Thrift Share Sunday

Some of you may have seen my thrift finds from the challenge I undertook on Friday. It was inspired by the hit song 'Thrift Shop" (Macklemore and Ryan Lewis) and it was helluva fun to thrift with only $20 in my pocket! Check out the blog Young House Love for other participants. many had never (ever!) thrift shopped before! I especially love the one where the person found a shirt they loved, but wanted to wash it 15X before wearing. me? I've been known to thrift the perfect dress and wear it the same day! I do wash most thrifted items first, but if I'm really excited to wear something, I've been known to trust the old olfactory system. I guess I always think people could have tried on the clothes at the store just the same. Not that I'm judging; I guess I'm just a complete opposite of 'germ-a-phobe" frame-of-mind and find it funny! Well, I am a biologist. I guess that may have something to do with it. I know germs out number us no matter how often we wash something. Nevertheless, the challenge inspired a new crop to thrift. Hmm, I am on the fence on whether that is good or bad (my greedy side says, "Bad...")

Of course, the challenge items have not been my only thrift finds in the last couple of weeks. I thought I would purge the rest of the photos and show you the rest of my cool treasures. Most of these came from West Virginia; a few from Louisville thrifts.

I cannot resist animal planters. I've been collecting them for going on 20 years and someday I hope to thrift one of those vintage wooden half circle plant stands. I will fill that baby up with a zoo! I also snagged a great 3M racing game (Derby ready!), and a toy camera that apparently was a promotional hand-out for a Bratz movie. Check out the last photo for why I picked it up for 50c. I like to play around with these plastic cameras and this one should take really great awful photos!

 

 Deer, horse, fawns

 

blue bird, bulldog

3M Game (perfect for a Louisville residence) and a working toy camera

Sorry for the blur-just showing the used roll of film in the camera. I cannot wait to get it developed. I also found that kitty you see in the lower right. I bought her for the Etsy shop, but notice a tiny chip on one ear (I swear I checked at the store), so she is keeping my plants company for now.

Linking it up with these fun thrift share parties: Thriftasaurus, A Living Space, Apron Thrift Girl, Magpie Monday.

Thrift Share: Pick and Choose

Even though I have been slack to participate with y'all, I have not stopped thrifting. I found a few wonderful things in Alabama, Kentucky and West Virginia just in the past month! I will try to sneak in some of the other finds in the next week. I'll start with the most recent scores...
I am starting with one of the ties for favorites this month: A tourist plate featuring the Mermaids of Weeki Wachee! I have been collecting state and tourist plates for years and I have had to curtail my purchases (and weed out the collection), but this one is one of the best ones I have ever found. I paid 75c for it! I wish I had turned the flash off before I snapped the picture.

This is the other tie for favorite. I've seen this style of lamp in antique stores before and admired it greatly; however, being the thrift junky that I am, I could not justify the large price tag. This one I found yesterday at a yard sale for $3.

Here is another lamp found recently (I wish I could remember where...KY probably). I didn't find it in time for Easter.

A plethora of dolls bought at the same YS as the Gazelle lamp. I really avoid dolls, but these guys were in a Ziplock for a dollar. Unfortunately, I was trying to get the smudge off of the wooden doll with my fingernail and accidentally scratched her pretty red lips right off! :(


I love this sugar and cream set. I love the tulips! They were marked $1.45 each and they came all the way from Ireland to West Virginia

November Lights

(Holland Mold Tiger Bank, Jie Gantofta Sweden Baby, Strawberry Shortcake picnic basket, Danish vase/candle holder, Italian scarf)

It seems like it has been cloudy on any day I have some minutes to spare and attempt to photograph. My house is so dark and shadowy (something I never noticed until I tried photographing objects!) I had a busy last week at work, so I didn't get much done as far as blogging or Etsy goes. I really hope we have a few sunny days this week. For now, I am going to blame the lighting on my awful photos and procrastination! ;)

Above are a few recent finds (with the exception of the Jie Gantofta Sleeping Baby which I found months ago in West Virginia). I plan to add all of it to the shop this week (hopefully, this weekend. By the way, I know I've seen the weird man-figure candle/flower holders on the blogs before (Ole Christensen Keramik Danmark), but I am hard pressed to remember where. Any one know the era of the guy?

And, speaking of W. VA., above is my favorite find: a tiny W. VA button! I found it in a box of odds and ends jewelry at a Louisville thrift store. It costs me .25c which is probably high for just one button; however, I absolutely love it! I wish I had found a few more. The cashier was pricing the other odd earrings and such I had isolated (to upcycle into necklaces) and saw the button. She said, "You want this...?" (I think she was going to throw it away).

I've actually been staying away from thrift and flea markets of late. I already posted my whiny post about my housing issues and every extra dollar is going towards that at the moment. It would kill me to stay out completely, though, so I have set myself a very strict budget. Fortunately, twenty-five cent buttons fit the bill!

Thrift Share Monday: All Seasons

This weekend as I pulled items from a box of recently thrifted knick-knacks, I suddenly realized that I had almost all of the seasons and holidays represented in one box o'crap. I found examples of spring (with a bonus Valentine's Day item), summer, and fall (I am leaving out winter although I have plenty of that kitsch too-I am just tired of the season and don't even want to consider it tonight!)All of these items have been gathered since Christmas in various towns and sources east of the Mississippi.

Spring: bunnies (of course) are represented by the Avon candle holder (love it) and the vintage cookie cutter; the little girl is carrying a basket and possibly an egg; the egg houses are a collection my boys and I have been gathering at yard sales and such (easier to find than Xmas village stuff and cheap!); I almost thought I had nothing for St. Patty's day until I discovered the Irish Coffee towel among my treasures. Can you spot the St. Valentine's Day representation?


Summer: June wedding month (I plan to remove the vintage cake topper and use the wedding bell jar in some other way); NIP Homer Simpson chia head (Ok, it seems summer-y to me); the pig cookie cutter (perfect for a Southern style BBQ event); the Dutch boy cookie cutter (hmmm, maybe he should be with spring since I think tulips with Holland); a bi-centennial storage jar; and an Annual from 1959 depicting camping girlies (this book has great illustrations in it).



Autumn: My favorite time of year and what better represents the return of cooler nights? Owls, of course! I found 8 of these cute glasses at a thrift near Cincinnati (50c each); I also found the Great Tales of Terror book for 50c recently; a darling set of ABC cards with vintage French illustrations (reproduction); and last, another ubiquitous cookie cutter (I thrifted all of the cookie cutters together if you can't tell)-this one, of course, represents that #1 fall-ish fellow Jack!


There you have it-a year of thrift in only a few short weeks of (cold, dank, miserable) winter!

Join the thrifting fun at Apron Thrift Girl and Her Library Adventures!

Weeks Fly By Unslowly

Tomorrow is Sunday. Since September, Sundays have had a different meaning to me: They mean it is time to head back to the south. This week, Sunday is especially hard because my week home has made me sad, made me think that maybe taking the job was not such a great idea. We knew it was going to be a hard year, but still...

Yes, Sunday I will be heading back to KY. No detours, no deviations, just a long four hour roadtrip back across the O-hi-o and into lovely Louisville. O, how I wish my kids and hubby were coming too. Five days without them is a long time, yet overall time is just flying by into oblivion.

Actually, even if they were coming back with me, I would not see them for I am heading to Chicago for work this week. I won't be home until Friday and home will be back with them again in IN. I have to keep this perspective to make the next months bearable. June will be here before we all know it, right?

So, today I packed away the Xmas decor and de-ornamented the tree (still in house with lights as I feel like I barely was able to enjoy it). I remembered I wanted to show you the vintage, homemade card baskets I thrifted in November in West Virginia. I filled them full of Shiny Brights for a quick display. I think I paid $1 for them both.

A couple of weeks ago I was in Cleveland for work and down the road from my hotel was an Anthropologie store. I drool over the items in the catalogs they send me (not so much over the prices or the anorexic-looking models), but have never ventured into one of the stores. Much to my surprise, I found Christmas card baskets just like mine (only not really vintage and slightly bigger). They wanted much more than a $1 for their version (I couldn't find a link on their website!) and the graphics were not nearly as gorgeous as the ones on the WV treasures! So, there you have it: Proof that Thrifting not only yields the same thing as big money retail, but something more authentic as well!

Want to make some for yourself? Here is a tutorial.