Frecklewonder

thrifting is good :: kid stuff

last weekend i popped into this junk shop that i go to every so often (the kind where the more you buy, the cheaper it gets) and i hit the motherload in the vintage wooden puzzle department. kinda couldn't believe my eyes when i saw the stack. i have a love for wooden puzzles, so you can imagine my excitement. some of these are a little bit advanced for dotty right now, but i have no problem setting them aside :)

 

another thing i don't mind tucking away for later is dresses. good golly, is that any surprise? as soon as i found out that i was pregnant with a girl, i went nutso and just really had the best thrifting luck e-v-e-r. her closet is chock full of fabulous girl's dresses from the 50s, 60s and 70s. most of them are sizes 2T through 6X but a few of them won't fit her till the year 2020 or so! but can you blame me? who knows if she'll be interested in wearing them past, say, the age of 5 or 6... she may think i'm crazy. 

anyhow, the good stuff is out there, you just have to spend a little time looking!

happy thrifting!

thrifted art :: a better look

yesterday day when i shared some of my recent thrift scores, i was asked to show a bit more of that felt bird wall hanging. my pleasure! so here it is, along with a few other thrifted wall arty pieces that i've picked up for next to nothing. and when i say nothing, i mean 5 bucks or less a piece. it pays to hit the thrifts people! the gems are out there!

a funny story on these last two paintings: they were both in a booth at an antique mall nearby that i hit up every so often- both of them were marked $20. which i would never pay. i guess i'm cheap like that?

every time i would visit this particular booth, there they'd be. and then one day.... 5 bucks! woot! the last one is not in the best shape, i was thinking of re-stretching it around the frame, can this be done? but the price couldn't be beat so either way, it's cool to have, even if i just hang it in my basement studio and use in shop photos.

matty teased me when i brought them home, saying something to the effect of "um, you could paint those yourself!". yeah, perhaps. but i couldn't buy a canvas and all the supplies for FIVE BUCKS, right??? :)

crazy good

the thrift gods have been treating me pretty well lately.

i love this funny ceramic cat, which now sits at my desk and holds all my sharpie pens. and the label making kit? i've always kinda wanted one of these things, i just didn't realize how much. i predict lots of label making in my future.

i found this gorgeous large wall hanging with fluffy felt birds + flowers for two bucks. it was tucked behind some bad art, just sitting in a dusty corner, waiting for me to find it. when i did, i let out a tiny yelp.

this week i found these two pretty linen tablecloths, both of which are in excellent condition. plus the two linen tea towels pictured below.

in the same trip, i picked up two beautiful framed paint by numbers pieces- i just love the fall colors and couldn't resist them when i saw them. 2.95 each!

but the creme de la creme, the piece de resistance is most definitely this gorgeous teak cabinet i picked up for our dining room.

i really almost felt like i couldn't breathe when i found it. and would you believe i actually walked away from it at first? actually DROVE HOME WITHOUT IT?! i did. i wasn't sure if i should get it because, i guess i thought it should have been priced a bit lower- it was at the goodwill, after all. so i went home, and was basically tortured by the thought of it selling to someone other than me. and i thought about it and thought about it. all day long. and when henry home from school, i asked him to pop up there with me and help me make the decision (matty was away all week for work). henry took one look at it and said, "oh mama. your glasses would look so pretty in there, you have to get it!" music to my ears, people. one gentle nudge to close the deal was all i needed. my son knows me so well. 

and you know, the truth is, i am spoiled all the time with super cheap lucky finds. i've outfitted much of our home + wardrobe with secondhand things. and this piece wasn't hugely expensive, in fact it was quite reasonable. i'm just so used to nabbing things for next to nothing that i had to think twice about it. in the end, i couldn't get this thing at target or ikea for what i paid for it from the goodwill. and i know for a fact that i would have kicked myself forEVER if i had let it go.

so there ya have it. and now, i finally have a pretty place for some of my most favorite things.