Here’s what’s up in the shop:
Tag Archives: Thrift Store Score
Last Haul of the Season
24 Jan
Ah, summer. That magical time when I visited the Farmer’s Market each week and planned our meals accordingly. Now that the market has closed and the local fruit stands have boarded up their windows, I have only my memories and occasional trips to the local remate to tide me over. It’s tough to get there with the kid, and cold and muddy, too, and I have a hard time struggling to carry all those purchases the distance I have to walk back to the car. I can’t wait until May.
These photos are from the last market of the season back in October. This trip was extra special because I was able to fit some thrifting in that day, too.
The plates, bowls and hangers are all thrifted. Purchases that day included green beans, pea shoots, pomegranates, raw almonds, peaches, grape tomatoes, hummus, red pepper tapenade, and a butternut squash.
The sunflower seeds pictured here were actually grown in my garden. Earlier in the season Isobel and I checked out a local nursery’s booth at the Farmer’s Market and they had a display with soil, a little peat pot and seeds. We happened to run into my cousin’s family there, so Isobel and her cousin Victoria got to plant their own sunflower seeds. We watered it and placed it above the sink and two days later it sprouted. It was so magical for Isobel and I to watch. We watched it bloom and eventually cut it down. Isobel helped me pluck the seeds from the flower head. It was incredibly easy and required little more than water on my part.
The amber jar and wooden salt and pepper shakers in the background were also purchased secondhand that day, along with the Pyrex, mushroom cruets, and very awesome (but naturally, inaccurate) vintage dinosaur place mat. I picked up the letter sorter for Isobel and milk glass dish below for a song.
I miss you, summer.
The Thrifted Closet
8 Jan
While working on Life List item #11, I decided I’m going to share some of my thrifty outfits with you. This outfit features three recent thrift store scores: the sweater, the belt, and (my favorite) the skirt. Made any good clothing scores lately?
Little Big Shop
7 Jan
Here’s what’s up in the shop.
- Embroidered Vintage Clutch
- Mid Century Mod & Folk Art Calendar Plates
- Sale: Georges Briard Chrysanthemum Mug
- Green Cloth Napkin Set
- Deep Brown Japanese Stoneware Mug
- Prairie Wall Plaque
- Perfect Snowflake Plate
- Soft Brown Butterfly Dish
I do take specific requests for custom items. If there’s something you want me to keep an eye out for while thrifting, let me know!
Best of 2011: Thrifty Living
28 Dec
These are my favorite Thrifty Living posts from 2011
- The Thrifting Basket.
Cloth Napkins.
Thrifty Christmas Decorations.
Thrifted Christmas Finds.
DIY Cloth Rags.
Acorn Hunting.
Isobel’s Jelly Fish Tent.
The Nursery Tour. - DIY Kitchen Playset.
The Thrifted Pantry.
Score: Toy Camera.
The Kitchen Tour. - Decorating for the Holidays on a Budget.
Thrifted Dress Up Chest.
Thrifty Living Tips.
The Living Room Tour.
Thrifty Halloween Decorations. - DIY Kiki Costume.
Water Painting.
The Thrifted Toy Kitchen. - Stocking Stuffers:Thrifty, Thriftier, & Thriftiest
Thrifty Living: Christmas Finds
22 Dec
When Anthony and I lived in a one-bedroom apartment decorating for the holidays was easy. I had 500 or so square feet to work with and I Christmas’d the hell out of it. It was adorable, and when we finally bought our house I spent the first Christmas lamenting the apartment. The smallness of the space made my decorations seem much more abundant and adorable then they actually were. Which is why I spend time each year scouring thrift stores for decorations to add to my meager holiday stash.
Just like for Halloween decorations, Christmas decorations are abundant in thrift stores this time of year. My favorite charity shop is now selling all Christmas-related items at half off since in a few days they’ll have to pack it all up and store it away for next year.
Unlike Halloween decorations, the Christmas goodies you find while thrifting can be quite old and wonderful. Or not, such as the mess in the photo above. I bought that for a quarter while thrifting, and for a very special reason.
These adorable Italian mushrooms.
They have a wreath with their name on them. Or something else. I haven’t really decided. But the rest of the centerpiece wasn’t wasted. Zorro and Isobel spent a two full days entertaining themselves with it. After that I boxed up the rest of the holly sprigs that I thought I might use later and donated or threw away the rest.
I found this vintage place mat illustrated with hand drawn holiday decorations. Actually I found a whole set of them, but I’m keeping two. Isobel is kind of obsessed with her vintage dinosaur place mat right now so this mat is usually ignored, but I bet she’ll dig it next year.
I just found this crocheted decoration that’s hanging on my wall as is right now but I might turn it into a photo frame or add some more bells to it.
I have my grandmother’s angel chimes (the traditional kind, with angels instead of a carousel theme) but I always buy angel chimes whenever I find them. I love them and have found it’s useful to keep a couple sets around in case I lose a piece I have a spare. The cats go wild for them, though, so I have to keep them up high and mostly out of sight. I know people say that once you have kids you can’t have nice things, but really that applied to us before we had Isobel because we had cats.
You’ve seen these angels before, but I just had to show them off again. They are my favorite Christmas find this year.
In the same vein of the weird centerpiece in the photo above, I bought this Christmas mess for the parts. I love the holly sprigs and I managed to detach the apples and strawberries for Isobel’s Thrifted Kitchen. I’m using the extra pieces of greenery with birds attached to decorate wrapped Christmas presents. It also has fake plastic popcorn on this, which I’ve never seen before and is kind of hilarious.
But mostly I bought this basket for the teeny tiny mushrooms dotting the display. I pulled those off before Isobel could get to them and used the wire part to attach them to the small silver Christmas tree I used to put up at work.
New favorite ornaments.
Isobel was pretty stoked when I found these guys. It’s pretty obvious they’ve had a few owners. Modeled after these vintage characters that show up again and again in holiday decor of a certain era, these two characters had recently been abused by someone who really fugged them up.
Mrs. Frosty’s hat, candy cane, and scarf were removed and replaced and it took me awhile to pry the hideous buttons of both of them. Eventually I’m gong to repaint them and restore them to their former glory. But for now they’re hanging out on my porch.
Little Big Shop Sale!
17 DecHere’s what’s up in the shop!
Recent Additions to the Little Big Shop:
Embroidered Vintage Clutch, granny chic.
Daisy Wall Plaque, your bathroom needs this.
Thrift Store Gore – White Elephant Gift Exchange Gifts:
(Confused about this section of the store? This should clear it up.)
Speaking of the Grandchildren Photo Album.
Burned Down Schoolhouse Commemorative Plate.
Remember! Lucky buyers of Thrift Store Gore will get a photo of drunk Santa for your troubles. Someone’s been naughty this year! SPOILER ALERT: It’s Santa.
Little Big Shop Sale Items:
Designer Chrysanthemum Mug, price lowered by $6.00!
Vintage Baby Book, price lowered by $10.00!
Copper Parthenon Ashtray, price lowered by $6.00!
Vintage Glass Storage Jars, price lowered by $10.00!
Keep checking back as I’m adding more items all the time! Sale ends in a week or so or when I remember to change it back.
Recipe: Butternut Ravioli And Then Some
8 Dec
– I’ve already started getting Christmas cards in the mail. (Thanks, Melyndersons!) This is no fair. I haven’t even made ours yet, nor even picked out the photo. I’m still trying to mull over a way to beat last year’s card, and the only possible contender I’ve come up with it to find a giant Julbocken for Isobel to ride while I take her photo on it. I am, so far, unsuccessful in this endeavor. But I hear our local Volvo dealer has a large Dala…
– Justin found this Star Trek Christmas card and it warmed my nerdly heart.
– This made me laugh until I cried: Fake Kristen Stewart Explains Christmas. Via SvelteAssassin.
– This weekend I’m getting together with friends for a holiday party that includes an old fashioned sing along. I am so excited to sing hymns and drink nog while Isobel runs around with Kingston shouting, “IS THERE AN L, MOM?! IS THERE AN L?!” The song Noel kind of freaks her out.
– It was only a matter of time before the internet came up with this. Via the Scott.
– Earlier in the week I posted about thrifty ways to wrap presents and thrifty practices I’m using to save money. I’ve been so busy I haven’t had a chance to respond to the comments yet but if you enjoyed these posts please click over and read the comments. The comments totally inspired me. LB readers shared some awesome creative and thrifty tips that you might want to bookmark.
– Recent Thrift Store Gore: Terror Santa. He sees you when you’re sleeping.
– Recent Thrift Store Score: Vintage Angels. My small pile of Christmas decorations is growing.
RECIPE: BUTTERNUT RAVIOLI WITH SAGE BROWN BUTTER
I made butternut ravioli with sage butter for dinner on Monday and it was so good Anthony and I nearly fainted. Isobel didn’t want any and we were like OH GEE THAT’S TOO BAD NOM NOM NOM.
I didn’t use a recipe but it was super easy. The steps were kind of fiddly but they weren’t hard. The longest part was the roasting of the butternut squash, and you can do that a day or two in advance. This is a great way of using up butternut puree.
1. Halve your butter nut, clean out the seeds, and lightly coat it with oil. Roast at 400 degrees F for about an hour.
2. When cool, scoop out roasted flesh and mash.
3. Saute the white parts of a scallion until soft then add the butternut, heavy cream, salt, pepper, a scrape of nutmeg, and warm through. Take off the heat and add a grating of Parmesan cheese.
4. Lay out wonton wrappers and make ravioli by putting a bit of the butternut mixture in the center of each wrapper. Wet the edges of the wrapper with a bit of water and fold in a wonton shape.
5. Start the sauce: I made brown butter with sage, which is dead easy. Add the butter to a warm pan along with some whole fresh sage leaves. Heat butter till it foams and starts to brown. You’re done.
6. Boil ravioli briefly then portion out on plates. Pour brown butter over and sprinkle with parsley and more Parmesan if desired.
7. Ta da! Here’s the end result. So good.
Thrifty Living: The Dress Up Chest
21 Nov
I am so excited to finally share this post with you. Building this dress up chest from thrifted and secondhand items has been so much fun, and once I tell you how cheap and easy it is to make, you are going to want to make one, too.
You don’t have to build a secondhand dress up chest, but I find that the best stuff, the cheapest stuff, and sometimes, the most realistic stuff, is found second hand. Additionally, the dress up chest helped me think of ways to repurpose items that I otherwise would donate or send to a landfill. And once my friends and family members heard about this dress up chest I was putting together they came forward with things from their closets to add to the bounty.
The best places to shop for dress up items that are new would be craft stores like Michael’s (they have hats, boas, and headbands), the dollar store (sometimes home to some pretty great finds) and the party supply store. Hear me out on that one! The party supply store has lies, hats, necklaces, sunglasses, and scarves,usually for really cheap. Pop-up Halloween costume stores are great, too–but skip the prepackaged costumes and go straight to the accessories. Wigs, hats, and gloves are a better investment than the costumes themselves, which won’t hold up to constant kid abuse.
Creating a kickass dress up chest is part of my life list, so I can consider this item mission accomplished.
(Poppy isn’t part of the dress up chest. She’s just acting as the showroom model. Thanks, Pops.)
By far, though, your best bet is to troll thrift stores and yard sales. Here are some of my favorite items from the chest:
This is something we call “the minky” because it just looks like a weird pile of brown fur if you can’t see how it’s used. It’s actually a large, wide scarf and it functions as a stole or a shawl. It looks and even feels like luxurious fur, but worry not, animal lovers: it’s actually a strange woven mohair-type yard that was knitted into shape. Strange. My Mom found it while thrifting and picked it up because she knew I was putting a dress up chest together.
My mom also found that black beaded purse and the white kitty hat secondhand and contributed the blue Heidi dress from her childhood as well. My Aunt Debbie added the pink-lined white stole plus these glasses.
The black ninja mask is actually a headsock that I saved from my one and only racing experience, and the gloves and mask were leftover from my Rogue costume and Anthony’s Nightwing costume. You might remember the witch hat from Target’s dollar bin, and the make up brushes we bought after having fun with our cousins. The necklaces were contributed by my mother-in-law, much to Zorro’s chagrin. You might remember the bunny ears? Coworkers gave us those. The wings were found while thrifting.
I saved the glasses from Yo Gabba Gabba Live and laminated them at work. They are still kicking! (Though admittedly a bit worse for wear.) We bought the giant magnifying glass when we visited the Children’s Museum and all the kids that come over just love it. What a great $3 purchase! Isobel calls it her “Lookie Lookie”, but it usually comes out “Wookie Wookie!” Too cute.
That lanyard came from Anthony’s time at Borders. The cat key came from our very interesting time with the White Car. Long ago, before Isobel was even thought of, Anthony and I went on a date to an arcade where we won these Special Police badges and I kept them all this time.
This compass is one of my favorite finds. It’s real and it works and it’s satisfyingly larger than the palm of my hand, making the adventures we have with it extra-epic. It’s a thrift store find.
I bought this sparkle ball at Borders and later I found this stand while thrifting. I don’t know for sure that it’s for a crystal ball, but that was all I could think of when I looked at it.
Anthony found the bag with a moon on it while thrifting and thought it would make a great ‘magic pouch.’ This beaded clutch is one of Isobel’s favorite things, and also a thrift store score.
We also have a fantastic collection of thrifted dress up hats, which I’ll show you later, and besides that we’re adding to our collection all the time. Whenever we have kids over to play they make a beeline for the dress up chest. It’s one of Kingston’s favorite things to do, and there’s nothing cuter than seeing the kids all dressed up. If you are thinking about giving this a go, I’d like to hearitly recommend it and would love to see pictures of what you find! Link back here in the comments so we can all see. Happy hunting!
Thrift Store Score: Toy Camera
14 Nov
Nothing like letting your kid dress herself and then taking her outside to play with your latest Thrift Store Score: a realistic-looking toy camera.
It doesn’t actually work, but this toy is magnificent. The buttons depress, the dials spin, and the hot shoe is functional. In case she wanted to pretend she abhors flash like mama.
I nabbed it for twenty cents.
Isobel likes to carry her purse and her camera around, just like Mama.
This is easily one of my favorite Thrift Store Scores ever.
Little Big 