Antiques, Glorious Antiques!

I am in love with antiques! My palms get sweaty every time I go to a consignment shop, thrift store, yard sale or flea market and come across a "deal" on some vintage treasure. I have been lucky because I am related to (and married into) a generation of pack rats. I have found tons of treasures in basements and storage sheds. My kitchen is loaded with vintage antique canning jars (some purchased; some "inherited") that are storing bulk kitchen staples; like pasta, dried beans, cornstarch, baking powder, etc.. The jars in the picture above are holding odds and ends on my kitchen window sill. They remind me of my hard working fore bearers; that whiled away many hours filling those jars with garden produce to sustain their families through the winter. My philosophy is that if they have lasted this long they are probably more durable than a comparable item I could buy at Walmart. The great thing is you can nab old canning jars very inexpensively.

Another of my favorites are old stoneware crocks ( I think of them as pioneer Tupperware). I have them all around the house. I have a large one holding firewood by the fireplace, another holds dog food. In fact, you can find vintage things in all sorts of places! My dear hubby surprised me with these earlier this spring.


Our local feed, seed, and pet supply store has stored their bulk garden seed in these crocks for as long as I have been married (and that would be 20 years.... HOLY COW!). In fact, one of the reasons I would buy my garden seed there is because I could admire the collection of crocks on the shelves while I bought my seed. Well, this year when I went to buy my seeds they were sitting in a row on the top shelf with price stickers on them. I about had a stroke! In my tightwadishness I could not justify buying the whole stash; so I only bought two small and one large. Unbeknownst to me, my dear hubby secretly sent my son (the one who can drive) back to the seed store to buy the rest!

My hubby and I have a running joke that whenever we surprise or do something nice for each other (such as buying a much needed diet beverage, or a chocolate bar) we are giving each other "flowers". This may sound bizarre, but when we were first married my husband spent money (a precious commodity for two newlyweds) on a flower arrangement to surprise me. I appreciated the thought, but I hated that he spent grocery money on buying flowers that are were over priced and would die. A total waste of money, in my book. After (kindly; we were newlyweds after all) explaining my stance on the subject, we now find ways to show our appreciation that are free, cheap, or that will last longer than a few days. I still get real flowers, but now they are a hand picked bouquet delivered with a kiss and an "I love you" ( Okay, I'm getting back on subject now). Imagine my surprise (and joy), when I came upstairs from the laundry room later that night to find six more glorious crocks sitting on the kitchen counter (and a big cheesy grin on my hubby face)! This little surprise is the equivalent to a dozen roses in my book!!! Now the large ones hold cooking utensils in the kitchen. The small ones hold cotton balls and q tips on the bath vanities. Another holds pens and pencils on the computer desk.