Treasure Hunting Report: Ottawa Antique Show

Hubby and I went to the Ottawa Antique Show Friday.  I always go the first night, because it gives me some time to think a purchase over and return over the weekend.  Little things (like a McCoy planter) I have bought on the spot, but the year we bought three Lotte lamps, I asked that the seller hold them overnight and I returned the next morning to buy them.  I just needed to sleep on it (in hindsight, why?).  This time, we accidentally arrived really early, about 4:30pm, and there was already a line!  Ottawa is a city of treasure hunting early birds.  By 5:00pm the line had snaked around and was blocking the door.  You can actually see me, with Hubby lurking behind, in one of Kim's photos (below).  I don't know why I look so grumpy: I had a full tummy (Hubby insisted we eat a ridiculously early dinner in case we were at the show until late), empty bladder and was at an antique show! 

Photo from Desire to Inspire

The show was great!  We spotted some familiar vendors, but new booths as well.  There were some fabulous pieces for sale.  I favored so many of Kim's picks that by the end Hubby would spot a pick of hers, hide her tag, ask if I liked it, then celebrate if I didn't love it.  As in, "a-ha! It was a Kim's pick!".  It was triumphant for him.  Whatever keeps him entertained, I guess!

I was on a mission: silhouettes, McCoy pottery, Pyrex, Iittala . . . I'm trying to build and grow existing collections so they have a WOW factor, instead of investing in random little items here and there.  Although I also seriously considered a very small pair of silhouettes, I only purchased two small items (I'll tell you what I bought in a minute).

I loved these little silhouettes, but they just didn't suit the rest of my collection.

There were many beautiful items to ogle, especially for folks without such a narrow focus as mine.

I have wanted a Lea Stein fox pin forever, but I'm not a huge fan of red.

Found out Hubby doesn't like Russel Wright dinnerware - which I had thought about starting to collect!

These 1970s teak tables would provide amazing storage in a living room . . .  like our living room!

So tempting . . .

Even with all this temptation I stuck to our money-saving goal, but did come home with one sweet treat that was a total surprise: antique Fort William post cards that round out my existing set, which we hung in the stairwell in floating frames.  The bridge on one is the same bridge Hubby and I were almost swept under last time we took out our very small sailboat, on a trip to our hometown.  The Lake Superior slips were closed for renovations, so we took the boat on a river and had a terrible time that ended up with us paddling, ditching the boat, hiking back through rough brush, shimmying around a chain link fence (dangling over a cliff), emerging covered in burrs and then waiting a lifetime in the setting sun for someone to help us tow the boat back.  I HAD to get that postcard!

This one was actually mailed!  I wish the seller hadn't written the price on the postcard.  I have no functioning erasers.

Did any local readers hit the Ottawa Antique Show this weekend?  Even though my purchases were small, I'm so happy with what I found and I'll be back next time - you never know what treasures will be there, just waiting to come home to the townhouse!  Kim's so lucky: she got to snap photos before the show opened (most of mine have people's bums in them as they hunched over to investigate items, or were snapped in a hurry before someone's bum entered the shot).  See her photos on Desire to Inspire and Closet Rivalry.

Frame Vintage Postcards for Sentimental Art

Ta Da!

I finally framed the antique postcards I bought and, over the weekend, Hubby & I hung them up.  Apologies to our neighbours, because we did so late in the evening.  Both nights. 

Some decorating math:

Stack of white floating frames

+

Postcards from early 1910s

+

Painfully empty stairway

TOO MUCH naked wall, but the scale made even the largest canvas look mini.

=

Less empty stairway

We made sure the top postcard is centred on the light fixture and hung below it,
so the light doesn't block the view from the top of the stairs.

I love the subtle bits of deep turquoise (of course - my fav colour!)
It helps make the turquoise tile that came with the house make (some) sense.

The white frames are simple enough not to compete
with my DIY card display board.

It was Hubby's idea to overlap the frames by the width of each frame.
Creates a nice, neat, graphic look.

I rarely do this, but here's the cost breakdown:

• 8 antique postcards in total = $40, haggled from $50
• 7 white floating frames (from Chapter's) = $118.57
• Hanging supplies we already had = $0

Total cost: $168.57

With less frustration than last time, we also used templates to space out where we wanted to hang the postcards.  Normally Hubby holds the art while I ponder, but gallery walls preclude that type of distribution of labour.  He was a sweetie, though, and cut out all the templates!



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Blast From the Past

Last May Hubby & I went to Portgual and France, where they wear the fancy pants (anyone get the reference?)  While in Paris, I bought this touristy magnet as a gift but I loved it so much that the intended recipient never received it.  I guess I'm greedy like that.  So you can imagine how completely jazzed I was to find seven antique postcards of my hometown and surrounding area - including the best lake in the world (hey, its called Lake Superior for a reason) that have the same turquoise wash and red lettering as my magnet.

If you've been reading Dans le Townhouse for awhile, you know I have a bit of a love affair with Lake Superior.  So I am extra happy to now own these:

I really love the turquoise wash on these postcards (that were originally tinted photographs).  Can you believe these have survived 100 years?

Only one of them was ever sent and it is dated June 4, 1912.  Check out the 1 cent stamp!

I know I want to frame them in white floating frames, like what I used for the small paintings in the hallway, and hang them in a row but I don't know where. . . . see the townhouse Home Tour and give me your thoughts.  I feel like I am running out of wall space.



I need to track down seven of these white floating frames . . .

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