This vintage printers tray was another Thrift Store USA find -- Anouk and I unearthed it in the "antiques" section of the store, wedged between a giant Chinese fan and an equally giant baby pram. Though the stuff in the antiques room tends to be pricier, I asked for a deal on this piece, simply because I had NO IDEA what I would do with it if I brought it home. (Un?)fortunately, the owner gave it to me for $10 and with ones of the same size going for four or five times that amount, I felt like it was too good a deal to pass up.

So I brought it home...and I still have no idea what to do with it. I love looking at this tray, with its well-used patina. I love the handwriting of the printer who used it (he wrote his name on one of the cross pieces) and I love how he also marked some of the more easily confused type trays (mind your ps and qs, right?) For now it's leaning up against a wall in our living room and I'm still ruminating on where it will end up in the house and what purpose it will serve. For a week or two, it held jewelry on my dresser top, but it was really too big for the spot and made my baubles a little too accessible for tiny hands, if you know what I mean. :)

So I thought I'd crowdsource for inspiration. What would you do with a printers tray, if you had one? Seashell display? Craft storage? Art piece? Picture frame? Something entirely different? Help me justify this purchase, internet. It's really too pretty to lean against the wall forever.

If you haven't yet, be sure to check out Tuesday's giveaway for a free annual pass to the Virginia Air and Space Center, courtesy of the City of Hampton! Details here. 

The Cavalier Hotel in Virginia Beach is in the process of being renovated -- completely renovated, which means every single thing in the hotel is being replaced. Which also means that every single thing in the hotel had to go -- so the new ownership threw open the doors in an unprecidented move and hosted probably the poshest, most exciting rummage sale that Virginia Beach has ever known. All of the furniture, fixtures, artwork, EVERYTHING in the hotel, all up for grabs.

For those of you who don't know, the Cavalier is kind of like Virginia Beach's version of the Plaza, or the Greenbrier. It hails from the '20s, from the time when Virginia Beach was just beginning to be known as the fabulous resort town it would become. Over the past 80 years, the 350-acre hotel and grounds have hosted a wide range of celebrity guests (Bette Davis! Judy Garland!) and presidents, and even the US Navy when it was taken over as a training ground during WWII. The hotel has gotten a little worn around the edges in recent years, but still serves as a sign of the kind of Jazz Age glamor that you usually only get to read about in books.

The first day of the sale, the line stretched out of the hotel doors, past the name CAVALIER etched into the green lawn. We waited a week to miss the crowds -- which also meant we missed most of the truly great deals. The place was eerily empty when Molly and I and our three kids showed up, the ballroom echoing and the gorgeous, iconic wallpaper torn from the wall in big patches. Even the staff running the sale seemed over it already. But there was still enough to keep us looking. We passed stacks of headboards and mattresses and groups of TVs, even a towering Christmas tree or two.



We ended up leaving with not much more than we went in with -- M. scored a mirror for something like $5 and we both left with pieces of the heavy red wallpaper embossed with the Cavalier logo. But I'm still glad we went, even if we weren't among the ones who walked away with great finds (we did have a vicarious thrill watching others leave with rolls of the beautiful aqua, magnolia-printed wallpaper and antique furniture). Molly and I had both been to events at the Cavalier in the past, and it was interesting to see another side of the place, to have the chance to roam the halls and really have a look at things (the famous deco swimming pool -- empty -- was a sight to see).

The kids enjoyed their time there, too, running around peering at everything and making friends with the kids of the other shoppers. It's not every day you get to roam around a real-life "castle," is it? We're excited to see what's next for this grand old Oceanfront landmark and we appreciated the chance to say goodbye to a place that holds so much local history. 

The Cavalier sale will run through the end of April, if you want a behind-the-scenes glimpse of this local landmark (or maybe an industrial icemaker of your very own?)

For the past few months, I've been on the hunt for a very specific item: namely, a set of iced tea spoons in my (seventy-year-old) silverware pattern. Whenever I pass a promising looking antique or vintage shop, I always pop in to check but so far, have had no luck finding what I need (though I have found dozens of other things I don't actually need).

Last week, I had a free afternoon and decided that since I'd be in the neighborhood anyway, I'd expand my search to Chesapeake's Antique Alley. "Antique Alley" refers to the spate of antique stores at the corner of Canal Street and Military Highway in Chesapeake, famous among Hampton Roads treasure hunters for the bargains and interesting finds that can be had there.



I started with Days Remembered, and spent about an hour poking around there. They had a little bit of everything, but most notable was their collection of antique tools and vintage kitchenware. They had a large selection of vintage china and stoneware and big bins of adorable retro cookie cutters, everything from dinosaurs to hearts to barnyard animals. I was sorely tempted by a 1950s lemonade set (love the snowflake motif) but managed to walk past it (it was hard, believe me, and I might go back for it yet).






Next, I moseyed over to Granma Had One Antiques and Collectibles, which is in the same building as Days Remembered (I believe the two stores used to be one, or are owned by the same family?) And I spent another hour there, combing through more treasures. Granma Had One is an especially good place to look if you're in the market for costume jewelry or vintage Pyrex (they had a whole wall of the more popular patterns and some harder-to-find pieces, too). They also had a large vintage book section, including a selection of those local/fundraiser cookbooks that I get so many of my favorite recipes from.





Though I left empty-handed (let's hear it for self-control?), I very much enjoyed browsing these stores and have already mentally moved both onto my rotation of places to check regularly.

Have you discovered any new antique hotspots -- or made any good finds -- lately? Tell us about them in the comments (and if you've happened to come across a set of Tudor Rose iced tea spoons, message me!)

 A few weekends ago, James, Anne, and I headed up to the Eastern Shore of Virginia for a little antiquing and snapped these photos on the way. I don't know what it is about January that makes us want to visit the Eastern Shore (last January we visited Kiptopeke State Park and Cape Charles) but I think it must have something to do with how pretty it is there this time of year. This time it was extra-pretty with everything dusted with a thin layer of snow. It was also extra-cold, which explains why there are no people in these photos, both of my subjects refused to leave the safety of the heated car.
The first shop we hit was the Exmore Antique Emporium in Exmore, VA. They had a good selection of jadeite and milk glass, a large collection of paintings, and racks and racks of vintage costume jewelry, from enameled brooches to cocktail rings and hat pins. I fell in love with some Spode china and a vintage barometer (both pictured above). However, everything was priced 15-20% more than I would have liked it to be, so we left empty-handed but it was still fun to browse.

The next place we visited was the Blue Crow Antique Mall in Painter. This is purported to be the second-largest antique mall in Virginia and it definitely felt like it. We tried our best to see as much of the place as we could and spent about two hours browsing but I still think there were a few alcoves we missed. Blue Crow has a little bit of everything but the true standout was the huge selection of nautical items, from fishing floats to nets to a dozen or more antique boat lanterns. They also had a lot of vintage linens and best of all, a heap of what I like to call "church cookbooks" -- you know, those spiral bound books of recipes put together in 1972 or so to raise money for the PTA or local firemen, etc.

The prices at Blue Crow were more reasonable but we still only came home with two things, in the end -- an old oar (I have DIY plans for it) and an '80s-era pink matchbox car (bribe present for A.)

Do you like to go antiquing? Where are your favorite places to go to hunt for treasures?

^^ Molly haggling with a vendor -- she ended up getting the three metal bins in the foreground for craft-room storage.

 ^^ I was a fan of this mirror but a bigger fan of the vintage trunk behind it.

^^ A pair of truly awesome 70s era side tables.