Did you ever notice that as a mother you have all these little odd sayings… Weird sing-songy ways of announcing bed time, meal time, to comfort your children, etc. Some of them were handed down to you from your own mother — who may or may not have heard them from her own mother. Somethings [...]

I’ve been running into a lot of new collectors of vintage and antique things at Listia; I kind of feel like I’m becoming a resident expert, both it terms of being able to help folks and because of the amount of time I spend at Listia. *wink* I don’t normally take the time to give [...]

Last Tuesday, August 2, 2001, Picker Sisters aired on the Lifetime Television. (If you were confused by the ads showing American Pickers Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz promoting the show on the History Channel, that’s because both Lifetime and History are part of A&E Television Networks — but that really didn’t help those who went [...]

Over at Crazy Suburban Mom, Tracy wonders what to do with antique printer’s trays. Is it best to hang them or set them on something – And do you set things in them or attach them inside the little boxes? I’ve seen them painted but I really don’t want to do that… I’d love it [...]

I spotted this clever display at an antique mall and I thought it would be great for use in the home too: a simple vintage wall shelf, with the vintage postcards in the little spaces for knick knacks — the vases and glassware keep the postcards upright. Wouldn’t it be great to pair travel postcards [...]

Pick: I suppose it is time. Time to take down the tree, put all the ornaments in their boxes, until next year. We are the only ones in our ‘group’ who have a live tree. When the kids were small, we’d work on putting it up for a few days. You’d do the lights, the [...]

Andrea Porter, an honors graduate from Fashion Institute of Technology, spent over 14 years working in the textile business until one day she found herself in need of a new coffee table. Unhappy with the current options available in today’s commercial design world, she decided to look into the past and created a coffee table [...]

Pick & Grin from Antiquips brings you bizarre finds. Part of the joy in collecting or selling antiques and collectibles is the people you meet. Sharing the stories of the hunt, the success in finding a super item at a great price or selling one for a king’s ransom. Mistakes are forgotten, and the next [...]

Pick: That was such a fun auction we went to the other night! Lots of variety, friendly crowd, and it moved along quickly too. My favorite thing was the treasure we got, almost a piece of your family heritage! Grin: I started my inspection of the items going up for auction at the far end [...]

At a local antique mall, the Moorhead Antique Mall, I spotted another idea for salvaging vintage china pieces: turning tea cup saucers into nightlights. I’ve also seen old cups (with and without saucers) turned into night lights (or night lamps), like this one by micah7: But I think that since the vertical saucers are flatter [...]

Typically, you grab the knob, turn it to open the door and step inside. How many doorknobs have you had in your hand and not really noticed them at all?  I like the unique, decadent doorknobs made of crystal, glass and metals. I’ve seen especially nice brass doorknobs in Creemore, Ontario. If you look for [...]

Pick-Let’s talk some more about the antique recycling in our home. Grin-Does that mean you are finally going to clean out your clothes closet? P-No, silly. I mean our “decorating recycling”, things we have saved from a dumpster or land fill by fixing it up and putting it to a good use. How about discussing [...]

First, there’s that curious name: Fiesta “go alongs.” (Or is it “go with”? I’ve seen that tag used in eBay item descriptions.) What, exactly, does either phrase mean? The long-acknowledged Fiesta experts, Bob & Sharon Huxford, describe go alongs in their book,  Collector’s Encyclopedia of Fiesta (10th ed. 2005). Simply, these collectibles were “…made by [...]

Antiquips Pickin & Grinin Pick: This is going to be our first article for Inherited Values so let’s show off some of our unusual collectibles. Grin: How about your hand mirrors? You are always bragging to anyone that will listen, just how great you think they are and how well you display them. Pick: Oh, [...]

I like to use my vintage things, where appropriate (and sometimes I make up uses for things). I feel it really continues the life of old things. I also don’t like to let anything go to waste, even if it’s broken or damaged; but I’m especially reluctant if it was a part of my collection. [...]

What I like about these Lil Davinci Art Cabinets is the fact that each cabinet is a storage container as well as a display piece, holding up to 50 sheets at a time with a spring-loaded pocket. That means you can store multiple pieces of artwork — and ephemera — in one place, with the [...]

It’s not always easy for me to accept altering antique and vintage items, but sometimes it’s a matter of salvaging things the best you can, breathing new life into them so that they are appreciated once again. When I spotted these vintage fork easels, I had to say I thought it was a beautiful way [...]

Unpacking delicate vintage glass ornaments, untangling glowing orbs of flickering light, placing winter village scenes just so, divided camps of garland vs tinsel, and don’t forget the tradition of tree topper placement. Some believe less is more (those weird freaks!), and others (like me!) believe holiday is the time of year to go all out. [...]