Favorite Things - Antiquing for Teacups!

I have a fascination for antiquing - like a little old lady!!

I love discovering things from different time periods and finding different things for decorative accents for my apartment or my office. One of my FAVORITE things to collect while antiquing are teacups! My mom started the fascination with her teacups that she had passed down from her grandmother that are sitting on a shelf in my parents' house. They are so beautiful, delicate, and the detail is incredible. It's not so much the idea of tea, but the idea of the tea parties or the gatherings that my teacups were used in - that, I love thinking about! 

One of my favorite places to antique in the Chicago area is Jackson Square Mall in LaGrange, a Chicago suburb. I found the place by chance about 4 years ago, and love going out there on a day off to wander through their HUGE 2-story space, and see what I can find. It's a little bit like a scavenger hunt! You never know what you'll find - there have been times that have been a bust, and other times I find my all-time favorite pieces.

Last week's trip found me 6 new teacups - 3 Bavarian teacups with beautiful gold detail, and 3 flowery, girly teacups (which is usually my aesthetic :)..  ) 

These are the three Bavarian cups I found. I photographed them on a BEAUTIFUL Italian painted tray I antiqued at Jackson Square Mall last year. And, check out the antique tea strainer and the little spoon my mom got me - it has 'tea time' imprinted into it :) 

And, these are the 3 flowery teacups I found. I find that the floral patterns are usually English china. That is the key to antiquing for teacups! You of course have to fall in love with the design, but looking on the bottom to see where the teacup is from and the date shows its true worth. I thought my new teacups went perfectly with the cover of Real Simple this month! 

Teacups usually run anywhere between $8-$35. They are fairly reasonable, and I usually can be pretty picky on price given this is an extracurricular activity of mine, and as a young professional, I can't go TOOOOO wild... but..... I currently probably have about 60-65 teacups. So many, I have to keep a majority of them at my parents house, and house about 30 teacups in my apartment. 

I LOVE them!! And, I think all of these are going to head to work with me today to become new office decoration. :)