I bought WHAT?

I ♥ thrift shopping. It's one of my favorite pastimes. At least once a week, I make it a point to thrift. I love the treasure hunt. I love the deals. I love digging & searching. I love making up stories as to WHY someone would get rid of something or WHO it belonged to or WHAT value some person in the past held to the item I had found.

I often come home with some odd collection of random finds. And last week was no exception.

I am immediately drawn to anything with a vintage feel or aged appeal. So, when I saw this vintage golden yellow rose peeking out from under a pile of doilies made in China, I grabbed it right away. Oooh! Look at that black tulle & the sparkly gold & green rik-rak!! What a cute apron!! I took it home & carefully looked it over as I do all my thrifted loot.

(Hmmm...)

This "apron" had also come with a miniature table runner. Or something resembling a miniature table runner. I was a bit puzzled.

(These apron strings are a bit too small. Please don't tell me a human actually exists that could wear this thing! Wait. These strings don't cinch the same as an apron might.)

The shape of the apron was a tad bit odd too.

2 DAYS LATER.....

(Oh. Hold it. Hold on a sec here. I think I know EXACTLY what it is....)

Yep. Perfect fit.

Mystery solved. And though it's everything vintage & cute & lovely & adorable, I just can't keep it in a house with 2 little messy girls & a man.
So, these pretties for your potty are in the shop now!

Thrifting & Surprises for Me!

My mom & I, who are close pals, took a little 45 minute road trip to Hermiston & Stanfield Oregon yesterday. I was on a mission for forks. We stopped at a few antique & junk shops & found some interesting things....


Here's a scary doll head from the 1970's.


And a sweet little suitcase. My mom had a suitcase very similar to this when she was little. She remembers packing it up & running away from home.


I literally rolled out of bed & hopped in my mom's car for our trip. That's why I look so.......un-sassy. But, I'm still rockin' it with a random pink guitar I found at one of the stops along the way. No, I didn't buy it.





I was so excited to find these toys! I remember them when I was a kid. They're giant Tinker Toys. I can totally remember me & all my cousins gathered at grandma's house on Guemes Island playing with these one Christmas. And of course, being a wee kid, these things seemed ENORMOUSLY HUGE to me!!! Unfortunately the price wasn't so right to purchase them.



The shop I finally found my forks at also housed a sweet bunny named "Bun Bun"...


...& some little birdies.



Forks. SCORE!



More shakers for my vintage button bouquets.

The towns we were in are not that big, & our GPS had trouble finding "Points Of Interest". I had to take a pic because I thought that was so funny. Still, we managed to find our way around.

We ended the day with a root beer float. Num.

A big surprise awaited me when I returned from thrifting! I received a package from a contest I recently won over at whosies blog. Look at the handcrafted cupcake goodness that is ALL MINE! There's an apron, a small tote, 4 napkin holders, a dishtowel & a hot pad/pot holder. It's from Whosies and Whatknots.

***Owlie Holiday Ornament & Sweet Holiday Card now available in the shop!

Have a happy Sunday! (I'll be cuddling on the couch with some fuzzy socks, a warm blanket & a hot cup of something delicious. I'm feeling achy & blah!)

Hankies & Aprons & Ties...Oh My!!!

I meant to show ya SOME of the goodies I got while thriftin with my granny on my recent train trip. The first thing I found was this amazingly cute & 70's little suitcase. I actually packed all my sweet finds into this bag on the trip home.

I also purchased 2 ties & then granny gave me a bunch of grampy's old ties. I'm not even sure he knows there gone. It's granny's fault. I blame her.


This sweet sheet will look adorable on my wee ones bed--as I love mixing all styles of vintage floral sheets.

Not thrifted, but equally as exciting, were all these hankies granny gave me. I took pics of my favorite patterns. I should've ironed them. Wrinkly shcminkly.

This was one of the coolest finds I got. It's an unopened package of puzzle invitations from 1969. You write the information about your party on the puzzle, separate the pieces, toss the bits in the envelope & mail it! This will be in the shop later this week.

A couple gingham aprons were also plundered & they'll be dolled up with my usual vintage fabric cupcakes & tossed lovingly in the shop pretty soon. I also found a couple lengths of vintage fabric. I'll be using them to....

...make these adorable 1" pinback buttons! I have loads already made & samples for trade ready to send to some of my Eastern Washington Etsy Street Team members. They'll also be the freebies (with every order) at WhiMSy love for the month of September. I'll be packaging & selling sets of 4 as well!

I also stocked up on vintage forks for my fork easels as Christmas is approaching. Oh, speaking of Christmas, I've NEVER done a show in my life, but I recently applied to do a really popular show around here called The Badger Bazaar. It's at an elementary school & I was told by a fellow Etsian that she does very well there every year. I should hear after August 30 if I'm accepted or not. I'm keeping my crafty fingers crossed. (And I'm also panicking at the thought of "What if I DO get accepted?" I have nothing extra made besides what's in the shop. I'm gonna be craftin' til the cows come home. What does that mean anyway?)

They Got Me

I have crossed over. To the dark side. I didn't want to do it. But I had to. I have been lured into the way of the CAPTCHA. I am so ashamed.

In case you're wondering what I'm talking about, I'll fill you in. You know those little annoying scrambled letters you're asked to type into the little box when you leave a comment on some blogs? Well, that's what a "captcha" is. They are one of my all-time pet peeves & I am so embarrassed to say that I am now a member of the Captcha Club.

I have also set my comments to be moderated because, for some reason, I have not been receiving email notices when lovely blog friends leave lovely comments. So now I am certain to receive the comments.

OK, now that all those bloggy shananigans are done being discussed, let me show you what WONDERFUL thrifty things I picked up today!!!! Look at that picnic table & chairs. I am positive they are vintage. As you can see, the skeleton of the umbrella is there, but it needs some clothes. Yikes! What a big project--but I am totally ready for it! The set needs a little scraping, sanding & prettiness, but I have been wanting a picnic set for a long time. It was one of those "right place...right time" moments. Goodwill for 48 bucks!

I also picked up this large heap of vintage fabric.

What I was REALLY looking for while thrifting was a vintage twin sheet. I joined Polka Dot Creations swap--which sounds SUPER DUPER fun!!!! The swap is called "The Summer Skirt Sheet Swap". All you do is find a twin sized sheet (which makes about 4 skirts), cut it up into 4 pieces, & send the pieces to 4 people. You'll get 4 different sheet pieces back to make 4 different fun summer skirts!!! (Or you can make yourself a skirt & send the remaining 3 pieces. However many sheet pieces you send is how many you'll get in return.) Click HERE to check Lisa's blog post about all the details & how to join. Cutoff to join is April 25th--THIS FRIDAY!!!

I have never made a skirt before, but Lisa has a tutorial & I'm ready to get my novice sewing butt in a sweet summer skirt!

I had no luck finding a nice vintage sheet this morning, so I'm off this afternoon to drag the girls to Value Village. I'm crossing my thrifty fingers!!