimes people pay way to much. I have seen people pay more for an item at auction than they are will to pay in a shop.

Flea markets are another good source. There are several here in Kansas that I like to go to. Usually, the dealers at the flea market have lower prices and you can pick up nice items for a reasonable cost.

Don't forget the antique stores. Not all dealers now what they have. I have made some very good buys. It is impossible for anyone to know about every subject and sometimes dealers have an item that they do not know much about and price it too low.

Last but not least is the Garage sale. I find a lot of items at garage sales and church rummage sales. They may not be worth a great deal but if I pay 50 cents for an item I can sell for $5 I feel like I got a good deal.

Happy hunting.

Spring is here. Time to shop for yard art.

Spring is here and it is time to go to the local antique shops and flea markets to find things for your yard. Over the years I have had a wide variety of items that look great outside. You can make wonderful benches from old beds. Just use the foot board of an ornate iron bed, add seat and front legs. These are very cute.

In years past I have found vintage bird baths with just the right amount of patina. We have also had concrete animals. We currently have an old reel lawn mower, metal screens from an old house, & a neat vintage tractor sprinkler. These things can be set around or used to give your yard a vintage feel.

Come see us soon.