Today Is National ‘Dear Diary’ Day! 14

Today is National Dear Diary Day!

A diary allows you to write down your thoughts… it let’s you record what’s in your head at the moment, sometimes when there is no one else to share with. Writing in a diary lets you express thoughts and ideas that you might not say aloud to your friends or family. It serves as a record of your life – your joys, trials and tribulations. It’s a memory book, a memoir of your life. Diaries can include anything and everything… from the trivial things you did each day, to your most secret secrets.

To celebrate Dear Diary Day, we’ve gathered diary entries from the vintage shops of our Vintage Etsy Society Team members to share with you! 

Each photo below opens the profile for that person, and each signature includes a link to their vintage shops.

We hope you enjoy our entries!

Dear Diary,

How long has it been? I’m writing, because I fractured my elbow today, tripping over some stuff at an estate sale. Can you believe? So, the sale was awesome! Filled with really old things from the 1910s, and girl, was it ever packed. After elbowing my way around the two main floors, I ventured to the attic, and stood gaga at what I saw! Old trunks, stacks of books, dresses, crinolines, and on and on. The lighting was pretty awful, but there I went, full steam ahead and thump! Tripped over a woman, who was sitting right in the pathway – in the dark. Why didn’t I take my flashlight? That little one I always have with me? Anyway, as I was falling, my eyes lighted on a little, wooden box that was partially hidden by a bigger one. My fall caused such a lot of excitement among the other pickers that I was able to stumble over there to claim it!

So, here I am, perched in my bed, with lots of fluffy, vintage chintz pillows to support me, a cup of herbal tea to soothe me, and my little, wooden box of antique laces, baby bonnets, and linens at my side to tell me it was well worth the trouble.

More later…

Betty, PlumsandHoney

Dear Diary,

Yesterday I told myself I would not bring anymore vintage into the house. Today, I believe God must not have wanted me to deprive myself because there was a sign on my street that said “Estate Sale, Turn Here.”

Molly, www.etsy.com/shop/MollyFinds and mollysmuses.com

Dear Diary,

The ride between Phiily and Boston on Amtrak this morning went right by the shores South of Boston and I almost felt like I was going on summer vacation to Block Island rather than to Mass General to face the appointment about Bob’s neurological disorder. I can’t believe how much I still relish being on a train taking me away from home, imagine that, after all these years, it still holds that thrill for me!

Caroline, carohope

Dear Diary,

I really am sincere when I tell my family I’m not buying any more big heavy vintage items. I see the relief on their faces and I am sure in their backs. But, a few weeks ago I stumbled on an original cast iron porcelain farmhouse sink for sale. It was only about an hour away, in great condition and it was still for sale! I really tried to think of reasons not to buy it. But in the end, how could I not buy it? It seemed like it was meant to be. 

On the heels of that discretion, I was innocently shopping at one of my resale shops, rounded the corner and saw a beautiful Mid Century cupboard. One piece of solid wood, well one doesn’t run across these everyday I said to myself. The store clerk mentions how heavy it was when they moved it out on the floor…..I walked away contemplating and looked back, someone was looking at it..pressure on…I decided to leave the decision up to fate, if my husband can bring the trailer I will buy it.

Thank you family, from this point on I will really try to avoid looking at big heavy vintage items.

Note to self, remember to ask one of the boys to help get the steel filling cabinet up stairs in the craft room…

Linnea, BrooklynStVintage

Dear Diary,

Since my husband’s recent retirement, he has been joining me on my vintage “hunts” quite frequently. He often sees items that I overlook and has come up with some awesome finds. After almost 58 years of marriage (WOW!), it’s fun to share my passion with him.

Suz, SimplySuzula

Dear Diary,

Today was a good day! It started out slow and was just going to be another day of a little work, a few errands, a little relaxation. Nothing special. But then the wailing started, and didn’t stop.

My next door neighbor recently moved and the landlord is readying the unit for a new tenant. He has had people there all week working and today was no exception. Well, except today the workers brought their young child.

Don’t get me wrong, I love kids and normally don’t mind their laughing, crying, playing, etc. But this one was different. This one just whined and wailed. No words, no crying just a constant drone of discontent. With not a whit of attention from the parents. After 20 minutes straight, it was time to go. I could no longer think enough to work, or rest.

So off I went to a new thrift store that I have been haunting on Instagram for a while. Not exactly in my neighborhood. Actually about 15 miles away. Which when you live in L.A. can be a very long drive in traffic and a lifetime away neighborhood wise.

They were having a sale, so today was a perfect day to go check it out. They had tons of stuff! Clothes, books, tools, furniture, housewares, everything you can imagine and then some. It was a hunter’s paradise. I know better than to let my imagination get the better of me so I was very careful of what I bought. Believe me, I could have left there with loads of stuff. But instead I only picked up two coveted items. The first one is a fabulous heavy glass refrigerator jar with the lid. No chips, cracks, flea bites, nothing. In perfect condition and in a very unusual shape too. A fabulous piece overall. The second item however was the prize. A fabulous little black dog brooch with a twisted wire collar, in Bakelite, for 99 cents. Score! Needless to say, I will be making the trek out to this shop more often now.

I then headed out to a few more thrift shops eventually making my way home. I picked up a couple more goodies and even ran across an older couple I had seen earlier at one of my stops. We nodded hello and I commented that we must be on the same route. They smiled and agreed.

When I finally got home, the workers next door had gone for the day, and all was quiet. At least for a while. So, yes, today was a very good day.

Pam, VintageRenude

Dear Diary,

I can’t believe how fast time flies! Where did the summer go? Now that Labor Day weekend has passed, I need to switch into high gear to ready for the changing season.

I am also looking forward to a few things this early fall including an out-of-town shopping trip to Detroit, a little mid century inspiration from a Cliff May house tour in Dallas, and finally getting a new website up and running in time for the holiday season. Meanwhile I’ll keep adding new and interesting finds to the Etsy shop.

Pam, 1006Osage

My Diary Entry really should start “Dear Nonnie”, my grandmother who passed last year at the age of 97. My love and appreciation for vintage decor has a lot to do with her…so here it goes!

Dear Nonnie,

You are my greatest vintage treasure and I miss you tons, but somehow feel your presence often. Maybe it’s Pete and Joe, the parakeets you left me. I find myself talking to them like you did (“awww, the babies”, “are you Nonnie’s babies?” , or “Pete, don’t let Joe do that, stand up for yourself….go after him!”)

Anyway, Nonnie (Or Trudy, as your friends called you) was born in 1918 and lived in NYC, working young to help out her family (I think she left school at 8th grade). She won a Charlston contest at age 5 and gave the prize winnings directly to her mother (who by the way, was a flapper girl with a kind heart (except maybe when she sucked on lemons in front of the trumpet players), who took in strangers that had no place to stay….Grandma Delaney is a another story. Later, during the war, you stapled pocketbooks in your apartment at night when the children were sleeping. You saved and saved for a maple dining set…which you were so proud of all your life. You also saved up the down payment for your first house in Newburgh, NY (Vinnie, my grandfather, was not a saver so much, but sweet and wonderful all the same.)

So, my dear sweet Nonnie, this note is to tell you how much you have meant to me in my life. Your stories of the old days in NY always fascinated me. Through you, my sisters and I got to know our dad, your only son, who died at age 30, when I was just 3 years old. We clung on to those stories and cherish them still. You were a talker, that’s for sure. But we loved listening to you. The funny stories, that sad stories of being so incredibly poor during the depression, the gathering of the men to the quanset hut for hunting, the vacations at your pool in NY, and then later at your retirement community in Fla (where we loved spending our spring breaks). You always spoiled us Non, with sweets (you mean we can EACH pick a sugar cereal!?).

Here are some life lessons I’ve learned from you:

1. Being a grandparent means you can never show too much love and you’ve always got plenty to give.
2. Children are God’s gift to us here on earth….you loved them all and they loved you right back.
3. Play the lottery, and pick the sports car you will buy (it was aways a white trans am for you) The rest of the money gets split with the grandkids.
4. Save your money and buy quality things that you love. Then, take care of them. If something breaks, fix it. (Pop was a great carpenter).
5. Be Grateful : “I think of the poor people on the street, so cold. I’m so lucky to be warm and have food to eat.”
6. Be Loyal : “You mess with my granddaughters, you mess with me”
7. Be Kind : “I try to smile at everyone I see. It just makes them feel better”.
8. Be Tough, but Loving: “I’m no piece of lace. I’m just an old toughie, with a lot of love to give”.
9. Keep your Mind Active: “I read the paper from top to bottom every day”.
10. You’re Never too Old to feel Pretty : “I gotta have my eyeliner!”
11. Everyone Needs a Nonnie : “C’mon, just call me Nonnie! I’ll adopt ya”

~~~And I hope I’m just like you Non. Love you~~~

Karen, PixieVintageHome

Dear Diary,

Today was just one of those days where your To-Do List didn’t remotely resemble your Done List. I was supposed to list a couple more glassware items in my shop, complete a treasury I had started, draft a blog post, and run by Goodwill to look for new treasures. I also had some phone calls to make.

I did manage to get the Tree Nursery called. Transplanting the Rose of Sharon to encourage the hummingbirds would be more expensive than I had thought. I guess the little hummers will just have to make do. Just as I started to do the next thing on my list, I got a phone call. My plans changed immediately because I was needed to help with grandkids.

The glassware didn’t get listed nor did the treasury get completed. The draft for the blog would have to wait for another time, and if there were treasuries at Goodwill today I just missed out. What I didn’t miss out on was a day full of special hugs, dimpled grins, and I Love You’s.

All in all, I’d say it was a pretty profitable day!

Mrs. A, TwoArtisans

Dear Diary,

Today I was thinking about all my wonderful customers who have written to me to say that the item they bought from my shop was to replace something that they or a loved one had once owned but that had been lost, discarded, or broken years ago. These are things that held a special place in their hearts, and I love that I had a hand in helping them bring their cherished memories to life.

Recently, a lovely woman purchased a piggy bank from my shop that is a happy remembrance of her childhood. She had received the same piggy bank as a gift for her 5th birthday in the 1950s but had lost track of it over the years. I hope the piggy bank makes her smile every time she looks at it, and I hope she enjoys it for many years to come.

Another recent purchase from my shop was a turkey platter. Its new owner wrote to tell me that she bought it to replace the same turkey platter that had been lost in a house fire. It had been a long-standing family tradition to use that platter every Thanksgiving, and now that tradition can happily continue.

Before the internet and online shopping came to be, it could take years to hunt down that certain something, and sometimes it would never be found. My, how things have changed!

Loretta, MoonstruckCottage

Dear Diary,

What a wonderful dinner show Mother Nature treated us to last night. Two red fox kit wandered into our back yard in search of a drink. 

They were joined a few minutes later by a two week old roadrunner. 

A ten minute episode of Animal Planet played out on our back patio as they staged their own version of tag. No aggression. No fear. No drama. They were obviously just curious about the strangers that looked nothing like them.

The moral in Mother Nature’s tale is one those of us at the dinner table will not soon forget.

Linda, SelectiveSalvage and SelectiveSalvage.com

Dear Diary,

It’s been a while since we got together. Just to bring you up to date, you can pretty much forget about any of matrimonial strategy entries I wrote about 1) Bobby Sherman, 2) Davy Jones, 3) Paul Newman, 4) Robert Redford and 5) Kareem Abdul Jabbar. None of those worked out. Actually, I did better.

Daydreams about your future are all very nice, but really, as it turns out, it’s a much better choice to get out there and life your life instead of dream about it.

Oh, and all those ideas I had about someday being on the stage…yeah…you can’t give up on all your dreams, can you?

Yours truly,
Laurie, RecentHistory

Dear Diary,

The September days’ light is beginning to wear thin. Sunset is coming on sooner and I am loosing a full 8 minutes of productivity daily! After I rolled in the mower, I spent some time searching property online. An adorable 1940’s Spanish style bungalow fixer upper popped up, close to the city and a half block from the greenway. This country mouse longs to be a city mouse…at least part time. I did a drive-by.

Observations:
cobblestone drive PLUS!
one level with attached garage/studio PLUS!
wood and tile floors PLUS!
5 minutes to coffee shop, yoga studio PLUS!
obviously abandoned, crumbling stucco inside and out, 100,000 investment just to get it to code?

I called the realtor.

Barbara, IonesAttic

Dear Diary,

Another beautiful late summer Saturday here in Ohio. I was up early with a travel mug full of coffee and the list of estate and rummage sales I wanted to hit. The drive south was relaxing because I love those twisty, turny, country roads. Three stops, each full of tables and stacked boxes. And that’s the excitement for me, knowing that I can come across just about anything.

It’s funny, because people often ask me if there’s something in particular that I’m looking for on these trips. I tell them that I will know it when I see it. So, that means leaving no stone unturned!

I started digging, browsing tables and sorting through boxes, dusty shelves and wrapped newspaper for old things that have been pretty much forgotten about over the years. And I found some real treasures… an antique glass bottle, carved wooden bowls, some hand thrown pottery, a pencil drawing used as a book mark, and of course, a few strange do-dads that I just couldn’t pass up!

All of this stuff, once loved by someone else, ended up coming home with me. A bit of cleaning, a touch of TLC, and these great old pieces will get a chance to be cherished by someone else.

And that, to me, is the most rewarding part of how I like to spend my Saturday mornings. Because all of these forgotten treasures deserve a new life!
Signing off until tomorrow,
Cindy, aka the rescuer of stuff, SparklyLark

Dear Diary,

Help! The calendar is telling me – it’s already September and Autumn is just a few days away. But my mind and body is telling me it’s still Summer! September is still Summer, right?

I have so much work to do to get my etsy shop and my booth ready for the holiday shopping season, but I can’t seem to stay inside and work.

Hopefully, with the days getting shorter and cooler I can make myself buckle down and be more productive, until then I’m clinging on to every moment of Summer that I can.

Mimi, Creeklifetreasures.com

Dear Diary,

I saw Stevie Nicks performing her hit song Landslide on television the other night. The words to this song that resonated with me 40 years ago have brought new meaning to me today.

The chorus;

Well, I’ve been afraid of changing
‘Cause I’ve built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older and I’m getting older too.

These words made me reflect on my time spent on Etsy. I feel like I have given my all to building my Shop to be my means of sustaining my lifestyle. I fear I have climbed a mountain only to find that my Shop on Etsy has been a well-crafted illusion.

Stevie Nicks looked fabulous, though! Time to make some changes.

Linda, Umeone

Dear Diary, 

How is it that a grown adult woman is still smitten with stuffed animals? Whenever I am at a flea market and I come across a display of vintage mohair teddy bears, lambs, cats, rabbits, or any other animal, I almost swoon.

I especially like the wonderful vintage Steiff animals. My mother and father usually made most of the Christmas presents for my siblings and me, but for several years we each received one Steiff stuffed animal or puppet as a gift. I still have the little lamb, llama, monkey, and tiger I was given. And I know my brother and sisters have held onto their Steiff gifts as well. This line of stuffed animals were exquisitely made with mohair and each had perfect details such as velveteen paws, embroidered mouths, and glass bead eyes.

My love affair with stuffed toys goes beyond quality name brand vintage animals – I also find charm in the worn and tattered inexpensive everyday variety. The rabbit with the torn ear, the elephant missing a button eye, or the teddy bear with most of its fur rubbed off. They remind me of the story, The Velveteen Rabbit. They are made more special because a child played with them and loved them like a good friend.

Recently, I was attempting to sort through and get rid of my now adult children’s toys. I found so many memories wrapped up in their stuffed animals. The 18 inch teddy bear I made for my daughter one Christmas. This bear had an outfit for each season and I remember how excited she was when she opened the box. Or my eldest’s well-loved rabbit with the fraying blue satin ribbon. I had wrapped up that same rabbit and given it to my husband to announce that we were expecting our first child. The little pink elephant my mother brought to the hospital when my daughter had an accident. The sad looking giraffe my son chose at a second hand toy sale because in his words “it needed a home”. I certainly could not part with these animals.

I doubt I will outgrow this fondness for stuffed animals. I imagine when (and if) I have grandchildren, my very first gift will most likely be the perfect stuffed elephant, or lamb, or bear.

Mary, PassedBy

Dear Diary,

On the way home from the flea market today, I was amazed to discover original Fiestaware and Watts pottery in pristine condition at a thrift as it was closing! I picked up a Fiesta teapot and shakers for Etsy and a Watt French baker and nesting bowls for the booth. Best of all, the hubs found a keeper: a Watt Apple pitcher to match Mom’s wedding present mixing bowls.

The prices and quality of these vintage finds set my treasurer hunter’s heart a flutter. But I feel a little sad too. Each piece of pottery has a tiny handwritten inventory sticker on it, which reminds me that someone’s lifelong collection has been broken up.

Did the family not want it? Or, like my father-in-law who donated the majority of his Pittsville pottery to the Pittsville, Wis., historical society, did the collector give the family first dibs and then offer the rest to a favorite charity?

I guess I will never know for sure, but thinking that the original owner might have deliberately offered up these treasures to the collecting universe is making me feel much better!

Mary, SentimentalFavorites

Dear Diary, 

All of my aunties had a white forelock. Mom may have had one too but kept her hair dyed dark brown til the day she died. Today I went to the hairdresser and told her to cut and style my hair to show off the amazing forelock that I have. All of my aunts and uncles have since died, but I will honor and carry on this family trait much the way I honor my ancestors.

Mary Ellen, AuntHattiesAttic and AuntHattiesAtticVintage.com

Dear Diary,

As a collector of Michel Caugant faience terrines, and living not too far away from his last company, I have to look and hunt these fabulous terrines at flea markets around.

I met several retired employees of Michel Caugant company who sell sometimes some terrines they got as gifts with Caugnat company. Last July, I met the son of a retired employee. He told me he had several terrines from 1980s and 1990s and explained to me that many of these “treasures” were used for decorating his grass and his vegetable garden…throughout the year! For sure, many terrines are broken part since:) OMG! An English Collector I know well was really shocked too, amazed to hear of that “local tradition”.

et voilà!
thank you for reading.
Solveig, VintageFindsFrance

Dear Diary,

I started out Saturday morning on my usual garage sale trail. It was one of those days when I found absolutely nothing vintage! You know how it is . . . some days you feel like you hit the jackpot and other days are just, well disappointing. But then I decided to stop in at a thrift store I hadn’t visited for a while. And guess what? They were having a half off sale on the whole store! I got 2 bags of fun vintage kitchen items for my shop and a lovely wool skirt for my daughter. My outing that started off with a fizzle ended with a bang, yippee!

Tina, CherryPrairie

Dear Diary,

Today is the first day of Fall. But I am still in FULL-SUMMER mode. I am not ready to give up Summer! So I am just going to act as if it isn’t Fall – how does that sound?!

We still have trips to take to the cabin. We have a few Outdoor Movie Nights to host at home, and I am sure I can squeeze in a patio party or two. We’re still swimming and having fun at the pool (thankfully it’s heated, or our swimming days might be over for the year). I even still have perennials to plant!

I love shopping at outdoor flea markets in the Summer. Sadly, there are only two more weeks for these outdoor markets here in Minnesota.Just two weeks! I am thankful that there are flea markets I can shop on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. And you can bet I WILL be attending every one of them that I can! Once these flea markets are over for the year, it will be 6-7 more months before they start up again. Pretty sad, isn’t it?

With all these Summer things I have yet to do – I am determined to stretch out Summer for as long as I can.

…And I’m NOT putting away my flip-flops!

JayDee, ThirdShift.etsy.com and ThirdShiftVintage.com