I am going to share more about the basement makeover this week (including sharing about painting the trim and light switches), but I thought I would share a couple more of my finds from Gold Rush Days today – an antique pastry cutter and a nutcracker with bone handles. Both of these finds were ones that I spotted early in the day, but did jump at right away.  Neither the antique pastry cutter nor the nutcracker were on my list, they weren’t things I *needed*, and they were both priced a little on the higher side.  So, I admired them and kept looking.  As I was shopping the rest of the market, though, I kept thinking about those two pieces.  I wondered if someone else bought them or if they would still be there.  I imagined them in my house. I’ve learned when antique shopping (or shopping for anything) to

One thing I’ve learned after years of shopping for antiques is to always open up boxes and cases.  Sometimes, the most delightful things are hidden away in a case that doesn’t look very impressive.  Typewriters, binoculars, sets of silver flatware, and cameras are just some of the things you can find in boxes and cases.  I opened a beat-up old leather camera case when I was at Gold Rush Days and found this beautiful antique camera from 1906 – the no. 10 folding pocket Ansco camera for just $20… I found a description of the no, 10 Ansco camera from THIS website – “The No. 10 Folding Pocket Ansco was manufactured by Ansco in circa 1906. This model was similar to the No. 9 Folding Pocket Ansco except that it featured rising-falling and swing front. Like the No. 9 it produced a large negative for landscapes and panel portrait work

Yesterday I shared about the antique letters and books I bought over the weekend at Gold Rush Days and today I’m going to share a few more of my finds as well as what I plan on doing with them. When I’m shopping for antiques, I sometimes have specific things I’m looking for, but I almost always end up buying things that “speak to me.”  I can’t explain why I’m drawn to certain things except to say that I just like what I like.  One of the things that I’ve always been drawn to, right from the very beginning of my love for antiques, is old clothes.  Even if I don’t buy them, I always take a minute to admire old shoes, hats, petticoats, socks, dresses, coats.  Some of my earliest antique purchases were baby dresses and little lace bonnets.  I even bought a pair of heeled leather wingtip shoes