What is a monkeybox?

When I was a little girl, we had a pet monkey named Amanda. My Dad worked in the produce business, so each night he brought home that days culls in a big box - spotty cucumbers, pithy apples, limp celery, moldy oranges and the like. We called it a monkeybox. It was really just trash, but my Mom would take each piece of fruit and trim it, pare it and cut it up to make a beautiful fruit platter for Amanda. Even though it was deemed trash by one, it still had life left in it and was good for the purpose we needed it. That's how I live my life - thrifting, yard saling, looking for another's trash to be my treasure.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Eye, yi, yi!

Going to the eye doctor is the strangest experience. Unlike regular doctors, where you go in sick and come out with medicine, feeling better, you go in the eye doctor's office seeing great and leave blind as a bat. Now, mind you, my eye doctor is super sweet and the nicest most caring eye doctor that I have ever had. They just make you do odd things. You put your contacts in to get to the office. Then they make you take them out, then ask you to read the chart on the wall. I always respond with my same witty remark, "What wall?" Ha ha ha. I'm a real pistol when I am blind. (This might be a good time to mention that I am a -9.50 in one eye and a -8.50 in the other. I literally am, practically blind.) Then they shine a really bright light in your eyes, then shoot big painful puffs of air in each eye. (Hate that part the most of all.) Then they ask you to walk down the hall to the exam room. Again, Miss Witty says, "What hall?" ha ha ha. There I go again. Then they test your eyes. Put in your contacts so you can see if the prescription is correct, then take them out again. Then the Dilating Drops OUCH Those suckers hurt. Three drops in each eye - just enough to give you Tammy Faye Bakker eyes, then they leave you in a dark room with no one to talk to and nothing to do. Hum dee dum. Back she comes- shines a 8,000,000,000,000 watt light into your eyes while saying "Look up to the left, down to the right, up to the center, over to the left, down at your knees" It's like the world's worst pop quiz. "My left, or her left? Her knees or mine?" Once she is done, you can put your contacts back in and leave. But, wait, you cannot see. It is blindingly bright. You have to attempt to sign the receipt. You accidentally sign the clerks forehead instead. "What receipt?". Ha ha ha ha.






My first eye appointment was when I was nine years old. I could see fine at school, and then one day, quite literally, I couldn't read the chalkboard. Not even from the first row. Mandatory eye test day rolled around and the nurse tested my eyes. She asked me to tell her what I saw on the screen and I probably said "A Goat" instead of "E A J G B" because I couldn't even see the screen, let alone what was on it. So, off we went to the Opthamologist for an eye glass prescription. He looked in my eyes and said, "My god! You're as blind as a bat!" And, being the strong women my Mom and I are - we burst into tears. He said, "Uh, I was kidding". Not funny, Mr. Goober. I got my eyeglass prescription and went back to 4th grade. I was greeted by Mr. William Burkett, one of my fellow classmates (who happened to already be in trouble and sitting in the hall) who greeted me,"Hi, Four-Eyes". Much to his surprise, my Mother rounded the corner right after that statement. He never called me that again.


******This photo borrowed from Google Images - IT IS NOT ME. Although, I did wear a mean hair doodle. ******

I never liked my glasses, but I always wore them because I was pretty much useless without them. One day in Junior High we were pushing this giant ball around. I mean that ball was about seven feet around. There were two teams and each team was trying to push it to the opposite side of the gym. Something happened, (certainly nothing to do with my swift athletic ability - ha ha ha) and a bunch of us fell down. My glasses flew off, just out of reach, but I could still make them out. One of my team mates was someone I deplored and she deplored me even mored (I had to make that rhyme, I just couldn't help myself). In was like slow motion, I saw sneakered foot coming down hard, right above my glasses, sure to smash them to smithereens. That's when my enemy grabbed them out of they way and handed them to me. She said, "My Mom would have killed me if I broke my glasses." So, for one millisecond, we shared a special bond. Then it was back to hating each other like good old 7th graders do. (Or rather, did, The Bean is headed to 7h grade and I am sure they all just adore one another).



My eye doctor refused to give contacts to anyone under the age of 16. He was a cranky old fart, in retrospect. Before I started High School - which was 10th grade - I was granted permssion to get contacts. Yeah. I have worn them ever since. I've never had an eye infection, never lost a contact or any other horror stories people have told me that has happened to them.




This photo is my actual eye. It's blurry to me, and to you probably, but really blurry to me.
It is now 2.5 hours since I had my eyes dilated, and they are still pretty much all pupils. I am typing this without spell check because I can't see the screen, let alone the keys. I'm probably a row off and it will look like a one armed baboon typed it. I don't recommend using the flash when your eyes are dilated. Not one of my smarter moves.






Hey, aren't you glad I went to the Opthamolgist today and not the Gynecologist?

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

One, Two, THREE

The Bean had his test today. The counselor said it would be surprisingly easy - more along a 5th grade level. It's just a State Mandated test - no biggie. The Bean finished in 15 minutes and we were out of there. So, he is officially a regular kid with a regular school schedule once again. *****Crossing fingers and Knocking Wood*****
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The Super Cheap Thrift is open on Tuesdays, but I never go on Tuesdays. But, since we were out and about, we made a quick run. I was still thinking about all that jewelry that I didn't get to sort through last week. I usually look at the jewelry last because it's by the register, but today I looked through it first. I did find a little bag of charms for 50¢, a giant safety pin for 25¢ (weren't these for those wrap around skirts back in the day?) and a cool onyx carved sharks tooth necklace for The Bean.
We were going to the movies later in the afternoon* and I wanted to run into Hobby Lobby afterwards to grab a bag of beanbag pellets for my felt food/birds I have been creating. But, what did I find on the craft area for a whole quarter?
A nice big two pound bag of bean bag pellets. Unopened! (But don't think that kept me from Hobby Lobby later....oh, no, no, no!).
I always make a walk-through of the toy department looking for old children's books and vintage toys. Sometimes I find some, mostly I don't. Today I found this sweet Effenbee sleepy eye doll. Her little felt pockets say, "Stop, Look, Listen" and the little ribbon has cars and trains on it. She is so cute. I need to research her to find out how old she is - I am guessing mid 1950's or early 1960's. If she's worth anything at all - she'll be ebay bound this Fall.
But, where I hit paydirt, was in the laundry basket with the "Tablecloths" sign scotch taped to the front. They roll up tablecloths and wrap making tape around them with the price written on the tape. I spotted one vintage looking tablecloth marked $1.50, then another one off to the side of the basket, and then yet another that had fallen behind the basket.
This one is a bit faded, but I still like the design. At $1.50 each, I just decided to take a chance and buy them sight unseen.
This sweet blue and green floral one is lightweight and in perfect condition. I cannot explain the darkness of these photos. It was bright sunny and 103 outside when I took them this afternoon.

Pretty, right?

But what about THIS ONE?

Oh, she's a beauty! Nice pale yellow with brown an array of flowers in a circle in the center. Absolutely perfect and no flaws at all.

It's funny. I had quite a few tablecloths, but then I told myself I was going to cut down on so many collections and concentrate on my favorite collections. Vintage tablecloths moved up to the top of the list because they are not often found in my circle. Since then, I swear, I have found a tablecloth (or three) every time I leave my house. Maybe I need to set my mind to finding Monet's or copies of the Declaration of Independence.

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No thrifting or much fun on the schedule tomorrow - I have an eye appointment which means I will have to have my eyes dilated which I hate so much. It takes my eyes about 4-5 hours to get back to normal. They say it will wear off in 20 minutes or so, but it's always at least four hours. Oh well, what are you going to do, right?

*We saw Hancock - it's good. Not what I expected, but good. I don't like Super Hero movies. He's a Superhero - but not like any other.

Monday, July 28, 2008

This, That and Those

Here's a post with no rhyme or reason. Sometimes I just have things to say and photos to post.

Saturday, The Bean and I made this Chocolate Walnut - Zucchini Cake. Yes, I said Zucchini. It's awesome. We planted way too much zucchini this year and I literally had a drawerful in the fridge. Sure it's chocolate and sure it's cake, but there are vegetables in it, so I am sure it's healthy.I found some oranges in the bottom of the crisper that were getting pithy, so I threw them out in the backyard for the birds to peck at for some water. Later that night, I went out and noticed the oranges were black - covered in what DH called JuneBugs (Hello, it's July!). There were hundreds of them on those oranges. I did not get too close. Shudder.

I got The Bean registered at school today. He has to take a short test in the morning to see if he needs any special classes (because he was homeschooled, they have to make sure homeschool kids were properly educated...Don't get me started). Anyway, the Principal and Asst. Principal both said hello to him and welcomed him back. He has a new Counselor (today was his first day) and he seems very nice. I am happy to have a completley new person to count on that doesn't know "the story" and have any hangups about The Bean. He is happy to be getting back to "normal" and being with his friends. He's always been a good student in every way, so I know he will do well. (This is a photo from 4th grade with one of his buddies.)

This Spring I sent out various packages of Zinnias to a lot of my blog buddies. The ones I planted are flourishing - they are about chest high and all blooming in the brightest colors. I plant mine specifically to pick. Some people think you should never pick flowers, but I just love them in the house to brighten it up. These are in the kitchen to make my boring chores a bit more perky.
This sweet little notebook was sent to me by Cheryl, who doesn't have a blog yet, but does sell on Etsy. She asked me about a vintage coloring book I had bought at The Sale of Sales becuase she had the same one when she was a child. I sent it to her as a gift, and she made me this sweet little Red Riding Hood Notebook as a thank you. Thank you Cheryl!



Tune into tommorrow for more miscellaneous random ramblings. Like we are going to the movies tomorrow and I am going to the Eye Doctor on Wednesday (Oh, how I hate having my eyes dialated) and getting new brakes on the car later in the week. Ys, it's just one fascinating event after another!

Friday, July 25, 2008

It Was Meant To Be

Yesterday, when I wrote about the big sale with all the cool old vintage things, I didn't tell about the quilt that I left behind. Actually, it was a only a quilt top, but it wasn't an ordinary quilt top. It was a Crazy Quilt - the first one I have ever seen outside "The Antiques Roadshow". This one was jewel tones and earth tones - made from old silk with stitching around each piece of fabric. Some of the silk was deteriorating, but not too badly. It was stuffed in a box under a table. When I pulled it out, the lady commented that it was a "treasure" and told me how old it was and how it was made. The cool thing was, she told me this in a manner that I could tell she knew I understood and appreciated it. Not one of those "Thatsa" salespeople ("That's a rug", "That's a CD player"). She was very nice. After all that discussion and talk about the quilt and it's age and craftsmanship, I was half afraid to ask the price. She quoted $10.00 on it and commented that it was a "steal". And, she was right. It was a steal. And, I really don't know why, but I put it back in it's box under the the table. I guess I was thinking of not spending $10.00 on something I really didn't need and trying to budget my money for other sales. As I was leaving she told me to "Come back tomorrow". Last night, I kept thinking about that darn quilt. My first thought when I woke up this morning was that quilt! (Well, that and I needed coffee.) I left the sale at 10:00 am yesterday and couldn't get back there until about noon today. So, I knew it would be gone.


When I pulled into the sale, the lady said, "You did come back!" I said, "I kept thinking about the quilt top, so I'm sure it's gone". And, she said, "No, it's still waiting for you." Can you believe it? I gathered it up and decided to grab one of the big wooden spools for $2.50. In the end, she told me $10.00 was plenty for everything, and then she gathered up all the linens she had and gave them to me. Free! I thanked for her for the deal and she said she was really happy the quilt was going to a home that appreciated it and loved it. Lady, that's my thing. Take it home and love it. Isn't it divine? There are hundreds of silk swatches, thousands of stitches. I just think it is lovely.
It is quite large, although I haven't measured it. It's at least a full size quilt. I mentioned having it finished, but she recommended, and I agree, that leaving it unfinished, per say, you can see the stitches and had sewing on the backside.
So many interesting fabrics and designs.
The colors are pretty bright considering it's age. Most of the fabrics are silk, but there's old feedsack material in there as well.
Each square is a square, but the designs of each square is different, which is of course, the very meaning of a Crazy Quilt.
Since it's in the picture, this old green chair came home with me from a sale for $1.00 a couple weeks ago. It's holding a 25¢ watering can. The Breadman hates mowing the yard because I have all this junk fabulous stuff sitting all over the yard. Actually, he hates mowing any way you put it, so what's a little junk in his way?
Here are the linens that the lady gave me. Two pink linen napkins, three strawberry embroidered doilies, a small quilted potholder, a sweet embroidered dishtowel and an old sugar sack. Wasn't that sweet?
Here's the spool. It's really tall. I have quite a few of these. Have I ever shown what I do with them? Wait, I'll go take a photo.
(Man, I love modern technology and digital cameras.) I have them all on top of a bookshelf holding blown glass fishing net floats. The roosters are lamps so when they are on, the glass floats glow too. I think it looks interesting. (Love that wooden baby shoe form!)

We stopped at one other sale today and scored this nice glass biscuit jar for $1.25. I have another one chock full of old molds, so now I have another one to fill up with something. The other two items are from yesterday's S.C.T. run. The Bean is interested in cooking and baking, so now he shops the kitchen sections at thrifts instead of the toy section. These were his two finds yesterday. The basket thing is a tortilla bowl fryer basket for taco salads and the other is a Pampered Chef Press and Seal for making small pies and tarts. We tried the tortilla fryer last night and it worked great. Now we just need to make some mini pies!

The weather man just forecasted temperatures at 100 or so until at least August 15th. That, is simply unacceptable. I guess the weatherman didn't get the memo that I HATE SUMMER.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Thrifty Thursday

It's a hot one out there. 98 degrees today. We have been spared this summer from many days out of the high 80's. But, this week, the heat is ON, baby. The Bean and I ventured out this morning, but got home before noon to aviod the heat. Thank goodness for that new A/C unit in the yard pumping out the heat and making the house cool. Very cool. Coooooool.

The Bean and I went to school for the THIRD time this morning to get him enrolled for the Fall. But, no one was there. For the THIRD time. I get my courage all screwed up to do it, and then no one is there so we have to go through it all over AGAIN. Next week better be the charm!

So, what do you do when the school is locked up tight? You find some yard sales! We went to two yard sales and made a pit stop at the Super Cheap Thrift. There was lady hoarding the jewelry buckets and I never did get to dig in them. I know I missed treasures! I generally look in one bucket, put it back and then wrangle the next bucket for a dig. But, she had them both in her cart. It's okay to do that, I just wouldn't do it. (But I might next time!)

Would anyone care for some corn? I could have a corn-eating party with all these corn holders. We've never used corn holders at our house, but The Bean is less than neat when eating corn, so I think they might help him get a better grip on his ear - ear of corn, that is. I really like the red ones, they might even possibly be bakelite, but I haven't tested them yet. All these corn holders and the two corn troughs, if you will, were 75¢ total. The red and white tablerunner with a crocheted edge was from one of the yard sales.

This little 1963 booklet "Care of the Back" was in the free bin. Love that poor lady trying to lift the laundry basket with her poor aching back. I've been there! And, yes, another watermelon potholder for 25¢. The lady behind the counter was giving me advice for using my new potholder - "Don't set anything really hot on it in case it's acrylic, or it will melt." Thank you Ma'm, but I don't use them, I just collect them.

Here's a sweet aqua blue emboidered dish towel that was 50¢, along with the sweetest little pair of little girl's baby shoes with ribbon roses. I cannot think of one thing I need less than sweet baby girl shoes, but I had to grab them. Sweet little baby shoes. The teeny little 25¢ basket is old and is the smallest piece of Matte White Pottery I have ever found. I found that on my third walk through at the SCT. You always gotta take a second look.

I got this tablecloth at a yard sale full of old vintage things. None of it I really needed, so I left it all there. Her prices were good - old mirrors for $4.00-5.00, steamer trunks for $15.00 and the biggest old wooden spools I had ever seen for $2.00 each. I really meant to grab one of those spools, but I left without it. She had a wonderful old white chippy rocking chair that I loved, but I didn't have anywhere to put it. And, the worst part, it was only $7.00. Crap, I shoulda..... Back to the tablecloth, I got it, the red and white tablerunner and the baby shoes for a $1.00 at that yard sale. It's got stains, but I can get most of them out and the rest I can live with. I just love the feel and the colors of the old tablecloths. Stains don't bother me too much.

But this darn heat does!

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Where's George?

Do you know about Where's George? You track money and how it has travelled to end up in your hands. In May, I received a bill as part of my change at the Super Cheap Thrift Store marked with the"Where's George.com" logo. I knew about the website, so decided to log on and see the journey my dollar bill had taken. It had come by way of North Virginia and ended up in my small town. I logged my dollar bill and then used it as payment at the local grocery store and sent it on it's new journey around the world.

This weekend at the sale where I got the old white shelf, I received yet another dollar bill stamped with the, "Where's George" logo. I stuck it in the back of my wallet so I wouldn't accidentally spend it before I logged it. This morning, I remembered the dollar bill so I decided to log it so I could spend it today at another thrift. I put in the serial number and the denomination and hit ENTER. And do you know what? It was the same darn dollar bill from May. That dollar bill hasn't even made it out of my town in two months??? Millions of dollars in currency floating around this planet and I get the same dollar bill twice? Makes you wonder if you get the same money over and over all the time. I will put it in my thrifitng stash and sent it on it's way again this weekend. Will it make it's way back to me again? Only time can tell.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Awards

I was the lucky recipient of three awards this weekend by my fellow bloggers.

First from Sharie @ View To the Hill in England:




Second: From Diane Diane @ Two Barking Dogs:
Arte y Pico Award

This award is for blogs with creativity, design, interesting material, and that also contribute to the blogger community. (Not sure if I really deserve this one!)


Third:

And, this award again from Debbi @ Prim 'N Stuff.

Thank you ladies!

I really appreciate these awards and I know I need to do my part to pass them on, but according to the rules of all of these awards, I am supposed to pass the awards on to 19 other bloggers. NINETEEN other bloggers. Yikes. That's a lot of folks. I read so many blogs and so many are deserving of an award, but I really cannot pick 19 blogs. Am I forgiven?????? I'm a bad, bad blogger.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

A Great Junking Day

I got to the Estate Sale about 11:00 yesterday. Sometimes I just go to big sales late to avoid the crazy rush. The fact that I am so not a morning person has a bit to do it it too. I still always find good stuff, but I do often wonder what I missed. This was an older house, the same people had lived in it for 65 years. It was stuffed to the gills with all old, all vintage things. Everything was organized, everything was clean and everything was priced - reasonably I might add. When we were in the back family room, I looked out the back window and saw the back yard was absolutely heaped with old boxes and junk. Junk! I love Junk! I would have loved to gotten out there and done some digging, but I didn't ask if it was fair game or not. (It didn't look like it.)

There were things in the front yard, in the carport, things on the small porch and throughout the entire house. It was only a five room house, so it was pretty tight corners with all the people milling about inside. The living room had one table full of items and a built-in bookshelf with things on it. The kitchen was still decorated and set up like it could be used to prepare dinner, but everything had a price tag neatly applied to it. The most awesome part about the kitchen was that the cabinets were all painted pink! I tried to take a picture but it was so small that I couldn't get a decent photo.

I spotted this tiny black, what I thought was an, evening bag on a table in the front yard. I opened the bag and saw that it was a ladies shaver.
The shaver is gold and fits into the black purse as the carrying case. Gee, shaving your legs used to be an elegant affair, didn't it? This little jewel was only 50¢.

The first bedroom had miscellaneous items and a few Christmas items here and there. I opened the drawer to a dresser that was already partly opened and found these:

Two Japan Christmas birds priced 25¢ on their backs. Slightly tacky, yet awesomely cool. Just enough to make me wonder what other Christmas goodies I missed!

The next room was linen heaven. Piles of linens on the floor, the dresser and on the bed. There were a couple ladies pawing through them when I walked in the room. I did a quick scan and didn't notice any tablecloths, so I went on to the next room (but I went back and looked at every single linen in there, trust me).

The next room was either a family room or the Master bedroom, I really couldn't tell. It had a fireplace and a walk-in closet, but there wasn't any furniture to really be able to tell for certain. I went into the closet and found a cool old cane carved out of a stick - complete with knotholes (50¢), a small red Pyrex custard cup (25¢), two FireKing Custard cups with pink flowers (25¢ each) and this fantastic piece of pink pottery (50¢) that was corroded with an icky residue, but I got it all cleaned up once I got it home.

In the corner of the room, under some books there was a box that said "Towels" on it. Well, I decided to look in the box, 'cause you just never know, right? The entire box was filled to the brim with old sheet music. Old, old sheet music, some as old as 1904! I asked a lady working the sale how much and she said $5.00 for the box. I knew there was a ton of good old sheet music, so I didn't even bother going through it until I got home. When I did go through it,there are over 125 peices of music including some really cool old Black Americana ones:

Back to the Linen room where I found a few goodies hidden under some old basic blankets and sheets. The best hidden treasure is this sweet old quilted floursack apron:
I love all the old fabrics and the rickrack details. It was 50¢. Another lady saw me dig it out and said, "Oooooh" when I picked it up.
I also found this cherry stamped tablecloth for 75¢, a linen bird themed dish towel for 25¢, an anthromorphic fruit towel for 25¢, one of my coveted crocheted watermelon potholders (I've been on a bit of a dryspell for finding watermelon potholders - I thought maybe I had bought them all!) and a felt watermelon potholder for 25¢ - a new kind of watermelon potholder. Oh my! Let's see, is that everything? Oh yes, the wooden clogs were $1.00. I've always wanted a pair of wooden shoes, but I always see them one at a time.

This set of canisters labeled "Gossypion, Pulvis and Crinale"intrigued me at 75¢. After a bit of googling, I have learned that they are old Dentistry apothocary jars. Gossypion is a form of cotton, one is a medicine made from cinnamon and the other is made from red algea. And, now you know. And now you may be slightly grossed out, as I am.
This flowery wicker purse ($1.00) was hidden behind some coats in that big closet. I have about 12 old purses that I am getting ready to list, so this one will be added to the pile. In my hurried shopping, I often hand things to The Bean to carry. He always does it without complaint. When we were paying, I turned to look at him to see if he had anything and he was just standing there holding this wicker purse like a good sport. Poor boy!

After we left the Estate Sale we were headed home and I passed by a sale at a house off the road and it was absolutely packed to the street with stuff. *Screeeech* When we got out of the car, the lady handed each of us a bag and said, "If it fits in the bag - it's $1.00 a bag." I won't bore you with everything I bought, but I packed three bags to the gills, plus got a cool old basket and a neat child's lamp for a total of $7.00. That includes this cool Junk Project:

This old window frame already had the old chalkboard inserts and corkboard inserts. I had been wanting to make a project like this, but what's better than making a junk project? Finding one already made. And for only $2.00!

This old Brownie camera was priced $8.00, but fit in one of my $1.00 bags with lots of other treasures!

This old wall mount can opener, the old metal burger pres, the tiny blue metal measuring cup and old small milk bottle were part of one of my $1.00 bags too. The old Calumet pie tin (25¢)and Searchlight Cookbook ($1.00) came from the Estate Sale (but looked better in this photo!). The Searchlihgt Cookbook is from 1937 and printed in Topeka, KS (My birthplace). My Mom had an old Searchlight Cookbook when I was a kid. Everything we ever made from it was dee-licious!


I spotted this old white shelf packed with books and videos sitting next to the garage. It was white and chippy and very, very me. I asked, if it was for sale. "Yes", she said. But, she never offered a price, so I asked, "How much?" $5.00 she said. I was on the phone to The Breadman to get his pickup truck driving self over there Pront-O. "I just bought a shelf and I need help getting it home," I said. "I'll be right there", he said. (I don't talk about him much because he's not often around for our adventures, but he's pretty good about me hauling junk home and even occassionally hauling junk home for me.

Today we pried off the old backing that was in poor condition and cleaned it all up. There was quite a bit of grime and some old paint rings that you can see in the photo, but it's all clean now. Well, as clean as I need it to be. I like a little grime. This week I am going to have a piece of beadboard cut to fit the back. I think that will really make it look nicer and more new chippy, not just old junky chippy. That makes sense to me, does it make sense to you? Besides, once I cram it full of vintage tablecloths and pottery, no one will notice a little bit of grime.

Love the chippiness. The stain and drippy marks are long gone. Just the cool chippiness remains. The neighbor kids came and watched me clean it up. They wanted to know where I got it. I told them excitedly that I had paid $5.00 for it at a yard sale. They looked at me with pity in their eyes like I got robbed.

Coming up next: I was bestowed three different awards this weekend by fellow bloggers this weekend! Three at once! Thanks ladies, I'll do my part for these awards tomorrow.

Friday, July 18, 2008

She's a Winner!

Winner Time. The Beanerator drew a lucky name out of the lucky hat and the lucky winner is the lucky Thrifty Miss Priss! Yea! Her perfect thrifting tri-fecta includes a vintage tablecloth, milkglass and anything aqua. Her wish shall be my command. If you haven't already gotten an email from me, please contact me T.M.P with your address so I can make you a goody box of treasures! Thanks to all that entered. I enjoyed seeing what everyone wishes to find when they are out thrifting.
I went to a bunch of sales today. Well, actually I drove past most of them, left empty handed at three and only found a few things at the rest. Pretty sad. But, we got out of the house and had some fun, so that's all that really matters. Although I could have stood to find a few more things.

Here are the bulk of my finds. The driftwood in the back was 25¢ - it is flat as a board and worn velvety smooth. I love pieces of nature. When it's standing up with the knothole and the hole, it reminds me of an eagles head. Not really sure why I bought the yard head dude. He was funny and only 25¢ - I think it might be some sort of voodoo doll or something. The knee hugger elf was 25¢ and will go with my evergrowing collection of kneehuggers. The little glass $1.00 chicken on a nest is very heavy and more modern and sleek than the older ones (which are always broken when I find them, I might add). The bunny was $1.50. Why did I pay $1.50 for another bunny?
Because he is a handpainted rock. Love it! It is so well done and feels like you are holding a tiny bunny in your hand. He's signed and I imagine he came from the War Eagle Craft Fair where things like that cost $$$.
This little radio had a retro vibe to it and fits perfectly in my kitchen. I can now listen to MUSIC instead of hearing the Disney Channel blasting Hannie Montannie 24/7. Yea for me. It was 75¢ and works great - complete with AM/FM radio, alarm clock, snooze and all the beeps and whistles. I often wonder why people get rid of completely useful things like a perfectly good clock radio and why they only expect to get 75¢ for it. I am glad they do this, so I can reap the rewards. But, I really don't understand the logic.

After finding only these few things, I was tired of yard saling so we went to eat (Buy a large Sprite Get Free Chicken Nuggets at ChickfilA), stopped into ToysRus to do a little bargain scanning (more on that this weekend and some tips for you) and then headed home. As we were driving along, I felt the car just sort of veer onto the street where one of my thrifts is located. I was just there on Wednesday, but they are always putting out things, so you might just find a treasure. (And I did). Our favortie part about that thrift on Friday is the old grouchy man that mans the register. No matter when you come in, he grouchily grumbles, "We close in XX minutes!" One day he told me, "We close in an hour and a half." As if I spend an hour and a half in there! The ladies all laugh at him so we've learned to laugh at him too. Except he's serious. He wants to go home NOW!

Oh yes, that treasure I mentioned: An old metal cake carrier. So wonderful. I'm not a rose kinda gal, but I do like this one. I like the whole pink and black thing. It's the first one I've ever found, so I had to buy it. It was $5.00,which is sort of pricey for me, but I have bought plastic ones for more than that at retail stores. If I ever find one that is more my style, I can list this one. But, it really is sweet, don't you think?

Tomorrow there is an Estate Sale that touts that "everything is up for grabs" after the same family has lived in the house for 65 years. How they think they can sell everything off on Saturday only from 8-2 is beyond me. An Estate sale around here just means everything in the house is for sale including the food in the cupboards and the bathroom towels. We don't really have typical Estate sales where a company comes in and prices everything. Occassionally there is one of those and I like to go just to get into fancy houses. I went into the Mayors house not too long ago just to get a gander at it while they were having an Estate Sale. I couldn't have afforded a thing in the place, but I got a free tour Anyway, back to this sale, I really really REALLY want to go. It sounds like a diggers paradise. I usually head for the garage where the old stuff and junk is located - Christmas items, persoanl items like photos and papers, etc. I also like to look in the kitchen drawers and cupboards. It's a weird feeeling rifling through things, but that's how it's done. Maybe I'll find enough treasures to fulfill all your wishes! Tablecloths, wicker shelves, buttons, fabric, pottery, picnic baskets, egg beaters, dice, keys, sewing notions, canisters, train case, recipes, postcards, shiny brites, jewelry, aprons, tea cups, mirrors, baby shoes, steiff, teapots, sports pennants, spools and flower frogs for everyone! Whew!

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