numbers

Some numbers that are floating around in my head today...

The kids just completed their 100th days of school, such a great milestone!

I looked at my calendar and it dawned on me- my munchkins are turning 6 in less than 3 months! 

2 things they want for their birthday; cupcakes and bouncy house, which I think is the perfect combo.

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The shop reached more than 10,000 hearts this month! so much love!

(via)

Speaking of love I can't believe I have been doing this Etsy gig for almost 3 years now (will be 3 years in April)... and I still LOVE it so; every minute of it, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!  I live and breathe Etsy, can you tell?

5 years ago we moved into this house, the longest I have ever stayed put in a place for the last 20 years.  Where all 2,000 sq ft of it now houses hundreds of my junks ahem "treasures",  kidding, only a thousand of it the rest is our living space (hubby thinks).  A place where many wonderful memories, growth and incredible milestones were made.

and this makes my 367th blogpost :-)

no longer a virgin...

... in treasury making that is!  This morning I curated my very first treasury after being on Etsy for 2.5 years!! yay me!

View my masterpiece here (hahaha)

thank you Etsy for my new find

Prior to opening my Etsy shop, my photography skill was non-existent. The only time I use my point and shoot camera was when someone is celebrating their birthdays, the holidays or vacations, in other words I only photograph to commemorate a special occasion. And this may sound trite but taking photos of my vintage items as part of my daily routine I become more aware of the simplest beauty around me, all which I use to take for granted. The moss in my front yard, the neighbors chipped white fence, dried fallen leaves, even my shadow had all of a sudden become a thing of beauty.

Prior to Etsy, I would not have seen the potential of this worn out wooden box...



old, chipped, rusty, distressed was all the characteristics opposite to the things I particularly get drawn in...


it has changed since and yesterday when I saw this large army box in the corner of the thrift shop's furniture department, all I can think of was "perfection".


I'll be using it to store some blankets, maybe double it as a coffee table in my basement, and as a photo prop!

So, thank you Etsy because of you I've discovered both my love for photography and for the old and decrepit.

vintage home decor trends

I'm no interior designer or anything like that, I decorate my home with things that makes me happy, mostly thrifted items and things that I make. Since I started Etsy 1.5 years ago, I noticed there seems to be a trend with vintage home decor. Here’s what I thought were the hit in the last couple of years and still quite popular today, I think owls are here to stay though.

owls ...

big letters and numbers...


how about those perpetual calendars...

then antlers became the thing...


huge pull down maps and school posters...

then came the arrows...

any ideas what would be the next big thing?

photo credits:

bluebellbazaar

vintageembellishment

ethanollie

sweetshorn

End of Summer Sale at Modish Vintage!

The shop is having a 48-hour end-of-summer-sale starting right now! Please get the details here. Everything, even the newly listed ones are going to be on sale, hurry! sale ends at midnight on Tuesday, Sept 1.

Etsy milestone

I finally reached a personal milestone and sold my 1,000th item on Etsy this afternoon! A goal that seemed too farfetched when I first started here in April last year, when I was waiting everyday for the first two weeks for that first sale to happen. When I sold my first item, I was thrilled beyond words and that has kept me going eversince. So thank you to all who supported my shop, I am very grateful for it everyday.

Edited to add;

And to celebrate and show my appreciation, I plan of another special give-away which I will announce here in a few days, so stay tuned.

teal or no teal?

I've noticed I have been finding many items in the shade of blue lately. Though it's my least favorite colour, I love the shade of teal.

I was delighted to see this cute treasury by wallwork (where I borrowed the title of my post) today with my teal creamer in it.

Here's some beautiful blue vintage items that will be listed soon...

mid-century blue dish

vintage tins

and of course some that are already listed and up for sale here

metal tool box

Swingline metal stapler


Dansk enamelware lidded pot

fondue pot

spray mister

P.S. Today is your last chance to enter and win my grand giveaway here!

to discount or not to discount… that is the question

I’ve seen many sellers run sales and discounts who had great results but running sales never really worked for me personally so I don’t really offer them at my shop. But with the recent down turn in the economy and sluggish sales, one can only hope for a sale by slashing prices and offering deep discounts. I am confounded with the mixed advice/ideas offered on the forum about the subject. And I need to move my item or stop going to thrift stores for like a month until I figure a solution of how and where to store my finds. Slower than usual sales, lack of space and my uncontrollable urge to go thrifting is what I’m confronted at this time.

Having almost 400 item listed for sale in my Etsy shop is quite overwhelming; having 400 inventory laying around all over my house is another story. And I still probably have another one hundred other items still in a box or plastic bag that needed to be inspected, cleaned, photographed and listed. If you’re a daily thrifter like I am then you’re bound to find something each shopping trip and therefore need to be very creative about storing such finds before hubby trips on one of your train cases and start to really get annoyed and would never let you out of the house again.

I have converted two rooms in my basement to store my inventory, half of the garage to store my packing peanuts and various sizes of boxes, part of the family room downstairs as shipping area and I’m still in need of space. The two instances where I spent a whole weekend looking for a sold item to package in the sea of my ever growing inventory was not a deterrent to stop my thrifting obsession, I take it as a sign that I need more shelves in the house.

So what to do, I have been thinking of running a sale, buy-one-get-one-half-off-or-something-the-like, free shipping is out of the question since most of my items are heavy. But I will definitely try some kind of discount sale in April for my Etsyversary, so stay tuned.

What do you think? would you discount price to boost your sales or maintain prices to preserve your product?

recent finds I really wanted to keep for myself

So I have been getting lucky in finding neat stuff from my latest thrifting pursuits. Or maybe it’s not so much the luck, it could be that I may be developing a keener eye; the things I used to ignore before I’m finding them now. I’m very selective when it comes to the stuff I pick for the shop and therefore finding myself having three piles of stuff at the end of my shopping trip, which are as follows;

pile 1: amazing stuff I might keep

Pile 2: amazing stuff I want to keep

Pile 3: amazing stuff I will definitely keep for myself and maybe hand it down to my daughter someday.

So these recent finds are actually in between piles 1 and 2. Stuff I really wanted to keep for myself, but I can’t because they either don’t go with the rest of my décor or I don’t have a space for it.

Unique and whimsical piano or desk lamp in polished brass finish with a music note motif.

Georges Briard large tuxedo ice bucket

Quirky 'wimpy' red and white cappucino cups and saucer made in Germany.

And a vintage body form (I will add photo later) which I don't have a clue how to ship if it ever get sold.

Please look for these items at Modish Vintage shop shortly.

the happy colours of spring

vintage teal travel alarm clock made in Germany

yellow enamel fondue pot

enamelware floral tea kettle

large yellow melamine serving tray

and what's a 'spring' post without the birdies...



Please look for them at Modish Vintage shop!

my third entry for the day

Google Analytics (GA) rocks and treasuries too! I’m one of those obsessive compulsives that constantly checks their views on GA and with the sudden spike in views yesterday found out my miniature cups (which have been listed forever and relisted again) was on the front page treasuries, sadly no takers but nonetheless I’m very happy with the views. thank you!

etsy's treasury

I love how this treasury came together, everything is somehow tied in together. The placement and balance of colours and shapes are just right. I hope it will make it to the front page.

It was put together by StudioElan and titled Pickin' Up The Pieces...

front page worthy treasuries

wow! Modish Vintage featured in six different treasuries in one day, awesome!!

chosen by ambika

chosen by azetta

chosen by editionbw

chosen by staroftheeast


chosen by sszumski


chosen by neverever

Thank you, thank you!!

mixed fruit kitchen décor

Do you love fruit décor? Strawberry, apple an pears? Well I do, there’s something so charming and cheerful about decorating with fruits especially with apples. I heart apple décor. I’ve collected and sold many apple decor in my shop and some I regretted selling, like these set of apple tin canister.

You can turn any dull country kitchen into a charming, and very inviting place by simply adding some colourful apple canisters or a strawberry jar, a dish towel, bowl, trivet or salt and pepper shaker with fruit patterns on them. And Etsy is a great place to buy those unique, one-of-a-kind vintage fruit décor (ahem, like my shop) .

If you want the total effect of country style decorating in your kitchen, add some curtain with gingham check pattern in red or yellow. Of course what is a country style room without some wicker baskets, rustic throws, handmade quilts and pretty decorative plates to add charm and colour.

Whether you are going for a country, cottage, shabby chic, French country look or simply a modern contemporary look, you can’t go wrong with adding a few colourful apple or fruit décor for a lovely finishing touch.

Please look for these items at Modish Vintage soon!!