Friday, November 2, 2012

Authentic Vintage Gifts For Special Occasions

By: Ruth J. Lanham



You may be wondering what gift to give your mom on her birthday or your favorite aunt on Christmas and you want it to be something special and unique. One of the things you can give special people on certain special occasions is vintage gifts that can help bring back memories of the olden days. These old gifts that can be made to look new and can be found in a lot of stores that specialize in old items and vintage items. You can even find some of these things in thrift stores and vintage stores that sell old items that other people sell to them as well.
You can easily find certain old gifts that you can make new by digging through these stores and some of the things you can find that are well worth giving people you care for include old-fashioned salt and pepper jars made of ceramic, bread tins or boxes, wooden wall decors or wall key hangers and even old laundry signs that will look good hanging in the kitchen or in your laundry room. Other popular retro inspired gifts that you can find in such venues include old popcorn enamel bowls, vintage cup and pitcher sets and retro magnets for the refrigerator. Gumball machines, retro decorations like the dancingauto hula girl and stuffed dice decor are also available for you to purchase and give as authentic mementos from the past.
While there are companies that manufacture replicas of these vintage gifts these days, giving the real thing to your family and friends of special occasions is often more appealing since this means you put a lot of effort into the gift. Some of the things you will probably need to do when you find the right old item to give as a gift to someone includes cleaning them up and even refurbishing them to make them look better. Old cookie jars, salt and pepper containers and other similar ceramic items may need to be cleaned out, aired and deodorized to help remove the moldy and musty smell that may emanate from within these containers. Old wooden items can be sanded down and refinished to make them look cleaner and fresher and gumball machines and similar gadgets may need to be tested to see if they still work the way they should.
Vintage gifts that you give to your loved ones can bring back fond memories for them and can make them feel like they did in those days. Old jewelry you can find in flea markets, old scarves, jars, vases and other retro decorations can become lovely gifts. Old sunglasses that are free from scratches, old cloth handbags that are reminiscent of the fashion of the 70s, collectible figurines of old cartoon characters and even retro shirts can bring about lovely memories for their recipients. You simply need to find where these gifts can be found and how you can restore them to near new conditions and you have a lovely gift that not only brings back memories of the past but is actually from the past.