Happy Camper

I am one happy camper. The vintage Christmas items are trickling out into the thrifts. Yippee! I hit two thrifts this week and went directly to the Christmas items.
Even though my true love in all things vintage, I do have a few other items that will leap into my shopping bag. I collect Santa's made from other things. Huh? Case in point - a Santa made from a wee gourd and a very sweet Santa hand carved from a twig. A big bag of vintage tinsel garland for 50¢, a red metal star for 50¢ and two spun cotton birds for 10¢ each.

A lovely triple indented ornament, a dainty beaded ornament and a non vintage Flag ornament all for 10¢ each.

An army of wee tiny vintage angels for 50¢. I am seriously in love with these girls.

The six vintage reindeer picks, the bottle brush tree and the gaudy gold sparkly poinsettia all came in a misc. bag. The glass candleholders full of holly and glittery tree topper are Etsy Bound. I couldn't believe I found another ticky tacky plastic Santa in his sleigh. Two this year so far!

Sometimes, I am amazed at what I find when I go thrifting. For instance, I found these reindeer picks on Wednesday at one thrift.

And the Santa's sleigh today at a different thrift in a completely different town. But, they are almost exactly alike. It must be thrifting karma, right?

My only non Christmas find - a very, very old and very fragile beaded bag. This was in the Christmas stuff, and I almost tossed it to the side, but I gave it another look. It has tons of teeny glass beads and it is all hand sewn. It is really sweet and I am glad that I found so it can be appreciated.

So, what have you found lately?

It's Turkey Time...For Now

I decorated for Fall and Thanksgiving this year. Well, I always decorate some, but this year, I dug in my stash and brought it all in. It's not even Thanksgiving yet, but I am contemplating taking it all down this weekend. Before the big day. I am really, really anxious to see all my Christmas things this year. I really don't know why. Well, really I do. Money is tighter this year, so we have decided to have a more laid back Christmas. We're not going to worry so much about lots of gifts and spending money. I am going to decorate to the hilt. We are going to make cookies. We are going to every parade that we can find. We are going to the Mall to hear Middle School Choirs sing "Hallelujah." We are just going to have fun and not stress. (After the decorating is done - I stress over that a lot. But, I love it too!)

So, before it is all gone....a quick house tour:

Top of my bookshelves. I've never found too much vintage fall stuff, so I still have my scarecrows and crows. (The Bean's Cherokee name is Crow Walker, so I have a lot of Crows in his honor.)

A whole lotta stuff crammed on the bookshelves. I have had those "HAPPY THANKSGIVING" blocks since we got married. You can turn them all different ways to make them say "MERRY CHRISTMAS, BE MY VALENTINE, HAPPY EASTER, HAPPY HALLOWEEN and HAPPY 4TH OF JULY." I considered getting rid of them this year since they are getting older and are a bit more cutesy than I like now. But, The Bean got sad. "We've had those my whole life!" he said. They won't be going anywhere anytime soon.....

The corner of the living room. I love my big old enamel Turkey Platter, the vintage turkey planter and my latest find - four Gurley Pilgrim candles for 10¢ each. I had not memories of that big tall turkey in the corner. He must have been an after Thanksgiving find last year. It's always fun to find "new" things each year.

I left up my paper lanterns. I like the glow they add to the living room. I have an entire General Store Village that will be put out at Christmas. In the center of the shelf, I have my one single Thanksgiving General Store. It gets harder and harder to find a new General Store each year.

The Mayflower made from a milk carton, construction paper and a drinking straw. Loooooove those Kindergarten craft projects!

These silly Pilgrim squirrel salt and pepper shakers always make me smile.

So, now you've seen it.

I'm off to go cram it all in a box and bring on the Christmas decor!

If you don't hear from me for awhile....that's why!

Pottery and Potties. How's that for a Title?

Saturday I went to a few sales, but I think I only bought two things total. I did manage to run by the Super Cheap Thrift (in hopes that the Christmas items were starting to make an appearance) and I found a few goodies. I knew yard sale season was coming to a halt, so that's okay.

Before I post these photos - I have to say that today was a dark, dark rainy day without a smidgen of sunshine. So, photos were snapped in and around the house until I managed to take some halfway decent ones.

At the one sale I did buy something - this pretty piece of pottery. It isn't marked, but it has the look and feel of the old pottery that I love. I like pink, but honestly this one is a bit more in the mauve area which so reminds me of the early 1990's and my "country blue and mauve" themed Wedding (no country ducks with blue bows, I am happy to report). Needless to say, I'm not in love with it, so it will mostly likely make an appearance on Etsy. *How do you like all that clutter in the background? See why I always take photos my out in that old green cabinet?

This pretty blue relish tray was at the sale where I got the mauve vase. I thought it was pretty - and it is huge - so I picked it up to see if it had a mark on the bottom. It wasn't marked, so I didn't figure I could sell it, so I set it down. When I paid for the vase the lady said, "I saw you look at that aqua dish. Would you please take it home with you?" She said that she really thought someone would snap it up, but all day, I had been the first one to look at it, so she wanted me to have it. I promised her that I would use it at Thanksgiving. It really is pretty and now it has a nice story to go with it. And, a bonus feature - I always make the Relish Tray for Thanksgiving! It was only $1.00 - I'm really surprised that no one had bought it.

Silly vintage "Round TUIT" potholders. These were probably a giveaway at a hardware store or grocery store. You know what a Round TUIT is don't you? I'll do it, when I get a ROUND TU IT.

This was at the Super Cheap Thrift - 50¢ for both pieces. I bought them together like this, but once I got them home, I realized that they are two separate things - a lidded jar and the cute wall hook doll. I really don't know what I will do with them, but I love Nesting Dolls, so I picked it up. Hmmmmm......have I ever shown my collection of Matryoshka?

Proof that the vintage Christmas is starting to trickle in the thrifts - a few vintage plastic ornaments, a vintage snowflake tree topper and a sequined ornament - all 10¢ each. The big Mercury Glass ornaments were 25¢ - they are new, but I like them.

I bought the vintage tree stand solely for the great old packaging. I love my old Dime Store box collection! The Christmas Card box was actually found at my Grandmothers house yesterday. She never saves anything including family mementos. I was really surprised to find this box in a cabinet with some Florida vacation photos in it. I might have added those photos to another box and I might have taken the Christmas Card box without Grandma's authorization. Maybe.

And now, my favorite find of the day. I actually had one of these a few years ago and I gifted it to someone in the "Tacky Gift Exchange" (Hi Austinite, if you still check in...) and I have really been sick ever since I gave it away. It is seriously tacky. Are you ready? Are you sitting down?

Well, get UP! You are siting on my toilet seat cover! A bedazzled, sequined SANTA toilet seat cover! Can it get any better than that?

Why, yes, yes it can. Lift the lid and Santa covers his eyes. This thing absolutely cracks me UP! The fact that someone actually handmade it makes me even happier. "Whatcha making Martha?" "Why I'm making a sequined Santa toilet seat cover, of course." "Okaaaaaaaaaaay..." Will this actually appear on our toilet this Christmas? Probably not. But, it will make an appearance somewhere.

Tomorrow it is finally going to get cold. And a chance of snow flurries on Tuesday. I've really loved the warm weather, but I don't see how people in warm climates ever get used to decorating for Thanksgiving and Christmas in 80 degree weather. I'm ready for cooler temperatures. Bring on the jackets and the turkey and the Christmas lights. I'm ready! (Sorry Mumsie, I know you aren't).

Sparkle

Today, when I was checking out at the grocery store, the checker told me I "Sparkled."

Thinking my personality must be at an all time high or worrying that perhaps there is a bit too much New Moon excitement at our house, I remembered what I had done that morning.

Ah, yes Glitter Sparkle.

Not Vampire Sparkle.

Whew.

It's Raining, It's Pouring, The Thrifts Are Overflowing

I keep waiting for the thrifting dry spell to hit, but so far, it's raining finds. I'm not complaining, although The Breadman should. The house is getting full. But, as long as I continue to find sweet deals that I can either work into the house or sell, they will be coming home with me.

Yesterday I went to the Salvation Army for the first time in about two months. when I walked in, it was a completely different store. Entirely rearranged and different. They now have a vintage corner, but it is reasonably priced. I expected things to be double what they used to be, but some were actually less. I even found a vintage item, which is completely unheard of at the Salvation Army.

I spotted this sweet little toy tin litho high chair across the room, but I almost didn't even look at the price. In the past, this would have been $25.00. But, it was only $5.00! I got a lot of comments on it as I schleped it around the store. It wound up being my only purchase, but it was a good one. Lovin' that sweet puppy!

Today I went to another thrift that has recently undergone some drastic changes. This is the thrift that I always referred to as the $8.00 Store". Everything was always eight dollars. Jeans? Eight dollars. Vase? Eight dollars. Cheap figurine from Dollar General? Eight dollars. *Sigh. I rarely ever went there because of the crazy eight dollar pricing structure. But, the old manger is GONE and everything is different. Cheaper by far and cool stuff everywhere.

Case in point - This great old jar with handpainted cherries for $1.00. The jar is vintage, but the cherries are most likely a Donna Dewberry inspired project. Normally, I would scrub off any paint, but I am loving the cherries. I think a bunch of my old tin cookie cutters will be perfect in it.

This sweet Japan jewelry box is also a music box. It is wound too tightly to work, but I have had good luck repairing those in the past. If I get it working (and even if I don't) I will put it on Etsy. It is really sweet.A 50¢ Goodie Bag netted a bunch of junk to be re-donated. But, it also netted a wee teeny knitted doiley, a Washington DC Souvenir tray and a wee souvenir replica of the Washington Capitol. I like kitchy Washington DC souvenirs in my 4th of July decorations.
I spotted these teeny little crocheted watermelon slice earrings for 50¢ on the way to check out. I won't be wearing them, but for the owner of almost 60 different crocheted watermelon potholders, don't you think I just had to buy them?!?

And now...THE FIND OF THE DAY. A quilt. And not just any quilt. A baby quilt. A cute baby quilt for $5.00. Here you see it unwashed as I found it.

It's pretty darned cute with it's minty green and white squares. Yes, it's a cutie. It couldn't be any cuter.

Oooooooor could it? Ker-pow! Look at the back! Embroidered animals is all sorts of cute ways.

May I present, Mr. and Mrs. Bunny. All dressed up and no where to go.

Baby Bunny off to fish.
A Scottie dog girl with a flower for Mama.

Cute Mr. Elephant (although I just took a second look at this, and he looks a bit lewd....)


And a cute little hat wearin' bear.

I am in an absolute state of euphoria waiting for the thrifts to roll out the Christmas items. I can dig through fifteen thousand ornaments, but if I am lucky to find one indented ornament or one precious spun cotton head Santa, then it was completely worth it.

*Leilani of Thriftaholic guessed that I paid 50¢ for all those glorious cupcake pics. Leilani lives in Chicago, but she's from right here where I live and visits the very same thrifts that I do when she is home at the holidays. Small world, right?

Sparkling Winter WhiteSwap

The Goodness Girls have a fun swap in the works - all things white, clear and silver - think silvery moonlight on a freshly fallen snow.

Join us! It's going to be FUN!

Take the Time

One lesson I have tried to instill in The Bean is to enjoy what you can when you can. On the exact day that the leaves turn glorious orange, go look at them. Don't wait until tomorrow or the weekend. Go THEN. Go NOW. Because tomorrow it might rain or the winds might come on strong and blow all those beautiful leaves off the branches. Don't wait. You might miss it.

We are big fans of the sky and sunsets. I must admit, we don't see a whole lot of sunrises at our house, but we love our sunsets. Yesterday afternoon, it looked like this moments before dusk started to fall. I snapped this photo and we went in the house. A few minutes later I looked out the window to see this:

We stopped what we were doing that very minute to go out and enjoy the beauty of the sunset.

You can't wait five minutes. Because if you do, you will miss it.

If you would have waited ten minutes, this is all you would have seen.

And, if you were The Breadman and watched the sports before you came out - you would have missed the whole thing.

Don't miss out - do things NOW!

This Weekend Was a Very Good Weekend

This weekend was another great weekend for sales. It is November 6th and 7th - there shouldn't even be sales, but there have been plenty and it has been warm and sunshiny. So, bring 'em on, I say!

I won't do a play by play, but I will say that when I spotted this vintage Las Vegas Souvenir tablecloth in a box, my heart did a pitter-pat. And, when I asked how much and heard, "25¢," my heart went PITTER PAT - PITTER PAT. And, when I discovered fine more tablecloths in the box (less exciting but still - a quarter, you gotta be crazy not to buy them!), my heart was going BOOM BOOM BOOM.

Look at all the goodies I bought! Lots of STUFF! Nearly all bound for Etsy or ebay. I set this up for a nice photo, but with the time change, the sun is lower and all sorts of new shadows crept into my shot. If you click on it, you can see it better.
Four Gurley Pilgrim candles. And for only 10¢ each! These have been high on my Wishlist this year. They are a bit dark from age and what I suspect might be nicotine. But, for 10¢ each, that's okay by me.

And, THE find of the day - a vintage kitchen cupboard. I see these every once in awhile, but always for at least $100.00. Today, this one was only $25.00 so it came home with me. After the Holidays, I will show you what I did to it (after I actually do it). Let's just say, a coat of white paint, red knobs and vintage wallpaper backing are certainly not out of the question!
And, an item worthy of it's own post later in the week - a metric ton of vintage cupcake and cake decorating picks, toppers, etc. for every single holiday EVER! Such fun! First person to guess how much I paid for this entire container, wins a tulle apron that I bought today. Go ahead, GUESS!

Thursday's Thrifty Finds

Today is November 5th, which usually means that Garage Sale Season is pretty much over. But, we are experiencing some lovely summer like weather here in Arkansas, so the sales are still going. The promise of a few sales and the Super Cheap Thrift being open today lured me out of the house.
A nice artsy owl on a Lucite stone. I'm not an owl person, but I see them in plenty of blogs lately. He is Etsy bound.
This sign reminded me of the sign on Kate Go ss el in 's table that says "Plan Ahead" with the little "D" at the end. THINk means - think about what you are doing before you do it so it will all work out in the end. Also Etsy Bound.

I have a Santa mouse like the cheerleader mouse. She is marked 1970 on her foot. She is in need of a cleaning. I know she is a cheerleader with pompoms, but I am hoping I can slide her in the cabinet next to Santa and she will pass as Mrs. Claus. What do you think? She was 75¢. The Dream Pet was in the free bin, the Slinky is an old one for 50¢ and that's an old plastic bolos slide of Mayor McCheese in front for 10¢.

I spotted a box full of Christmas ornaments at one yard sale, which I proceeded to dig through carefully. Sometimes at the bottom of a box of junk, I find one indented ornament or one angel with a spun head and that makes it worth the time. Today I found several ticky-tacky plasticky churches, a nativity scene, a strange angel snowman sort of thing and this:

Santa and his sleigh! For a quarter! I know he is slightly tacky, but I still like him.

Ticky-tacky plasticky stuff seemed to be the theme of the day as I discovered this bag of plasticky goodness at the SCT for 75¢. It is a long chain garland with tons of holly and bells on it. I'm not sure if I will repurpose it or sell it.

And now for THE DEAL OF THE DAY.

The Bean spotted this Hoover Outdoor Sweeper at the thrift. It looked brand new and like something we could actually use to keep our driveway and sidewalks clean. I couldn't find a price, so I asked one of the ladies. She said she thought it was $10.00. I said I would think about it. She left to go back in the backroom and then she came right back out. "You can have it for $5.00 since you are such a good customer." SOLD!

I looked it up on Amazon and they sell for about $90.00! And, more importantly, it works really well. I walked up an down the driveway like I was mowing and it swept up all the leaves, sticks and everything else in the way. I never knew this thing existed, but I love it! Good find, Bean!

I'm hoping to find a few more sales this weekend. It is supposed to be nearly 80 on Saturday, which is unheard of this time of year. I'm hoping people will see that it is a nice day and through their junk out on the lawn to make Christmas shopping money. I have my eye on an auction ad too. I'm junking while I can before the cold takes over soon. It's coming, I know it.

But wait! Call now and we'll send you....

Saturday I went to The Super Cheap Thrift. All the Halloween items were FREE on Saturday, so I picked up a few old blowmold Trick or Treat pumpkins. But, something told me to go to the thrift that day, even though when I left the house all my errands were the opposite way of the Super Cheap Thrift. But, when I found this item, I knew that was the reason I had veered to the right at the corner and not to the left.

A suh-weet vintage tablecloth with pink clover on it. Sarah found the exact same tablecloth back in July and I admired it then. And now, I have my own! And for only 75¢!

(Photo taken before I washed it and soaked it and washed it again.)

Since I don't have photos of The Bean in a Halloween costume to share, I will share this:

The Bean in a SNUGGIE! hahahahahahahahaha I think Snuggie's are an absolute crack up. It's just a blanket with sleeves which is so funny to me. But, my Grandmother is in a wheelchair and she has problems putting on sweaters and such. So, I think she is the perfect candidate for a Snuggie. She can be warm, but still eat or open her mail or whatever she needs to do.

*Ignore the STUFF in the background. My house always looks junky when I don't properly stage the photos.

**If you have a Snuggie and love your Snuggie - more power to you. I imagine they are warm and all. it's just a very funny concept to me!

This is so funny. Some sort of bad language, but still funny!