Midsummer finds

When ever I'm in Finland for mid summer festivities, I want to enjoy pancakes and coffee in the early morning at the local market place near our summerhouse. As always, the place was buzzing already at 8 am, so I hurried to get the right kind of potatoes that go well with Baltic herring and salmon and summer's first fresh strawberries.

On my way back to sea shore I popped in to a local flea market and made some interesting finds with just few euros; An old Fortuna board game and a white vase that had similar pattern painted on it as one of my old treasures.

The turquoise smaller one was painted by my great grandmother in 1954. The fortuna game is really in bad shape, but I love the pale greenish paint on the edges and the tiny crooked nails look adorable. I wonder how many exciting games some kids might have played with it in the old days?

I remembered my greenish vase had triangles painted on it, nut this was a surprise to find out they are so similar when I placed them next to each other. I guess they're from the same era.

At the minute I laid my eyes on that Fortuna I knew what it is going to be doubling as: A jewelry display!

I'm not sure if it's "chic", but it's definitely shabby!

Treasures and trinkets

While visiting my parents yesterday we went through some old boxes containing stuff that used to belong to my late granparents and other relatives. My mother gave me promision to take whatever I liked... 

 

That little jewelry box actually was mine. I can't remember where I got it... I might have bought it myself when I was around 12 years, who knows...

The pocket watch used to belong to my granfather and might have something to do with WWII. It seems well worn, but still has the original winding key. There's also beautiful engraving inside the back cover: anchor and barrels. The amethyst ring was my granmothers, just like the delicate looking necklace. Not worth much, but I used to admire these as a child whenever I saw my granny wearing these.

My godmother and godfather are selling their place and wanted to get rid of some old stuff, so I got my hands on some lovely costume jewelry my godmother had. I love the collar-like pearl necklace and the vintage watch. I've been meaning to get a tiny teeny watch like this for ages. It's really simple and stylish, in need of a new wristband, and definitely something that I need to remove before going to shower or doing the dishes... Sigh. I guess this means that I have to grow up.

The oddest thing is the little pill box. It belonged to my great-granmother who died before I was born. The box was inside her handbag with some other stuff and still contained around ten pills. I got rid of the pills, but a pill box is something I've also been looking for. Not only do I have one now, but also one that has been in the family for generations. ;)

Chalkware, chalkware on the wall...

Yes, I have the occasional weakness for vintage chalkware wall plaques. And I'm still searching for those perfect oriental chalkware figures for my future mid century styled shadow boxes...

 

These two owls I've had a while now in the lobby. I really love the dark coffee brown color (against the latte colored wall) with the gold accents... they work perfectly together. Maybe I'll find a third one to keep them company someday? 

 

Here's what I got today, sunflowers! Yay!

I'm not sure where to hang these yet. These belonged to my godmother (Thank you!!!) and I know they predate 1980's, but I'm not sure whether these are from 70's or 60's. (My best bet is 1970's.) All really I know is that I've loved these ever since I first saw these when I was little.

Here comes the sun(flower)... And I say it's all right...

Bringing Zen to my living room

I live in a late 1950's building and tend to choose 50's items and  style also in my home decoration. I like the simplicity of mid-century design but I'm not too strict with decades or styles, as long as everything looks and feels good.

Most of the furniture in my home is either inherited or bought used. Living so close to IKEA I haven't been able to avoid having something new as well. I try to keep the amount of stuff to a minimum, it's easier to clean and I think vintage furniture looks better with some space around them. I've recently developed a growing interest on minimalism and started a never ending project of decluttering the apartment.

My latest interior design project (apart from throwing stuff away) is a little zen garden/beach to the living room coffee table. I love to doodle and the fine sand makes a nice surface to draw with a stick. A zen garden is a fun alternative for coffee table books or flowers. I didn't place any plants in my mini beach since I want to be able to put the dish away to a cupboard from time to time.

I've brought the sea shells as souvenirs from my trips to Australia, Africa and India. I like to have them somewhere so I can look at them during the long cold winters and think about the warm sand on the beach.

The decoration sand I bought from a candle shop, the dish was made by my mother. The chair shown in second picture is Danish design from 1957 and the table is from local flea market, can't really tell the decade, I'm guessing it's from early 60's.

Sunday sunday...

Since we live in Finland, it's about time we write little something about vintage shopping in our home town Tampere. One of our most recent vintage shopping sprees took place in Suvi-Fintage event, held by local vintage enthusiasts. The event took place in Tallipiha stable yards, which is a tourist attraction in the centre of Tampere. Tallipiha is a nice place to visit even without any special event. Small craft shops and cafés offer a relaxing getaway from the noise of the city and the surroundings take you back in time.

At Tallipiha you can find different kinds of hand crafts and there's a chocolate shop open year round.

We had there a lovely, laid back Sunday shopping and eating ice cream...

On our way home we popped in to a giant ginger bread house in the city center.

We'll write more about vintage shopping in Tampere soon. Until next time!

Weekends timeless vintage finds

I was visiting my old home town Pori for mothers day and popped in to an Antique fair. I really wouldn't called it "a fair", more like few sellers with old magazines, haberdashery and glass wases, but of course I couldn't leave without buying something!

I've been looking for a vintage watch for ages, and I finally found it!

It's an old Swiss made Certina, bought it for 2 euros. I don't know if it'll ever work, but it's a pretty accessory even if it doesn't show correct time. Now it has stopped on 5 o'clock so it's always tea time for me now! I also bought the hat needle with 2 euros, not bad?

I had to check what new Certinas look like nowadays, and I found one looking just like mine. It's a Certina Caimano, 395 euros in Atomic Clock.

Certina Caimano

Blue days

You all know how it goes... Sometimes one can go on for weeks circling charity shops and flea markets without actually finding anything worth buying. (Usually happens to me when I'm searching for something specific.)

Today I decided just to make a little round (and not to buy anything) in a Red Cross charity shop Kontti after dropping off some old books and household items that I had no use for anymore. Then I saw these...

And the decision about not buying anything was pretty much gone. Baby blue petticoat and pale blue (unused) set of camisole and bloomers. Oh my (vintage) goodness!

Did I mention that I was actually looking for a straw hat for a millinery project? Didn't get it. I'm just so easily distracted when it comes to pretty things.

I did also found a very cute dress from 70's, but more about that later...

And all hat jazz!

I love hats. They play well with me. But even if I might have vintage sized (that is small enough to find plenty of vintage shoes) feet, my head is huge... compared to most of the (ladies) vintage hats. So imagine my suprise when I stumbled into a pile of hats in my size on my charity shop round. One even had this really cute hat pin on it!

I'm guessing the first black one could be 40's or 50's, the second 50's or 60's and the brown 70's or 80's. (Not that the age actually matters more than the style.) All are a bit battered, but that's an easy thing to fix. Just hold the hat (or the part you want to fix) over hot steam for a while and gently mold it back to shape. Repeat the procedure if necessary.

People should wear more hats. Really. A hat can make an outfit set off from a crowd and the right hat can make you feel instantly more "dressed" and refined.

Summary in finnish: Hatut ovat ihania! Isoon (58) päähän vain löytää kirppareilta todella harvoin yhtään mitään, ainakaan naisille tarkoitettua. Hiljattain kuitenkin kävi tuuri ja Nokian Fidasta löytyi useampi oikean kokoinen... joista yhtä jopa koristi ihanainen hattuneula! Ikäveikkaukset liikkuvat 40-luvulta 80-luvulle, mutta tärkeintä tietysti ei ole ikä van näkö. Kaikki hatut ovat hiukan kärsineet aikojen saatossa, mutta se on liiankin helppo asia korjata. Pieni hetki vesihöyryssä ja sen jälkeen käsin hellästi muokataan hatut takaisin kuosiinsa. Ihmisten todella pitäisi käyttää enemmän hattuja, myös minun...