Thrift Shop Inspiration : Strawberry boy and rotary phones

I love visiting flea markets. I love scoring something unusual or useful, but I also really enjoy just looking at stuff. It’s not at all the same as going into a “normal shop” with new stuff, where they have 10 to 30 of the same item on one shelf all lined up in boxes. Instead, at the flea market you’ll get a mix of things arranged randomly or by thoughtful staff. Nothing is hidden or boxed up, it’s displayed like in a museum but you’re allowed to touch it and if you feel like it, take it home.

Sometimes you’ll find collections and sometimes a collection will be born on the shelf by the coincidence of what has been donated lately. I love how random it all is.

New stuff produced this year hanging out with “old stuff” from 50 years ago…

In today’s post I will share some items that caught my eye recently at a little thrift shop in a little town I visited, because I find these items fascinating, beautiful, inspirational or simply too fun, if not to bring home so at least to snap a cell phone photo of! Enjoy!

We used to have one of those big, red rotary phones in my house when I was a kid. Now it seams alien and very retro, like something of past generations already. Seeing it there on the shelf, with some “cobras” and other kind of phones, I was wondering how much it was when it was new and how the packaging looked?

I still remember the sound of the rotar slowly spinning back into place after you choose a number to dial, and the feel of the spiral cord against my hands.

I also love cute illustrations on things like mugs or trays. These angel couple carresing each other caught my eye as well as the baby booth (same style as I had when I was a baby but mine was red) and the huge German, ceramic ale glass – a tankard I guess.

Is it “tankard” (ölstop)? It’s a new word to me, because I just looked it up it still sounds strange to me. But anyway, tankards would be great containers for paintbrushes or pencils, if you were so inclined. I might look for one but I doubt they’re very common in my style (pink and girly, LOL). But hunting scenes might be nice too, as long as the animals are not dead yet! ‘Is it “tankard” (ölstop)? It’s a new word to me, and because I just looked it up it still sounds strange to me. But anyway, tankards would be great containers for paintbrushes or pencils, if you were so inclined. I might look for one but I doubt they’re very common in my style (pink and girly, LOL). But hunting scenes might be nice too, as long as the animals are not dead yet, because that would not be something I’d want to gaze at…

Next up inspiring me at this thrift shop chock full of old stuff, was a “Bokstavslåda”, which means box of letters of the alphabet:

I bought a plastic folder with similar looking letters once, and I used some of them on notebook covers. But these days I try not to buy vintage things that I think look sweet as they are, because then I know I wont use them in my own art.

Not bought but admired greatly was the black sewing machine with gold print, attached to its table still:

I also have a thing for cute faces, and of course my strawberry obsession continues:

Lastly, piles and piles of old vinyl records that I had to photograph because I still follow Tiff on Instagram and she is often seen flipping through old records at thrift shops. Seeing these makes me think of dad’s collection of vinyls. He has such a huge collection, but who will manage it in the future? Is it trash – or a treassure? What do you think?

I am the kind of person who wants to save everything, or at least document it, learn about it and know it. Things I feel sentimental feelings for are hard to discard.

But I can’t keep everything, and other’s collections not at all. But I also know the world does not need more discarded plastic… It’s sad in so many ways, to me. So I’m happy when I find things that are fun to look at and that inspires me, that are not my responsibility – at flea markets and thrift shops.

With that I hope to inspire you to think about what you already own as treassures, because old does not mean unusable, worn out or ugly. It just means that it has been loved longer.

Thanks for letting me share some things that caught my eye in the thrift shop with you, because thrift shop inspiration always makes me happy. I hope it inspires you as well.

Further inspiration

For even more inspiration check out: Summer Crush: The Flea Market – a blog post from 2013. Kind of vintage too, right?

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