There are some things about this "business" of seeking out and re-purposing, recreating vintage finds that I think those of us who do it can appreciate that may be lost on those who don't.
The amount of time, patience, thought and love that goes into what we do. maybe if people truly understood what is involved, we wouldn't hear those comments about what we charge when we are done.....
We spend a great deal of time thinking, planning, shopping, sorting, digging, painting, scraping, sanding, nailing, piecing together and taking apart. We scour stores, yard sales, junk sales, auctions, thrift stores and flea markets, searching for just the right thing. Then we spend a ton more time fixing it, painting it, reworking it to be that very special thing that catches your eye, that you can't live without.
We pour our hearts into each piece. Thinking about it's history, who might have loved it once, why it was discarded or sold, where it came from and who will love it again. It makes us happy to see someone enjoy it, or gush over how much we have improved upon it.
I recently did a flea market at OMG, a very creative vintage shop in my neighborhood of East Nashville, with my things separate from the All Things Vintage, my collection of art, vintage clothing and such "Heart for Vintage". While I was there, I had a customer who was interested browsing the clothing and a few kitchen items. She inquired about a large metal platter that had a folk-ish design painted on it. She shared with me that it matched identically one her Mother had hanging in her kitchen when she was a child, it literally appeared to almost bring her to tears. I sold it to her for $2.
I don't even know what I paid for it and I don't care, I wanted to make sure she took that home with her and it brought her the memories over and over again, it did when she saw it at my booth. I told her how excited I was that she was going to enjoy it, her response was "you have no idea". I almost cried myself.
The same woman also purchased a black eyelet 1950's dress suit with cropped jacket. I'd been in love with that dress suite since Mom bought it for me in 2005 to sell to make extra money for a trip I was taking that year. I tried selling it on ebay and lost more money than Mom paid for it, and I've had it ever since. I always wondered why I didn't sell it then, but when I met this woman I knew, it was because she was meant to have it.
To some people the things I spend money on appear to be junk. Those same people are often impressed when we are done "working" on that same junk and some, well they don't see vintage things as anything but old stuff and that's okay too. But for those of us who love this, we will continue to have paint stained hands and clothes, cramps in our backs and arms from sanding, dirty finger nails from scraping, a supply of mod podge, paint brushes, paint, fabric, sewing needles and "junk" in hopes of making something beautiful out of things with a long history of making people happy. It is worth all of the time and effort and love to see even one person's face light up, knowing they will truly enjoy it.
