{"id":761,"date":"2025-12-08T10:07:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T14:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hkn.b42.myftpupload.com\/?p=761"},"modified":"2025-12-08T10:07:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T14:07:00","slug":"second-hand-treasure-the-perfect-gift-may-not-be-new","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/independent-white-fish.learmonthmarketing.com\/?p=761","title":{"rendered":"Second-hand treasure: The perfect gift may not be new"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>When Ben and Olivia Costigan got married in her parents&#8217; backyard in 2019, their wedding dinner at a nearby church hall was served on an assortment of dishes owned or inherited by family. Each place setting was intentionally different, with a dinner plate from one set, salad plate from another, and bread-<br>and-butter plate from a third.<br>Reisa Muir, a volunteer at Lunenburg Community Consignment (LCC), which was named recently by House &amp; Home magazine as one of the best vintage shops in Canada, says that appreciation for mixing<br>vintage items is something she sees at the shop quite regularly.<br>\u201cIt\u2019s a way young people can use the older dishes without their table looking like their parents\u2019<br>or grandparents\u2019 table,\u201d she notes. \u201cIn fact, it\u2019s a way we can all reflect own style and creativity.\u201d<br>Muir thinks consignment and other second-hand shops are also great places to buy for others,<br>saying a beautifully made and hard-to-find gift is worthy of being offered with pride, wrapped<br>in our prettiest paper.<br>Such gifts, in addition to being perfect for the recipient, may have a nostalgic connection for the giver. LCC volunteer Susan MacMillan says, \u201cCustomers may find they\u2019re taking a trip down memory lane.\u201d<br>And it\u2019s not just about vintage.<br>Shops that carry previously owned stock may also have contemporary items in perfect or almost-perfect condition. For example, Otis &amp; Clementine\u2019s Books &amp; Coffee in Upper Tantallon has both vintage and<br>recent books, games and puzzles, some of which still look brand new.<br>\u201cI\u2019ve been saying it for years: well-chosen second-hand items can make very personalized, creative, and unique gifts,\u201d says Otis &amp; Clementine\u2019s owner Ellen Helmke. \u201cIt keeps Christmas low- stress and simple.\u201d<br>Because such shops often have only one of something, it\u2019s a good idea to stop in regularly, to avoid<br>missing out on the perfect item. <\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"464\" height=\"523\" src=\"https:\/\/independent-white-fish.learmonthmarketing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-17.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-764\" style=\"width:249px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/independent-white-fish.learmonthmarketing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-17.png 464w, https:\/\/independent-white-fish.learmonthmarketing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-17-266x300.png 266w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 464px) 100vw, 464px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Julia Bourque from Yarmouth (left) and Ava Richter from the Annapolis Valley, checking out teacup choices at LCC. Photo credit: Jamie Grey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><br>LCC volunteer MJ Sakurai loves being there when a shopper strikes gold: \u201cObjects move through time and space to make magic\u2014and who can resist sharing in the delight of that lucky find?\u201d<br>There is often joy for the seller<br>or donor, too, says Reisa Muir.<br>\u201cWe hear it all the time, that someone else has loved it, and now it\u2019s going to a good home and won\u2019t end up in a landfill or at the bottom of a drawer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>by Sharon Jessup Joyce<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"463\" height=\"407\" src=\"https:\/\/independent-white-fish.learmonthmarketing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-16.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-763\" style=\"width:350px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/independent-white-fish.learmonthmarketing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-16.png 463w, https:\/\/independent-white-fish.learmonthmarketing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image-16-300x264.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 463px) 100vw, 463px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Just a few of the games and puzzles at Otis &amp; Clementine\u2019s. The day after this photo was taken, the Miss Marple puzzle was gone to a new home. Photo credit: Adrian Schneider<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><em><strong>More vintage and second-hand finds <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>In addition to consignment and second-hand retailers, thrift stores, flea markets, and yard and estate sales are great places to shop for previously owned treasures.<br>If buying online, check out the seller\u2019s ratings and return policies, and pay attention to shipping costs, which can make a purchase less of a bargain than it appears to be.<br>The perfect gift may also be found in unexpected places: for example, the Seniors Association of St. Margaret\u2019s Bay (Bay Seniors) sells donated jewellery at occasional in-person and online sales to benefit the St. Margaret\u2019s Bay Food Bank, offering vintage and contemporary fashion jewellery at approximately half market value. Email jewellery@bayseniors.ca for more information on donating or buying.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When Ben and Olivia Costigan got married in her parents&#8217; backyard in 2019, their wedding dinner at a nearby church hall was served on an assortment of dishes owned or inherited by family. Each place setting was intentionally different, with a dinner plate from one set, salad plate from another, and bread-and-butter plate from a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":762,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-33"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/independent-white-fish.learmonthmarketing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/independent-white-fish.learmonthmarketing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/independent-white-fish.learmonthmarketing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/independent-white-fish.learmonthmarketing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/independent-white-fish.learmonthmarketing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=761"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/independent-white-fish.learmonthmarketing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/761\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/independent-white-fish.learmonthmarketing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/independent-white-fish.learmonthmarketing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/independent-white-fish.learmonthmarketing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/independent-white-fish.learmonthmarketing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}