I have a confession to make: this blog is not only a platform for me to explore new recipes and ingredients but I also use it as an excuse to hoard pretty plates and serving pieces and table linens.  True story.  Many weekends I can be found scouring estate sales and antique stores seeking out anything I think might make a nice background for food.  Case in point: the above starter collection of milk glass pieces atop a lovely tablecloth my mom found at an antique store.

When I came across these handkerchiefs at an estate sale last year I had to have them.  I wasn’t sure at the time how I would use them but they were so pretty and the woman who collected them had the same first initial as me so I took that as a sign from the heavens that they needed to come home with me.  So they did.

I’ve been fortunate to also have been handed down some very lovely things from family members which makes them more special.  You might think the sifter above is good as just an antique prop but no, I actually use it for its original intended purpose.  It’s way bigger easier to clean than the ones they manufacture today.  And I am also a sucker for old metal baking pans when I see them at estate sales– they were made so much sturdier back in the day!

A friend who knows I collect linens passed the embroidered peacock runner to me.  Love it.

I don’t exactly know what I am going to do with the glass domes I have been collecting but I know they will come in handy some day.  Thinking I will serve cupcakes in them.  Nothing like old glass milk bottles either.

A friend convinced me to buy the cake topper at an estate sale even though it made me kind of sad to think about the couple who it originally belonged to.  I like to think that they’d be happy knowing that I will put it to good use so someday I will.  I’m also a sucker for glasses and other formats for vintage advertising.

I like tablecloths with flowers on them.  So pretty!

The dishes above are my greatest find yet.  I went to a barn sale in the country not far from where I live in Wisconsin and this older gentleman who looked like he stepped straight out of an episode of American Pickers  sold me four boxes of these dishes for $4.  Four dollars!  I now have service for about 20 people though have mostly been too scared to use them because I am afraid I will break them.  Considering that they resided in a barn for years unscathed I probably shouldn’t be too worried…

Not all great things are vintage.  The majority of the above pieces came from a friend who has great taste and decided I could use a few more colorful pieces for the blog.  Love them (and her)!  Anthropologie, West Elm, and Fishs Eddy are great resources.