NIFTY THRIFTY: lake county edition

This last weekend our little family headed to Clear Lake with my parents and my sister's family. I will have photos and stories at some point, but for now, I am here to share my Lake County loot. On Saturday the men folk went fishing and us women folk took the opportunity to visit some yard sales. We followed every yard sale sign we could find and ended up at some interesting little sales. The $7 8 Fire King cups and saucers and $1 loaf pan came from the first sale that was the most normal of the bunch. Next we hit up a tiny neighborhood church's rummage sale where I picked up the vintage Pyrex pitcher for 50 cents. Then we followed 6 signs to a little, but very well publicized yard sale where I found the 4 trays for $3. On our way there we found a huge gorgeous, abandoned white hotel smack in the middle of the shady neighborhood. When we got to the sale, my sister asked the hotel's history and we were told it was once a hotel, then a Christian camp, then- said in hushed tones- a whore house where they brought whores in from San Francisco, and now they are fixing it up to be a culinary school. Ha! Quite the history for one beautiful building. The next sale we went to took us to the lower income side of the low income neighborhood we were already shopping in. A quiet older man with long fingernails watched as we picked through his things. It was there that I found the milk glass ash trays/candy bowls and a vintage Fisher Price chime ball, not pictured, for $5. The last sale we hit up appeared to be an eviction sale. Everything was hurriedly being thrown out of the house and the sale was manned by 3 girls under the age of 7 or 8. There were piles of things scattered everywhere and it was not intended to be the least bit organized. Their pit bull visited my mom while she was holding my little babe and it was some time after that that we decided to leave. I left empty-handed. All in all, I was happy with all of my Lake County treasures and very entertained by the whole experience. Lake County, you never disappoint.

NIFTY THRIFTY: money falling from the skies

On Friday the babe and I set out with my 37 weeks pregnant sister-in-law to hit up some thrift stores in her city. Okay, money wasn't really falling from the sky, but remember last week when I talked about my bag of change coming thrifting with me? Well, first I did rely on my bag of change. I bought a tiny oval frame and this milk glass Pyrex veggie dish.

But then I spotted a vintage crib. It was labeled "doll bed", but I thought it looked pretty big for it to have been originally intended for that purpose. Either way, I was cringing because I knew I didn't have money for it. I left the store reminding myself that sometimes I'll find treasures that I simply can't afford at that time. My sister-in-law wanted to go in a consignment shop all of us sisters-in-law consign at to check for some shoes she wanted. I decided to check my balance even though I went in recently and didn't have anything at that time. I was happy to learn that they owed me the small fortune of $26. I collected and we visited a couple more stores before I realized I could now afford the crib! See? Money falling from the skies! Luckily the crib was still there when I got back and I was so happy that I gushed my story to the elderly woman cashiering. So that is the glorious story of last week's thrifting. The babe's nursery is teeny tiny right now so the crib won't fit in there to hold her stuffed animals and such, but when we add a second babe to the mix someday, they will share our bigger now guest room and the crib will fit in there just perfectly. So all that to say- yay!

The other yay moment is that I was telling my sister-in-law about how I was wanting a dress form and she said she would be selling one at her garage sale the next day! She told me all I needed to know about it and later sent me some photos and I bought it from her, fulfilling all my vintage dress form desires. How serendipitous! Hubby is a bit spooked out by a body on a stick, but I promise not to make it jump out at you or hide it in our bed. :)

I forgot to mention this vintage tin recipe box last week. It was with my $4 finds and I love it. I need to start writing my favorite recipes down now that I have a pretty place to put them--- besides the internet.

And I have to show you that I found a perfect place for one of last week's embroidery finds. It was the only completely empty wall in my kitchen and nothing seemed to fit there quite right- until now. I love when things fall into place like that.

I'm linking up to Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday and can't wait to see what the rest of you found!

NIFTY THRIFTY: wolfgang wrinkled my blanket edition

While my sister was here a couple weeks ago, we hit up a couple of thrift stores and I came away with all of these treasures. Hubby sarcastically calls them treasures because sometimes they aren't things that he cares for at all, but sometimes they really are treasures to me. :) I was particularly excited about these finds. The orange vintage sheet set, plaid boy overalls, and orange butterfly mug are for my vintage etsy shop that is in the works- I hope to have it up and running next month. Everything else is for my own enjoyment. I scored the 3 vintage stitched pieces of art, the vintage embroidery transfer pattern, the 1974 nautical calendar hanging, the wooden whale pencil holder, and a variety of other things including quite a few wooden toys for $4. Yeah. That was pretty darn exciting. The vintage heels need to be taken to a cobbler--- are they called that anymore? it sounds so "day of yore"--- but I love them. They're leather with wooden heels and I never find fun vintage shoes in my size (9.5 pre-baby... 10 post-baby). I'm trying to spice up my wardrobe by wearing more heels so these are a perfect addition. The blanket is probably my favorite find from the bunch. It's wool and quite huge and I just love the stripes. I'm a sucker for interesting blankets, especially big 'ol warm ones. Don't mind the wrinkles. As the story goes, I had the blanket hanging to dry at my parents' house and my dad got up to get ready for work at 3am and ran into the drying rack and proceeded to knock it over and break it, so my blanket finished drying on the ground. Classic Wolfgang. Oh, that's my dad's name. Awesome, I know.

My sister-in-law and I are going thrifting tomorrow, but I am lacking money right now so hopefully I can find something fun with my bag of change. You think I'm kidding--- I'm not. Luckily thrift shopping is the perfect thing to do with a bag of change.

If you want to check out other bloggers' thrifted treasures, check out Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Mondays and if you have treasures to share, link up on her posts. I love seeing what other people score!

nifty THRIFTY

(The goblet and tallest vase were found yesterday. The other 3 beauties were found a couple weeks ago.)
(I am always in the market for more round and oval frames.)

(Little A's new softie baby and baby bed. I imagine someone's sweet grandma sewed this. I love that it can be thrown in the washer if needed. It was washed minutes after it arrived home.)

(A kooky It's A Small World Avon perfume bottle.)

(Little A's "new" vintage carousel sweater. So sweet.)

The thrifty queen asked that I post pics of my thrifted treasures from yesterday. Here you go, sister dear. And here you go, reader dears.

THRIFTING treasures

Happy Monday, friends! It's happy for me because of these silly things.

(I love this cross-stitched prayer for the nursery wall. The animals and their babies are precious.)

(I love these little cubby homes. I plan to paint them and back them with fun paper.)

(This paint by number grabbed my attention but I almost left without it. Hubby loves it too so I'm glad it found it's way home with me.)

(I found the middle Pyrex last week and was ecstatic. A little elderly woman behind me said "I have one of those! That's really old!" Ha... So cute.)

(My house is practically a zoo with all my animal decor. I can't help it. I've always loved animals. This cow had to come home with me. No question.)

My last two thrifting expeditions set me up with quite a bit of quirky loot. My sister is queen of all the thrifting royalty and her amazing finds have inspired me to search through our thrift stores more regularly. The little crooked house is thanking me for bringing it some things to pretty i up. Hopefully a house tour is in the not to distant future, and I may finally share the completed nursery with you next week. One project left to finish.

My sister-in-law and I are going out thrifting tomorrow and I hope to have a few more fun things to share afterwards. Fingers crossed!

my little CHRISTMAS CAROLERS

I stopped in another thrift store on Tuesday and quickly looked around, then determined there was nothing for me. I saw the Christmas section and decided to glance at it on my way out in case there were any treasures to be found- although Christmas decorations were definitely not on my list. I saw these two Christmas carolers and had to take them home with me. I love their cute little singing faces and the colors of their robes and ribbons. I can't wait to put them up... actually, I can't wait to have a house to put them up in...

THRIFTY treasures

My sister is the greatest thrift store shopper of all time. I have never been able to compare. She's found depression glass, nice designer clothing, and I can't recall everything over the years. I'm usually too impatient when looking through things and have never found anything good enough to keep me interested in returning-- until last week. Decorating on a budget has me checking the great-priced antique stores and local thrift stores at least once a week. And I'm actually finding some things! It's pretty exciting. It's exciting to know that I found a deal and grabbed it before anyone else. Here's what I grabbed.

a large picture frame. I love the design on it... I don't know what is going to go in it, but I'll find something.

this teeny tiny ceramic leaf. It has a chip on one of the corners, but I'm not looking for perfection. I just love vintage ceramics and am starting a collection. This will fit in nicely. 

a blue lamp. In my mind, I wanted a ceramic lamp, but this one was $3 and the color will work perfectly in the guest room. It almost looks ceramic, but it's actually glass and they somehow painted the inside of the glass to be blue. Sneaky, huh?

another milk glass treasure. I saw this lamp right as I walked into thrift store #1 and I snatched it up. It was $13, but I think it was worth it. The base of the lamp lights up and the main light is having some stage fright issues, but I'll fix that- somehow. This will go in the living room somewhere. I have the antique store milk glass lamp, a white ceramic lamp from Linens 'n' Things, and then this lamp to fill the living room. I'm liking white lamps right now, is it obvious?

I also found a milk glass vase for $1 that I forgot to photograph. Let's see... it's a bud vase and it's milk glass. Can you picture it now? Someday it will end up on here.

So my conclusion is that thrifting is fun for the person who finds things! And this week, that person is me (and hopefully you)!