Collecting | Typography

Here’s a (before) photo of a little letter opener I found at a thrift store a couple weeks ago:

I wasn’t a fan of the grey plastic or the promotional advertising on it, but I needed a letter opener and I liked the shape.

I spray painted it black when I got it home. It works like a charm and looks nice sitting on my desk when it’s not in use.

Also by my desk is a shadow box that I have a few blocks of wood type displayed in. I buy type blocks at antique stores here and there whenever I find some that I like.

This letter holder hangs in my kitchen, next to the back door. I bought it years ago at a thrift store, painted it black and stenciled the numbers onto it.

Faux metal letters that spell out “EAT” hang on another wall in my kitchen.

The letters were cheap paper mache ones that I bought at a craft store, basecoated in black paint, then drybrushed some silver over, letting the black peek through so they’d (hopefully) have a vintage industrial vibe (without the vintage industrial price).

And speaking of vintage…

A few old glass canisters with words or letters on them sit on my kitchen counter. All were thrift store finds. (And, yes, I know the “P” jar is supposed to have pepper in it. I swapped it for some sea salt so the contents would contrast with the black letter for the photo.)

On the far wall of my kitchen is this ampersand that I showed off in a previous post.

Before I stenciled the type onto it, the wood bore an image of John Wayne. My husband still doesn’t understand why I painted over the Duke.

I have a gallery wall on the stairwell going up to our second floor, where this “etc.” sign hangs.

It was originally a stained knotty pine piece with lots of straw flowers and bunches of wheat attached to it (somebody’s craft project from 1985, I’d guess). I bought it from a thrift store, ripped off all the embellishments, sanded copious amounts of glue off of it, painted it black and then Mod Podged houndstooth-patterned paper onto it.