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Tuesday, January 29, 2013

The Back Up Files & A Puppy Update

So I know that I promised that my next post would showcase the amazing box that Erica made for Maddie for the Golden Egg Vintage Candy Box Swap.  But evidently Erica isn't done yet and asked that I wait to post about it until Maddie gets her second box!  Two boxes?  I told you Maddie was lucky!

I haven't found anything exciting out thrifting lately so I am going to resort to some of my back up files to share with you finds that you haven't seen yet. I know you won't mind:-)

 
I collect these Cat Studio state glasses.  A few year ago, Brian bought me one from a local boutique for Arizona.  Since then I have thrifted Oregon and Alaska.  Then a few weeks ago, I found Washington & Florida.  Someday these will be considered collectible like the vintage souvenir glasses that I covet now.  They retail for $12.00 apiece so to find them at Goodwill for a dollar or less is always super exciting.


Over the Summer, I found a set of little appetizer forks at a garage sale.  My blog buddy Jill from A Little Bit of Everything found the matching spoon set and was sweet enough to send them to me (along with the cutest Pyrex Space Saver note card).


And being the sweetheart that she is, Jill also included a vintage Golden Book and bear embroidered hankie for Miss Maddie. 


I found the syrup dispenser, sugar shaker, and Lustro Ware napkin holder at a recent garage sale.  The Lustro Ware was only 50 cents and we all know how expensive it can be!


I also picked up the sugar, creamer and shaker set from the same sale.  It's not marked but I think it is also Lustro Ware.

 

At one of the last sales of the Summer, I got this amazing vintage Mixablend mixer with the Pyrex pitcher.  As you can see, it still has the original sticker.  The lady I bought it from was so worried that I was actually going to use it.  She thought it might blow up and start a fire!  So Brian replaced the cord for me.  I haven't used it but it does work perfectly if I ever need to.

So Sarah over at The Adventures of Sarah Lee basically threatened me with bodily harm (just kidding!) if I didn't share new photos of baby Bullet.  I try to get a new picture of him every few days which can be difficult because he just won't hold still!  He recently learned to jump on the couch and go up an down the stairs.  He freaks me out because when he comes down the stairs, he sprints. 
He is also obsessed with his tail.  He barks at it and chases it constantly. I think he is convinced that it is not supposed to be attached to him.


Sometimes I can get him to calm down if I let him lay up on my bed.


Can you believe those ears?


And those giant feet? 


This is my other German Shepherd, 2 year old Brewski.  Ah man I hope Bullet isn't this big!  Brewski got to go with Alex in his truck the other day for a ride.  It was the first time he hasn't thrown up in the car.  Maybe he has outgrown it. 

I'm heading over to my usual link parties: Sir Thrift-A-Lot, It's A Very Cherry World, & A Living Space.

See you all there!

Erica

Monday, January 28, 2013

Valentine's Swap Spoils a Thrifter Sister

Hello Everyone!


Hanna here.  I've been squirming since Saturday to share my Valentine's Day Swap gift from Sandy over at 521 Lake Street.  I will admit I was really nervous for this swap, being my first.  I still feel like I didn't do enough for my partner and was intimidated by all the craftiness but I still had a blast.  I'm pretty sure Sandy still doesn't realize how spoiled I felt when I opened my package.  The attention to detail, all the crafty goodness, I am still grinning ear to ear.  Here is the beautiful box she created and all the goodies she put inside.
This was everything inside the box.  The details were just too sweet.  Everything was so thoughtfully packaged.
 Here is my beautiful candy box.
 A peek inside.  You have no idea how exciting this was to open.

Some of the goodies inside the box.  Vintage buttons, a hanky, trim and string, paper straws, a jar of pink beads, cupcake toppers, the list goes on and on.
Cocoa and chocolates.  There was also a mini box of chocolates but the husband got to it when I wasn't looking.
 Doilies, vintage stickers, a note book.

The cutest clothespin holding a sweet Valentine.  What a cute idea.
 I'm pretty sure I've never received something as adorably packaged as this.  It is actually a gift bag, love it!
Now do you believe me?  So, so spoiled!  Sandy, you have started my vintage Valentine's day collection, I'm so lucky.  I will share with you guys soon how I incorporated some of my gifts to create two Valentine's day displays in my house.  So what have I learned?  I love swaps and need to work on being as crafty as my Blog world friends.  Sandy is so talented and I'm one spoiled Thrifter Sister.

Until Next Time,
Sister Hanna

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Thrifter Sisters First Swap!

Happy Sunday, Everyone!
 
Recently, Hanna, Maddie & I participated in our very first swap.  We joined Erica and lots of our other blog friends for The Golden Egg Vintage Annual Candy Box Swap.  I will admit, Sister and I were a little nervous about making these boxes.  What if they didn't turn out how we hoped and our swap partners didn't like them?  The fearless Miss Maddie wasn't worried at all, though!  She had enough confidence for all of us.
 
Well needless to say, all three of our boxes turned out amazing if I do say so myself.  I will admit that I had a hard time letting go of the one that I made for Deb from Garage Sale Gal!  I loved it that much but it couldn't have gone to a nicer person.  Plus, now that I know that I can make them, I can always put one together for myself.
 
We only got a couple of photos from our crafting day last weekend.  Maddie was hard at work while Sister and I were enjoying our Mimosa's.
 
Lucky Maddie got Erica from Golden Egg Vintage as her swap partner.  She was super excited!
 
 
 
  Here is Hanna helping Maddie hot glue some vintage buttons onto her box. 
 
 
She focused really hard on making sure that everything was placed just right.
 
 
She knew exactly what she wanted to do and didn't want our help at all!  I will let Erica show you all the finished product.  I am pretty proud of my girl!
 
As I told you all before, my partner was Deb from Garage Sale Gal.  She created to sweetest box for me with amazing vintage touches.
 
 
 
 
 
My favorite part are the little lovebirds.  They are so sweet!
 
And of course it was chock full of little treats
 
 
Lots of crafting goodies
 
 
A little card and my first hankie!
 
 
More cute cards
 
 
Yummy treats!  I am definitely making the Mocha today.  It's really cold outside and it will be the perfect pick me up.
 
 
Deb also sent me this cute ornament, some recipe cards, and a pink glittery E for Erica. Pink glitter? The perfect combo!
 
Next time Miss Maddie and I will show you all of the goodies and the amazing box that Erica sent her.
 
Until then,
 
Erica

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Last Week's Thrifty Finds

Hey Everyone!

Hope your all are doing well and staying healthy.  The cold bug has hit our house hard.  Poor Maddie is on her second bout of it.  This comes after she had the stomach flu two weeks ago.  Brian and Alex have both had it too.  It is just horrible.  For whatever reason, I have managed to avoid it even though I am the one taking care of everyone!  Fingers crossed, I will stay healthy.  I don't need to tell you how badly my house falls apart when I am sick. 

Although I didn't find too much at the thrifts last week, what I did find was definitely enough to make me happy.


I found these two mugs at SVDP.  There were two of the Fire King Strawberry Shortcakes but one was horribly dishwashered and faded out.  It was so sad to leave it behind.  I normally bypass anything made by Glasbake but this owl mug really needed to come home with me.  The saying is very true in my household.


Of course this orphan pixie shaker had to come home with me too.  So sad that he lost his partner!


Did you know that Maddie collects these little furry figurines?  One of these days I have got to get that girl to sit down and write her own post!  She has some great collections to share.  These little kitties are the first ones that I have ever found at a thrift store.


I bought this 1954 Crisco cookbook for the cute graphics on the cover and throughout.  But once I sat down and looked through it, I noticed that there are some really good recipes in it that I can't wait to try.  Brian and I both come from southern families so Crisco is definitely a staple in our pantry.  The Rogers Selected Recipes cookbook is one of my Valentines Day gifts from Sister.  Our last name is Rogers so it obviously fits in our kitchen quite well.


Swans aren't something that I normally gravitate toward but these were pink so they caught my eye.  They are marked Lenox and the little research that I did shows that they are older and sell for about 25 times what I paid for them.


I love love love these little Atlantic City souvenir shakers!  They still have the original Made in Japan stickers on them and they are turquoise!  See why I had to have them?


I am so desperate for Pyrex that I paid a little more for this than I normally would at SVDP.  I just couldn't stand to leave it behind.  Besides, if I didn't buy it, someone else would have and that would have drove me crazy!


But paying a little more for the Butterprint didn't make me feel so bad once I found this turquoise 502 refrigerator dish at the Goodwill next door for 99 cents!  It all balanced out.

So far, there has been no thrifting this week.  Being home with a sick kid can really throw your life out of whack! 

I'm gonna link up over at:

It's A Very Cherry World for Rednesday
A Living Space for The Nifty Thrifty
From My Front Porch To Yours for Treasure Hunt Thursday
Sir Thrift-A-Lot for Thriftasaurus

See you all there!

Erica

Monday, January 21, 2013

What a Wonderful Weekend

Happy Monday!  It is days like these that I'm happy to be a teacher because I sure needed a day off.  I had a great weekend with Sisterita and now am enjoying a quiet house with my coffee in hand while the pets rest and the husband elk hunts.  Life is good.  I had some great thrift finds over the last week, was gifted some goodies by Sister, and even won a prize!  Here is what I have to share with you today.
Sister picked up the three juice glasses for me.  They are a little bigger than a swanky swig, so I have a hiding place for them (I keep getting scolded for bringing drink glasses home!)  Each glass has a scientific name written it.  The nerd I am, I immediately looked up what kind of birds they were when I got home.  The one on the left is a Nicobar Parakeet, next is a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, but the last bird is a little trickier.  I've looked up it's name with no luck.  Guess he will just be the mystery bird.  I also got this canister at SV's when I was with Sister.
Here is a closeup.  It is really beautiful and heavy duty ceramic.  After a little research I realized it is made by the same company as our Mom's dinnerware set.  It is Portmeirion and is their Birds of Britain collection.  I'm in love and am collecting them all.
Sister also gifted me one of her Pyrex Ponderosa mugs, which was so generous, I'm spoiled.  She also sent the orange Hazel Atlas pitcher my way, now I have two!
I also have acquired some new books.  Sister shared two children's books with me along with the mammals field guide she had a double of.  I picked up the Andersen's Fairy Tales' at a strange little thrift store during the week.  I'm happy it still has a dust cover, and even happier that dates back to 1945.

Then yesterday when I got home I decided to go to a thrift store that I don't stop at very often.  There are no prices, you just take your finds to the front and this sweet little woman suggests what you should pay.  I picked up both of these planters and headed to the front.  I chatted with her and her friend for about 20 minutes about the planters.  One of them was convinced that the made in Japan planter on the right was a bird and a dolphin and I couldn't convince her it was a baby bird in a nest.  Oh well, it was comical.  Wanna guess how much I paid?  $2.50 for both.  Not bad, considering the blue lamb on the left is made by Haeger pottery.
You may have noticed the pretty tablecloth in the background of my pictures.  I made a quick stop at my favorite Goodwill and Portland and picked it up.  The peachy orange flowers obviously are what caught my eye.  When I got it home I was looking to see if it had a tag and sure enough it did, it's marked Vera!  There isn't any other markings on the tablecloth anywhere, just the tiny tag, which I'm happy I looked at.  Its pretty funny actually, I was admiring a beautiful Vera tablecloth at the antique mall with Sister on Saturday and said I hoped I would find one.

One last tale to share.  On my drive down I also got one more prize.  I always call into the country radio station in Portland on our drive through and my husband thinks I'm crazy.  We just switched from satellite radio and I heard the announcement to call.  Last time we drove through I was caller number 8 and so disappointed.  This time, I was caller number 9 and the winner!  Of what you ask?  Oh, just two tickets to see Kenny Chesney in Seattle in June!  I couldn't believe it!  I guess it was my lucky weekend!

I'm gonna go party over at Thriftasaurus!  
See you there!
Sister Hanna

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Glory Days!

Good Morning, Friends!

Today is the big day.  Sister got into town late last night so that we could better acquaint Miss Piper with Mister Bullet.  Hopefully we can get them to hold still long enough to get a cute picture of them together to share with all of you.

But that is now why today is the big day. Sister, Maddie, & I have big plans to make our boxes for Erica's Annual Valentine's Day Box Swap.  This is the first year that we have participated plus the first swap that we have all ever done. We will be sure to take lots of pics so look for the post.  We won't be posting it right away because we don't want to spoil the surprise for our swap partners.

Thrifting hasn't been too bad around here. But sometimes I just get lazy and don't want to have to hunt and dig.  Does that make me a bad thrifter?  Anyways, sometimes I just want the ease of going into an antique mall and having the finding work all done for me.  I am never let down at Glory Days, my favorite mall.  Plus. when I went in last Friday, it was the last day of their End of the Season sale.  Care to see what I brought home?





I had a credit for one of my favorite booths so I stocked up on  more valentines.  You can't ever have enough. 



There is a huge booth in the back of the store that had tons of these mugs during the holidays but I never bought any because I was having good luck with finding them in the thrift stores.  These were the last three and they were below thrift store pricing.  They are kind of beat up but I think that gives them more character.



The super nice lady working the counter that day actually owned the booth that I bought these Mica birds from (Hi, Kathy!). I think she was surprised to see that I knew what these were and wasn't just buying them simply because they were cute.  Thanks to Magpie Ethel and her infinite collections, I am becoming much more knowledgeable about all of the amazing vintage goodies out there.  Thanks, Laurie!



I also got this cute little tin from her booth.  I try to pick up Easter decor whenever I can.  Someday I hope to have a collection that rivals my vintage Christmas.  Hey, a girl can dream, right?



Does a week go by that I don't buy vintage drinking glasses?  I am starting to have more glassware than Pyrex and believe me, that is saying a lot!  I am not sure of the maker so I will have to go through my books and do a little research.  Anybody out there have any ideas?



Yay!  Another state glass for my collection!  Jill over at A Little Bit of Everything wants me to start blogging about my collections.  Hmmmm,  that's a good idea!  It's nice to know that if I ever have a shortage of thrifting finds, I have a back up plan.  I am the queen of back up plans!!

Do you all want to see my car buddy?



He loves the car and is very well behaved in it.  Sometimes I just take him on a drive to get him to calm down.  Puppies are more like babies that I actually ever thought!

Have a great weekend everyone!  I am going to link up over at:

How Sweet The Sound for Pink Saturday
Have A Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson for Share Your Cup Thursday
The Thrifty Groove for Thrifty Things Friday
From My Front Porch To Yours for Treasure Hunt Thursday

Until next time.....

Erica