Tag Archives: antiquing

a short, long weekend

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Though the Monday holiday had no effect on our schedule at the ballet, this weekend felt extended.  We celebrated the great Martin Luther King, Jr. with hands held and heads bowed, we came together for gifted glasses of wine (thanks, kind stranger) and squash soup (thanks, T) and hot chocolate (dulce de leche this week) and New (to us) Rivers.We scoured booths at Rhode Island Antiques Mall until the 5 o’clock bell rang and we were forced to press pause, gather our findings and cozy them into their new homes.  We admired the beneficent dwellings of Benefit and the papered walls of The Shop.  We celebrated M’s first stroll around my favorite shop in Providence and shuffled through the belatedly exposed polaroids from our July weekend in Maine, when he asked me to be his.  We smiled at new neighbors and made our first joint tracks in the snow.  Today it’s back to work, but yesterday, and the day before that, we had a good, long weekend.  How was yours?

brimfield, massachusetts

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In my mind, Brimfield Massachusetts means one thing and one thing only- FLEA MARKET!  This week is the biannual flea market extravaganza up in Brimfield, so the roommie, my cute preggers sis, my mom and I all piled into the car to scavenge the fields.  The weather was gorgeous (save about a half hour of scorching sun), the antiques were top shelf, and the oddities were plentiful.  We waltzed around in our hats, scoped out the treasures, got the obligatory fresh-squeezed lemonade (twice!), and even saw a few girls ride their horses up to the gas station and “park” in the spaces…HA, gotta love the country.

mirrors on the ceiling

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Sometimes while practicing the art of antiquing, you find a piece that needs a bit of TLC.  In the case of this gorgeous mirror I was lucky enough to snatch up at the York Antiques Center, (my mom and I simultaneously spotted it just as the dealer was bringing it in the front door- timing is everything!), a bit of TLC meant a simple rewiring to bring it back to its wall-hanging glory.  If you’ve never rewired something before, don’t be alarmed by the electrical-sounding-mumbo-jumbo; Re-outfiting a picture or mirror to enable wall hanging is extremely easy.  If the piece already has round hooks, here’s the trick:

Grab a pair of wire cutters and some strong, flexible multi-threaded picture frame wire…Cut the wire to the width of the frame, leaving several inches extra on either side and thread each end through the loops…Twist the wire back over itself…

Et voilà!

Can’t wait to hang this beauty up in my apartment!

a pint of polish

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If there’s one thing my entire family takes pride in, it’s our unique ability to discover new life in old things.  And we’re not just playing around; In my family antiquing is an olympic sport.  Everyone from my grandma, to my aunts, mother, cousins, sister- even my 23-year-old brother- knows the value of a well-restored antique.  Ever heard the saying “They just don’t make ’em the way they used to?”  Well it’s true.  Rediscovered old pieces add a special flare to your home that (in my opinion) simply cannot be replicated by something new.  When I spotted this antique measuring jar last weekend at my favorite indoor flea market, Rhode Island Antiques, I knew I had to have it.  Although my original thinking way to fill the jar with fresh summer flowers, I become inspired by this photo:and decided to try out the glass vase as colorful display of my nail polish collection.  Sure, it may not be this antique’s conventional use, but I think a little usage re-assignment brings new life to an otherwise outdated piece.

a couch.

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Sometimes you encounter a piece of furniture that you cannot live without.  Okay, maybe that statement only applies to the ladies of my family…but you get the point!  When my mom and I spotted this charming antique sofa at Butterfield, we both immediately fell in love.  Although my roommie and I already have two supercomfycozy couches (that we will never part with!), my mom and I decided that “sofa’s like this don’t come around every day!” and “we better snatch it up while we can!”…needless to say it’s scheduled to arrive Thursday afternoon and I couldn’t be more excited!

Spring Forward

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MSGM / Pre-Fall 2012

It’s that time of year again!  Last night we switched over our clocks (unless you’re like me, and never “fell back” in the fall, then your clocks are finally caught up!), and lost a whole hour in the day.  I suppose this is a fair enough exchange for the entire bonus day we got at the end of the month (February 29- leap year woo!).  Either way, I’m taking Mother Nautre’s newest hour-snatching as a sign to get out there and gobble up the first signs of Spring.  I’m off to a day of antiquing, manicures, and sunshine.  In the meantime, I’ll be lusting over this ahhhdorable MSGM bubble mini (above) and I will leave you with these words of wisdom:

xo