Happy Day

Happy Mum's Day! We had a great one, including
:: a family run (literally, O ran along)
:: Green Garden blueberry/huckleberry pancakes with Cold Springs Farm bacon
:: a surprise visitor

:: flowers and plants and planting in the sun
:: strawberries!
:: good stories and good times

Hope your day was full and fun too. We deserve it, you know.

Thrifty Thursday

So, I realize the hypocrisy of saying I am purging and then knowingly entering thrift and antique shops while in possession of my wallet. However, I do so enjoy a good scavenging. (Darling is cringing. He may be developing a nervous twitch. The 1-in, 1-out policy satiated him for a while, but I suspect he suspects the ratio is slightly off. A situation NOT helped by the chaos of the build and move. But I think analysis of our psychological ties to stuff will wait for another day.*)

I tend to prefer Vinnie’s across the board – selection and price. They’re really my go-to stop for housewares. But Vinnie’s has pioneered the “collectibles” section, which often has just the thing I’m looking for, but demands a higher price. Well, not a crazy price, but kind of rivaling an antique store. OK. I get it. But it also is what keeps me going back to Goodwill. They have high prices by thrift store standards but don’t give a fig about brand or collectability. And they still have those 50% off colored tag sales. Love those. For whatever reason, their kids’ books selection is awesome. I rarely leave empty handed. (A-hem.) Salvo’s is hit or miss, but I won’t exclude them. (In fact, I just got a great Marimekko nightgown from Salvos.)

My pictures are rotating in this post. Sorry.

I like to hit them on Thursdays, primarily because it’s the one day they’re open late enough for me to swing through after work, but also because I had heard they restock on Wednesdays. I don’t know if this is true and I can’t possibly thrift more than once/week without getting the stink eye from my husband, so we’ll leave it at that. Thursday works. I generally get there about 2/month. This month (well, last month) has been particularly successful in the thrifting department, I think. Without further ado (finally), some of my recent treasures:

• O-L-I-V-E-R blocks, which I painted to match the colors in his room
• A Cheinco bread box to match a vintage set of tins in the scullery
• Size 5T Carhartts
• An assortment of kids clothes, hats and dresses (including 3T truck “pajammies”)
• Mama pajammies, including aforementioned Marimekko nightgown and some soft flannel
• 3 Boynton books, an Eric Carle “Catch the Ball”, Big Red Barn, and Fox in Socks among other good books
• An avocado green lazy susan, Van Dyke Brown cutlery tray, & a grapefruit spoon for my office
• Aqua Hull mug and green Hull bowl
• Mikasa creamer
• A few housewares for Etsy

• Amazing owl cookie jar. I love it. I can’t say enough.

Seriously - you love it, right?

“If you like it, put it in your cart. You can always take it out later.” Sage advice from the woman who taught me to thrift, my sister. Oh how we cut our thrifty teeth on the gritty shops of Cleveland and Akron. Why I didn’t take that advice on my latest trip to Vinnie’s, I don’t know. There it was, a HUGE hand-thrown bowl from a (sorta) local potter. We have a couple of her pieces, but AP & KP have several. I snapped a photo with the iPhone, emailed it to AP, and turned around to see a woman slinking behind me gripping the bowl. She sprinted to the checkout. Bested.

I am a fan of the cycle of thrift. I take my retired items there too. It’s really a big part of the 1-in, 1-out policy. But never before have I been confronted with one of my hand-me-downs while I’m innocently strolling the aisles. A hemp tam with beads – traded for a patchwork something from Phat Pharm I’m sure, back in the day. It never fit and was really beautifully crocheted. It’s a perfectly decent item to donate to the thrift. But I averted my eyes, scurried away and felt uneasy for the rest of the visit. All was saved with the cookie jar, but still.

Hats (above) and dresses for Etta. 50¢

*I do feel somewhat obligated to mention that I have in fact purged: all empty moving boxes, all packing material, 3 totes of children’s clothes and toys, 3 totes of maternity clothes, 1 moving box full of kitchen accoutrements, 1 moving box full of assorted housewares and electronics. Count it up and I’m still in the black as I see it.