Thrifty Thursday

Oh, it's been a good thrifting week! I've got a couple of photos to share with you today . . . more next Thursday.

First are these old handcolored prints: Eggs. Amazing to find at a garage sale! When I walked up and spotted them on the grass, leaning against some large plastic toys, I thought, 'Those I want. Those I want. My price is $5.00 each.' (I'm not a big spender.)

Do you do that? Set a price in your head before you find out what the asking price is?

Well, happy me. The price was $3.00 each. I took the 'protective' wrap off the one on the left because it was torn and grody. Hoping to find my stash of old frames . . . where did I store those?? . . . or to find some suitable frames at the thrift.

And let's not overlook the fab-o oil lamp in the center. That beauty was at the Inn Shop, the consigment shop at the Historical Society here. My husband said 'I want that.' No problem. It's lovely and old and the base is a wonderful, heavy turquoise glass.




And not to rush the season, but Happy Halloween! This grinning goblin-man with his jack-o-lantern was made by Monnie Wilson, a paper mache artist in Wisconsin. I was so happy to rescue him from the detritus of that particular garage sale. He looks happy to be here.

How about you? Any fun finds lately?

Thrifty finds

Don't you love the tin! It's the Queen Elizabeth. Found it one day, and then the red box the next. I heart hearts.



I'd like to eat a couple of Benson's 'Quality Confections' right now.




Or maybe have a cigar? Cigar boxes, to be used as storage or maybe altered at some point. . . .

Actually, it's time for lunch . . . maybe I can find a recipe or two in the 'Electric Refrigerator Recipes and Menus -- SPECIALLY PREPARED FOR THE GENERAL ELECTRIC REFRIGERATOR.'

Copyright 1927, original price two dollars (which seems like a lot for back then).

Bonus of handwritten recipes tucked inside -- I especially like that the recipe for Egg Spatzen was written on a scrap of MARSHALL FIELD & COMPANY paper.

Would you join me for an Informal Luncheon? I'll serve salad greens and dressing or maybe a jellied soup stock, kept in a covered glass jar in my fancy General Electric refrigerator.

And we can have frozen whipped cream on our dessert -- maybe even delicately tinted pink green or yellow. Fancy.

At The Inn Shop

There's a little consignment shop that I'm pretty fond of.
It's run by volunteers and benefits our local historical society.

The Inn Shop

It's cold!

Bracing for below-zero weather . . . and the little birds who come to my walk for little bread crumbs and coarse corn meal might not even show up tomorrow morning.

Most days, recently, have been spent organizing receipts etc. for 2008 tax return -- I think we're encouraged not to be creative in that area, however. So I'm finishing up an ATC for myself tonight; already sent one to each of my two sisters. That will be my 'do something creative' for today.

This McCoy bowl -- a recent 'Treasures' find -- makes me happy. Neat size -- about the size of a cereal bowl -- color is fab -- scroll pattern is the best. N tells me to keep this for myself -- at least for a while. Good advice.

Editing

I am in serious need of editing.



This is a pic of two shelves of my kitchen bookcase.

It's where all the extra stuff lands.

You know, when the seasons change and the little oil paintings of winter scenes have to come off the wall? Those are on the top of the jadite batter bowl. And the brown teapot, which did not sell at consignment: in front of the old wire flower frog, which used to be on top of the living room bookcase, which is now in the craft room.

And the stack of dessert plates, also failing to sell at consignment, is now under a bowl on the top shelf. And the clay marbles, the ME paper box . . . these were in other areas of the house and ended up here.



Here's the 'after' -- how I wanted the shelves to look. Pretty simple, just the green stuff and the two camellia pictures that I'm so fond of. I do think the bud vase should go, tho, don't you agree?

(The shelf edging may need some explanation: a friend gave me two cut-off pillowcases because she thought I could use the crochet trim. I tried it out here on the shelves and pretty much like the look -- except on the bottom shelf you can really see how it is just fabric cut off. And they are not wide enough. But I like the idea.)

Anyway, this is the story throughout this house: too much good stuff, landing haphazardly atop, next to, and under other good stuff. I sometimes feel like I'm a minimalist with a bad collecting habit -- I love all the stuff, but I reallyreally love a bit of spare and a bit more space.

And I used to be an editor. Apparently I need to be one again.

Thrifty Seibel Plates -- Back to the 70s

These are 'Trellis' plates, designed for Mikasa 'Duplex' by Ben Seibel, recently thrifted. The line was in production from 1974-75, my first two years in Chicago. The gold and green colors are so 70s, I think -- earth-tone colors.

And maybe that's why I strangely love these dishes -- not my usual colors or style, but the graphic quality and colors of the flowers remind me so much of the mid-70s, my first years of solo independence and self-expression. Trippin' on plates.

Another Toad in the Garden!

Just a couple of days after I last saw Mr. Toad in the garden, I spotted this little guy.

At a garage sale.

So he came home with me.




Welcome to the garden, Sir Toad.

(More garage sale finds to be posted soon.)

Serviceberry and other spring wonders

In our side yard, we have this serviceberry tree (Amelanchier grandiflora).




It's so lovely -- covered now with little white flowers along the gray stems.




The berries will follow -- looking like tiny blueberries. If the robins didn't eat them all first, I could make serviceberry jam:

Serviceberry Jam
10 cups ripe serviceberries
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar per cup of pulp
6 oz liquid pectin

Wash and stem the berries. Place into a saucepan and crush. Add the water and cook over medium heat for 5 to 6 minutes. Measure how much pulp you have to determine the amount of sugar you'll need. Add sugar and return to pan. Place over low heat and cook for a few minutes more or until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil and add pectin, then hold boil for 1 full minute. Remove from heat, skim foam, and pour into hot, sterile jelly jars and seal.

from Klehm Plants newsletter




Checkered lily (Fritillaria meleagris)




Birch catkins in the rain



Blue and white scilla . . .


snuggled against the birch's roots.

And some spring thrifted treasures -- little bone china cups, sans saucers, become storage for little white buttons.




I'm inspired!

Yummy Spring

Spring!

Every year these lovely, nodding hellebore blooms amaze me.

First garage sale finds of the spring: vintage wooden-spool threads in vintage cups sit on an old bench in my garden . See the leaves of rhubarb behind the bench?

Yummy threads. Yummy rhubarb.

Yummy colors of spring.

Two more bags . . .

Found this pattern online -- Tiny Happy blog -- and decided to try it out, using a thrifted pillowcase and a piece of green calico for the lining. Because I thought it needed a little more body, I added a flannel interfacing. The front has a cellphone pocket.

And the back has an interesting pattern. Seams are up the middle (front and back) and at the top of the handles. Easy pattern -- size is good for a little library trip -- check out the tutorial here.

Second recently finished purse. I love this one! It's quilted on the outside and has a magnetic snap inside; the lining is blue and red floral, and the inside pocket is of the same fabric as the handles. The tutorial is on Creative Little Daisy blog -- patchwork purse here.

I do think this purse needs a little more -- either a few red buttons or a flower pin. I'm thinking a pin, made before next summer, when I'll want to use the purse to dress up my usual jeans and a teeshirt outfit.

More purses to come. CK, your tote is next. Then it's time for the custom purse for NL (you know who you are)!

Quilts

Sometimes my thrifted 'finds' find me! This is a quilt top that came to me as a tied quilt with the inner batting all bunched up. Someone washed & dried the quilt, apparently, and it looked like this:

I took off the backing, the little ties, and the batting and now I have a pretty quilt top. The fabrics are an interesting combination of wool (the gray), cotton, and an occasional rayon. The top has some 'issues,' with a few worn spots, but now it can begin a sweet new life as a table covering. Check out that blue fabric with the circles -- love!

The quilt came to me along with these two:

All three came by way of a local senior center, where they were headed for the dustbin, and are considered, at best, 'cutter' quilts. But the lavendar 'Flying Geese' could end up in our bedroom, with a little mending.

And this quilt, which I had temporarily set down on the floor, immediately became our grouchy old cat's favorite snoozing spot. The entire back is that beautiful flowered print on the right -- makes me swoon -- love! This one is a true 'cutter'. If I do cut it up, at least part of it will become kitty's winter-nap throne pillow. It makes him as happy as it makes me.

Yo yo!

Some yo-yo pillows, found this summer.



This favorite star pillow is from a favorite cousin.

Well-worn old yo-yos of a pillowcover. Found two of these probably 10 years ago at an estate sale.

I wonder about the women who made these. Taking little scraps of fabric, cut into rounds, hemming them up and then pulling each one into a yo-yo. These days some of us use CDs as templates. They probably used a plate or a tin can. Wonder if they treasured these pillows as much as I do?

Stash becomes Purse

A year ago, I began a fabric stash. I purchased several fabrics at the local Hancock fabrics, then started finding pieces of fabric at garage sales and thrift stores. Of course, I intended to use these fabrics, so I also bought a couple of patterns for handbags, including one Amy Butler and one Laura Ashley.

Funny thing, the stash somehow became The Stash-for-Stash-Sake. Finding, buying, washing and ironing, folding, stacking -- this was enough! I could spend a stray hour just looking over the fabrics, sorting through the colors, restacking, and then leaving the craft room again. Almost every week I found a new piece to add. Ah, but now I need to create something with these fabrics. So here are my first efforts, sewn in the last weeks -- my new purses!

The week gone by

Thrifting this past week . . . found these wonderful stools and domes that I love to display things in . . .

Why is it such a joy to find a cast-off treasure? To search through all the cracked and chipped china, past the 70s leather coats, the plastic wreaths, the burned-out pots and pans . . . and then finding the gem. Aha! There it is! I knew it was here! I could almost feel it calling out to me. The joy of the hunt and the thrill of The Find. So satisfying.