Friday Finds

I have certainly made up for my recent lack of thrifting the past few months.  This week has been a Gravy Train of fun stuff! 

My Grandmother called last night to ask me to find her a walker.  I see walkers at every thrift and yard sale, don't you?  So, this morning I headed out on a mission - to find a walker.  A Church Rummage Sale, two yard sales and two thrift stores later - not walker.  Seriously!   I even went to the Hospital Thrift which generally has a ton of old medical supplies in the corner.  NONE!  I finally had to go buy one for $90.00, which was a bit over my guesstimate of $5.00.  Whoops.  I know that I will find seven of them tomorrow.  Of course. 

Since I was out being Grandam's good little soldier, I took the opportunity to shop a bit too.  First on the docket was a Church Rummage Sale.  Forgive the dark-ish photos.  But, as soon as I got home, the skies opened and the rain poured down outside. 

A neat old Fotofolio photo album, an 1885 Bible Dictionary, a 1950's copy of Winnie the Pooh (it's so sweet), a slew of old Little Golden and Whitman tales books and a Bible Game.  I think it's interesting you can find old vintage Church-y things at Church sales.

Vintage Bert and Ernie puppets.  I still have my Ernie from my childhood.  I was excited to find the pair together.  Not only because of my childhood attachment to Bert and Ernie, but this didn't hurt!

The old black book is the transcript from the Memorial Service held at the House Of Representatives in 1933 for a Representative that died.  It just look interesting, so I grabbed it.  In side it I found a sweet vintage Mother's Day Card and a Snow White paper doll.  I love hidden finds.  The little green rolling pin hanger is already hanging in my kitchen and the crocheted potholder and dishrag (?) are in my collection too.  I already had a set of the fruit coasters headed to my Etsy Shop, so now I can double it up. 

I got six of these lovely napkins.  They are quite clever - fold them in different quarters and you have four different sets of napkins.  They will match several of my tablecloths this way.  Love them!

Speaking of tablecloths, this long red and white gingham cloth picnic tablecloth was still in the package. I've packed it away in my picnic basket (the one I actually use for picnics...) for our next trip to the park.

I always buy these old metal cookie cutters.  Do you?  They were in two separate bags for a total of 75¢.  I didn't even bother to look at them at that price.  I already have at least one of all of them, but I will just add them to my giant glass jar anyway.  I do have a soft spot for those little Scottie Dogs, though.  An added bonus at the bottom of the bag was a nice set of Wilton Cake Decorating Tips.  (I have been dropping hints to The Breadman for years that I want a complete set of Wilton Decorating Tips.)

I hope your weekend brings you some junk, stuff, treasures or booty. 

Booty as in Junk. 

Shame on you!

My First Swap Meet

Today we had our very first Swap Meet in our area.  I was very excited, to say the least.  Although it was called a Swap Meet, I suppose it is what most people would call a Flea Market.  (Here a Flea Market is a regular business where you rent a booth).  There were about 50 vendors today, with about double that scheduled to be there in the next two days.  We went today because it was sunny, but extremely windy.  There are storms forecast for the next two days, so it might be today or never. I'd like to go back if it stays dry, but we'll have to see.

Not the best picture, but the tables were scattered around a bit, since some of the Vendors weren't there yet.  Note the hanging mannequins in the back.

This was a male 2x mannequin and I found him to be pretty funny just hanging there.

I had a hard time knowing what to buy and what not to buy since you  had to pay each individual person before you moved on to the next table.  In the end, I think I did okay and I really don't think I bought anything I shouldn't have bought.

So, what did I buy? 

 Good question!

A new Madeleine Pan for me and the Bean to try out, three very old cookie cutters, two blue Milk Of Magnesia Bottles, a sweet old drinking glass and a pair of old glass doorknobs.  After I made a purchase, I asked about the glass doorknobs and the guy told me $1.00 for the pair.  After I paid him (happily) he just started laughing and said, "I have no idea why on earth I just told you you could have them for $1.00!  I should have said $15.00 a piece!"  Then he just kept on laughing, so I got the heck of of Dodge.

A neat tin egg marked 1894, miniature pottery vase, nesting doll set (25¢!), old yellow pottery bowl,  set of cool retro leaf shaped coasters, old bunny squeak toy, interesting old red rimmed pitcher.  The little chipmunk in the middle is all hand carved and hand painted and oh, so cute.  When I asked the price, the guy gave me a wink and told me to just take him.  (That sort of made my day!)  The old Boy Scout plague in the back is neat.  It had a paper label on the back that said who it was awarded it to and the year (1930's-ish), but the crazy winds blew it right off and out into the cow pasture.  ;o(

Great old biscuit tin lunchbox and a dovetailed wooden box that says FANCY on it.  A FANCY box for $1.00?  I'll take it!

Lovely old tablecloth.  The guy had about fifteen old tablecloths, but he wanted $10.00 each for them and that is too high for me.  I bit the big one and sprung for this one at $5.00.  It is pretty, though.

Isn't this sweet?  A new faucet for the garden with a bunny handle.  Love it!

Books - I rarely show the books that I buy, but today the price was right and I found a slew of neat old ones. 

The Casserole Book has a whole lot of, uh, odd, recipes in it.  I think food in the 1950's must have been gross!

The little Bob Hunt in Canada book is inscribed "From Mother".  I just love things like that.

The Bean shopping for treasures.  He scored a lot of good stuff today too.  He even bought a 30 year old jar full of M&M's for his M&M collection.  He is a true junker at heart! 

Hope there is some JUNK in your future this weekend!  Happy  hunting!

Change is Good. When It Works.

Woo-hoo-hoo, look at me!  New look for the old monkeybox!!!!

To quote Toby Keith, "How do you like me now?"

Still a little bit of tweaking to be done, but so far, so good. 

Or maybe not, I can't figure out how to load a photo.  *

Craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaap.

To quote Arnold Schwarzenegger, "I'll be back!"

*I figured it out!  Whew.  Here's my LittleLlady with her thrifted FREE box "Ugly Doll" from the .  We talk about how pretty she is and how precious she is, so to give her an Ugly Doll was funny.  But, she loves it!

Thrifting Math

I have a type of math that I use when I am thrifting.  I'm sure that no one else in the world uses this form of Math.  Except maybe my fellow thrifters.

I found this McCoy Dutch Shoe at Goodwill today for $4.00.  I normally only pay $1.00 or $2.00 for pottery.  But, I liked the yellow color and that pink flower.  Still.....$4.00.  I'll have to think about it.

Then I found this sweet white vase with the transfer flowers.  It was $1.50. 

 Hmmm, that is 50¢ less than my high standard of $2.00. 

Then I found this wee little blue pitcher for 50¢.  Hey!  That's  a whole $1.50 less than my $2.00 standard.

So, $4.00 plus $1.50 leaves me 50¢ plus 50¢ leaves me $1.50 so......

$6.00 for all three. 

Yes!  Two dollars each. 

Just what I wanted to pay! 

You do this kind of Math, don't you?

Happy Thrift Find

Yesterday I decided it was time for a day of relaxation.  We goofed around the house in the morning and then went for lunch at Chili's.  You won't often hear me say that we went to an actual restaurant for a meal.  Chick-fil-A is about as nice as we get.  But, we bit the bullet and went for a nice sit down and be waited on meal.  Personally, I could eat about three baskets of chips and salsa and call it good.  I love that stuff! 

I make a knockoff version of the salsa that we love.  Here's the recipe:

Almost Chili's Salsa Recipe

1 (14 1/2 ounce) can tomatoes and green chilies

2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans whole canned tomatoes (plus the juice)

1/4 cup yellow onion (diced)  (I use dehydrated onion)

1/2-3/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon sugar

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender - blend until almost smooth.  Eat with heated tortilla chips.  YUM!

(I swore I would never post a recipe on this blog.  I am so not a recipe person.  Maybe now people will call me SharaDub and I will get a movie deal too!)

After we ate, I managed to get the boys to go to two different thrifts with me. 

I spotted this little vintage box in the 50¢ area at the first thrift.  You know I love old packaging, so I picked it up.  When I opened it, I gasped out loud.  The Candle Coasters were missing, but instead were these:

A set of my beloved cake toasting glasses!  I searched for years until I found a set on ebay and finally got them. Since then, I have found two more sets.  And, now I actually found a set at the thrift! 

So, I have four different sets in all. My Great Grandmother used these on Birthday Cakes and it is my fondest memory of her.

She was one hep chick.  But, that is a post for another day.  My point to this post is that you never know what you are going to find when you go thrifting.  And sometimes, the smallest things make you the happiest! 

Thrift Therapy - Do You See What I See?

We got Grandma home.  (I do not call her Grandma, so that sounds weird to me).  The nursing staff was there and they told my Mom and me that our "job" now is to be a daughter and a granddaughter and let them handle her meds,  her bathing, her housework, her quirks and her moods.  Whew.  My Mom is spending a night or two with her, just in case something happens before her Lifeline is installed.  But, hopefully that will be installed by Thursday and she can get back to her house and her life too.  It has been all consuming lately and hasn't left a minute to think of anything else.

This morning even though I was on a tight time crunch, I got myself out of the house early enough to treat myself to a 30 minute trip to the Super Cheap Thrift.  Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.  I needed that!  I didn't really find anything stellar.  But, I found a few things.

A hand turned wooden vase.

A lady Liberty for The Bean's Monument collection.

A baby cup.  It has a hallmark on it that I need to research.  Not sure if it's silver or not. 

Some wee bottles for my collection of the same.  I have a slew of these that I won out of the crane machine at the carnival when I was a kid.

Miller Studio 1968 Mermaids.  Cute, huh?

A rather garish tablecloth.  Not my usual style, but I was desperate for a thrift fix and a vintage tablecloth always "rocks my world".  So, home it came.  I do like it, it just isn't my norm.

A miniature dishwashing detergent apron. 

I did discover that thrifting under pressure and under stress my cause my judgement to be wonky. 

Case in point.  I discovered this little milkglass compote on the shelf for 50¢.  I do not like milk glass as a rule and I usually do not buy milkglass.  But, I do have a couple other miniature pieces of milkglass.  So, I thought this little compote would fit in perfectly.

And, it does, see?  Three sweet miniature pieces of milkglass all in a row.  There is just one slight problem.  That little compote? 

It's a candlestick.  Dadgumit.  When I bought it it was sitting like a compote.  I didn't even see the old candle stump sticking out the bottom.  Or maybe that would be the top.  Oh well. 

I think I will just call it a compote and go with it.  What do you think?

Everything is Etsy bound except for the mysterious milkglass piece, the Statue of Liberty, the bottles and the tablecloth. 

As soon as I have time to get them listed. 

Sure, no problem!

{Crickets Chirping}

It's going to be quiet around here for a bit.  My Grandmother is going home from the Rehab Hospital tomorrow.  I have been at her house the past week working like.a.dog.  So much to do, but it's all done.  And, so am I.  But, we have to get her home and see what happens and how it goes. 

I really need a trip to the thrift.  Or a good digger sale.  Or a 10 pound Whitman's sampler all to myself.  or a good cry.  Or something.  The stress is baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad.

Oh well.  What are you going to do?  Right?

This post needs a photo - let's see what I can come up with:

Here's the sign above my shower.  And, that's where I am heading. 

See you when I see you!

*And, to my Eggstra Egg Swappers -  Elaine got her box.  And, she loved it!  Thanks again!

Red & White - It's Alright

I've had the Easter decorations put away awhile, but I couldn't think of a collection to put on my shelves.  today I strolled around the house looking for things to make a display. And, I found them!  This is really a hodgepodge of items, but it makes a pretty neat arrangement now that I have it all gathered up.  (I pretty much destroy my house once I decide on a collection to gather.)  You can see the past collections here:  Vintage Stationery Store Collection, Vintage Games, Vintage Birthday Decorations, and Vintage Christmas.  (Someone emailed and requested bigger photos and links to my collections.....)

I added in the red and white potholders even though they aren't advertising or packaging.  I just needed a touch of softness in there.

Bottling caps, a salesman sample hat box, old Glitter tape spool, fruitcake tin, French's Food Coloring, Spice tins and a kitchy cool red and white thermos. 

Coffee tins, baking powder tins, furniture polish bottle, Flinch card game box, spice tins and a chalk box round out this shelf.   

Moth Nugget tin (- yea, I know, kinda weird, but how can you not love that cool plaid tin?), another thermos, Velvet tobacco tin scavenged from the dump at The Breadman's Grandparent's house and a fun old ice cream carton.

Oh yes, and a few SharaSoda bottles from my stash.  I have a few to spare.  And, if I find you and your name is Shara you get one too.   Check out her blog - her name is Shara and she is an Estate Sale, yard sale, thrift store, vintage lover too!

Every time I touch this box, I envision my lungs filling with toxic asbestos fibers.  *Hack*hack*  I actually thought long and hard before I bought it (it is full of the actual product) but, it came home with me and I am still alive.  Yea, me!

Well, this isn't advertising, but heck, it's red and white and it ties in with the whole Sharasoda theme, so why not?  This was on the back of my bicycle my entire childhood.  I think i had to save a lot of ceral boxtops and send it for it.  I know for a fact it was not store bought as SHARA isn't exactly a common name.

Several years ago I was featured in the newspaper for winning the Arkansas Volunteer Award from Campbell's Soup.  I was noted for my hours of volunteering at school and for the thousands of Campbell's labels I had donated.  After that, people started saving labels for me including a sweet lady at one of my thrifts.  She gave me a baggie of labels one day and then proceeded to hand me a couple of labels that she had kept from a trip to Japan.  She thought I might like to keep them.  She was right!

This is a side of an old EXPLOSIVES box from WWII.  I found it at a yard sale about to be thrown in the trash.  I rescued it and brought it home.  I love it.  It says EXPLOSIVES A on the other side.  Not sure what the difference is between A and B and I really don't want to find out!  I have this hanging above the toilet normally.  I know, tacky.  But funny!

This is too big to fit on the shelf, but I had to include it anyway.  One ginormous red and white polka dotted tin of mints. 

I have a Mother's Day display in the works.  Come back to see it, but come back before then too!  Okay?

Fabulous Fun Find!

Saturday morning I hit the same sale from Friday.  They were still pulling stuff out on Friday afternoon and talking about how much they still had to get out, so I figured it was worth another stop.  And, it was! 

When I walked up, the first thing I noticed was this table:

A 1940's enamel topped table with pull out leaves.  I've seen a few red trimmed tables, but never a blue table.  I have a red table top that I use for a magnet board and I have always wanted an entire table.

The sign on the table said, "OLD Metal Top Table is FOR SALE."  But, there wasn't a price.  That can't be good, I thought.

As I stepped up to it, I commented on the neat old table.  One of the ladies having the sale heard me and started telling me, "That is very old.  It is metal.  It has leaves.  Those are hard to find."  You know the song and dance.  They knew what they had. 

I walked around the sale and picked up an old Mexican basket, a Roycroft candle holder and a glass bird.  When I went to pay for them, I decided on a whim, to see how much the table was.  Just for my amusement.

"So, how much is that old table?' I asked.

"The old metal topped table?"

"Yes"

"Let me ask my husband."

"HOW MUCH IS THAT TABLE?"

(Did I mention they were quite elderly?)

"Which one?"

"THE ONE THAT FOLDS UP."

Then I heard muttering and conversations and I couldn't hear what the husband had determined.  The wife walked back out to me and said, "He says he wants FIVE DOLLARS for that table."

I nearly gave myself a paper cut whipping out a Fiver.

When we went over to clear off the things that were piled on it, the lady pulled one of the leaves out to show me how it worked.  It in the process it pulled out cattywampus and was off kilter.  She hollered at her husband to come fix it.  He came out through the garage door and said, "Why are you working on that table?"  She said, "You just told me to sell it for $5.00!"  That's when he stopped in his tracks and pointed to a rusty chippy saggy old card table on the end of the driveway and said, "I meant that one."

I held my breath.  My lovely table.  It wasn't meant to be.  I knew it.

But, then he just shrugged and reached down and fixed the leaf.  He even helped schlep it to the car. 

I really thought he was going to ask for another $50.00!

It is in wonderful condition, clean enamel, clean trim.  I adore it.  I have it in the garage to be my "in progress" area for when I am working on a project or getting out my holiday decorations.  It's also adjacent to the freezer, so I can use it when I put up groceries.  I'd love to incorporate it into the house someday, but until then, at least I have it and I do have a use for it. 

$5.00!

I still can't believe it!

Check out all the other fun treasures everyone found this weekend!  Look at  Apron Thrift Girl too for even more Thrifty Finds!