Southern Vintage Table Vintage China Rental NC

A Vintage Adventure – Vintage China, A Cup & A Business Friendship

This vintage china rental business is a perfect fit for me.  I love vintage stuff – love the smell, the feel, the look, the beauty, the energy encapsulated in it, the history.  I also love to go hunting for it – what a thrill when you find something interesting and imagine sharing it with others.

One day I was looking carefully at each piece I had placed in my shopping cart at a Durham thrift store and an attractive woman approached me.  She commented about the array of dishes in my cart and I mentioned to her that I was looking for china for my vintage china rental business, Southern Vintage Table.  We chatted a bit and she went back into the china aisle.  A few more minutes later she returns with more pieces of the same pattern I had showed her.  The kindness of strangers – don’t we all love that!

Southern Vintage Table Vintage China Rental NC
This is vintage china pattern I showed Terry in the thrift store. It’s Trent by Homer Laughlin.

The next time she came back to my cart she was holding a coffee cup with “Terry” on it.  It turned out to be her name.

Now, here’s the beautiful, eerie part – as she’s showing this cup to me, she’s explaining that it must be a message from the cosmos to talk with me about Southern Vintage Table.  She shared that she had worked as a consultant with some prominent local companies in the area, which certainly caught my attention,  My cosmic antenna was also up that day and I deeply felt this was not just a chance encounter.  We exchanged names and numbers.

Our fateful meeting turned into a wonderful business collaboration for which I am very grateful.  Her insight, experience and expertise helped get my business up and ready.  Thank you, Terry Melville, for understanding the message in the coffee cup!

Southern Vintage Table Vintage China Rental NC
Here’s Trent all dressed up with a vintage dessert plate and compote!

Southern Vintage Table is ready to help you with your next event – birthday, shower, anniversary, wedding reception, dinner party, tea party and any other gathering – with beautiful, interesting vintage china!

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Southern Vintage Table Vintage China Rental NC

Southern Vintage Table Vintage China Rental NC

A Vintage Adventure – Well, Perhaps Better Said, A MisAdventure…

Last weekend I went thrift store shopping for Southern Vintage Table and came across two beautiful vintage doors.  They were narrow and had three small windows in the upper half – just charming and I thought they would be perfect as a prop after painting and distressing.  I was trying to decide if I should go with a light blue or an antique white when I thought – oh no, I wonder if they have lead paint on them. Suddenly, I was the one who was getting distressed because I knew they probably did.

I love these doors, but with the lead paint, I had to pass them on.

I stopped by the hardware store and picked up a lead paint test kit, hoping that it wouldn’t be.  Got home, unloaded the doors, read the directions on the kit and tested them.  Bam – the tester turned bright pink which meant they had lead paint.  As I said, I was very distressed.  After researching how to remove lead paint, I decided to call on an expert.  Found out it would cost way more than I could afford for two prop doors.  Oh, well…

I figured this was another valuable learning experience and posted them on Facebook.  Within 30 minutes someone wanted them, even knowing they had lead paint. I was pleased because they needed to be saved and restored.  Lesson learned  – take a lead paint tester with me and check before I buy them!

Not all was lost on that shopping day. I did find two vintage china plates, a vintage berry bowl and a vintage table runner.   Only one of each but that’s part of the fun of thrift store shopping!

Southern Vintage Table Vintage China Rental NC
Three thrift store finds – two vintage china plates, a vintage berry bowl and a vintage table runner!

These and other beautiful vintage china and accessories are available for rental at Southern Vintage Table!

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Southern Vintage Table Vintage China Rental NC

Southern Vintage Table Vintage China Rental NC

Vintage Tips – Pinterest Tip for Rearranging Pins

Southern Vintage Table Vintage China Rental NC
Here is a screen shot of Southern Vintage Table’s Pinterest Boards

One of the key web tools for sharing inventory of my vintage china and accessories is Pinterest.  I love this site! It’s easy to import, or pin photos, and organize them onto boards.  Plus, the presentation is professional and, with great appreciation, free!

When I first started using Pinterest, I uploaded photos from my website, Southern Vintage Table, and from my computer.  I wasn’t thinking of the order of my uploads because I thought I could later reorganize them on my board.  As I added more photos and looked back at the board, I realized there were large clusters of the same type of photo and I wanted to mix them up a bit.  When I looked up how to do this, I discovered you can’t rearrange pins within a board.

Southern Vintage Table Vintage China Rental NC
At the bottom of my board there were five layered vintage china settings in a row. I wanted to move two of them to break up this cluster.

But, I found a semi-solution that helped break up the clusters.  I chose a pin within the clusters and reassigned it to another board.  (Click on the pencil/edit icon in the upper right of the photo. Next to the board field, scroll to find a board to temporarily pin the image.) Then I opened the new board with the moved pin at the top and re-reassigned it, pushing the pin to the top of the original board.  With repinning to another board and then re-repinning to the original board, the end result is a better mix of photos and an overall more attractive board.

Southern Vintage Table Vintage China Rental NC
Now there are 3 layered vintage plates together here and at the top of the board.

Using this technique, you change the order of an entire board.  Just start a new empty board and repin your photos from the original board in the order you want them to appear for your viewers. Remember to think backwards with the pin you want to be seen first being the last one you move.

(FYI – Pinterest lets you easily change the order of boards.  Just click on the board and drag it to the new position.  Hopefully, they’ll make it just as easy to move pins!)

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Southern Vintage Table Vintage China Rental NC

Southern Vintage China Vintage China Rental NC

Vintage Feature – Wisdom from Ronald Reagan

All great change in America begins at the dinner table.
– Ronald Reagan  (www.brainyquote.com)

Southern Vintage China Vintage China Rental NC
The perfect setting for great conversation with this beautiful blue vintage china patterns!

Southern Vintage Table is ready to help you plan for your upcoming events this fall.  Have a wedding, anniversary, birthday party, baby shower or a dinner party coming up?  Let us help you set the table and get the conversation started!

Check out our inventory of vintage china and accessories on Pinterest!

Southern Vintage Table Vintage China Rental NC

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Southern Vintage Table Vintage China Rental NC

A Southern Vintage Table Event: RSVP Events’ Office Luncheon

RSVP Office Luncheon

RSVP Events invited Mary from CE Rental to meet with them at their country office in rural Orange County.  Southern Vintage Table set the table and Saladelia Cafe provided the delicious assortment of salads and desserts. Many ideas were explored and discussed as the two businesses strengthened their connections.

A beautiful table can open up the table conversation!
A beautiful table can open up the table conversation!

Whether you are meeting a new client, celebrating a colleague’s accomplishment or brainstorming ideas for your next project, let Southern Vintage Table set your table for a productive working luncheon.  Good food, a beautiful table and the shared experience will spawn positive synergy and build strong business relationships!