thrifty thursday

it's back!!

school has been out for exactly two weeks. it is possible that i have accomplished more in those two weeks than in the last year . . . well, at least six months.

i don't know what it is about summer, but it makes me want to paint walls, sand random pieces of furniture and sew pillows and such. is it just me?

it could be my slight obsession with this person or her new show about her summer house. summer house? can i just have the kitchen? and, where in the world do they find those shops? i have never stumbled upon such ah-mazing pieces in my life! so, with a huge desire to find a bargain and a desk for my ever so crafty six year old, i searched the estate sales this past weekend. i mentioned to my mom i was going and she volunteered to tag along. i feel like i make much better decisions when someone is there to help justify my cause. and, well, that she does.

here is my loot:

 um, hello . . .

 still not helping . . .

whatever. at least she isn't blocking anything in this one. what you see: a janky iphone picture taken in my dark, but newly painted entry (ahem, i told you i'd been busy) . the little desk is a past find, but it held all my new treasures nicely so it got to stay for the picture. other things you see . . .

three yard sticks (love),
a vintage globe (no idea how old, but hawaii is not a state, so at least 1948.)
a turquoise tupperware cheese holder (replacing the one i had but the top cracked)
vintage aqua pop beads (who knew?)
two mismatched vintage salt and pepper shakers (because they are adorable!)
a random red metal thing (any ideas?? it cleaned up quite nicely and is now holding pens and such)
a vintage metal mold (plans to use later)
a designers curve (a sewing tool that currently cost $15, but this vintage one cost me $1)

and . . .
a 16x20 green frame
a 3x5 aqua frame
a vintage industrial 4 loaf bread baking pan

the last three came from a local antique store i drug josh to on our day date last week when my mom volunteered my parents graciously asked to watch our kids.

and, remember that desk i was looking for . . . well, i also brought home this:

in fact, it was the reason i headed out, but once i saw it in person, i started to wonder should it be for miller? i planned to paint it, but should it be sanded and left au natural?  i love the shelves! they would be so cute with a couple of girly baskets, but they would also be cute with a couple of metal bins. can i find another one before carter thinks she lost out?? please feel free to weigh in . . . in fact, it would be much appreciated ;)

thrifty thursday

there has been very little estate saling to be had this winter. maybe it was because of the freezing cold temperatures (not anymore . . . 90 degrees in may. so sad.) maybe it was because there weren't any sales to hold. but, a few weeks ago, i had some luck at a few . . .

what you see:
a sweet pink dishwasher basket
a milk glass spice bottle (for my mom-she loved it!)
a few children's school books
a stack of flashcards
some old valentines
a dogwood handkerchief (love the colors)
some vintage christmas
a stack of craft fruit baskets
a collection of golden books with no cover
a metal grid (for flower arranging?)
a silhouette in a sweet little round frame
a metal tray (with hand drawn mushrooms?? random.)
and a tole pendant light

i was really excited about the pendant light. i see it all shiny and new after a few coats of spray paint hanging in one of my girls' rooms. and, the metal tray will get the same treatment followed by someone's monogram, maybe. so many possibilities with all these new rooms to decorate . . .

and on the home front, we are still crashing with the 'rents. (bless their hearts.) the only day my kids slept past 6:30 a.m. was the morning after my parents had spent the night away- as in away from us. we will start painting today. ahh, gallons and gallons of new fresh light colors of paint are waiting for me and anyone who knows how to use a roller. see ya there!

thrifty crafting:aqua bowl

here is a sneak peak at a little fall decor.

do you see my little bowl? a few months ago, i went to a great estate sale, but of course i didn't take pictures or blog about it. the prices were great and the dig was even better. i found something that looked like this:

i found this one on ebay. but mine had scallop trim. (i love scallop trim. i think that is why i bought it. that, and it was only $.50.) it is a tole shade from a hanging light fixture. i thought it would make a cute bowl. i spray painted it my favorite color and hot glued twine around the weird line-y part.i really wanted to fill it with sea shells, but i didn't have any. i still don't. and, it is fall. so, i filled it was gourds. what do you think?

thrifty thursday

after 36 hours in sickieville, i was ready to bust out and hit some estate sales with my mom. there were over ten sales this past weekend, so we chose the ones that interested us most in the same area of town. we had some luck and i found some cute things.

my finds

at the second sale, i found this little manger with mary, joseph and jesus. it looks hand made to me. i love the nativity, as do my kids, so i had to take it home, and it was only $.50.
i know i am working backwards, but at the first sale, i had the most luck. i found these abc flash cards for $1. i love the graphics!
i also found these vintage christmas seals. i love, love, love them. i can't wait to use them on tags or a new banner.
isn't this book precious?? and, yes, the graphics are very rich (even with my iphone picture). i paid $3. i thought it was worth it because it was in excellent condition, was one i hadn't ever seen and was one i would use as a book to read to my kids.
oh, how i had to buy this book. just look at it!! i love the print on the cover. and, apparently i needed it. just look at what i found inside . . .

i still don't think you will find me using a pattern, but if anyone could change my mind, it would be betty and judy on the cover there.

i bought a few other school primers for $.50 0r $1.

then, my find for the day:

it is a betsy mccall fashion designer light table! it is in excellent condition (even the light bulb worked, but we replaced it anyway.) it has almost 20 pages of traceables like you see on the table above and the portfolio to hold everything. i knew immediately this would be loved by my own little fashion designer, so i asked how much they wanted and he said $3! it is already receiving lots of love and attention at my house.

(and because i was curious, i googled betsy and found out she was released in 1961 and according to kovels was worth $45 in 1999.)

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?

thrifty thursday

this thrifty thursday is a couple of estate sales my mom and i hit on a saturday morning in july. (i know, i know . . .) it has been so long that i honestly don't know what some of this stuff is!

the first sale where most of the items were found was in a very unfavorable area of the city. it probably scared off a lot of people, but not us. my mom was a home health nurse in the area for years and i did a clinical in college at their head start. when we arrived, there were police officers taking a report for the kicked in back door from the night before. not your average sale for sure, but we trudged on through and found some goodies:

b. a super cool plastic aqua container. it was mine. i think you might see it soon full of sewing supplies. in the picture, it is holding a vintage clutch, some paper goods and an old bridge game.

d. some adorable wrought iron shelves i found on the bathroom wall. i have no idea what to do with them, so let me know if you have any ideas. i think the pile next to it is vintage post cards.

e. a couple of vintage children's books. love, love, love vintage children's books!

not pictured: my mom got the cutest 1950's book shelf with sliding glass doors for $20. she was so excited to have a piece of furniture that reminded her of her work in that community.

the next sale was a tiny little house full of 1950s yumminess!

a. that my friends is an aqua vintage metal refrigerator drawer. once again, it was mine. it had a friend, but they were each marked $5. so i only bought the one that looked the best and the lady gave it to me for $3. i think it might have to hold smaller pieces of fabric. and, it is full of glass jars (a major weakness of mine) and the cutest little juice pitcher you have ever seen. if i ever have time to serve my kids juice in the morning, i will take a picture for you. my mom also picked up the tupperwareish yellow pitcher.

c. a cute santa & honeycomb centerpiece, a set of aqua scoops, another glass jar, some random ephemera and a couple of measuring tapes.

so, there you have it. i honestly haven't bought very many things this summer. some weekends we haven't even gone out. last weekend and the weekend before our trip, we found very, very little. i hope it is just the heat. to make up for my lack of picture taking, i am thinking about taking a few pictures of how i use things i found at estate sales around my house. until next time, happy thrifting!

the big reveal and happy pictures

remember this??

well, here it is now!

when i saw this chair in it's original state, i quickly imagined it painted with a monogram in place of the decal. and, i imagined it in a field of tall grass. seriously.

so, you ask, how did it get from point a to point b?? it began with a serious cleaning and sanding to even out the old stain. it then got a bunch of coats of primer and heritage white spray paint. because i wanted to keep the original concept of the chair but with a modern feel, i decided to go with an image instead of a monogram. hmm, but what type of image. a silhouette seemed to be a perfect solution because they are precious, they are very vintage, and they fit the concept. after ridiculous amounts of time searching, i found an etsy shoppe with an image i liked and asked them to make one no more than 3 inches tall. alicia kindly obliged and called it "nice and tiny for maribeth." i love it! and, it came with three more!

now, back to the happy pictures. i have said before that contrary to popular belief we do not have tons of pictures of our children much less walls full of eye candy. in fact, it is often a source of discord here that others reap the talents of my husband frequently, but not his own family. (i know, i know, it is his job. i know, i know we still have pictures. i know, i know . . . i'm just keeping it real.) so, i said i envisioned the chair in a field of tall grass. i once saw a picture taken by this amazing photog of a vintage high chair full of chubby baby nestled in the wet california sand. last time i checked, we don't have any beach for such an image, but we do have grass. or, tall weeds. lots and lots of tall weeds. once josh understood my vision, he was a man on a mission to find the perfect location to shoot. then, we just had to wait for a small break in his schedule. well, people, all the stars aligned and we were able to go sunday evening to take these . . .

i am in love! thank you, baby!

if you would like to see similar images taken with film, you can look here.

now, you can find this and other finds at the "i'm a flea marketeer party"!

thrifty thursday

so, i skipped last week because it was a holiday weekend, and, maybe because i need pictures from an estate sale i went to forever ago and i never took them. that is my problem here-if i don't take the pictures when unloading the car, then i immediately put some things to use and clean a few things and, before you know it, i don't even remember what all i bought. i have 3 children, people-out of sight, out of mind. 

but, i did take pictures of a sale i went to a couple of weeks ago. it was near my house and boasted an attic full, tents on the yard, etc. these are my favorite sales. sales where i believe i may find a hidden treasure they didn't know about and sneak it off to my home for only pennies of its value cackling all the way. (i have these fantasies because of all the crazy stories i read on blogs of people from the northwest. apparently, they pay y'all to take fun, kitschy stuff home. oh, one day, my friends. one day.)

where was i . . . so my mom and i head over a little later than planned due to her preparing for family that was arriving later that day. the sale was in a house that was very tidy and the downstairs was impeccably decorated in antiques and high end pieces. i headed straight up to the attic for a pink frame i saw in the pictures. i found it, but decided on the white one below instead. (btw, my friend who came later bought the pink frame!) then, i started digging. 

miller has been wanting one of those sesame street themed toys in the left hand corner. he said he wanted it for spencer . . . until i brought it home, now it is his alone. what you see is lots and lots of vintage fabric (won't that vintage cowboy print make the cutest pants for miller??), vintage patterns (some dating to the 30s and 40s), vintage star wars and sesame street sheet sets, vintage chenille (you may see the pink with white stripes real soon), vintage greeting cards and magazines, and the diaper box is full of random paper pieces that were in the bottom of something else, a vintage beaded hand bag in the original plastic and box, two antique bisque dolls and more (all my mom's finds).
look at those vintage hand embroidered bibs-i can't wait to put them on my chunky monkey!! and buttons, a measuring tape, strawberry pincushion and tiny bobbins completed my finds in the attic. after a quick trip to the car, we headed to the tent where i found some of my favorite things-vintage christmas!!!!! oh, i love christmas! it is my favorite holiday by far! some of my finds included tiny glass ornaments, bells on button cards (i had never seen before), little elves, a santa hat, and lots of ornaments made in japan. how fun are those aluminum martini glasses?? and, then, i found a wooden tool box (see below). isn't it so cute?? it will house something fun . . . once i figure out what, i will let you know.
it was definitely a success! i will post more pictures as things find a home. and, my high chair should be ready for a reveal next week-i had to order something online. happy thrifting!

thrifty thursday

a few weeks ago, i went to two sales in two completely different areas of town. the first one was near my house and i went with a couple of friends. for me, it wasn't that great, but for them . . .

i managed to find 3 things: an old book of poems for children by aa milne, a turquoise metal sewing accessories tin and a 1950s music magazine. 3 measly things. i spent $4.

as you can see, everyone else scored big pieces. for some reason, that made me want a big piece, too. i know, peer pressure. josh had an early wedding that day and the other sale i was interested in was near my parents' house. we packed up and headed to my parents house for a little switcheroo. i had promised carter she could go with us to the next sale. i may be crazy enough to take two children, but i am lucid enough not to take three! when we picked up my mom, she told me she had already gone to the sale and only picked up a few things, but she heard they would go 25% off after noon. so, we headed over. carter was so well behaved and had so much fun. (apparently estate saling is genetic.) here are our finds:

bless her heart, the sun is right in her face. don't you love her medal that she turned into a sash? the following came to live with us: a doll suitcase, a kitchen timer,  an old maid card game, and a turquoise measuring tape still in the package! all vintage. my total was $8. 

we also rescued some jewelry, a tray, a pen set and the plastic flower earring holder. isn't that earring holder a.dorable?? these things went home with my mom.

when carter found the timer, she said "meme, i could really use this." and use it she has. after i cleaned it up, she and miller have played and played with it.

the measuring tape is now at home in the sewing tin from above and the doll suitcase . . .

 

is now the new home of ruthie's things.

it is in great shape, but it still needed a little love. i cleaned it with soap and water, let it dry, and then put a coat of mod podge on it to help preserve the original paper from the wear and tear that is my children. i also glue some seam binding around the inside lining that was showing a little deterioration after the cleaning. 

isn't it cute? 

there was one more thing at the sale that i considered. it was a great price and would be 25% off, but i walked away. i asked my mom if she thought it was a good deal (yes), i asked josh if he was okay with it (sure) and then i could not stop thinking about it. the next day after church and lunch, spencer and i headed back out to the sale. it was still there and 50% off and mine! 

oh, be still my heart! my dad estimates it is from the 1940s and the condition is almost perfect! i worked on it all last week and, due to the extreme heat here this week, my dad generously offered to paint her in the wee hours of the morning before the sun turns everything to ash. i should have a reveal in the near future!

if you want it, you got it

a few weeks ago when i posed the question of what you might want to read more about from my point of view, i think all of you chose what is now being referred to as thrifty thursday. but, before we start with the digging  and decorating, i thought you might want to know a little more of why i enjoy estate saling:

1. i was born into it. my parents both grew up in families that had a few treasured valuables. for example, my brother is now the rightful heir to a secretary that has been in my mother's family for generations. i have a lawyers bookcase that was in the office of a family member who worked for a bank when the great depression occurred. although these possessions are worth little monetary value, i was taught early on that their sentimental value made them far more meaningful.

2. i was a tag along. probably since i had enough attitude to roll my eyes and express my sassy opinion, my parents have collected and sold antiques or vintage items. on family trips, i would get drug through every antique store/junk place/roadside flea market along our route. what at first was a break from the long car ride, eventually became something of interest. it only took a few years and hundreds of stores before i started to help them in their search. and around the time i became an adult, i started to find things i liked for myself.

3. these things have a story to tell. i am a sucker for a story. i love to read (mostly blogs at this time due to the time restraints of my 14 children-you can always check a few blogs while you feed the baby, right?). like the lawyers bookcase, it belonged to the man at the bank, remember? the story goes that instead of taking the money and securing a better situation for his family during the uneasy times, he divvied it out to his customers as it was their money they had trusted to the bank. (isn't that right, mom?) but it doesn't matter if i know the actual story or not. i once purchased several antique greeting cards all signed by jim, judy or jim & judy. as i sat making my selections, it was easy to find the time line in jim & judy's life. and, it was also easy to imagine jim's adjustment at when he became a big brother or judy carefully tearing open her birthday gift after reading the card from aunt eunice. (because in the 1950s they actually read the card first, right?) 

4. because someone should care. i have been to more sales that included family pictures, baby homecoming outfits, love letters, family bibles, wedding dresses, and more. each time, i am somewhat saddened that no one cared to treasure these things. these same things that their mother or sister or grandmother found joy in. these same things that flooded back memories of baby's first steps or sweet days of courting are just shoved in a box with junk. it breaks my heart and i know it would break the heart of the person who treasured it. so, if i find joy in someone else's greeting card or sewing box or baby toy, i feel as if i am carrying on their memory and i hope it would make them happy to know that it is appreciated even if not by their own family.

so, what it comes down to is this: i like certain old stuff, i like the thrill of looking for things i like or might like or someone else might like, i usually like the price, i like the idea of repurposing or upcycling, and i like that things have a story. if you like any of these things too, then you might like thrifty thursday. if not, i'm sorry, but you probably won't want to read on thursday;)