Antiquing in Frederick, MD

With our wedding coming up, I've been on the lookout for a hope chest to store all of the keepsakes from the wedding and our first year of marriage.  I've looked around online and just couldn't seem to find exactly what I was looking for.   I've also been looking online for a recipe card holder for my Michigan bridal shower and could only find one that I sort of liked at the Container Store. 

Since I didn't have any plans this Sunday, I decided to take my quest for a hope chest and recipe box on the road, to the antique stores in downtown Frederick, MD.   

Kevin and I have taken a road trip to Frederick, MD in the past and enjoyed spending time walking around downtown and stopping into a few stores, but since Kevin was with me and hates shopping, I didn't get to spend as much time antiquing as I would have liked.  This time I had a plan.  We'd get some lunch together downtown and then go our separate ways for the afternoon.  Me, to the antique stores, and Kevin to the Monocacy National Battlefield and Civil War Museum. (Nerd.)

Frederick has TONS of great antique stores with a variety of items and prices.  I stopped into a few, but could not seem to find the two items I was looking for.  Finally, I stumbled upon Carroll Creek Antiques on E. Patrick Street and found the perfect hope chest!

(Stay tuned for my next blog post on how I turned this hope chest into what it looks like today!)

After purchasing the chest, I set out again to find the perfect box to hold the recipe cards that I requested that ladies fill out and bring to my Michigan bridal shower.  I went into what seemed like 10 stores and could not seem to find anything that would work.  Either they were too short, too small or too big. 

I tried one last store-  Emporium Antiques.  Emporium Antiques is a large storefront that has around 130 individually owned booths inside the store.  Each booth specializes in different antiques including silverware, jewelry, magazines, furniture, toys, clothes, woodworking, etc.   I searched the entire store for the perfect container and found a lot that would work, but were just too expensive.  Prices ranged from $50-$200 for a simple storage box.  Finally I found two that would work and that were in my price range.  I settled on this small wooden box for only $14! 

After cleaning it up with soap and water at home, it was the perfect container to hold my recipe cards.  (Thanks again to Jessica and Sarah at Empress Stationery for creating my beautiful invitations and recipe cards!)

Shout out to Empress Stationery--  they did a magnificent job!

Stay tuned for my tutorial on how I turned my hope chest from dusty and rusty to just like new!