Thrifters Remorse

Today we gather to grieve the loss of the thrift's gone by. Yes, I'm talking about those items that, once spotted, we ponder purchasing at length & in hind sight realize we unwisely choose to leave behind. Currently I'm grieving the loss of a stack of vintage board & card games. Milton Bradley... Parker Brothers... among other well known childhood friends. Each appeared to have been kept in glorious condition. Unlike most items offered at this impromptu estate sale, which I stumbled upon on my drive home, these were priced accordingly for a typical lawn sale. $1... $2... that's as high as the tags stretched. Yet I, in my hesitancy of their resale value, chose to sleep on the decision. Today when I happened to remember said items & searched google for any signs of profit margin I realized I'd made a terrible mistake & swiftly raced back to the home just blocks away. But alas, I was too late. Some other scoundrel wiser than myself had purchased them all. I can imagine in my head them joyfully skipping back to their car, Cheshire cat grin from ear to ear, well aware of the treasure in hand. So in my remorse, as I beat my proverbial brain senseless, my heart like a sunken stone on the bottom of a dingy yard sale aquarium,I bid the dream of a $75+ profit adieu. I shall commence the butt kicking session with the end of this entry & leave you with this: If the gut feels glory- BUY IT! ~Amen

~Charli

Below, 2 of the games I regrettably let slip through my fingers.

Impromptu Yard Saling!

I didn't expect to be able to go yard saling, today, but I went!  Well, to a few, anyway.  One yard sale in particular was a bunch of un-dug-through boxes belonging to an 87-year-old man.  One woman kept saying everything was a dollar, but she was the next door neighbor.  The lady running the sale kept disappearing and then getting pissed off when the neighbor lady undercut her.  Here's my advice:  RUN YOUR OWN SALE!  How 'bout that?

I managed to get a few delightful bits of vintage baublery that I would love to show you all!

These earrings are signed "Renoir" on the back.  I didn't know Renoir was a jeweler, but there you have it.  I dig these.

Add caption

Just a little disco ball on a chain with big, fat rhinestones.

Trifari brooch.  Sadly, missing a stone, but still worthy of love and affection.

A choker with this cute flower pattern.  This necklace even has the bonus of the original owner's lipstick smudged on the front of it.  Yum.

That's all for today!

~Katie

Are You Mad, Man?

The two-hour premiere of Mad Men is just around the corner, so it seems appropriate that this past weekend's yard sale adventure should have a decidedly mid-century theme.  One of the first yard sales was of a half-gutted time capsule house.  There wasn't much left except for a table of dishes and this amazing mid-century bedroom set that is listed here on Craigslist.  The lady was really super nice and gave me a parting gift since I was sad that I couldn't take the bedroom set:

A gift of an atomic turquoise ashtray.  It brings a tear to my eye.

The next gift I received from the mid-century thrift Gods was this awesome dresser.  My friend was planning on donating it and I said, "So, can I have it?" and she was all, "Yeah, sure."  So, here it is - you will see the atomic ashtray atop this dresser.  Screw continuity.

Oh, the "Lounge" sign - that was at a yard sale across the street from the lady with the dresser set.  I asked the young hipster fellow with the e-cig and gauged ears how much it was.  He smiled and said, "I don't know...fifteen?" I replied with, "Ouch, that's a little steep." Then he admitted that it wasn't his stuff and he could be wrong, but he would find out for me.  I thanked him and kept looking.  I heard him ask the lady who's house it actually was and she said, "I don't know...two bucks?"  

I'LL TAKE IT!!!

By now, we had to fetch the elder boy child from a thing across town, so we gathered him up - he was wearing a suit, which was awesome for yard saling - and decided to yard sale our way home.  We stopped at one house that was so awesome from the street, I can't even describe it.  We walked along the driveway, which seemed to go on and on and on.  We finally reached the garage - which easily held 4 or 5 cars - and dug around a bit.  I found this sweet, sweet swag for the already ultra-swag boy child:

Timex automatic watch - working - 5 bucks.  I told the guy before we left how fantastic I thought his house was.  He told me it was built in 1964 and then he said, "Come here, check this out." I followed him as every episode of Criminal Minds played out in my head because I was following a strange man through a door to a house where no one would ever see me, again, but when he opened the door, it was exactly like that moment in The Wizard of Oz when everything turns technicolor and the birds chirp and the clouds break.  It was the courtyard of his 5000+ square foot home.  It had an aqua pool, astroturf, and it was the single most amazing entertaining spot I'd every seen.  I stood for a moment gazing upon the wonder, until his wife screeched at me not to let the dogs out.  Fair enough.

Anyway, the hubby looked at the house on Google Earth to see if the backyard could be seen, but the picture was taken during what was obviously a complete redo of the yard.  Nothing but concrete.  You'll have to take my word for it.

So, that about sums up the weekend.  I found a ton of cool jewelry, like this sweet, sweet mint green enamel daisy pin.  

It was a fine day, indeed!

~Katie

Have Stress Will Thrift

Sometimes I like to "stress thrift". That dull, ho-hum or generally speaking aggravating day that just can't seem to take a turn for the better is the perfect time to bask in all that is dusted & impure. So off to Goodwill I go, trusty Android in hand for any last minute researching needs. I start out in the purses, since often there's little treasure there to be found & bagless head for the glassware. Now, let me take a moment to say something about glassware. It can be one of the most nonsensical addictions among thrifters. But 'tis the drug I can yet to sufficiently replace. Rarely have I found the vintage drinking glasses many of us (cough) 40-somethings recall from our 70's childhood in any other shade than the typical amber. However, today daintily placed amongst the left over Christmas bar ware & garage sale rejects were the loveliest pair of vintage PINK goblets! And gobble them up I did! Next were 2 vintage salmon pink Pyrex bowels. (Don't let the old grease & cooking stains fool you... this can be remedied with a good cleaning.) Gingerly placed in my cart & on to the next. This is where this venture really paid off. I spyed a blueish strap peaking from beneath the mountains of holey back packs that revealed itself to be a vintage carry on bag! Rounding the corner, the clouds part & angels sang as there shined the matching suitcase! SCORE!!! These items are among those I most struggle with parting. Matching sets are not a dime a dozen in thrifting & chances are these beauties will become part of my private collection. Last but certainly not least I gasped to see an original Simon & Garfunkel "Bookends" album. I also swooped up vinyls from Judy Garland, The Carpenters & Walt Disney's  Mary Poppin's, among others. So what did this lift of spirits cost me to shake the day's funk? Barely $30. Could I have opted for a pedicure just the same? Sure... but those that thrift know; the joys of today's finds will continue long past any chipped polish could have mustered. 

Hi-Ho Thifters- AWAY!!!!!

~Charli

What? Another New Blog About Vintage And Thrift??

You betcha!  As far as we're concerned, you can never have enough people talking about lusciously delicious thrifted and vintage STUFF.  It's our drug of choice, especially since meth labs are dirty, gross, and dangerous.  We're also brimming with sarcasm as evidenced by that cavalier reference to a meth lab in this inaugural post.  While we're building content to serve to you on this lovely platter we got for .99 cents at Goodwill, feast your eyes on my ghastly baby heads that are up for sale on eBay!!!

~Katie