If you’re proud of your collection and don’t want your finds to face a similar fate, there are plenty of creative tricks to weave them into your home decor. A china cabinet is a perfectly acceptable place to present collectibles, but displaying them in an unexpected way can give a fresh, new look to your surroundings. Other vintage items that could serve as a finishing touch for your table? Lanterns, tins, small birdcages, brass containers, and candlesticks, for example. Clip up pages from a well-loved vintage tome or textbook, flashcards, love letters, postcards, or magazine advertisements. If you’d like to reveal pieces of paper in all their imperfect glory—tatters, tears, and wear—a clipboard is a great way to do that. To build a collection for a printer’s tray, search for extra-tiny items on Etsy and in boxes and bins at flea markets. Great miniature vintage objects include bottles for watch parts, fèves (dime-sized French figurines baked into cakes during Epiphany) and Cracker Jack toys.
