Flea Finds

Today is the third Sunday of the month and that means it's time for the Long Beach Flea Market!  It was nice and breezy when I got there and then I found these four Midwinter 'Sun' plates and hauling them around made it a bit tiresome as it got hotter and then on the last row I found the vintage Le Creuset pot and let me tell you, hauling around cast iron in the sun isn't as much fun as it sounds but at least I got a workout?

The plates are a pattern I've been stalking for a while now. It's easy to find on eBay but they do get expensive. I snagged these four for $10. The Le Creuset is an iron bottom "E" which means it's 4.5 quarts and the bottom tells me it's from the 80s. It's in a great school bus yellow color. $35 is what I paid for that. I guess this means I have to cook and serve dinner tonight?



reblogged from Rearranged Design

Red White and Blue and Bo Duke, Too!

Hi Thrift Collective, SusieQT here from Practice in Time!

I've had a good run lately at the thrift stores. It's been a while since I found so much quality merchandise, and I'm thrilled to show it to you!

I found this amazing TV tray (it even has legs for breakfast in bed!) from the Dukes of Hazzard show. It was in the dreaded "antiques" section of the  thrift store (= higher prices than normal), but since the store was having a 25% off sale, I was able to get it for $7.50. Not too bad, and when I get tired of looking at the boys, I can resell it for a nice profit, I think.

The stars and stripes milk glass mug (37 cents!) is my new favorite coffee mug, even if it isn't Pyrex. I LOVE it, and don't know how anyone could get rid of something like that! Plus it matches the tray- bonus!

As you may have guessed, my obsession with Pyrex is always high on the list right now. I found this Pink Gooseberry 471 (1 pt) casserole the other day, which completes my set of those casseroles, minus a couple of lids. 

I also found two Colonial Mist 441 Cinderella bowls. Not my favorite pattern, but at $1.50 each I couldn't resist. LOL, another cameo by the stars and stripes mug, plus a Butterfly Gold Pyrex mug (75 cents).

This next one was a bit of a splurge, but I have never seen anything like this:

A triangular shaped casserole with atomic snowflake design and stand! It is made by Inland Glass and in mint condition. It is definitely going to be a display piece in my collection, even if it's not Pyrex.

I got this really neat orange and green planter for $3. I have never seen an orange planter before, so had to get it because my living room is orange and green.

I did find some vintage clothing finally. These antique safety glasses are so amazing- still in their original box, for $3.50.

And this 1940s crepe dress was found in an small town thrift store in upstate PA for $4. It's incredible and in perfect condition- watch for it in my Etsy store!

Some mystery mugs, a fugly vase and a wealth of YSL scarves

I found some mystery mugs on a recent thrifting trip. They are only 1 3/4" high. They're marked Norway 1823 on the bottom and have an interesting flat handle. Does anyone know what they might be used for? Glogg? Expresso? Or do you know who the manufacturer might be?

Another interesting find was this fugly Carstens West German pottery vase. The French have a word for something so ugly that it's beautiful. Is it "belle laide"? Well, whatever it is, it describes this gi-normous 15" high vase! I've started to collect fat lava pottery but this piece is a little too big for my limited space. Currently on Ebay.

This past weekend I found a wealth of Yves St Laurent silk scarves. Such beautiful colours! I've been fooled by designer scarves before but I think these might be authentic but post-2000. I'm planning to divide them amongst my sisters and mother. Ok, maybe I'm keeping the one in the middle for myself.

Wishing you all good thrifting luck!!

a thrifted solution to a storage problem

My boyfriend and I just moved into a new place, and I finally got to get rid of some old, ugly bookcases we'd had for years. The only problem was we couldn't afford to buy a ton of new bookcases, and we have a TON of books. We purchased two inexpensive bookcases from Ikea, but there was still the problem of where to store my large collection of manga and comic strip books. I started looking around at local thrift shops, and finally found this vintage record cabinet (I'm not sure of the age...might be 1960s or 1970s?), which turned out to be perfect! I found it at a St. Vincent de Paul thrift shop just down the hill from our apartment, and the best part was the price....$20! So now I have a cool storage solution, plus a place for my clock collection. Color me happy!

Mystery Items

Last week I grabbed some items at two different Goodwills and they kind of had themes. Check it out:

The first haul was orange themed and the second haul was all textures. At both stores I grabbed 8x8 Pyrex pans which I desperately needed for my shop. I also got that cool tin on the left. It's for expanding curtain wire (What on earth is that?). The tin is pretty old and has great graphics on it. I'm going to store twine in it.

I also grabbed a mystery item, I liked the pattern on it and figured it would make a couple of pillows.
It's shaped like a pillow case with a zipper that goes halfway down the back. There are three holes on ones side (the arrows are pointing to the holes).

Can anyone tell me what this is?

Hot Cool Vintage: Weekly Finds 3/25/13

Hey Thrift Collective!  It's been a while since I posted here so I thought I would share this weeks finds with you.

Re-blogged from Hot Cool Vintage.

Even though there were a bevy of estate sales to choose from this weekend I was not planning on a big Saturday run.  One sale had some beautiful Harris Strong pieces, which I knew were going to be priced out of my range but I went to preview them on Friday anyway.  While there I found a few pieces that I wanted so I planned on going Saturday morning.  Since I have changed my internal clock and can't sleep in on Saturdays anymore I went to the sale early to get a number.  After getting my number I noticed a rummage sale was being set up.  They were not open yet but I did spot an American Girl Doll horse that my daughter would love.  Ran home, kissed my kids & husband, and went back out to the rummage sale.  Got the horse, it was meant to be, and then found one of my very best finds!

First up, estate sale pics....

Another scan globe!  This one will be for sale since my son now has enough and my daughter wants horses not globes.  Dansk enamel bowl and Dansk teak cutting board.  The spar slicer came from a garage sale.  At the rummage sale I found....

... A Coach bag in really good condition, Boda glass Santa tea light holder and Reindeer ornament.  Teak salt and pepper.  Anyone know if they have a name?  I know I've seen them around.

This is already on my wall even though it needs to be re-framed.  It's signed and I'm hoping someone out there might know more about the artist.  

I believe the signature is Bodil Hagbrink.  Who may be a Swedish author/illustrator/artist.  I could not find any examples of his work though.  Is anyone familiar with this artist/signature?  

This is the title.  It looks to me like "Tim Larson (something) Neil 65/66".  Anyone?  As you can see the mat is in terrible condition but the print seems to be find.  My bestie and her boys will be in town this week so it will have to wait another week or so before I can re-frame it.

And now....... I picked this guy up, turned him over and got that rush.  You know that feeling right?  The one that makes your toes tingle, your stomach flip and your brain sort of explodes all at once.   

Thirfting.  The gateway drug to hoarding.

Meet Mr. Hedgehog (though I thought he was a porcupine) by Lisa Larson.  There were only 2200 of them made as a benefit for the WWF.  I seriously love him.  He's definitely gonna be tough to part with.    

Oh my gosh!! Almost forgot to add this one last find!  I was meeting my husband and got to his office early.  I hit a thrift which I usually avoid because the prices are completely insane.  For example, I found a small blue arabia cat pitcher.  Yay!  Asking price?  $65!!  Um, no thank you.  I know why they ask those prices but the "nice" cabinet has many pieces collecting dust, which does not seem to be doing anyone any good.  Anyway, tucked away I found this...

I've always loved the lines on this Digsmed cast iron and enamel fondue pot.  It seem as current today as it was in the 60's when it was made.

Any faves?  Let me know in the comments below.

Love & Arrow

I have a secret to tell you. I've been working behind the scenes, planning, preparing and crafting. I've been gearing up to launch a new shop and TODAY is the day!

Living in California, my adopted home state, has given me a love for the desert, brass, cowboys, primitive art and all things simple and rustic. I've been doing some leather crafting and curating of vintage objects and I'm ready to share it all with you.

Come and take a look at Love & Arrow on Etsy, Check it out on Instagram, Like it on Facebook, come chat on Twitter and for extra credit follow on Tumblr.

Thrift Crawl 2013: "This is F$%#n Awesome"

Well, not really that awesome... I don't know if it's that song, or the economy or what, but I remembered why I don't like to go thrifting on Saturdays. The stores were packed and pretty picked over.

It wasn't all bad though- hitting 7 stores in 6 hours over 65 miles is never going to be a total bust. :)

(The back story: every year around my birthday (March 1) I take a whole day and do nothing but shop thrift stores. I try to go to ones I don't normally get to, so it's kind of an event. In general,  don't need any more "stuff"/gifts (though I did get a neat-o espresso machine from my parents, which I love) so all I ask for is a day "off" from being a mom and go out on the road for the whole day. I call it my annual Thrift Crawl, and try to get to as many stores in a day as I can.)

This year, I had a few things on my want list- Pyrex, which is my latest obsession, vintage clothing, camp blankets, and anything vintage/industrial. I was successful in almost all the categories, except the vintage clothing. The stores I went to seem to have an incredibly high turnover- there was a lot of empty space on the racks/shelves, so I imagine anything vintage gets snapped up immediately. That's OK, though, I have tons of it in storage- I probably have less than half of my current inventory listed in my Etsy shop. (And, as always, I will remind blog readers that you are all eligible for 20% off your purchase with coupon code PIT20OFF.)

I was a bit disappointed in the Pyrex selection- collecting it must be getting really popular, because I hardly even saw any. Most of my haul came from a single store- apparently the others were picked over before I got there. I did see a fair amount of Fire King (even some Peach Lustre and Gay Fad, which were really tempting, but the condition wasn't perfect so I passed) and the ubiquitous Glasbake.

I didn't see any Pyrex (with the exception of a badly dishwashered red 501 fridgie) until my fourth stop. It took some digging, but I unearthed this Federal Eagle mug. The condition isn't perfect, but I love mugs and have never seen this one before, so it came home with me.

Finally at my 6th stop I found some good stuff. A Butterfly Gold butter dish for $2.50- mint condition. I initially thought I might sell or trade it, but now I'm thinking I might try to collect all the butter dishes. I knew that I would find a butter dish after I went out and bought one (Butterprint) on eBay a couple weeks ago! Well, I'm not complaining- only wishing I had bought the Old Towne butter dish I passed up a couple months ago.

I also found these cute red casseroles- they are so tiny- 10 oz! I posed them next to the butter dish, because they are almost the same size. They'll be perfect for individual servings of broiled seafood and the like, if I can bring myself to use them- except for a few scratches from storage they look like they've never been used.

These footed bowls are Fire King. I wouldn't have bought them individually, but as a group I really like the colors. For only 50 cents each, they are mine. I'm guessing there was at least one more, probably red or brown, at one time to make the set.

This is the first Tiki mug I've found in a couple of years. I have a decent size collection, but acquired most of them a while ago. This rum barrel is from the Kona Kai, Philadelphia's only Tiki bar of note. Check out the following photo- wish I had could have gone there!

This is an old tin from the 30s. Judging by the label on the bottom and the great sports-theme graphics, I think it was for deodorant. I hesitated because the price was $1.50, and for something like this it seemed high. But I'm glad I got it just for the graphics, and I think it will be the perfect size for hair pins on my dresser- definitely an upgrade from the old mug they live in now.

This is quickly becoming my favorite find. It's a ceramic owl TV lamp. You can see how the light comes through the holes in the body, and the eyes also glow. It was only priced at $3.50, which is really low for the store I was in, and for TV lamps in general. When I took it up to the register the girl there said she had just put it out- right time, right place for me!

Not shown are another camp blanket- a newer, mostly acrylic version of the pink one I picked up a while back, and an industrial office in/out letter rack, which is pretty cool looking and I will have to take a photo of  another time. All in all, it was a fun day!

Thrift Haul: Mod Finds, Tiki Treasures, Clown Surprise, and More!

I hit up an Estate Sale for the first time in months recently! Combine that with some carefully selected antique mall and thrift store scores for some beautiful vintage that was too fun to photograph, arrange the house, and play with.

My kitchen item fetish was satisfied with these two pieces. The radish spoon rest and gorgeous tile go together perfectly. That food still life with a fish, cherries, boiled egg, onion, and beer stein is so appealing! ---> On Etsy

This pair of beautiful blue fire king mugs already has the most favorites out of the over 300 items in my Etsy shop. I've been using them every day for tea! They're beautiful stacked on the kitchen counter, or hanging out with my tiny gundam toy! ---> On Etsy

Something about these little figures called out to me. Not what I'd usually buy, but I have some fun plans for them, I especially love the lion and the white zebra.

And this illustration on thin wood, beautiful! It's a low carved relief with nice soft yellow/white/black/red color combination. So perfect for a study! It's hanging out on Etsy, I'd sell it for $15.00 on the blog. --> On Etsy

And I like mini-anything and was happy to discover this lighter shaped like Winston Filters cigarettes  I'm selling it for $5 if anyone's interested.

These clown art prints by Dianne Dengel are colorful and expressive...and just bit a little bit creepy for the clown-phobic among us! They're attached to one long sheet.

What do you think, should I sell it that way or cut the pages and frame them individually?

Next we have this nifty gold nautical lighter sporting a ship's steering wheel. Selling it for $7 to anyone who's interested. It would make a sweet gift to a former sailor or just any boat lover. If you don't smoke, use it to light candles and incense like me ;) I use a bar-b-q lighter that's far less stylish!

I fell in love with this tiki-style mid century modern tray when I saw it near my booth at Southern Crossing Antique Mall. It's perfect for arranging still lives, serving people, and holding booze on your groovy tiki bar! ---> On Etsy

LIKE IT? BUY IT: Every find in the post is for sale! Send me an e-mail if you want to buy something. Check out more thrift hauls over at Thrift Core.

So tell me...what have you found at the thrifts lately?

Spring Ready President's Day Thrifti Haul

I love Savers! Wait, I don’t think some of you heard me

I LOVE SAVERS!

Now that’s better. Savers was the only thrift store that offered 50% off on Sunday before President’s Day! Take that all the rest. Well of course you had to have the club card, but it’s free to sign up for one, and you all should go do it!

So here is all I got:

Chico’s Jacket Size 0 – $6

Chico’s top size 2 – $4

NY & Co Top Size S – $3

Nine West Vintage America top Size M- $4

B’leev cardigan – $3

X2 Skinny Jeans Size 1 – $7.50

I have to admit, I did stop by Goodwill last Saturday, and got an amazing semi-precious stone necklace and a curtain! Curtain? Yes, I have a refashion coming up featuring that curtain  So stay tuned!

And don’t forget to enter my Giveaway! I have also joined Smashion, and Etsy profile is coming in the nearest future as well! Don’t miss out on all of the Being Zhenya updates, stay connected via Facebook and Twitter!

Cheers,

Z