Heaps of vintage junk

Oh this has been a busy bargain junkin time for me. I have had a ton of fun lately. Between yard sales and thrift stores I thought I would be too tired for anything else, but oh no, I have discovered our local auction house!!!!! I have so much to show you at a future time when I have time to photograph. but for now I will just show you a little of what I have thrifted in the last couple weeks....

I guess I'll start off with the pretty glassware above. I found all of these at the GW for about 50 cents each, except the boot which was a whopping 99 cents. Pretty aren't they? I believe the pilsner is a vintage possibly depression era Anchor Hocking. The little cordial glass has needle etching on it. All are pretty and their sparkle makes me smile. The boot is darling but I can't seem to find the right place for it. ugh. I wasn't about to leave that pretty boot in that dirty thrift store :)



















The quail (that might not be what they are, but that's what I call them) above are unpainted ceramic. I think I paid 79 cents each. The little chick I paired with them was 25 cents and he is lovely, shiny and iridescent.















I also found this very shabby landscape scene at the Salvation Army for I think 59 cents, with the heavy mirrored frame. It's a little bitty thing. Don't know where I'll hang it up yet. ugh



















Then at the Habitat Store I found this trivet with stunning cut glass and silver overlay. The picture does NOT do this piece justice. It's sooooo very beautiful. I wish I knew how old it is. Unmarked stuff makes me a bit crazy



















This sad lil bird sat at the Habitat store waiting for me to take him home for a few weeks. I finally did the right thing and took him home and he has charmed me. I named him Leopold and am not sure why, but he needed a name and that's what I decided he wanted to be. How did I not notice how pretty he is the first 3 or 4 times I left him in that dirty store. He has forgiven me though :)

I am soooo tempted to take off his badly chipping paint, to show off his lovely crazing, but alas I can't do that to him. Isn't he lovely? I have no idea what kind of bird he is, do you?



















I had to work out of town and went to a lil flea market I had googled. I was expecting a normal size flea, but this had roughly 6 booths. I saw these adorable atomizers staring at me from one lady's shelf. The lady asked if I noticed that each one had a broken eyelash. I told her I had and that I didn't mind provided the price was right. She said $3 for both, I said, "sold!" They are soooo cute. They remind me of Betty Davis. They have this mark on the bottom.














I bought this clock at the Salvation Army for 99 cents. It's so much prettier than it looks in the picture. I now have an official collection of vintage clocks. I soooo swore I wouldn't have another collection. Who am I kidding?














Recently I explored some thrift stores that are a lil further out than I am used to. I also hit my first estate sale ever on a whim when I saw the sign. my trip was not in vain.







































The rusty scale was from the St Vincent de Paul thrift, it was $5. Which is more than I would normally pay for anything, but look at that beauty! The shoes I got at the estate sale, along with a silk baby bonnet and some crochet baby clothes for 50 cents!!! Yipee!

Then I was on to the yard sales, oh the yard sales were heavenly...

I found these unmarked shelf brackets type thingees that I lurved! They have mermaids on them :) They were a whopping $2 for both! They were screwed to this horribly water damaged particle board monstrosity. I had to free them of that eyesore promptly upon getting them home. Well truth be told Mr. Nifty was put to the task. I had to rest my feet. The yard sales had tired them out. :)





























This same guy also sold me this beauty for $3...I love her sooooo much! Dare I say it, I almost have another collection :)



















The sad part is, this is only a small portion of my haul from the last few weeks. Just wait til I show you the stuff from the auction. One giant box of vintage linens is just one of the items. I had a blast. Anyhow...that's it for now. I have to get to bed.

-Wishing everyone the very niftiest thriftiest finds and as always Brightest Blessings-
Karina

PS...
I am once again joining up with Suzanne aka Coloradolady for Vintage Thingies Thursdays. and Leigh aka Tales from Bloggeritaville for Thrifty Thursdays. Please go have a look at the posts. So much eye candy!

Thrifting for Made in China - gasp

Generally, when thrifting, garage saling, or otherwise junking if I see "MADE IN CHINA" I set it back down like it's a hot potato.

Now mind you, I have absolutely nothing against the Chinese people or anything, it's nothing personal. But if I wanted to stock up on Chinese ware I could shop the vast abyss that is my local Walmart. (I avoid Walmart like the plague) I do love me some things made in Germany, West Germany, England, Poland, Czechoslovakia , Japan and of course the great ol' U S of A.

I recently attended a decent yard sale in a very dark storage unit of some sort. It was cold, wet and had something for everyone. I had a few boxes of stuff already stacked and ready to be paid for. When suddenly, in spite of my preconceived notions and general aversion, I spotted her...

She was so pretty and proud sitting atop of box of vinyl binders.












I moved in and almost knocked a few people down to get to her. The man perusing the binders seemed a little quizzical when I picked her up and asked how much? $1.00 was the reply and the yard sale lady seemed ready for a haggle. SOLD.












I was willing to get past the sordid tattoo on her rump. It might say "MADE IN CHINA" but it says it with style. Isn't that a pretty mark? Frankly, I've never seen a mark like it and she is obviously not new. She has been aged perfectly for me :) What about you, ever seen that mark before?
I just lurve her.












The Salvation Army has been very kind to me lately. You ever see something you know is meant to come home with you? You like it, but don't buy it for whatever reason.

This cast iron ladle, wall pocket whatnot had been moved all over the store. Every time I stopped in, there she was looking all chippy pretty in some new dusty corner of the store. Mind you, I generally go every other day. I usually only have a few dollars and that thrift store only takes cash, so there always seemed to be something I wanted more than the giant ladle. Then came the day that I found nothing at all. The store was picked clean, but there she was sitting on top of shoes this time. I paid the whopping $1.99 and now she is at home waiting for a pretty place to hang. I have no idea what I'm gonna do with the ol' gal, but I think she's glad she was rescued.

I'll end it with a few white pretties I found too. There is this small candle holder. It holds those lil 1/2" candles. The candle holder was 50 cents and the small pack of candles I found the next day was $2.00. Ironic.

The lil bud vase lives in my daughter's room. It's heavy cut glass and sparkles far more than the pictures tell. For $1.00 she made my daughter very happy. It will look lovely once we have some Spring flowers to put in :)

Today, I am once again joining up with Suzanne aka Coloradolady for Vintage Thingies Thursdays and Leigh aka Tales from Bloggeritaville for Thrifty Thursday. Their parties are diving, please go have a look at the posts. So much eye candy!

their buttons are also on my sidebar.

-brightest blessings-

Karina

Thrifty treasures that live in my daughter's room

Well, I've always had a dilemma about some of my finds. I like everything and am drawn to the rusty industrial as well as the feminine. This sometimes creates a lil issue with Mr. Nifty who doesn't want the house covered in pink spaghetti trimmed figurines.

Anyhow...my solution is, when something is deemed too girlie or I can't find just the right fit elsewhere I simply go off and decorate my daughter's room. Having a 5 year old daughter is fantastic for decorating. She likes what I like and she voices no concerns about "our" newest treasures. I keep anything fragile on shelves out of her reach, so I needn't worry about her breaking something I love...oops I mean hurting herself.

She loves boxes of any sort, and I have to watch out because she fills them with the strangest things: rocks, dirt, acorns, stickers, etc.

Here are some of the niftiest recent thrifting finds that ended up in there :)

She had been wanting another jewelry box and I lurved this one when I found it at the Habitat store, the music box still worked :) It's all grungy and girlie all in one, just like my lil one :)

On the same trip I spied this lil box (about 5") hiding among a pile of modern cookie and popcorn tins.

That ribbon was calling my name. I put it among my things to pay for.
(Ever feel you have to hide a particular treasure among your purchases, certain that if they really pay attention to what you are buying they'll realize what a steal it is? Am I the only paranoid one?)

Turns out Richard Hudnut was the first important American perfumer or something like that. Some of his perfume bottles and even boxes are highly collectible. This one is made just like a tiny oval hatbox. I can't find this box anywhere, so I don't know how old it is, but it's so pretty :) Just look at that bow and pink satin lining. Wish I knew what 3oz toiletry it housed.

Same store, found this made in West Germany music jewelry box. Top is silver plate and the bottom lead crystal. ( I only know this because I found an auction page where they sold the same one and described her, they said she was from the 50's too :)
I paid 50 cents for her.

This is probably why she was 50 cents...she looks like got punched in the face a few times, plus her silver plate is rubbed off. The artistry fell a lil short in the face design, especially compared to the rest of the box and WTH is up with the disco ball ?

Then there is the wall decor in my lil one's room... A batch of vintage plastic pictures in their very elegant plastic frames :)

The next one is a nice large one that originally held a picture of a baby in it. I eyed it at Goodwill for a couple days before buying it. The antique photo of the baby inside (sorry not pictured) is adorable, but when I opened up the frame looking for any names on the back of the baby, I instead found this lovely ink sketch copy someone named Emma did of the famous Gibson Girl picture. My daughter chose that one to display in her room. So now Emma's pretty drawing is no longer hidden behind the mystery baby and my lil one enjoys looking at her.

Lastly is a recent and expensive to me find. By expensive I mean I paid 5.00 for a book that is literally falling apart. I couldn't resist buying it. It's a book by Tennyson from 1898 titled Violets. It was given in much the same way we give greeting cards today. This one was personalized, but I can't understand the handwriting.

It has a short poem for every day of the month and every single page has illustrated violets. Why could I not resist this pretty lil book? My daughter's name is Violet. She is named after my beloved late Grandma who had the Spanish version of the name: Violeta. It's a delightful lil book and even more special to me because it is so fragile.

I guess that's it for today.

Today I am joining up with the Suzanne aka Coloradolady for Vintage Thingies Thursdays and also with Leigh aka Tales from Bloggeritaville for Thrifty Thursday. I'd like to thank them both for hosting such lovely parties!!! Their buttons are on my sidebar too.

Please go see all the wonderful thrifty vintage finds at both parties.
-brightest blessings-
Karina

Vintage Tennis Trophy

A few months ago at my favorite lil thrift store I spied this silver-plated footed trophy. I actually didn't buy it right away because it was 4.99 and I wasn't sure about it. I am generally not a big spender on my treasures. lol obviously.

It waited for me a whole week until I decided it was meant to be mine. Deep down I knew it wanted to come home with me. How sad that someone won this tennis trophy back in 1972 and now it sat tarnished, scratched and unloved in the thrift store. But alas it is mine now.

It's a rather large heavy piece. It now occupies the place of honor on my lil silver shelf. I wonder who it originally belonged to? I tried looking up the tennis event but found nothing :( This piece for now will keep his history to himself, at least until I can find out more...




























This week I am participating in Second Time Around Tuesday hosted by Dianne at A Picture Is Worth A 1000 Words. So head on over and join the fun, there is wonderful eye candy to be seen and enjoyed.









-brightest blessings-
Karina

I won a fabulous giveaway

I won my first giveaway!!!! It's beautiful and I have the Tin Rabbit to thank for it. Yesterday I was contending with my 7 year old's case of strep throat and my 5 years old's killer ear infection. I was on no sleep and frankly quite a bit grumpy when the doorbell rings and my kindly postal lady gave me the most lovely box. I have never seen such a lovely mailing label on a box.

It cheered me up and even my lil ones who were miserable had fun helping me open up the goodies. She went all out on my prize. I was so touched by her care in packaging. Everything was scented too :) It was a feast for the senses. Oh and she sent chocolate, but there are no pics of those. I sorta ate those right away :)

I apologize in advance for taking horrible pictures, with work and sick kids it's really hard to get pictures in the beautiful morning light. The pictures do not in any way do them any justice. She sent 5 of her glorious beautiful handmade roses and a beautiful handmade victorian candy box. She is beyond talented! Her attention to detail is incredible. I wish I had that kinda talent.

I haven't found the perfect spot yet so I sorta put some stuff together for a quick photo session. Please go to her blog and check out her stuff. She is an inspiration and I am so grateful for her generosity. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart. It made a tired and grumpy mom very happy!






















As always - brightest blessings to everyone and of course to my friend Tin Rabbit -

Vintage yard sale stash plus a WTH item

Well I mentioned the yard sale that consoled me from my auction loss. I almost didn't stop, as it did not look at all promising, plus it was about 4:00 so I imagined there wasn't much left. But stop I did. Everything was nicely arranged on a few tables and you would think her prices would be high, BUT the yard sale gods were kind and she was dirt cheap. She said she was cleaning out her cluttered house and had a lot of her late mom's stuff to dispose of. She had inherited a lot and was parting with the stuff that she was not attached to.

I cleaned her out of linens and took a huge chunk of her costume jewelry. I have never been into jewelry but these were grand.

I think these are all cocktail napkins, but maybe they are hankies. How does one tell the difference? I do know they are divine and appear unused! I did read that cocktail napkins often have roosters on em, as folks found it quite witty to have "cock" tail napkins. Am I the only immature one who smirks at that?

The rooster napkins are a set of 6 I think, I paid 50 cents.









The cherry napkins said set of six, but once I got them home realized there were 8, and also got em for 50 cents. They are so thin and delicate. The cross stitch napkin set was, yep you guessed it...50 cents. It's a very thin material, but stiffer.
























The lacy one is a pillow cover. Isn't the color nifty?












I got a set of these three doilies too and a couple of embroidered ornaments and a few doilies that were 25 cents each.





















I saw these two lil figurines at the center of the table and when I looked at em, she explained that they were pie funnels or pie birds. She explained that they provide ventilation whilst baking a pie. I used to bake a great deal and though I had never heard of them, I had to have em. These were made in England. I've now realized they were quite a steal at 50 cents each :)









Then I saw yet another silverplate tray to add to my collection :) Can you ever have enough of these? You can still see the price on this beauty. Cheaper than my local thrifts where they are asking between 4 and 10 generally.












Then I spotted my favorite of all thrifty stuff that day...the vintage though unfinished child's Christmas apron. It was the brightest happiest thing I'd seen all day. I needed some Christmas cheer. I don't care that it's February. I swear this would have made the yard sale rock even without all the other niftyness. Plus it too was 50 cents, see a pattern yet? :)












check out the tushy :)












Then I was on to the jewelry. She had her jewelry marked at 50 cents a set. 50 cents is such a fabulous price isn't it? Here are the ones I picked out :) Pretty aren't they? I assure you the picture does not do the pieces justice! The green stone ones on the bottom left are Trifari. There is also a Vendome set on the top row. I LOVE the sterling mongrammed ones. Can't make out the letters well, but who cares. I never saw a monogram I didn't love. These were almost all in perfect condition.









This set was just delicious in all her lavender glory. They are unmarked. I think they look like fireflies.









This brooch is the only one with damage, but she was beautiful and couldn't resist her. It's missing a couple rhinestones and the bottom piece is attached with a string. The back is marked Hollycraft copr 1957.









Wouldn't you agree that this was a fantastic little yard sale? Oh I picked up two unbuilt car models for Mr. Nifty too, they were a whopping $3 each but they were from the 50's and would look great in his collection. Those models meant I wouldn't get a lecture about bringing home more stuff. :) or as he calls it: junk.

I would have taken a picture of them, BUT they were quickly taken to the Mr. Nifty's lair, the garage.

Now on to my WTH mystery find at the yard sale. These were 50 cents each and I bought both. They are round as you can see and they sorta look like a sand dollar because of the little loops in the center. Those are loops not embroidery. They have very delicate ric rack edges, and they have what look like pockets or dividers that go all the way around. What could this possibly be used for? Any ideas??????? The yard sale lady said they were doilies, but I really doubt that. Why would they be so complex then? They seem utilitarian more than decorative. Input would be most appreciated as this is making me nuts not knowing. I have a habit of researching everything that comes home with me and this is my newest mystery. anyone care to tell me WTH it is?





















Today, I have joined up with:
Vintage Thingies Thursdays with the very kind Suzanne aka Coloradolady.
And in the same vein I joined Leigh's party at Tales from Bloggeritaville for Thrifty Thursday.

There are fantastic things to see at both. I have included their buttons below and in my sidebar. I love seeing everyone's treasures. Please go and enjoy the finds at Vintage Thingies Thursdays.


















-brightest blessings-
Karina