Willow & Paisley

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Sir Thrift a Lot

The Thrifty Groove

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January 21, 2013

Thrifty Finds - 1/21/13

Hey Everyone!

I really do have great intentions of posting my Thrifty Finds more often than I do but then I seem to just not follow through. I had these photos uploaded since December so why didn't I press publish? Who knows.

I have decided that my New Years Resolutions are going to be TIME MANAGEMENT (to be more efficient when doing any task and not waste so much of my life doing nothing) and ORGANIZATION (purge, purge and purge. Also, organize closets, garage, craft room, crawl space. Yeah, wish me luck. I've ordered a whole bunch of some amazing Reisenthel storage bins so that's a start right?!!)

OK onto the goods. This vase was bought at Value Village for $2.99. The blue colour really is beautiful.

This was how I had my thrifted pottery finds displayed in the fall. I'm sure I didn't pay more than a few dollars for each. I'm definitely attracted to the vintage style pottery. How about you? Yay or nay?

This was my other attempt at a Fall display. The shutters were thrifted as was the yellow vase. I found the metal iron decorative thing in my crawl space. I had bought it at a home party of some sort about 8 years ago and never took it out of the box. To be honest I don't even really like it and I hate the colour. I think it wants to be painted a bright Kelly Green. Or maybe a turquoise? Yellow? Thoughts?

Ohhh...speaking of green (I swear I didn't plan that segue) here is another piece of vintage pottery. This is a 2 piece serving dish. Great for candy or crackers, which is what I used it for already. A little bowl can be placed in the middle. It was $3.99 at Value Village.

This vase was $9.99 and yes that is a CRAZY amount to pay at a thrift store but I love it and I could not leave it behind. It really is one of my favorite pieces. The only problem is it is not waterproof. Yep, it leaked out of the pourous unsealed bottom.

But just look how pretty it was for the short time I was able to have some Tulips in it.

I'm not going to dwell on this post or edit the crap out of it. I'm going to hit publish so all you awesome subscribers to my blog actually have something to look at. Have a great day everyone!!

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July 30, 2012

Thrifty Finds - Glass Jar Goodness

Has it really been since March 23rd that I've posted my last Thrifty Finds? That is CRAZY! I have still been hitting the thrift stores 1-2 times a month but I didn't do the whole garage sale scene this year. If you can believe it I actually HAD a garage sale. Technically, my friend Wendy had the garage sale and I hauled a ton of junk over to her house to sell. It's amazing what will sell if you price it cheap enough. Seriously, a box of brass giraffes from the 80's was pretty much the first thing to sell. Unbelievable that they sold but even more unbelievable that I owned them in the first place.

OK, since I'm a glass jar junkie I thought I'd share some that I've purchased over the last few months. These candy jars with the wood lids were $3.99 each at Value Village. I have them in my craft room stuffed with zippers and miscellaneous items but I think I'd like to spray paint the lids and use them in my laundry room (which a little DIY action is being planned for). Won't they look super cute filled with wooden clothes pins etc.

On a trip to my parents recently we went to a community hall sale in a town that my sister has her cabin. I spotted this box of these amazing glass jars for $7.00. Not each. That's $7 for all 4 candy jars, people!! {{Only 3 had lids.}}

Here's the thing.....I already had 3 of these tall candy jars that I paid $15 each for at an antique and collectibles sale. Here is a picture of our little candy corner in my kitchen. I kept one of the jars above to fit across this space (for my straws) but I really had no place or use for the other 3 so I gave them to my friend Stephanie.

This little cotton jar is in my ensuite bathroom holding cotton pads for nail polish remover. It was $2.49.

Love these Hi-ball glasses. I've found about 6 or 7 at different thrift stores and they've not been more than $1 each. The glass jar lids were $1 for the bunch at the Mennonite Thrift store.

My mom got me these blue jars from a friend of hers. She knows I cannot resist a blue mason jar.

These jars were from the same friend of hers. She has a little shed on her property and it was filled with mason jars. Shelves and shelves of old jars. I picked out 8 of the most unique ones I could find. I am obsessed with using mason jars for everything. In fact, I dumped the pasta out of these to take the picture for you. I especially love the GEM jar and the Corona Jar. I've never seen those before and I have alot of jars! I have far too many old mason jars and I told Mike not to let me bring any more home ever again.....unless they are blue, of course. Hee.

Thanks for stopping by!!

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March 22, 2012

It's About Time I Post Some - Thrifty Finds!

It's about time I blog about some of my thrifty finds to show you. I haven't been sharing my finds lately (I'm lazy) but, believe me, it doesn't mean I'm not hitting the thrifts stores. If you saw my basement and garage, which is my dumping grounds, you would know I'm at the thrift stores way more often than I should be.

I paid $2.99 at Value Village for this great card catalogue filing box. It cleaned up great and I gave it to Mike to use for storage for his hobby. Is it bad that I want to steal it back for my craft room?!!

This table cloth really is super cute in person and in great shape. It's too small for my dining room table but I think I'll probably use it this summer when we have dinner on the deck. It was only $0.50 cents.

I bought this pan in December and I'm kicking myself that I didn't buy both that were at Goodwill as it's very heavy and good quality. I used it many times to make Pull Apart loaves as neighbour and friend gifts for Christmas but I had to keep waiting for it to cool down before I could put the next loaf in. It's so nice that it is one solid piece and won't leak like a normal Angel Food cake pan does. For $3.99 it is well worth what I paid.

This is just some miscellaneous items. Cookie cutters. Candy thermometer. Cute green dish and clear dish. I think this probably ranged from $0.50 cents to a dollar.

At Value Village they have a wall of plastic bags that are filled with stuff and junk. I bought these items in one of those bags for $1.99 because I wanted that green lime squeezer. the rest of the items already went into my garage sale/donation box. I had no idea what that orange and red thing was but I Googled and it's some kind of fruit scraper. Weird.

This photo shows zippers that I picked up at the Mennonite store for my friend Carla. The pic has 30 in it but I bought her 100 and she loved them. You can see all of them here on her blog. They were only $0.25 cents each.

But I would have to say that I'm the lucky one!! Look at this gorgeous camera strap she made for me. LOVE it so much!! And that sweet little change purse is going to be well loved too.

OK....Last but not least I have to share with you my absolute best and amazing deal. I went to a thrift store a few weeks ago that I normally never go to. I'm so glad I did as I found this pasta maker. For......$5.99!!! SERIOUSLY. $5.99. I cannot believe it. I found out online that this red one is exclusive to William Sonoma.

You won't believe what the regular price was.....Check it out!! $100.00 dollars? Now that is by far the deal of 2012! But, the year is still young and you just never know what else I'll find. Heehee.

I'll be back with more soon. I have some new favorite finds to share.

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February 05, 2012

Thrifty Finds - Vintage Sheet Love

Yesterday we were out and about hitting a few stores like Lowes and Home Improvement Whse and then I stopped in at Value Village as I felt the call of the thrift (you think I'm kidding). Mike happily stays in the vehicle and watches You Tube videos on his iPhone. Lucky for me. Ha.

I found these 2 twin flat sheets for $4.99 each. I love the green patterned one so much. I buy quite a few sheets if they are in great shape. I have about 9 sheets right now that I'm sending to my sister for her 3 kids bedrooms. I've kept a few too. The way I see it is that if nothing else you can't beat the price for a great piece of fabric. I've already cut up a couple sheets and used them in a project. Plus they just wash and dry so perfectly with zero wrinkles. I just wish I could find some in Queen size for my own use.

These 3 sheets below were already sent to my sister. The girls each got a yellow and my 2.5 yr old nephew got the brown and orange one.

Found this cute Size 4/5 Gap eyelet dress for my niece for $4.99. If it's too short she can wear leggings with it.

And for my other neice this adorable one for $3.99. It's a bit Laura Ingalls but my nieces are so girly and love dress up that I think she will like this.

My friend Steph gets this Pyrex butter dish for her collection {{scroll down to see her display....it's amazing and has gotten even better since she's taken that photo}}. I so enjoy being on the lookout for her.

I found this great diner style plate. It totally reminds me eating a big plate of fries and gravy from a Shell gas station in Manitoba. What?! Don't tell me you haven't eaten a whole plate of fries and gravy sometime in your life!

Last but not least I got a stack of books by 2 of my favorite authors. These are from the used book store and the thrft store....both of which aren't exactly thrifty finds when it comes to used books but finding authors I like for 25cents at garage sales isn't exactly easy.

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January 29, 2012

Thrifty Finds - Cocktails Anyone?

I have some Thrifty items to share that I purchased November/December. I often get lazy about taking photos of my purchases when I get home that day. Then if they are already washed and put away I never remember to do it.

I LOVE these cocktail shakers. I bought the small one at the Mennonite Thrift store (how ironic is that?..LOL) for $1. I don't know how old it is or if it's just been made to appear vintage? The large one was from Goodwill just the other day and I paid $3.99 for it. I really think this one is vintage. It's very heavy glass and the little cap on the lid screws on. See the Whiskey Sour recipe on the side? Yep, that's my favorite drink (besides Diet Pepsi which I'm trying to limit myself and only had 2 this week....vs. 2 a day.....yay me!)

I bought these glasses to be used for my Whiskey Sours. Aren't they great? The 2 clear ones look to me like Highball glasses on top of wine stems. They were $1 each from Goodwill. The green one is so adorable and was $0.50 cents at the Mennonite store. I scoured that place hoping for a matching mate. No luck. I am a sucker for anything green.

This Pyrex is for Steph who collects it. She normally doesn't go for the white bases but this one is really very cute so she approved it when I sent her a photo. It was $5. Gotta love an iPhone when you are thrifitng and shopping for someone else.

This turquoise casserole dish is one she didn't approve because of the dark marks all over it. I had no idea what they were. They looked like burn marks or something burnished on. Since she said no I decided to buy it for myself anyway. That was at the end of November and I only just cleaned it up this weekend. With some Barkeepers Friend and a little elbow grease those marks came off and it's perfect. I now have a piece of green, pink (gift) and turquoise Pyrex. I won't be collecting but I do love the few pieces I have.

Now this candy dish was an absolute nightmare to photograph. It was $1.99 at VV. It is so dainty and so gorgeous. I used it over Christmas to hold yummy Almond Roca. When I bought this one there was another candy dish right beside it. The kind of thick, basic looking glass that you might buy at a place like WalMart. That one said $5.99 and I couldn't believe that someone looked at these 2 candy dishes and marked the vintage, quality dish at $2 and the piece of junk candy dish at $6. It just goes to show you how people don't embrace old quality items and would rather have new mass produced stuff. Thank goodness I'm here to hoard those unwanted vintage pieces. LOL.

Last but not least I bought this picture. I have a thing for birds and it is so bright and colourful that I could not leave it behind. It was $5.99 at VV. I don't know what they are called but I'm sure it's done with the type of paint that used to come in a metal squeeze tube with a roller ball on the tip. You would roll the paint on the fabric. I think. At least I remember doing that kind of craft in the late 70's, early 80's. Anyone know what I am talking about?

I have a spare bedroom that is my "get ready" room and I will hang this in there. But that frame needs to be painted. Any suggestions? Should I just go with a basic creamy white?

Thanks for stopping in. Have a great day everyone.

I'm linking up to.....(If I remember...haha).

Flea Market Finds Thrift Share Monday

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Posted at 03:53 PM in Thrifty Finds | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBack (0)

December 24, 2011

Thrifty Finds - Christmas Decorations

Merry Christmas Eve. Yep, I'm going to share a Thrifty Post today because it's mainly Christmas items and after tomorrow, well, I'm pretty sure I'd get some funny looks if I was posting Christmas decorations.

Speaking of funny looks I am going to first tell you how it is I actually have time to do a blog post when I should be freakin' out and getting everything ready for Christmas Day. Not long ago you might remember I mentioned that we were staying home this year and it was just going to be the 2 of us at home. {{We thought we would do Fondue.}} Well, it turns out my bachelor brothers in law are staying in town so they are coming over and I needed to figure out what to do for our dinner.

{{cue the angels singing}}.......TURKEY TO GO! OH. YES. WE. DID!

We ordered our entire Christmas dinner from a hotel here in Calgary!! All we have to do it pick it up at our chosen time slot and come home and serve it. And eat it! I cannot tell you how happy I am about this decision. I don't even care if it tastes like cardboard....but it won't. There was no way I was cooking for 4 people. I know it's not hard to cook a turkey but the dinner overall is ALOT of work whether it's 4 people or 14 people. My amazing hubby told me about it as a friend of his ordered this last year. I was literally jumping for joy once we placed our order.

Ok, moving on.....here's some of my Thrifty Finds and how I used them in my Christmas decorating this year.

The swinging doors I showed a couple weeks ago are used in a display on a ledge as you come in the front door. We don't have a mantle on our fireplace and this is the closest place I have to mimic a mantle. The swinging doors were $3.50 for both.

This wreath is HUGE. I paid $3 for it at a garage sale 2 summers ago. I bought a couple fake Poinsettias at Michael's and cut them apart to slip into the wreath for Christmas. In the spring I put in some birds and and a nest. Yep, that means the wreath just stays there all year round. I'm too lazy to take it down. I need to find a piece of furniture for that space.

I bought this little green dish at the thrift store on Thursday for $1.00. It's perfect for the Christmas cards we have received. I normally have them in a basket but I like this better. Oh and there are my musical bells. I hung them on my lamp rather than putting them in a window.

Ok are you ready for this cuteness?? My amazing friend Brenda totally GETS me! She bought this for me at Value Village for $9.99. She knew it had to come and live with me. I swear people I might go all Clark Griswold on you one of these years. I love him and he is so cool when all lit up!

I have been absolutely obsessed with looking for these vintage ceramic trees. I found the tiny one for $1.00. The bigger one below was half price so it was $1.50. Those were from the Mennonite Thrift store several weeks ago. Alot of the little "bulbs" are missing. I need to order some on eBay but don't you love the Lite Brite pieces that someone used? If that's not thrifty goodness, I don't know what is! LOL.

Here is where they are displayed in my living room. I'm not good at the whole vingette thing. I just put things out cuz I love to look at them. The green sleigh is one of my all time favorite vintage finds last year. I believe I paid about $2.50? The coloured glass balls are also vintage.

Here is the "find of the year" in my opinion. How appropriate that the find of the year is at the end of the year! Again.....let me tell you I am obsessed with these green ceramic trees. I thought I'd never find one. On Thursday I went to the Mennonite Thrift Store and immediately spotted this little tree on the floor. $4. Oh man.

Then I turned around and this larger one was lit up sitting by the cash register. I die. It said $7. I asked if I could buy it and they said yeppers! {{If you are a thrifter you know exactly how I felt that minute when I found the very item I've been dying to find and not only one but two!!}}

When I was at the cash register the lady grabbed a shopping basket and was trying to put these in it. I had no idea what she was doing but apparently there was a Christmas Basket Sale meaning that if an item did NOT fit in the basket it was half price. She said "that will be $4 dollars". I literally gasped and loudly said NO! Total? I'm still confused how it came to $4. I feel like I ripped off the charity thrift store. All I know is that it was like that IKEA commercial where the girl thinks she got such a good deal she runs out yelling "start the car" to her husband. Yep, that was me, except I was by myself.

Here they are displayed in a corner of my kitchen. I took the photo at night so it's really off colour but you get the idea.

I have really enjoyed decorating my house this year but the really BIG question is ......WHO IS GOING TO TAKE IT ALL DOWN???? OMG

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

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December 18, 2011

Ornament Tree

Hey Everyone. I want to share with you my very favorite Christmas decoration that I made this year AND my very favorite blog, Into Vintage, where the idea originally came from.

This is my "Ornament Tree" and I think I just officially justified all those purchases of glass ornaments I made throughout the year by creating it. Or at least that's my story! Every single ornament is either vintage &/or from a thrift store with the exception of the little jingle bells. Those are Martha Stewart (Home Depot) and I used them to fill in the small spaces. If you ever spot vintage ornaments at Thrift stores you really should pick them up. There are gorgeous compared to the "new" stuff in retail stores these days.

I LOVE it! I mean I really really love it BUT I am still IN LOVE with the original one that Amy created on her blog last December. Hers needs to be published in a magazine. Here it is below. Isn't that amazing?!!

The "tree" is made by hooking ornaments thru the screen material on the back door in my kitchen. I taped up some twine to get the shape and size I wanted and then just started adding the ornaments and filling in all the spaces.

Because it's on my back door it really is quite temporary so I'd have to re-make it each year. I won't mind doing that but then again I'm actually considering just storing it "as is" in the basement. In a safe place, of course. We never open that side of the door and the screen is always in storage anyway as I find it makes the kitchen look dark. Maybe we will just carefully remove it and cover it with a sheet.

Now the only reason I'm going to inundate you with a way too many photos is because I really suck at taking pictures. I probably took 100+ photos at different times of the day and still none of them really do it justice. I'll share some taken in different light.

Thanks so much for looking and I hope you likey!

Merry Christmas!

Posted at 09:38 PM in Alterables, Christmas, Thrifty Finds | Permalink | Comments (19) | TrackBack (0)

December 13, 2011

Thrift Finds - Christmas Schtuff

Hey Everyone.....I'm so lazy about blogging lately but I thought I better get my most recent Thrifty Finds posted before Christmas passes me by as some of them are "Christmas-y".

First up are these cute glass snack trays I picked up at Value Village for $1.99 each. What I didn't know was that these come with a cup and I bet they were at VV but I didn't know to look for them.

I didn't notice it until I got home but can you see the little cigarette holder notch in the upper left corner? I found out that these were made in the 40's and 50's by Hazel Atlas and are called "Snack, Sip and Smoke" trays. Apparently having ashes in your food at cocktail parties was all the rage back then. Who knew?!

I also picked up this fondue pot and all these fondue forks for a total of $3.50. It does come with the stand and fuel thing but they just are not in the picture. I got it into my head that we will do fondue sometime during Christmas since we are home by ourselves this year. I've decided we will only have a turkey dinner if one of the local gourmet markets will cook it, carve it and deliver it. And apparently they will for a $30 charge. Now that's a deal!

I bought these swinging doors during the summer for $3.50 for the set. For that price they came home with me even though they aren't really shutters. I'll show you soon how I have them displayed for Christmas.

Oh I am so in love with these bells. My mom and I had just been talking the night before and I was saying how much I love her musical bells just like these that I grew up knowing. Well, sure enough, we hit the thrift store the next day and there they were. I paid $8 for these. When I asked my mom if I should buy them she said if I didn't she would so I snapped them up.

These very vintage ornaments were $1 for a bag of 18. Now there is only 17 because my mom dropped one. Bad mom. I'll also show you how I used these and ALL my vintage and thrifted ornaments in a Christmas decoration. I love how it turned out but I'm having a heck of a time getting a decent photo of it.

I found this tablecloth for $15 at the thrift store. Definitely not a "thrifty" price but I love the print so much. It's huge too so I know it will fit my table. I just need to get it washed and pressed so I can use it on my table Christmas Day.

I don't think it's vintage but I'm not sure. It does have a vintage feel so that's good enogh for me. Here is the tag. It says Made in the United Kingdom.

Last but not least....my glossy white reindeer. He's not thrifty or old. I picked him up at Winners for $19.99 but I just wanted to share his cuteness. He's currently on my coffee table with green jingle bells hanging from his antlers.

Is anyone else still thrifty shopping or are you only Christmas shopping these days? I don't have many people to buy gifts for this year and I can't help myself and still try to hit the thrift stores once every 1-2 weeks.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day!

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Posted at 09:22 PM in Christmas, Thrifty Finds | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

October 30, 2011

Thrifty Finds

Hey Everyone.....it's been a while since I've posted my Thrifty Finds here. Oh, I've still been hitting the thrift stores pretty ofen so I have no excuse as to why I haven't shared the pics.

I thought I'd start by sharing what I found on Friday because I am so excited about this PYREX baking pan. I don't collect Pyrex but my good friend Steph does and I consider myself her personal shopper anytime I'm near a thrift store. I send her pics over the iPhone when I come across a piece and get the Yay or Nay. I texted her the second I saw this and said I think we just hit a Pyrex score! I do believe her reply when she saw it was "Yes Yes Yes". It's the 9 x 13 size (if not bigger?) and it's in perfect shape but it is quite dirty so she's going to have to work on that. It was $7.99 which at Value Village is a deal since they like to charge too much for everything.

More cookie cutter. These were $1.99. I always grab the bags of these at VV if they are unique shapes. My obsession with cookie cutters is seriously not justified because I still haven't made any damn cookies. But I have bought 5 lbs of icing sugar and am collecting tips, decorating bags and flood bottles slowly but surely.

These 3 items were in another bag that is put together and priced as one lot at VV. I grabbed it for $2.49 because of that bottom whisk which is Pampered Chef. I have one already and they are awesome because they do not rust in the dishwasher. They sell for $16.00 here in Canada so I was super happy with this. The other 2 items plus 2 other cheap-y whisks I had promptly were thrown into the donation box. See? I do get rid of things.....sometimes. Ha.

I often wonder how I'm 41 years old and not a little old lady. I cannot say no to doilies! These were all 99 cents each except for the fabric napkins in the middle. Those were 49 cents each. I thought the crocheted items were dish cloths but they seem a bit too thick for that. The doily with the green trim I can use at Christmas time and the brown and orange item? Well, that is the one I love the most. It's on my night stand as we speak. I know...I'm a nut.

The milk glass on the left is shaped like an old fashioned "bushel style" apple basket. It's super cute and was $1.25. The other milk glass container was $1. Someone had spray painted the top pink and I got lucky and it peeled right off without a problem.

Now this is a fun find! I grabbed these rolls of ribbon for my BFF Wendy because I know she likes purple and will use it when she's making her cards. Unlike many people I know. Each of these spools was $2 and they are 100 yards each. Yes......100 yards.....each!!! I don't think she will run out in this lifetime. They are date stamped 1983 and 1984. Isn't that crazy? This ribbon is 28 years old and the colours are still so crisp. And no Wendy.....they don't smell old. {{That girl is not a thrift-er but I'm trying to get her to see the light!}}

Glass Christmas ornaments. Each box was $2 and I could not resist the green {and pink}. So pretty.

These boxes below were from a different thrift store and were $2.49 for each box. I seriously cannot resist anything that is green.

Well, there you have it. That was my finds from a couple days ago. How about you? Are you a thrift-er? What items have you found lately that you are excited about??

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