thrifty thursday

oh, how the last few days have not gone as planned. first, we have been without internet access since monday night. it has returned a couple of times for a very short amount of time, but always in the morning when all i had enough time to do was check my email. then, the sickness began. at this point, both of my girls are pit.i.ful. so, so pitiful. i am so over the sickies and fall just began-ugh!

so, before anything else can stop me, i am going to post pictures of the last two weekends of thrifting. two weeks ago, there was really nothing that looked very good starting on saturday, but there was one that started on friday. after dropping the older two off at school, i headed over to pick up my mom and then we headed to a very not-so-favorite part of town. i am sure many would not have even gone, but location rarely deters my mom and i.

these were my finds: an adorable vintage smock in the cutest blue bunny fabric (it may have to be a pattern for future smocks), glass baby bottles, a short glass jar, a "golden rule"r, and a box of vintage cards and report cards i found in the bottom of a box.
oh, how i love these report cards. one is from the 1923-24 school year and includes subjects like hygiene. i sat and read every single one, imagining the life of little nancy and carl. one of the things i find so fascinating in thrifting is how much times have changed. it is so interesting to see all the little bits and pieces people kept. i found the following tucked inside all the congratulatory cards.
i would totally do cloth diapers if someone brought them to my door and cleaned all the ones we used for $7.60/ week. i think i see why tiny tots went out of business! and, a nursing bra for $2.50. if you have ever purchased a nursing bra, you know how ridiculously expensive they are. the directions for using the nursing bra are included inside the pamphlet and i would like to say that i have nursed three children for more that 36 months of my life and i had trouble understanding how it worked.

it wasn't an amazing sale, but i definitely found a few things.

then, last week, we were having a street wide yard sale (because in old homes we don't have garages or carports, typically) and i wasn't planning on going. my mom was actually working the sale since josh had a wedding, we had a birthday party, and my older 2 kiddies would bring in more junk than we were trying to sell. but, there was this one sale that i really wanted to go to. i finally made it at 2 o'clock. the guy doing the sale is notorious for cutting deals from the beginning so i really wanted to go on saturday. when i walked in, he said all the hardback books were $.50. okay.
the top two were for a little halloween project i will post soon. there were tons of old school primers (love, love, love) so i picked up a couple. then, some reader digest condensed books with pretty covers, old children's magazines, a mccalls needlecraft book and a tom wolfe book for josh.

then, i headed to the carport. oh, i was so sad i had not made it there earlier. i found this crazy thing.

my kids love it. it is one of those wobbly things that you push in the bottom with your thumb-does that make sense?? then i saw it-a huge box of vintage tinsel. my mouth dropped open. it was various colors and types of garland when i noticed this woman with a huge smile standing behind it. it was hers. i almost cried. not just because it was hers, but because i could tell that her excitement was not for the vintage tinsel, but just the tinsel, lights and tree she had just scored. she didn't care that it was vintage at all. i wanted to offer her more than she paid, or take her to target and buy her some new and trade. but, instead, i just grabbed a tub and started digging. and digging. and digging. and found all this . . .

for $3. what you see: 3 boxes vintage silver tinsel, 2 boxes vintage green tinsel, vintage gold tinsel, lots of vintage wrapping paper, vintage glass garland, vintage plastic garland, vintage crepe paper in green and red, vintage angel ornaments, vintage red deer gift toppers, unopened bag of vintage plastic holly, a knee hugger that plugs into a strand of lights!, a couple of vintage plastic pink ornaments, a tiny santa, a plastic star, another gift topper and some garland that is flat and pops up (in the upper left corner). i was very excited for what i did get. it was a really great sale! oh, well, i made some money to spend next time, right?