Have you ever had a locket? I think I had one as a child, but I haven't had one in my adulthood. The origin of the locket has been lost, though some think the concept may have started in the medieval times when people wore special things in trinket boxes near the skin. The Victorian Age, however, is when the locket began mounting in popularity.
Initially, people during the Victorian times used lockets to remember a loved one, with a lock of hair or a handpainted portrait of the deceased enclosed inside. The paintings eventually turned to photographs as they became more popular and attainable, and people began giving lockets as reminders of those who love each other. The lovestruck couple would have a photo on either side of the locket, oftentimes facing each other.
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ruby lane[/caption]
Lockets remained a classic piece of jewelry, but popularity waned until the 1940's when WWII sweetheart jewelry became the fashion. These lockets were sold everywhere, even the post office!
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the vintage bazaar[/caption]
And of course, this may be the most famous locket ever. That Miss Hannigan and her shenanigans...
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avon[/caption]
Today, the locket is still a source of sentimentality, and it will remain so. Keeping our loved ones near our hearts will always be in style. The locket has come a long way from its Victorian styling, and there are some really great options out there! I have rounded them up for you in one place, and with Love Day quickly approaching, maybe you could drop a hint to your significant other!
Here are my favorite modern day lockets...
Today is the second part of a two-post series on estate sales. If you missed yesterday's post, How To Find Estate Sales, you should check it out. It outlines my tried and true process for finding the best estate sales around.
If you are a frequent estate sale shopper, you know it can be fairly cutthroat. That's because you, as a laid back estate sale shopper, are competing with dealers, who are not so laid back about their estate sale finds. This might be annoying, and you may have had an ugly experience a time or two, but I try to remember this is some people's livelihood - how they feed their families and pay their medical bills. Then again, some people are mean and prickly, and sometimes you have to be the bigger person and try not to take it personally.
With that said, here are a few estate sale rules, followed by tips and tricks you have probably never heard of or thought of before. Follow these to be a successful estate sale shopper!
If you have been reading for awhile, you know how much I love a good estate sale. Pretty much every awesome find in my home has come from an estate sale. I often hear people say "they wished they went to estate sales but don't know how to find the good ones", or "I don't know how to shop them, and then all the good stuff is gone". I have been wanting to craft a two-part series on estate sales to address these issues for awhile now, and that is exactly what the next two days will be. Today I am starting with "How To Find Estate Sales" and tomorrow will be "How To Shop Estate Sales". There are definitely some tricks of the trade that you can only learn if you have been going to estate sales a long time, or you get lucky and someone tells you. (Like you.)
I have shopped estate sales as a dealer and a layperson, and I will let you in on exactly what I do and exactly what people like me do to find the best stuff. There is an art, you might say, to being a successful estate sale shopper.
I am publishing this post on a Wednesday because Wednesday is an awesome day to look for estate sales and plan out your trek for Friday. Most estate sales start on Friday, but a few may start on a Thursday so Wednesday is a great day to look for sales. You could look for example on a Monday, but sometimes people have not posted pictures or even decided to have a sale by Monday.
Before I even start looking for estate sales, I get out a piece of paper and a pen. You will want this so you can keep track of where you want to go and why. Typically, I have a line for each estate sale with this information:
Address
Day it opens and what time
Forms of Payment - If they only accept cash, this will usually be noted in the sale description, and I will make sure to bring cash with me. I always take a credit card and checkbook with me when I estate sale, but I do not always carry cash.
What I was interested in
This may sound overly specific, but sometimes estate sales run together when you are searching for them, and if you keep track of notable sales while you are looking, you will save time rather than having to go back later.
Here is the precise order of places I go to look for estate sales.
I have long been on the quest for the perfect bamboo shade. The natural organic feel to them really grips me. I especially love them in 
lauren liess[/caption]
I have searched for the perfect, AFFORDABLE bamboo shade for years. Seriously. I have looked through clearance racks at all sorts of stores and ordered samples from all over the place. And although it is entirely possible this secret has been out for awhile, it wasn't until six months or so ago that I discovered them.
You see, a bamboo shade has to have sort of a tortoise shell feel to them, and be light in color, but not too white and not too honey. It is a very delicate balance. The weave is also very important; not too reed-like and not too wide like blinds.
I stumbled on them quite accidentally... 