Vintage Fruit and Vegetable Labels

May 3rd, 2011

If you hate bad art, then create your own. You don’t have to be artistic.

The old labels used on fruit and vegetable crates from the 1930s onward are a fun way to add some vintage character to your kitchen or other area.

I found three old labels recently on eBay and used reclaimed wood to build frames for them. Well, I should come clean. It was my husband who built the frames.

We used wood from some old valances that we removed from our breakfast area. To stain, we found a water-based product at the hardware store. The wood was already somewhat distressed from the staple holes used to attach fabric. You can see the staple holes better in the last shot.

If this sounds like a fun project, visit labelman’s eBay store for some original labels. These are not reproductions. Most of them weren’t used. Since they’ve been stored, there’s almost no damage to many of the labels. Plus, this is ultimate reuse. And they’re fairly cheap, ranging from around $4 to $10. Some may cost more.

If you’re not into fruit labels, frame a vintage postcard. The postcard pictured below is hanging in my hallway. It’s from 1905, and features Louis Wain cat art! In case you haven’t heard of him — very famous British artist who illustrated cats. And, no that didn’t drive him crazy. Pretty sure it was something else…

Have you used fruit labels or old postcards to decorate?

Filed under Home + Living | Comment (0)

Trackback URI | Comments RSS

Leave a Reply

Name (required)

Email (required)

Website

Speak your mind