I've Been Thriftin'

I say I've been thriftin', but I've been yard saling too. I go to a lot of sales on the weekends and a few thrift stores throughout the week. The pickin's are slim this year. I still find an occassional goodie and a few things to sell. But, the sales I go to seem to have lots of books, clothes and usable items. I'll pick up something along those lines if I need it, but I am really looking for vintage items. Not toasters and roasters and coasters. Oh, my. Here's a good example of a usable item. I found this little Step 2 Garden Hopper for $1.50 today. They are $29.99 at Target. Quite the deal!

And, not so usable. Gravel Art. And, I use the term art, loosely. Actually, I think they are cool, even they are not me. Oh, so not me. These will be on ebay or etsy or somewhere. (Someone asked for my Etsy shop name - it's monkeybox, same as the old bloggity, blog. But, my store is empty. Which is ironic since my house is FULL!)
Somewhere in Blogland I saw where someone had made a big star out of yardsticks. I thought it was cool, so I started looking for yardsticks. A month later, I have only found three yardsticks. One day, The Bean asked why I couldn't make one out of rulers. Light bulb moment! I remembered several months ago that I had spotted a shoe box full of wooden rulers at the Super Cheap Thrift. So, the next time we went, I found them. They were still having their bag sale, so I got 34 rulers plus a bunch of other stuff for $2.00. I see lots of ruler stars in my future.
This doll is marked USSR on the bottom. She's pretty cool. I can honestly say I do not remember where I bought her. Have I been anywhere different lately? Hmmmm. Think,think, think... WAIT! I remember! I went to a brand new thrift that was open on the 4th of July and got her for 50¢ Ah, memories. It's nice to have them.

These came from the same thrift for 25¢. They are marked JAPAN on the bottom. Wouldn't it have been funny if they had been marked SWITZERLAND on the bottom? They also have the original 10¢ mark on the bottom. They remind me of fish tank decorations, but I don't really think they would be appropriate under water. Gurgle.

I saw a volunteer walking out to put this jar out on the shelf and I nearly stalked her to get it first. I had seen the exact same jar on Old Glory Cottage, so I knew it was an old Brach's Candy* jar. I wish mine still had the original sticker on it, but it is long gone. I filled it with arrowheads, flint and stones that The Bean and I have collected. *Do you know what the Brach's Candy slogan was in the mid 1980's? Candy is delicious food, enjoy some every day. My how times have changed.

I got this pretty glass egg at a yard sale today for 75¢. It was perhaps the scariest yard sale I had ever gone to, but once I drove up to the house on a dead end, I couldn't exactly just turn around and leave. I ended up buying the Step 2 Hopper, this glass egg and the item in the next photo for a total of $3.00. The people were friendly. But, it reminded me of a scene from Deliverance. *Squeal*

This Leo Ward Bluebird was from that sale too. I have too many of these already. But, I like to pick them up and add them to packages and swaps. They make them right here, so they are plentiful. I think it's funny when I see one on a blog and they are all excited to have found a Leo Ward bird. I do love them. It's just they are everywhere. (Edited to add: As I was putting the glass egg on a shelf last night, I spotted a signature on it - Leo Ward, 1986. So, it as made of the same glass as the bluebirds. COOL!)

Another bird - this one was 50¢. I seem to be heavily into birds, eggs and nests right now. This little guy is very sweet.

Another deck of Congress Playing Cards. The velvety box has seen better days, but it's not too bad. They were only 50¢. It will go into the basket with the rest of them.

And, now some comments to some of my loyal readers:

This is for Anna who asked how to add more than one photo to Blogger. After you click on the photo box above your text, a box will pop up that says "ADD AN IMAGE FROM YOUR COMPUTER." Right under there it says Add another image. You can click on that four times and and additional four boxes will pop up. You can then add five photos at a time. Upload those, then do it again to add ten, fifteen, etc. Blogger does reverse the photos when they are uploaded which is very frustrating. So, I try to load in reverse (the photos I want on the bottom, I upload first), but sometimes I get confused and it still uploads wonky.

And, this is for Amy who asked if I shop at the thrift that the BIG famous local TV family shopped at last week. I have been there many times, but I don't frequent it. It is on the other side of the next town over, a bit out of my comfort zone. I do get postcards in the mail inviting me to Invitation Only special 1/2 price days. I really should go, because you could see that when they rang up the BIG famous local TV family, they got it for half price. So, I should go, maybe do a celebrity spotting and possibly get on TV!

*I would have answered you lovely ladies personally, but your profiles are Anonymous. Thanks for reading!