You Tell Me Yours...

Subject: You Tell Me Yours... Mon Jan 15, 2007 8:50 pm

Thank goodness we are not all chasing the same scrumptious vintage wot-nots and that there copious delicious little places to hunt for them...
So unlike the secret ingredient in my bestest chocolate cake recipe, we can share our favorite hunting grounds with the world...

Do tell. Where do you find your most scrumptious vintage finds? What did you buy this weekend? Did you need it or could you simply not resist it...?
_________________
Lots of love, Alison at BrocanteHome.
http://brocantehome.typepad.com/brocante_home/

Subject: Re: You Tell Me Yours... Wed Jan 17, 2007 5:32 pm

Anybody from Illinois out there?! I doubt it, but if so, you must visit To Market, To Market in Crystal Lake, IL. It is the sweetest shop ever, loaded with vintage prettiness. I buy something there almost every single week. I've gotten a lot of bargains there. I so wish I could find somebody in my area who loves treasure hunting!

Subject: Re: You Tell Me Yours... Thu Feb 01, 2007 6:31 pm

http://www.periodfeatures.net/

based in the UK - will ship worldwide - really do package goods in brown paper and string - lovely people - we have the very ornate loo roll holder. The French soaps look fabulous and the Prices Votive Candles are to die for in sandlewood (have these already - subtle and delicious and look at that packaging!).

Subject: Re: You Tell Me Yours... Thu Feb 01, 2007 6:38 pm

Elaine, that is a great site! Thanks for the link..

Subject: Re: You Tell Me Yours... Thu Feb 01, 2007 8:36 pm

Elaine, this site as some lovely stuff, thanks for the link.

Age : 34 Joined : 02 Feb 2007 Posts : 7 Name : Janette

Two great French websites;

www.petitpan.com - the CUTEST kids clothes and toys

www.tse-tse.com - I used to work for these girls - not vintage but great quirky homewares and a fantastic fun website.

Happy surfing ladies..

Subject: Re: You Tell Me Yours... Thu Sep 06, 2007 8:55 am

what delightful sites

Subject: Re: You Tell Me Yours... Thu Sep 06, 2007 9:31 am

My finds, what few I have, come mostly from charity shops, eBay, the odd yard/car boot sale. I've done a bit of hunting in antique shops, but I often find the price tag is more than my bijou budget can manage.

Appreciate the links ladies! I would LOVE to spend a weekend, trolling round the French shops!

Subject: Re: You Tell Me Yours... Sat Oct 06, 2007 4:34 pm

I buy loads of my vintage things from ebay, and for old books magazines ect.. I use amazon.
I love hunting around markets and boot sales, and I just adore second hand shops, such treasure troves.

Age : 46 Joined : 04 Dec 2007 Posts : 1 Name : Jannie Kroes

http://www.tantebrocante.nl
For a nice brocante home I would like to introduce my website Tante Brocante. I'm based in the Netherlands and will ship worldwide.
Take a look and send me a mail tante.brocante@gmail.com with your comments!
Jannie Kroes

[img]http://www.tantebrocante.nl[/img]

Subject: Re: You Tell Me Yours... Tue Dec 04, 2007 9:21 pm

I use eBay.fr - French eBay. If you did French at school you can cover the essential question to the vendor "C'est combien, svp, pour enoyer a l'Ecosse? Merci" and the answer comes back in numerals ("c'est 6.80 euros"). The majority write English but not all.

It takes a bit to find the non-standard terms, equivalent of "shabby chic" but putting the standard term for the item plus 'ancien' or 'ancienne' will often get you started and then just keep picking up words. I love household linens, old ones, so I often use "lin ancien lit" - "linen old bed" - or something similar.

It's FAR cheaper than UK eBay, even including the postage (ask for the "economique" rate which is slower but cheaper). Things that are really sought-after and expensive here are less so in France.

Examples: I'm sitting in bed under my stunningly beautiful old-gold and muted-red intricately-stitched 19th century quilt (nineteen pounds + nineteen pounds postage - it was a huge parcel!) and wearing a night-shirt that was described as "nineteenth century" but a textile conservator pal agrees is probably early C19th, in other words my nightshirt is two hundred years old, fine linen, handstitched with exquisite needlework (eight pounds plus 4 pounds postage). I just had a bath and dried myself with a gigantic linen bath-sheet, nineteenth century and about three centuries' of wear left in it!, embroidered with monogrammed initial (6 pounds plus four pounds postage).

So quilt (£36), nightshirt (£12), towel (£10) = £60 total, all antique, all exquisite, all in perfect condition.

I bought a friend a drawstring-necked fine-linen nightshirt, late 19th century, for under a fiver including postage. My washing-up is in an old white enamelware basin with blue edging, wide and shallow and perfect for my knackered arms to cope with, from my beloved Languedoc region (er... an incredible 0.99€, ie about 67pence! A couple of quid for postage). I have the daintiest pure white cotton hand-embroidered Victorian drawers (because they are so pretty!), trimmed with handmade lace that I've threaded old-rose narrow-narrow satin ribbon through, hanging, perfectly ironed, on a wooden hanger on my bedroom wall for decoration - French eBay, under a fiver each including postage... ("culotte fendue" if you're interested in buying any of your own!)

I could go on and on...

laura

Subject: Re: You Tell Me Yours... Wed Dec 05, 2007 7:45 pm

Oh my goodness Laura! I am so inspired. I LOVE all things French and 'Brocante' and until now have to look forward to visits to my husbands cousin in France (even more of a Brocante fan than anyone I know) to satisfy my cravings! I might just be perusing French e-bay...

Subject: Re: You Tell Me Yours... Wed Dec 05, 2007 9:05 pm

I love all things French too, especially since I was a French major in college and took French from 8th grade all the way to my last year of college (my 3rd).

I'd be interested in what shipping costs to the US - sometimes it's ridiculously high.