Hannah's Treasures Vintage Wallpaper Blog

Artisan Spotlight: Mitzi's Collectibles

Motivated by the enduring charm of "old things" and a passion for discovering aged treasures, Mitzi Curi  spreads her love for vintage through her Etsy store, Mitzi's Collectibles, and her fascinating blog, Mitzi's Miscellany. Her Etsy store is a mix of both hand-selected vintage keepsakes and handmade upcycled pieces. Mitzi has many years of experience in collecting antiques and a special knack for creating. Her blog not only offers informative tidbits on an array of past treasures, but it also showcases a variety of upcycling and repurposing craft tutorials. Please visit both her Etsy store and her blog, but before you do, check out what Mitzi had to say to us about her shop (and take a peak at some of the fun things she has to offer as well):

Vintage Wallpaper Cuff Bracelets

Artisan Spotlight: Vintagetypegirl

In collaboration with her two favorite vintage typewriters, a 1972 Super 12 (affectionately called the O.G.) and a 1965 Olivetti Lettera 32 (also known as Oliver the cursive typewriter), Catherine of Vintagetypegirl creates a plethora of amusing and charming items for her Etsy shop. From magnets and framed quotes to necklaces, bracelets, and other jewelry items, each piece harbors the essence of vintage charm, and many of them throw in a dash of contemporary wit as well. Vintagetypegirl hails from Chesapeake, Virginia but brings its clever inspiration to the rest of the world via Etsy. We spoke with Catherine, the creative fingers of the operation, and this is what she had to say about her shop—

Artisan Spotlight: Scodioli Creative

 

Madame Scodioli of Scodioli Creative on Etsy ||
Tintype Photo by Victor Vague

Born of carnival inspiration and teeming with imaginative genius, Scodioli Creative offers a truly unique experience in bath and body care products. From the handmade soaps and perfumes to the alluring bearded figurehead of Madame, Scodioli Creative may in fact be the boldest, bravest, most amazing and magnificent show on Etsy! We asked Riley, owner and visionary behind Scodioli Creative, to share with us a little more about her shop, and here’s what she had to say—

Vintage Kraft Wallpaper (aka Decorative Building Paper)

Vintage kraft wallpapers are easy to spot. While most vintage wallpaper designs were printed on relatively thin, light in color, and pliable paper, some vintage wallpaper patterns were printed on a thick, dark, almost cardboard-like kraft paper. Today we call these darker, stiffer wallpapers "vintage kraft papers" or "vintage kraft wallpaper," but at the time they were printed, they were known as "decorative building papers".

The two pictures below show the difference between regular vintage wallpaper and vintage kraft paper:

traditional kitchen vintage wallpaper

same pattern but on vintage kraft paper

The differences between traditional wallpaper and vintage kraft paper may be obvious (especially if you touch the two types with your own hands), but what's not obvious is the purpose behind vintage kraft papers. What were they created for anyway?

Vintage Wallpaper Tables at The Lucky Platter

A few weeks ago, my husband and I traveled to Chicago to celebrate our anniversary. We made sure to hit some of the major tourist spots--the coast of Lake Michigan, the top of the John Hancock Building, the Art Institute of Chicago, Gino's Pizza, etc. Yet our favorite stop by far wasn't actually in Chicago proper but rather nestled into the vibrant suburb of Evanston. We made a special breakfast trip to Evanston to visit The Lucky Platter, a deliciously eclectic and splendidly yummy restaurant with the coolest vintage wallpaper tables!

The Lucky Platter has been around since 1991, but just this summer, it underwent some significant renovations. Part of the renovation process included a dramatic face-lift for the old worn out tables and booths. Derek's vision: a snazzy array of vintage wallpaper tabletops to compliment the veritable smorgasbord of decor already in place.

Derek found most of his wallpaper patterns from RetroWallpaper (the 1960's and 70's branch of Hannah's Treasures on Etsy), with just a few older patterns thrown in for good measure. After adhering the wallpaper to the old tables, Derek and his crew used a self-leveling epoxy to create a solid and professional looking tabletop.

The thick coat of epoxy both protects the wallpaper and makes the table a breeze to clean. I was so impressed with the way they turned out. Just marvelous! Here's a look at some of the other tables: