Becke from The Vintage Cabin is a ball of laughs…just read for yourself! If there’s ever someone who I’ve thought to myself, “I bet thrifting with her would be fun!”, it’s Becke. Learn more about her, then go check out her shop!

Q: Tell our lovely readers a bit about yourself. Is buying and selling vintage your full-time gig or a hobby? How and when did you get started in this business?

A: My name is Becke and I live in a really old wooden house in, what my friends would call, the boonies. I care for 3 geriatric cats, a French Bulldog and a British guy (who is my husband). I sell vintage home decor and housewares on Etsy, which is somewhere between a part-time and full-time job these days. I also have a booth at an antique market in a small town near my house. I am a thrift junkie and have been since about the 8th grade (so that’s, um, kind of a long time ago…). My mom would always drag my sister and I to yard sales, rummage sales and thrift stores and we’d go to each place reluctantly…with a coat over our heads. Back then, it was pretty embarrassing shopping at these places. Vintage clothes were only worn by Cyndi Lauper and the term ‘vintage’ in relation to clothes and home decor wasn’t even a part of the collective dialogue.

Q: Do you have any favorite, never-let-you-down, treasure hunting spots? Would you like to share, or are they top-secret?

A: I do have some ‘old faithful’ treasure hunting spots that I just have to keep secret! I sometimes go to the Waddington’s Sunday auctions but the prices are usually pretty steep there. For the most part, I frequent a lot of one-off sales or church sales that only come around once or twice a year.  Let’s just say, I frequent any store or sale run by seniors who use the “is 10 cents okay, dear?” pricing strategy.

Q: Is there a certain aesthetic you look for when you’re thrifting?

A: I am all over the place when I thrift. I have always looked for weird, creepy, funny and truly original items. I love anything with weird faces on it, funny expressions or weird sayings. I also love vibrant colors and gravitate toward them when I look for fabric, furnishings and knick knacks. That said, I also really love minimalist styles and look for really utilitarian pieces that can stand the test of time. As I get older, my need for useless stuff has been replaced by a need for things that are purposeful and stylish at the same time. My main goal is to never take myself too seriously when thrifting and decorating.

Q: How do you decide what to pick up, or just pass on? Do you wait for an item to speak to you?

A: Some items do more than speak to me, they beckon me to take them home and completely redesign a room around them. Other items are a bit more subtle. I think I have about 5 go-to decor styles that I really love – mid century modern, primitive, cottage style, rustic modern and industrial. I try and find items that fit into these styles and go from there. Once in a while I will take home the strange items that speak to me, maybe in a scary way, like taxidermy frogs, ugly clown paintings and crazy dog portraits.  “Hey lady! Over here! Take me home and stick me with a collection of other ugly gems and I promise you I’ll look amazing!” “…Oh…okay. I guess I can make room for a weird, moustached baby…”

Q: Be honest, do you keep many of your finds, or is it strictly business? And do you have any personal collections that you have built over time through thrifting?

A: I have had many collections come and go and I have kept a lot of my finds…for a while. I eventually change things up and filter things out over time so I don’t have too many items that have stuck around for more than the last 5 years. I have collected everything from Ghostbusters and Peewee Herman toys to weird and wacky foreign language albums to chicken figurines and squirrels. My current collecting obsession involves eagles, ships and The Statue of Liberty. I have a few Lady Liberty statuettes and some ship paintings but I’m trying not to get too out of hand with them. And I LOVE eagles, although they have to be in a certain position and have a certain look of severity to them. No eagles in flight, they look too Harley Davidson. I prefer eagles perched or with their wings outstretched but not actually going anywhere! Wow, this is all making me sound like a maniac! Anyway, let’s just say collecting is a strange compulsion…

Q: Are there any items you’ve regretted selling and wish you would have kept for yourself?

A: I always have one or two items in the shop that make me cringe a bit when I sell them, especially when they sell really fast (not even an hour after it was listed). I recently sold a great, antique wooden eagle that I bought from an old lady who had it in her kitchen for decades. It was so awesome looking but I just couldn’t find a spot for it so…off it went.  It could come back to haunt me but I try not to get too attached to anything that I sell.

Q: Pick one and tell us about it: Weirdest, most valuable, or most satisfying find?

A: Most satisfying and valuable find…Since I started selling on Etsy back in October of 2009, I have found 3 teak peppermills – 2 Dansk and one Nissen (here, here and here). I sold one mill for $150 and the other two for just under $100 a piece. I found the Nissen mill for 50 cents at the Salvation Army and both of the Dansk mills came from one of my favourite church shops. I took one of them up to the cash to ask how much it was and the woman held it as though it was contaminated, she made kind of an ‘ewwww’ face and said, “is 10 cents okay, dear?”

Robin Eastwood is a treasure hunter and vintage fanatic. Visit The Fancy Lamb on Etsy to drool over some of her latest finds, and follow Robin on Twitter to hear about her latest thrifting adventures.

I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Jeanna from SwaneeGRACE and I sure hope you will too. A gal can only hope to have the luck she has when she’s treasure hunting! Read on to learn more about her vintage addiction.

Q: Tell our lovely readers a bit about yourself. Is buying and selling vintage your full-time gig or a hobby? How and when did you get started in this business?

A: Hello! My name is Jeanna and I’m a New York City native lucky enough to still live in the city I call home. I work full-time as a Business Manager at Bergdorf Goodman but devote as much time as I can to SwaneeGRACE. I consider it much more than a hobby as vintage truly is my life’s passion. I long for the day that it’s more than just a part-time gig.

My love affair with vintage dresses goes way back. I went on my first thrifting adventure with my grandma in the 7th grade, filled a bag for $1 and left with an entire fall wardrobe. Desperately needing another fix, I started going to fleas in New Jersey with my mom and very shortly after that I was exploring Manhattan and rummaging through the myriad of vintage shops that lined Broadway, all of which are now long gone. I’ve been hooked ever since. Funny thing is my nanny had absolutely no idea what a lasting impact that thrift run would have on my adult life. We still laugh about it and she’s tickled pink that I named my shop, in part, after her.

My collecting took a more serious turn about 7 years ago when I started going to all the NYC vintage shows and the Whitaker-Augusta auctions in New-Hope. Further along in my career, extra cash in hand, I did what any vintage-obsessed 20-something sewer would do: started to buy lots and lots of pretty dresses, some not even my size since I convinced myself I could make them fit. This was almost never actualized. My apartment started to look like one big closet and when even I couldn’t take it anymore, I knew selling was the next step. I dabbled with Ebay for a spell, rented space at a design cooperative in Soho for a few seasons and tried my hand at the Brooklyn Flea when it first opened. Throughout it all I wanted an online shop. After having a customized site designed but never programmed due to budgetary constraints, I decided to give Etsy a whirl last August. All I can say is I wish I did it sooner.

Q: Do you have any favorite, never-let-you-down, treasure hunting spots? Would you like to share, or are they top-secret?

A: Of course I do! Like most vintage aficionados, I have top-secret tactics and a few off-the-radar thrift spots that continually churn out some pretty spectacular stuff. I often feel like I live a charmed vintage life. Most likely I’m just lucky, but I like to joke that I was some fabulous dress shop owner from the 50s in my past life and I’ve come back to re-collect all of my long lost dresses.

In addition to the shops, shows and fleas (my most favorite being The Elephants Trunk), I recently started traveling to estate sales and just can’t get enough of ‘em. Plus, whenever I travel, the first thing I do after scouting out accommodations is research the vintage spots.

Q: Is there a certain aesthetic you look for when you’re thrifting? How do you decide what to pick up, or just pass on? Do you wait for an item to speak to you?

A: When hand-selecting my stock, beauty, quality, craftsmanship, design and lasting wear always take precedence over trendiness. With a focus on femininity, flattery and fun, I gravitate towards vintage that displays its roots and simultaneously looks refreshingly current, either on its own or paired with modern pieces. Beautiful and wearable dresses, 25-100 years old and in great condition, that blend seamlessly with a 21st century wardrobe, are on the top of my most wanted list.

And while there’s no denying my heart races when I discover designer pieces, I’m always most taken with those handmade, little known label, and label-less dresses whose fabric, fit, and construction could easily cause any one of them to be mistaken for a piece out of a current designer’s collection. I wear lots of vintage to work and am constantly being asked questions like, “Is that Prada?”, “What floor did you get that on?”, etc. It always delights me to tell them it’s vintage. I just love raising awareness and imparting knowledge about vintage clothing. Anything new that’s even remotely similar in terms of quality is most often cost prohibitive. And let’s face it: vintage is just tons more fun.

Q: Be honest, do you keep many of your finds, or is it strictly business? And do you have any personal collections that you have built over time through thrifting?

A: Oh yes, I keep lots of them! My love of a good dress is what got me into this whole thing in the first place. And considering I only buy things I love, if something fits perfectly, it’s really hard not to keep it. Lately I’ve been trying to only put one item from each successful buying trip into my closet and this seems to be working nicely. I know, however, it’s only a matter of time before this plan fails miserably.

In addition to dresses from the 20’s-50’s, there are a few other vintage things I can’t resist: school autograph books from the 1890s-1940s (I just love the quirky and dated phrases), recipe books, photographs of ladies in dresses, watch rings, interesting dress patterns and fashion magazines.

Q: Are there any items you’ve regretted selling and wish you would have kept for yourself?

A: Not yet. If I’m on the fence about something, I hold on to it until I’m emotionally ready to let it go. Once it gets into the shop I can’t wait for it to be united with its new owner. I don’t like to have things just sitting around looking pretty on a garment rack. It’s important to me that these items get the love and use they deserve.

Right about now the only thing I regret is not having enough time to get all my pretties into the shop. Thankfully, my summer lighting situation is figured out and I’m about to implement a system to ensure new items get debuted in a timely manner.

Q: Pick one and tell us about it: Weirdest, most valuable, or most satisfying find?

A: At a recent estate sale that was so loaded it ran over three weekends, I lost my cell phone in a room that was literally knee-deep with picked over stuff (including my own). I didn’t realize the loss until after I left, so back into that musty room I went. Although my phone was never found, I discovered the most stunning, museum-quality 2 piece Victorian beaded sash. Each piece was just lying there on the floor underneath all that madness. Much to my surprise, it survived 100 years (including that frenzied sale!) without one bead missing or even a nip in the chiffon. Amazing!!! As soon as I found it I gleefully gave up on the phone and called it a day.

Experiences like this have taught me that, more often than not, some of the best stuff is lurking in the background away from all the hubbub. Sometimes you just need to dig a little deeper.

Robin Eastwood is a treasure hunter and vintage fanatic. Visit The Fancy Lamb on Etsy to drool over some of her latest finds, and follow Robin on Twitter to hear about her latest thrifting adventures.

My Vintage Addiction will be on vacation for the month of July while we regroup and hunt for vintage finds. Stay tuned for a few changes and have a wonderful summer!

I won’t name names, but I know a few people who have a slight addiction to clocks. A clock fetish, if you will. I have no doubt in my mind that those individuals have already stumbled across Clockwork Universe, but for those of you who haven’t, this interview is for you. Let the drooling begin.

Q: Tell our lovely readers a bit about yourself. Is buying and selling vintage your full-time gig or a hobby? How and when did you get started in this business?

A: My name is Oskars. I live in Eastern Europe – in Latvia. Together with my wife, we have 5 shops here on Etsy. We both have a higher education in social sciences, but we are currently selling vintage things as our full-time job while also raising our little son.  I started to sell vintage clocks and watches only 4 months ago here on Etsy, but other vintage and antique items I have collected and sold from time to time for about 8 years.

Q: Do you have any favorite, never-let-you-down, treasure hunting spots? Would you like to share, or are they top-secret?

A: I buy my clocks in every possible way – in antique shops, flea markets.

Q: Is there a certain aesthetic you look for when you’re thrifting? How do you decide what to pick up, or just pass on? Do you wait for an item to speak to you?

A: No I don’t wait until an item speaks to me. When I started my shop, I bought almost all vintage clocks that I found. Now I’ve started to understand what kind of clocks my customers love more. It is most important criteria. Also I always try to find something unseen and rare.

Q: Be honest, do you keep many of your finds, or is it strictly business? And do you have any personal collections that you have built over time through thrifting?

A: It is strictly business. I stopped collecting vintage things, when I started to sell them on Etsy. But I hope someday I will have collection of things that are made in Soviet Union or diggers founded items.

Q: Are there any items you’ve regretted selling and wish you would have kept for yourself?

A: No, I cannot remember such emotions. There are so many beautiful watches, but I know, that I will find them again and again.

Q: Pick one and tell us about it: Weirdest, most valuable, or most satisfying find?

A: This nice antique wristwatch was signed Pavel Bure in Russian. It is a very old and very rare Imperial Russian watch. Possibly it is the last one on the world. I found only one similar design watch on ebay that cost $3000. I sold my watch much cheaper. I hope the new watch owner is happy for this watch.

Robin Eastwood is a treasure hunter and vintage fanatic. Visit The Fancy Lamb on Etsy to drool over some of her latest finds, and follow Robin on Twitter to hear about her latest thrifting adventures.

Today’s interview subject, Sarah from Mouse Trap Vintage, offers up an eclectic group of vintage clothing, housewares, and oddities. But perhaps some of my favorite treasures in her shop are the City and Country Mouse Pins which are frequently made out of vintage and recycled fabric. If you’d like to learn more about Sarah (and I’m quite certain you do!), read on:

Q: Tell our lovely readers a bit about yourself. Is buying and selling vintage your full-time gig or a hobby? How and when did you get started in this business?

A: I have been selling on Etsy part-time for about 2 years. I also work full-time as an Admissions Counselor at Moore College of Art & Design, my alma mater, and am a member of the Midwives Collective & Gallery, an art collective and cooperative gallery for women. I am a busy lady who is about to free up her schedule to make room for more vintage and my budding textile and home design company, SquidWhale Designs, when I go part-time at Moore in September. Woot!

I began working in my family-owned record shop when I was 11. The record store was in a “dirt mall” and behind that “dirt mall” was a true flea market with cardboard boxes full of dusty old treasures to rifle through. I started buying young, decorating my bedroom and myself. The rest is history.

Q: Do you have any favorite, never-let-you-down, treasure hunting spots? Would you like to share, or are they top-secret?

A: I am a flea market girl. My favorite is The Golden Nugget in Lambersville, NJ. It’s an outdoor market open year round. I love going in the middle of the winter, very early in the morning. You have the whole place to yourself.

Q: Is there a certain aesthetic you look for when you’re thrifting? How do you decide what to pick up, or just pass on? Do you wait for an item to speak to you?

A: I love very old, one-of-a-kind handmade objects or clothing and folk art. The more amateur the maker, the better. I am currently planning my Depression-era hobo-themed wedding, so items from the late 1920s and 1930s are of particular interest to me right now. I am also very attracted to the color red. It’s becoming the unofficial theme of my shop.

Q: Be honest, do you keep many of your finds, or is it strictly business? And do you have any personal collections that you have built over time through thrifting?

A: My apartment is pretty full, but I do keep very select items. My most realized collection is of 1930s and 1940s dresses, but I have many, many starts to collections. Yesterday I was shooting a pair of figurines for the shop, an elephant and a mouse, from 1940s Japan with matching red bowties. Just before listing I decided that animal figurines with red bowties will be my new collection. My last short-lived obsession was hand-sewn humpty dumpty stuffed dolls. I have three so far. Someday I will commit to something, but for now there’s too many things to love!

Q: Are there any items you’ve regretted selling and wish you would have kept for yourself?

A: A handmade leather horse brooch with straw hair and wooden bead legs. I wear a lot of brooches, but this one I would have displayed.

I have come to love the process of photographing objects and clothing. It’s almost as satisfying capturing them this way and filing them away in my digital archives than it is to own them. It also takes up less space.

Q: Pick one and tell us about it: Weirdest, most valuable, or most satisfying find?

A: I think the weirdest thing I have ever found is this jar of dental implants. I found it at a flea market that happens monthly in my neighborhood and all you readers can buy it right now in my shop. I like things that are gross, but fascinating. Fortunately, there’s other people out there who do, too.

Robin Eastwood is a treasure hunter and vintage fanatic. Visit The Fancy Lamb on Etsy to drool over some of her latest finds, and follow Robin on Twitter to hear about her latest thrifting adventures.