I spent 6 hours at the Country Living Fair on Friday and came home with all kinds of lovely treasures!
Non of them broke the bank — most of them were between $1 and $6. I stayed away from more pricey things.
Vintage Letters, Trinkets, and Mason Jars
This is the most I’ve bought in all three years I’ve attended the fair.
After seeing Jamie’s great idea of repurposing a vintage rake, I bought one for $12 to do something similar.
The milkglass jars were $1 each, and the mason jars $2. The little memo books were $1, and the game chips cost $2.
This shredded paper nest was $4, and the little goodies $1 each. I added all of them to the mason jars and am displaying them like that in our living room right now.
The salt shaker was $2, and the five silver spoons $5. I found those in Cari Cucksey’s booth! She is a doll and we’ve chatted the last three years, and it’s always lovely to see her.
This was the most amazing find of the day: a postcard of my hometown in Germany! I was looking through a whole stash of postcards in Cari’s booth and found it. What is the chance of that! Cari loved the story and gave it to me for free.
This vintage book about The Hudson and Manhattan Tunnels was a steal for $3, an is amazing part of history. The stamp of a cottage and the little red book bank were only $2.
And then there are the vintage letters. I bought three sets of them, and some of them are from 1902! As you may know, I have a thing for vintage letters.
I can’t read the handwriting of the ones addresses to Mrs. Wharton, but this one I can read.
It was written in Cuba. The language is just lovely: “…we were too far from Havana to have the pleasure of calling on her and her party…”
There was a whole bunch of these letters, some love letters, and every stash cost $6. I felt kind of bad to buy them because it’s just odd to be buying someone else’s letters a hundred years later, right?
But I love the history, and they add such a nice vintage touch to vignettes, which I like to create in our home.
Which one of my finds is your favorite?
Karren Haller ? Oh My Heartsie Girl says
How fun to go to a country fair, you found some wonderful things to treasure and use in your home. I wish they had that sort of thing here.
The letters of course caught my eye, I love the handwriting, I have always enjoyed writing and like to see how others put pen to paper. Next were the spoons, I can only imagine what you can do with them.
Thanks for sharing your treasures!
Have a great day!
Karren
Dagmar Bleasdale says
Dear Karren, thanks for coming by! They have the Country Fair in several spots in the country – maybe there is one near you? Don’t miss the post I’ll be posting soon about my day at the Country Fair. I took a ton of great pictures.
Diana says
I love all your finds from the CL Fair and am a bit jealous since I couldn’t attend this year :( Those packets of letters are just wonderful; I know you will enjoy them. Thanks for hosting, Dagmar!
Dagmar Bleasdale says
Hi Diana, look out for my post about my CL Fair visit! See you soon in NY!
Diana says
Yea, looking forward to it!
Manda says
Dagmar, thank you so much for featuring me! Being a new blogger I am in awe of how welcoming and encouraging other bloggers have been to me, including you! I agree I am very lucky to be starting now with so many resources out there…thank you to you all for paving the way :) I loved so many of your finds, especially the post card from Bremen. When I was 16 I did an exchange program to Germany. I stayed with a family in Hildesheim and we got to visit Bremen. That is such a beautiful part of the world and would love to go back some day. Thank you again for the great party, I will definitely be back for more!
Dagmar Bleasdale says
Dear Manda, I’m happy to feature you and am so excited for your new blog! How great is it that you’ve been to my hometown in Germany! I’ve written many posts about my visits over the last 6 years — you would enjoy them. And look out for posts from Bremen in a couple of weeks — my son and I are flying to Bremen for a visit.
Jamie | anderson + grant says
So jealous to hear that you went to the Country Living fair. Every year I say I’m going to try and go and then it doesn’t happen. You found so many great objects!!! Thanks for the shout out about my rake. I’m so glad you liked the idea enough to try it yourself!
And isn’t Manda’s blog amazing?!?!? She is one of those bloggers that you just know is going to be a success.
Manda says
Jamie – you are awesome!! :)
Dagmar Bleasdale says
Dear Jamie, look out for my blog post about my CL Fair visit! I took a ton of great pictures. Manda’s blog is definitely going to be a hit, like yours :)
Jen Y says
I love the letters. Our family has a box full of love letters written between my grandparents in the years around 1920. They had only seen each other three or four times before they were married & fell in love through their letters. I was visiting my aunt years ago & she let me choose one. I just pulled one from the stack. It is the funnest thing to read. It was written to my grandmother from my grandfather & oh how he teased her – just adorable.
I’ve told my husband that we must burn our love letters before we die. I would truly be embarrassed for anyone to read them. I’ve read that Jackie Kennedy did that before she died. She went through them one last time, read them & burned some of them. I believe some things really should be kept between husband & wife. :)
Dagmar Bleasdale says
Hi Jen, I never thought of burning my letters. I’m glad you have some from your grandparents! Thanks for coming by!