Ancient Artifacts

I can clearly remember trudging through antique stores, "historical" buildings and museums as a kid, following my parents and wondering why in the world anyone would want to look at a bunch of old, rusty junk. 

And now, it seems like that's all I want to do. Funny how that happens, huh? Deric and I went to an Antiques Festival last weekend in a nearby small town. We were browsing for fun but also keeping our eyes peeled for a mirror to hang above our mantle and side tables for our living room. We didn't have high hopes for either though since we figured the prices would be out of our budget.

Sadly, we didn't come home with anything. Not because we didn't see anything we wanted, but because we weren't completely sold on anything. Now, I'm not sure of the picture-taking etiquette in vendors' booths so I didn't take many, but here are a few things I'd take home if I had no budget....

Old crates were everywhere, especially the Atlas brand. Thought these would be good storage for blankets in our living room or to hold boxes/cans in the pantry.

This was the only side table I considered buying. It wasn't too expensive, but it didn't really fit my criteria so it was a no go. Pretty, though.

There were two old Glidden advertisements that I thought were interesting. It'd be fun to hang these in a workroom or craftroom, etc.

A menu written in French. I assume its from a restaurant in France, but you never know. Grandma, if you're out there, can you translate for me?

There were so many vintage toys that would be great for decorating kids' room. Firetrucks and Matchbox cars, childrens' books and board games. The board games would be cute hung on the wall or propped up on a shelf.

And lastly, a very old painting entitled "Teaching Time". I can't tell if the teacher is supposed to be smiling or sneering, but it looks kinda creepy to me. Look closely at the boy nearest the teacher and check out the size of his ears. ;)

Its unfortunate that we couldn't find anything to bring home if for no other reason than as a memento of a great day together. But there are plenty more antique stores to visit. I'm sure Deric will be excited. :)