The "Man's" Antiques and Vintage Finds.

There are few stores that the BF likes to go (outside of the Lowe's and the Grocery store), but it's great that we both love going to the Thrift Shop, and when the weather's nice, he'll go Junkin' with me as well!  I wish my home state of Virginia was more open-minded about Pets, then I could have more opportunities to take the Whole Family, Bender, Greg, any Accompanying Children, and Me!  Though I'm pretty sure the first time Bender Oak smells a really Old Fur Coat, or a nearby Hot Dog Vendor, all Chaos would break loose.

Lately, when we Thrift, I don't even realize that I take the "Divide & Conquer" approach.  I immediately go to the areas that I know are going to be good, then clothing, then Guy's clothing (sadly, I have a hard time kicking that Woman's Judgement that Greg will "miss something good" over there, even though he's a Full-Grown Man capable of finding great Thrift Shop Scores!)...eventually, I make it back to Greg, and we have "Show n' Tell".  His Show N' Tell for the past few months has been items to accompany our 1977 VW Bus.  Most of it is Vintage Camping Gear, and for Christmas I'd like to find a few more items for him, as well as some great VW stuff.

The stuff we pick up are considered more Vintage, than they are "Antiques".  I've still got it in my head that the terms "Old" and Antique refer to things that if you drop them on the ground, they will shatter in a million pieces, or get unremoveable dirt/dust stains.... But with online sites telling me that anything before 1990 is "Retro" and anything before 1984 is "Vintage", I'll just term everything we've found lately as "Cool Old Stuff".  We've been lucky to pick up a few pieces that reflect the area of Greg's early childhood, and the era his Bus became popular in America.

Most of the "Mantiques" we picked were well loved and well used, or abandoned in someones garage for decades before they were donated.  Since everything was in pretty shabby condition, Greg thought it would be great if he could capture a theme with all of the items and restore them to match the VW BUS!

Greg has some "Before" Videos on his blog for the cute round thing, which is a Catalytic Heater (Hey, I didn't really know what it was either!).... You can check them out Here .  If we go camping in the Winter, this little baby can heat up the whole inside of the Bus PLUS 3 feet around it.  Which is good, because I have a hard time waking up when it's freezing cold outside.

This stove is awesome, as I got to use a slightly newer model when I was younger.  I remember it made the best Sausage and Eggs, and only my Mom's Friend could make decent pancakes with it.  Check out the Youtube vid Here on how it got cleaned up, shiny, and the original stickers are now back on it!

 We didn't have to Paint this little folding Camp Chair.  It's like it knew it was coming to a new home and completing a little RustOleum Family of Safety Red and Almond Cream Glory!  We did end up giving it a little touch-up though.

While Greg was out there painting, the color was really inspiring, so I threw together some of his items and did this little Vignette.  He has gone back and forth several times this year about painting the Bus, and then he decided on the Red and Cream color.  It was kinda neato when I found this little "coordinating" blanket.  I say "Coordinating" because it's the same shade of Red, but it's White, and it has VW Bugs on it, not Buses.  Totally different, but I don't think Bender will mind since it's gonna be his Camping Snuggly.

So, we've got a Stove, a Heater, chairs, and a Blanket.  I guess all we need now is some Flatware and some Camping Food and we are Set to go!

 

PS! Don't forget to Clean up after you Re-finish and Refurbish projects!

 

 Bender picking up a dried-up Rag that got away for a second, and then realizing it was icky and did not go in your mouth.

 Greg saying "Come On, What are you doing? Ben and I are trying to clean up, put that Camera down!"

Thanks for reading everyone!

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