More Weekend Finds

Here are a few more of the goodies that I picked up this weekend. My china finds that I shared yesterday were probably my favorites, but I did manage to bring home a few more things worth mentioning.

Since my house is full of books, I need lots of bookends. Of course, I like the vintage style ones best and have picked up several over the years. These just might be my favorite pair yet. I almost missed them--they were way up on the top shelf in the office supplies department and I only spotted them because I was looking for a c.1980s plastic desk supplies organizer for my daughter (if I ever find one, I'll share what she plans to do with it...it's a very cute idea if I do say so myself).

Of course, I had to purchase some new-to-me books to go with them. I love this sweet vintage edition of Mary Poppins in the Park.

 

Check out the endpapers--so cute!

I found this little box to add to my collection of trinket boxes. Sometimes I paint them, sometimes I leave as is. This one I will probably paint and decorate. It's small and shows a bit of wear, but once spiffed up I can see this as a gift box for a special present or maybe even a jewelry box for one of my girls' American Girl dolls. And yes, their dolls have jewelry! Those dolls want for nothing!

Then there's this cool vintage telephone book. It was brand spanking new, in the original cellophane wrapping. Until I came along anyway. I opened it right up, hoping it would be like the charming one my family had when I was growing up. As it turns out, this one is plain Jane boring inside, but at least it is unused and cute on the outside.

My last find of the day is this vintage children's book on fire engines. A typical boy, my son loves fire trucks and this book had nice detailed pictures of some older models. But I really bought it because in my charming little New England town, we still have the old fire boxes at many of our neighborhood corners and this book had two pages devoted to how they worked and what each little feature was called. Everyone who visits me up here seems to comment on those fire boxes and asks me how they worked. Now, I can study up and sound all knowledgeable the next time someone asks!

 

I'm linking up my finds to Sir Thrift a Lot. Heading there now to see what everyone else found this weekend.

China Scores & More

Finally! I guess my complaining about never finding any china and glassware anymore really paid off. Last night, I took a quick little trip up north and returned with several bags of goodies, including some plates and bowls in one of my favorite vintage patterns.

This pattern is "Ever Yours Boutonniere" by Taylor Smith and Taylor, which I've featured on this blog before. My mother had some of these pieces and I inherited them; the turquoise interiors and sweet little pattern make them irresistible to me. I am lucky enough to have amassed quite the collection, but I am always hoping to find more. Usually, I find tea cups and saucers but last night, I found the bread and butter/dessert plates and the small bowls--the two kinds of pieces that I covet the most! I scored ten little plates and six bowls and could not be happier.

I've been searching for a nice pasta bowl ever since my good friend picked one up last year but had yet to find one I liked in good condition and for a price I wanted to pay. Well, last night I found that, too. This one is vintage and actually bears a bit of resemblance to Blue Ridge Pottery, although it is marked S.S. Crown Ironstone Ware, Made in Japan.

I don't think these two vintage planters are anything too special, I just liked their color and the ridged pattern, and the fact that there are two of them. They are a nice size for herbs and should coordinate well with my McCoy splatter glaze planters that I also inherited from my mother.

My girls will be so happy when I present them with these two little bowls, which are just the right size for their American Girl dolls. In fact, one of their AG Kit playsets has a bowl very similar to these, only it is made out of some sort of plastic. These are china, and pretty sturdy, too, so I don't think there is too much risk of breakage.

And a few weeks ago, I went to a rummage sale at the local temple and while I didn't find too much I wanted to bring home (I went the second day), I did find this vintage recipe card tin. It is identical to one that belonged to my husband's late grandmother. We have hers, and it still holds some of her original recipes. I picked this one up for a couple of quarters so that now my girls can each have one when they're all grown up (and no, I'm not being sexist, I'm sure someday I will find one more of these and when I do, I'll save it for my son). Call me sentimental, but I just love having little connections like that to pass down, especially when my children never had an opportunity to meet their great-grandmother. I know that despite never having known her in life, I still treasure the two precious little things that I have that once belonged to my great-grandmother.

I unearthed several more treasures last night, but I think I'll spread the love and save them for a future post. I even found a couple of little gifts for the kids that I will save for Christmas--love that I already have completed most of my holiday shopping for them. I am thinking that I will even start wrapping things next week!

Preppy Finds and More

Be still my preppy little heart. I was slowly making my way to the register at the end of my latest thrift foray when I spotted these vintage 1980s gems. My junior high prep-addicted self would have jumped for joy!

These were virgin vintage--still on their little plastic cards. Hanging right next to them was a bag full of these--also still on their cards:

I distinctly remember my older sister having a teal one (that was her signature color in high school and beyond, haha) of these clips, which she guarded with her life. I don't think I ever had one of my own. But my children will not suffer the same sad fate!

I also found a few Christmas treasures. Here is a fabulous gold Santa for my now growing (against my will, I must protest) collection:

And my favorite find of the shopping trip, these delicate little angels:

I believe I have another one of this set somewhere among my Christmas stash. They are very similar to a much larger set I picked up last fall.

I always have trouble resisting cute vintage storage containers, and two pieces caught my eye. This first one is a vintage Cape Cod souvenir, and will be adorable in my daughter's room to hold rings and other trinkets.

 

And this scalloped vintage Tupperware divider is actually perfect to corral my girls' hair accessories. See how nice all those preppy little bows and clips look in it?

The Sunprint paper was another find, not sure it will still work as when I got it home I noticed it was pretty old. But we'll give it a try.

Despite the mini haul, I was pretty discouraged when I left the store. Prices at this particular thrift have gotten out of hand! Especially on the things I love the most--china and glassware. I have struck out in those two categories for the past several outings and that makes me so sad. It looks like I may have to abandon the shops for a while in favor of hitting a few of the rummage sales that are so plentiful this time of year. I'll keep you all posted how that strategy goes. In the meantime, I'm linking up my weekend finds to Sir Thrift a Lot.

Cross one off the Thrift Wish List!

I am always excited when I find something at a thrift shop or sale that I've been hoping to find for years. Yes, I know, I can pretty much find whatever I want on ebay or etsy, but that's no fun! I much prefer to hunt things down.

At my church's rummage sale this past weekend, there was one large room full of books and it was there that I found it.

Read Aloud Funny Stories. Such a simple name for such a wonderful collection of stories. One of my absolute favorite stories ever is in this book, "The Magic Geranium." It's a story about how the humble gift of a geranium plant transforms the life of its recipient. Many times, as an adult, I have thought of this delightful story and the others in this book and wished I could share it with my children. And now I can!

At the same sale, I also found several vintage cooking booklets. I love this one, dated 1938:

And this one, all about pie! Or more specifically, "party pies." I just bought a couple of sugar pumpkins so I'm hoping this booklet has a good pumpkin pie recipe in it.

I also found these vintage Hallmark valentines. They are in great shape and feature "knock-knock" jokes. My kids will love them.

I am such a sucker for vintage invitations! These were cute.

And my kids love the fold-over notes that were so popular when I was a kid.

I picked up a few more treasures at the same sale, so I'll be sure to post the rest of my finds soon. Very excited that the fall rummage sale season has begun!

Vintage Christmas Finds

Well, hello there! Where did the time go? I hope you missed me as much as I missed thrifting!

It may be a tired old excuse, but things here have been beyond hectic. I won't go into gory details but suffice it to say I've been burning the candle at both ends. Not a spare moment for thrifting! But even though this weekend was booked solid, I managed on Saturday to hit the bag sale day at my local church's rummage sale. I may have missed getting first crack at all the goodies, but I still managed to fill three bags with treasures and another one full of books. Today, I will share my Christmas goodies.

This beautiful vintage pop-out Advent calendar is one of my favorite finds of the year! I cannot believe it was still sitting there the second day of the sale. The Christmas stuff always gets picked over quickly and since this sale is popular with dealers, I am genuinely surprised that it was overlooked.

Here is a close-up view. Notice the hinged items move when you pull the blue tab to the side.

I also spotted this adorable little felt Santa pick. He might just be my favorite Santa ornament that I own; not that I own that many.

And I popped this bunch of interesting looking wood Christmas ornaments into my bag without really looking closely at them. I can't really determine if it is two different groups of ornaments bagged together, or one large group. I need to do a little research--seems that they might be nursery rhyme themed or possibly twelve days of Christmas but I can't really tell. Anyone recognize these? This shot shows only a few.

I also picked up a broken down version of my beloved plastic Nativity scenes. (Go ahead, tease me. You wouldn't be the first!) Yes, I know the reason for the season is missing but I don't mind too much. I have a number of nativities with missing characters but that doesn't stop me from displaying them all together every Christmas. When there are a bunch all together, I don't think anyone looks that closely at them anyway.

As I was leaving the sale, I walked by the Christmas table one last time. That's when I noticed these two vintage "Season's Greetings" Christmas stockings. Since my husband and I gave our own stockings (and our dearly departed dog's as well) to our three children, we have been stocking-less for the past several Christmases. Hopefully, Santa will reward my thriftiness by filling up my brand new-to-me vintage stocking with shiny things (like vintage ornaments and the like, of course!) this December. Linking up my finds to Sir Thrift a Lot.