Thrifty Acres - Around the World with Vintage Matchbooks

Hello! Over the weekend I attended a yard sale run by an antiques dealer. I only made one purchase, a collection of vintage matchbooks. I paid $6.00 and later counted 123 matchbooks in the box. Thus, the price per matchbook was mere pennies apiece. 


Whoever collected these matchbooks was either well-traveled, or else had friends or relatives who'd gone to far-off places. For instance, some of the matchbooks were from Japan:

Love the graphics!


Next up is:

Hong Kong, followed by:

Mexico.  Continuing the globetrotting, let's visit:

Sweden. I would love to jet off to:

Paris! But I wouldn't complain if I had a chance to go to:

Switzerland and Austria either!  Or how about:

Spain and Ireland?  No passport? Then about staying in the US! Why not live it up in:

New York City - or head over to:

Hawaii! Back to the continental US, let's go to:

New Orleans!  As a change of pace from NOLA, I think I'll visit:

Virginia and Massachusetts. Next on the list is:

Charleston. I'm exhausted now from all that traveling, so I think I'll head back to my home state to check out:

some places in Michigan. The Grand Hotel is probably one of the best-known hotels in the state, but a quick Internet search revealed that the Tur Mai Kai is no longer in business. 


Some may consider it blasphemy, but I like to use vintage matchbooks in projects; I think they add a quirky touch. Here's a couple of examples:

and:

These were made from vintage matchbooks I'd gotten previously. I've slipped similar items in a card or with a present just as a little something extra to pass along. I've used the same flower shape to adorn greeting cards as well. 


But I must admit, I sometimes have a hard time crafting with these vintage matchbooks, as I enjoy the graphics! 

And I hope you enjoyed my globetrotting tour of matchbooks as well!