Correction: This story original stated the FOUND gallery was on 4th Street. It is on 5th Street.

The historic Kerrytown Market District has long been a treasure box of hidden passageways and locally made artwork. Nowhere is this atmosphere better encapsulated than at the FOUND Gallery, a hybrid gift shop, art repository and antique collectibles store peddling “Whimsical Art & Vintage Treasures” housed in 5th Street bazaar’s second floor.

Peek into one of the drawers and a whole mess of tidbits comes spilling out: vintage milk bottle caps from Oberlin Farms, buttons capped in test tubes with ribbons twisting around the tops, packages of Swiss watch springs that quiver when you pick them up. On top of a creaky vintage stove with knobs the size of pool balls, jewelry made from worn Scrabble letters and typewriter keys intermingle with baskets and bags cross weaved with old issues of the defunct Ann Arbor News.

For the past five years, FOUND has settled into a comfortable niche market of old and new alike, both harking back to items from decades past and providing an eclectic and creative means to recycle them. Local artists and curious tourists have embraced this mixture with zeal, eager to experience and craft a unique piece of history, says owner Mary Cambruzzi.

“It’s almost like, I just bring in stuff that I think is cool, and then these people buy it and make art out of it,” she said.

Cambruzzi founded the store in 2005 after a brief stint running booths in other people’s antique shops, but her interest in vintage antiques and collectibles started at a young age — though more out of necessity than pleasure.

“I was part of a big family; we had a lake house that was not too far away from where I grew up,” she said. “It was the kind of place where you could find old wicker furniture, but the cushions were so worn that mom would make new cushions for them. And then for the parties, she always needed more chairs, so she’d buy chairs at auction sales.

“When I went off the college, they didn’t have places like Target where you could buy stuff real cheap,” she added. “So my grandpa went to an auction sale and bid on the stuff that I needed.”

Today, many Cambruzzi’s finds still come from the estate sales and antique malls of her Illinois hometown, partly out of nostalgia and partly out of consideration for her customers.

“I find that I really don’t want to buy that much in the (Ann Arbor) area because some of my customers are also into the estate sale business,” she said. “I don’t want to be the only person grabbing all this stuff at cheap prices and then selling it back to people who already saw it at X estate sale. So in general, I go out of the area to buy.”

In addition to its miscellaneous collection of discovered objects, FOUND also provides its customers with newer items such as soy lotions and paper products. However, the store is perhaps most notable for its diverse assortment of candles.

“I think we have the best candle collection in the area,” Cambruzzi said, picking up a scarlet bird with a wick on top of its back. On the shelf below it, more candles are scattered around: a row of three green peas squirming in their pods, twisty birthday candles in the shape of micelles, fragrant asparagus tapers imported from France, cylindrical pillars from Charlevoix that glow from the inside when lit.

FOUND is also known for featuring several works from local artists in the area, who take recycled items from rummage sales or antique malls and redesign them to their own purposes. For instance, jewelry designer Sue Rosengard, who ordinarily designs hand-blown jewelry for the high-end art gallery Selo/Shevel, has fashioned for the store a series of green, budget-friendly earrings crafted out of old sheet music.