We enjoying talking to people who collect vintage treasures. In this interview, we find out more about Barbara, the owner of the vintage shop LookOnMyTreasures on Etsy.
Why and when did you start collecting?
Growing up on a Minnesota farm in the 50’s and 60’s near a teeny tiny town, we were somewhat isolated and chores were pretty relentless. My favorite break in the day was to walk out our long dirt road that wove through the woods to the mailbox. That mailbox was my window to the world. I “collected” an address book full of international pen pals which led to saving the letters, postage stamps, postcards, etc. which came to me from all corners of the world. It was magical! The sight of an airmail envelope in that box made my heart race. If it was addressed to my sister, I just had to wait until tomorrow for another chance at the letter lottery. (Needless to say, I did not like Sundays.) The letters remain to this day.
As a twenty-something in the 70’s, I went through a spell of traveling light. It was so extreme that I even threw away my one and only childhood stuffed animal. Originally a very light pastel blue, I only remember it as a dirt grey teddy bear. He was one legged by the time I moved him out West with me. I tossed him before returning to the Midwest. That haunts me yet today. There are remains of Teddy somewhere in the vicinity of Moab, Utah.
Who or what was your influence for collecting?
Being the off-spring of Depression Era parents was a set up for saving everything and I do mean almost everything. Broken. Didn’t matter. Save it. (To her credit, my mother was a true pioneer of recycling and very much ahead of her time.)
One feature of mid century rural life was the “junk pile”. That was just a spot out beside the garage and into the woods a little bit where you dumped stuff that you didn’t save. There were two generations of detritus available to sift through. It is how we furnished our playhouses. These weren’t houses but rather just little spots in the woods where we nestled ourselves and our excavated trinkets (re-saved). Today four walls and a roof house me but the feeling is still the same, cozied up for show and tell.
What is one of your favorite pieces and why?
Highly ranked is a Thrift Shop chandelier that was being brought up from the back to be placed for sale. I didn’t let that lady even set it down. “You can just hand that straight over to me” I said with a smile.
Right place, right time!
These are the moments we live for.
Allow me one more favorite moment. This trio gathered in one outing made me stop and take a photo before hauling the goods inside. I felt so victorious!
What tips can you give us about collecting?
My collecting has no particular focus and very few limits, so I guess I’m a poor one to ask.
If you have a physiological response, you had better take it home. It’s easier to re-home that bird in the hand than to find that the bird has flown the bush. Or something like that.
Most importantly, maintain a sense of humor!
What would be your holy grail piece and why?
I do currently have one obsession that probably overrides all others and that is “Catholica”. Plus I am crazy about Boho Style. So let’s say a truly outstanding Bohemian Religious Statuary.
The largest Mary statue in the photo below was procured by my daughter at a Flea Market in Berlin. The girl knows how to please!
Some of my favorite listings in this category:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/57105455/vintage-mary-statue-and-san-pietro roma ashtray
https://www.etsy.com/listing/74489825/vintage-silver-jesus-bust
https://www.etsy.com/listing/205567465/antique-framed-saint-theresa-st-therese
https://www.etsy.com/listing/110108649/vintage-silver-and-black-metal-and-wood
Where do you look for new items to add to your shop/collection?
My collecting started in earnest in the 80’s. Art and Craft Fairs were big for me in that decade. (Ya, that stuff is now “vintage”.) Then Antique Stores in the 90’s and sliding over to Thrift Shops and Yard Sales on up to the present. If Dumpsters are next, I’ll have come full circle to the “Junk Pile”.
When I can behave myself, I just “shop” in my stashes. You see, I’ve bought ahead.
How has collecting changed or affected your life?
It became my art form. I find great satisfaction in creating displays and vignettes from found and collected objects of desire.
Where can we find you?
Etsy: www.etsy.com/shop/lookonmytreasures
Twitter: twitter.com/lookonmytreasur
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/lookonmytreasur/
Most of the year I operate an indoor one person flea market in Ironwood, Michigan in the middle of town right on US 2.
What a delightful story of your life-to-date, Barbara. I loved the idea of furnishing your playhouse from the junk pile. Easy to see how that gave rise to a life as a collector. (Hopefully Teddy is gracing another kid’s playhouse in Moab. 🙂
Linda, Thanks for your kind remarks, especially such an optimistic future for Teddy! I honestly never thought of that. Adaptation from swampy East Central Minnesota to High Dessert, it can be done. And treasures should be shared! I feel much better now!
I loved reading your story Barbara! I can’t think of anything I would rather do than run a one person flea market. I bet you have more stories to tell.
P.S. I lived in Moab for almost a year. Maybe I seen your teddy bear!
Thanks!!!
and No Way, GirlPickers! Small world!!! I was there 1976/1977. Did our paths cross?
JD, thanks for doing such a great job with this! I’m in awe that you can keep abreast of everything with all that Etsy has thrown in our path recently. You are Wonder Woman!
I almost edited the Teddy/Moab paragraph out fearing that I was too verbose,but now I’m glad I didn’t. 🙂
And I didn’t even notice it until I’m looking at the finished product here: in the photo of the Mary statues, down in the lower corner is a photo of two of us in our leafy domain.
What a wonderful and enchanting story! Love all of the photos! I was completely drawn into the world of this Etsy shop owner, Barbara, and her life of collecting. I can’t think of a better life! I will remember the wisdom of how one should buy that bird before it gets away! Her art of displaying treasures is so mesmerizing! Now that is TALENT! What a gift she has! What a pleasure this has been, reading this article. Completely took me into another time and place 🙂 Thank you for the adventures!
High praise from a professional digger! Thanks for your kind words, Dana!
Loved your story, Barbara, and loved getting a glimpse at all your wonderful collections! I thought I was the queen of displaying (cramming) tons of my treasures on any flat surface available, but I must say that you have me beat! I love that fun kitty painting that’s hanging on the wall behind your plants!
Thanks, Loretta, Sister Crammer (“more is always more”, I think Diana Vreeland said that). 🙂
I’m glad your eye focused in on that cat painting. It probably should have been “favorite find”, but how was I to choose! I found that at a rustic roadside stop at the top of Wisconsin in “Blueberry” eons ago. My husband and young daughter ridiculed me, number one for loving it and number two for buying it. My brothers joined the ranks of the naysayers. And I’m sure many others who were just too polite. But I knew better and I thank the naive artist and my good judgement (pats self on back) every day as it pleases me anew and beyond all reason. True, stuff is only stuff, but if it makes you ecstatically happy then it’s more than stuff, yes?
Barbara…I loved reading your story…and you made me laugh out loud. ..whice is much appreciated after the day I’ve had! Thanks for sharing …all the best to you!
Laughter is the best medicine! Here’s to better days ahead! 🙂
I completely enjoyed your story Barbara. I still have my childhood buddy, Manfred the Wonder Dog. So I totally understand your feelings about Teddy.
Thanks, Muriel! Don’t ever let Manfred stray!
I love your sense of humor, Barbara! It’s great to get to know you better.
Thanks, Linda! It’s always good to see your smiling face!
Big sister commenting here: Barbara, growing up with you was never dull! From tagging along on your entomology quests to watching you put stamps in your album, I saw early on that you were born to collect things whether they were bugs, stamps, or whatever caught your fancy. You made the most of living in our remote area, always having an interest in the world beyond our country road. I loved reading this interview. It tells exactly who you are.
Thanks, Janice! Naturally you always kept a neater playhouse and walked a straighter path, pretty much always. It was good that one of us was easy to raise! 🙂
For the two of us being Irish twins, we were cut from pretty different cloth, at least when it came to sitting at a sewing machine. Meticulous cross stitcher and quilter such as you evolved to be, in another universe than me! I’ll chase insects while you sew perfectly straight seams!
But when it comes to a Thrifting adventure, we are both game!!! Hope we can keep at it for a long time to come!
Barbara, What a FUN story! Thanks so much for sharing that with us. I, too, remember scouring the city dump growing up. I remember finding a box of LPs one time. Turns out they were demos for a band, that well, there was a reason they put them all in the dump, but it was a place of wonder. Kind of like a thrift shop: it is other people’s cast offs, but you never know what you will find.
I love your collections and your ‘haphazard’ way of decorating that makes such wonderful vignettes. There is so much character in each one.
I so wish I lived in Michigan so I could frequent your one-woman flea market! You would have to hire me on, bc I have a feeling I would never leave.
Thanks, Terri! Haphazard definitely sums it up! 🙂
I hope you kept those third rate records.
And you’re hired, Terri! When can you start?
What a fun read! I can relate on several “layers”. Love, love those sedum stuffed shoes in the bird bath 🙂 Lea
LOL—-layers—–how appropriately said! Thanks for the chuckle!
Succulents make everything look better. 🙂
Barbara, That Queen Elizabeth mouse or guinea pig is a hoot. Also love your art form creations. Amazing what a little creativity can do to revive otherwise unloved items……I feel a wave of inspiration washing over me right this minute. Thank you for that.
Thanks, Diane! LOL! My daughter got the Rodent Queen pillow in London.
I’m inspired by your inspiration!!! 🙂
Enjoyed reading your interview, I love the idea of shopping your stuff since you bought ahead. I may used that line when my daughter looks at my “inventory” 🙂
🙂 Hope that excuse comes in handy for you! 🙂
Barbara,
What a great feature! I loved your story and the way you told it. You have some great pieces, especially that white stool with the red legs! Love it 🙂
Thanks, Rheta!