Soldered Santas, a beaded bouquet and crafty links

A few weeks ago I had an opportunity to make some ornaments for a few lovely friends and wanted to show you what I came up with because I'm pretty thrilled about how they turned out! I knew that I wanted to try soldering again--I'm determined to get good at it, by golly. I rummaged around in my supplies and found a few scraps of one of my all-time favorite scrapbooking papers, some metal Making Memories snowflakes, and the cool Tim Holtz tags I bought in Phoenix at Mystic Paper. I soldered a jump ring on the top to hold the ornament hanger and also on the bottom, where I hung a pretty iridescent bead taken from a vintage earring. I tied on a bit of matching red seam binding and tucked them into organza bags. I love how they look and hope the recipients like them too! I definitely feel a bit more confident in my soldering abilities now as well.

Along with the vintage glass bead garland yesterday, another vintage Christmas item I always look for when thrifting or antiquing is glass bead picks. I covet them so very much, but for me they have been just about impossible to find locally and they are pretty pricy on eBay--I guess I'm not the only one out there who loves them! When I walked into my favorite local store, Patina this was the first thing I saw and truly, it was love at first sight:I've never seen anything like this and I probably never will, as it was handmade. It's a bouquet made of all different shapes, sizes and colors of mercury glass beaded picks, tinsel, and vintage glass ball picks. Oh, it is glorious! I love it so, so much (like everything else I've ever bought at Patina) and I'm not sure I'll be able to bear to pack it away after Christmas--it might have to stay out for a while so I can look at it more!

Looking for something cute, vintage-style and crafty to do with the kids? How about these darling little snowman scenes from Holly Doodle Designs or these neat vintage-inspired chenille candy canes from Jerusalem, via Vintage Indie.

Tonight Maren and I are going to make snowman hat cookies for her preschool class party in the morning. We're going to use the instructions for Pilgrim hats but forego the yellow buckles for something a bit more wintry. If they turn out hopefully I'll have a picture for you tomorrow!

The most wonderful time at the thrift store redux and a Christmas catalog link

Still loving the great vintage pickins' at the thrift stores now that all the Christmas stuff is out! I made a stop at the thrift last Thursday while Maren was in school and was rewarded with these beauties.
They were stuffed in a bag with some other ugly (new) beaded garland but when I flipped the bag over and saw these I think I might have gasped out loud! This might be just the prettiest vintage glass bead garland I've ever seen and certainly the most elaborate in my small collection. Wow! What a treasure.
Vintage glass bead garland is one of my Holy Grails of thrifting. I find it so rarely that every strand I've managed to turn up is absolutely precious to me and I hoard it jealously. The problem is that I don't have a good way to display it--it doesn't work on my tree and when piled in a bowl or on a cake plate it just looks like sparkly spaghetti. I've seen so many neat handmade items embellished with these glass beads that I'm trying hard to get over my hoarding tendency and my fear of actually *using* it. I'm trying to remember that I'd get a lot more enjoyment out of the garlands if I used them (even if that requires cutting them apart) as right now they're just tucked in a plastic tote out of sight. I did manage to unstring a few beads from one to use on a project I'm working on right now. Baby steps!

If you still have time to waste after yesterday's Betamaxmas link, how about checking out this very cool online compendium of old Christmas catalogs? The earliest is from 1940 and the most recent is 1988. I've been loving the 1986 Sears catalog..I was 8 that year and I've already found several of the toys that I remember hoping Santa would bring. Just the Barbie pages alone have me squealing!

Window frame card display project

A few months ago my sweet dad helped me hang an old flea-market-find window on my wall, and I've been patiently waiting for inspiration to strike so that I'd know how to embellish it. The other night I was looking through some ideas I'd torn out of magazines a while ago and found it--my inspiration! Within about 30 minutes I'd collected all the supplies, put it together and was admiring the finished product! I rarely finish a project that quick (or at all..ha) so it was particularly gratifying.

Here's the inspiration:
This was torn out of a BH&G Holiday Decorating special magazine from 2003.

Here's my frame:I used double-sided tape to attach the ribbons to the top and bottom of the frame. I used a small square of the same tape to attach the cards to the ribbon--there may be a better way to do this but I wanted to get it done.
The greeting cards are all thrifted. The round card on the bottom left is gorgeous--all lovely Victorian embossing and soft green velvet ribbon (that was from an antique store and was more than I usually pay for cards but it's just beautiful!). The round item on the bottom right is an old coaster, and the two Santas in the middle are vintage die cut decorations. On the top of the frame I have three vintage bottlebrush wreaths I found at a thrift last month. Two of them needed new ornaments but that was easily remedied with tacky glue and a few items from my collection. I had been looking for a way to display them and this was just perfect!

There's so much Christmas goodness out there in blogland right now that I'm almost overwhelmed! If you're a fan of the Barenaked Ladies, here's a link to a fun interview with Ed and a free download of the boys singing a very funny version of "Jingle Bells". (PS--if anyone knows how to permanently download that to your computer, will you leave a comment? I'm stupid when it comes to stuff like that).

It's the most wonderful time of the year...at the thrift store!

It's 7:03 am and the house is so blessedly quiet! It snowed last night so school is delayed an hour today, meaning that Maren will only be there for 1 hour and 30 minutes and honestly, I'm half inclined to just keep her home altogether so we don't have to go out in the snow and cold. We'll see, I still have a bit before I have to decide.

This most certainly is the most wonderful time of the year at the thrift store for anyone who loves vintage Christmas (and wants to buy it cheap) like I do! All of the thrifts around here keep their Christmas decor in storage until sometime in November and then I become like a woman possessed, just thinking about all the vintage *goodies* that might be lurking unassumingly between the bags of tangled Christmas lights and ugly candle holders. Last week I heard the thrift calling and although the day was snowy and I only had a few minutes to pop in, I was rewarded with treasures!
These went straight on the tree. My favorites are the ones with pale green and pink stripes and sparkly old glitter. I do profess a certain secret love for the ornaments made of styrofoam and sequins as well...I gotta have my sparkle, and I've never met a sequin I didn't like!These were also waiting for me back in the craft section. I can always tell when they've had a donation of someone's old sewing supplies because they have several bags full of vintage goodies at once (the rest of the time it's bags of old zippers and that horrible 'craft' ribbon from the 1980s). Those are my favorite times! I love the button cards with the lovely ladies in the minty pastel colors.

I'm still not quite finished with my decorating. Yes, I've been at this for over a week now but in my defense, I did have a couple of days this past weekend where I was gone and unable to get anything done. I think it's taking so long this year because I've been making a bunch of new items--fun stuff and I'm loving the process, but it does take time. I do have a deadline--my folks are coming on Thursday, and I want everything to be pretty for them. Deadlines are a good thing for me!

I'll leave you with one of my favorite non-traditional Christmas songs that seems pretty appropriate for my world this morning. Oh, and the video is lame-o (just a collection of still photos) so minimize the window and just listen to the pretty music. :)

My suitcase is packed and ready to go--I'm off for our third annual Girls' Weekend! I'm happy to be flying down to much warmer weather in Phoenix. What fun we will have! We're planning on doing a bit of soldering in the hotel room, but I've made sure to pack my heat-resistant mat so we aren't burning holes in the furniture.

I'm ashamed to report that the Halloween decorations are still up, every last one. All that time I should have been stowing away bats and pumpkins was spent stocking my etsy shop, The Merry Magpie, with goodies for you! There are some fun vintage Christmas things in there already, and when I return I have even more pretties waiting to be uploaded!

Last weekend I happened upon a great garage sale, held by a woman who was getting out of the antiques business. She had great stuff and it was priced to move--a winning combination for me! I think I was there for 45 minutes looking at things, although much of that was spent trying to herd Maren away from the breakables. I ended up with a few treasures, including this beautiful vintage magnolia print for just $7.00.
Living in Savannah gave me a soft spot for magnolias and I adore the soft pinks and greens of this print. I even have the perfect place to hang it!

See you on Monday--have a great weekend!

Making me happy today...

Just a few things I'm loving today...


The old jointed yard stick I shaped into a star. I've been looking for one of these in my thrifting travels for years with NO luck! I finally found one for a great price in an antique store in Utah. Years ago I saw one in a Pottery Barn catalog that had been shaped into a crown; maybe that's next when I'm tired of the star.

This (thrifted) shocking pink flower brooch. Wore it on my jacket on Sunday and it made me happy all day! It is very thick bent plastic and I love the light and dark pink striations. I haven't seen one like it before and I'm glad it came to live with me.

My beloved new bench, spruced up for autumn. The garage sale acorns from the other day are in a garage sale wooden bowl--if I turn them just right you can't see the broken one! LOL The beautiful gourd is from my dad's garden and the berry wreath was purchased 90% off last year after Halloween.

What is making you happy today?

Tick Tock, A New Red Clock

I was tickled when I found a darling RED vintage-style clock at my local thrift for a mere 80¢! It is a reproduction but I thought it had plenty of charm and would look great in my vintage-style kitchen. Only problem--when I got it home, it didn't work! Even after putting in a good battery, the clock hands failed to move. I determined that the clock mechanism itself was kaput, but I knew that I could buy a replacement at the craft store.

Armed with my trusty 40% off coupon, I headed to JoAnn's but was dismayed to find that a new set of clock works was $7.99. Now, I had a coupon that would make it less expensive, but people--I AM CHEAP! I didn't want to pay 6x more for the mechanism that I did for the darn clock itself!

Enter Plan B--find another cheapo clock at the thrift and harvest its organs...er, mechanism. I've searched unsuccessfully a few times now but today I found it! A boring, cheapo clock also priced at the magical 80¢. I didn't have a battery with me to make sure it worked and that thrift store doesn't accept returns, but for that price I was willing to take the gamble. I may be cheap, but I'm not crazy!

I didn't think to take a photo of the "donor" clock, but just imagine your garden-variety plastic, few bucks at Wal-Mart type of clock. I used a butter knife to pop off the plastic dome, unscrewed the hands and removed the little black box. Threaded it through the hole on the red clock, reattached the hands and the glass dome and hurrah--it worked! I did have to fiddle with the hands a bit to make sure they were seated correctly but it's keeping time like a champ now.


Now to hang it and enjoy!

Benched

I'm taking a break from packing for the week-long trip we depart upon tomorrow to show you my favorite garage sale find from the weekend. A goodly portion of the items at this woman's sale would definitely fall in the "shabby chic" category--just the kind of sale I like to find, but rarely do! I asked the woman if she was changing her decor and she laughed and said that she was just weeding out her collection. She had some pretty neat things for sale (and for very reasonable prices) so I'm guessing what she kept was fabulous! She laughed and said that sometimes divorce is not such a bad thing--then there's no one in the house to complain when you've decorated everything with pink, flowers and chandelier crystals!

I've been looking for an old garden bench just like this one, so I snapped it up without a second thought. It looks like it was kept outside because there's a bit of water staining on the top, but I can easily cover that. It sits just inside my front door, right beneath a mirror that looks like a window pane. I can't wait to decorate it for the seasons! First up will be a big pile of gourds and leaves, I do believe. I am looking so forward to decorating for autumn.

The only tricky part is that it's right at the height of a certain curious 3-year-old, so whatever I use to decorate will have to be extra sturdy. When I first brought the bench in I was so excited that I temporarily lost my mind and adorned it with my treasured aqua Bauer bowl. When I found the bowl full of rocks from the backyard I snapped to my senses and put it back up on top of the china cabinet where it is safe! Gourds are tough little things, thank goodness.

And now it's back to the suitcases!

Good Junk

My blog absence last week was partly due to the fact that I went down to Southern Colorado to visit family for a few days. I've mentioned before what a great place it is for small-town thrifting, and once again it didn't disappoint. On my way out of town I hit a great garage sale! Here is what I bought:

The old dictionary is to cannibalize for art projects. I have no idea why I bought the red book with the lady but I think I can use it for display (apparently Rebecca and I have a similar affliction). The book on the right is most interesting. Here's what it looks like inside:

Beautiful, spidery copperplate handwriting! It is a very old composition book that the owner used as a place to copy poems. Each poem is dated at the bottom and at first I thought it was the date the poem was written, but upon further investigation I believe it's the date that the poem was copied into the book. Let's see a close-up of this particular poem's date:

Yup, that says 1882, folks! I think this definitely qualifies for the oldest thing I've found while thrifting. I love it! I can't wait to use the pages in my projects.

Next was a whole bagful of old hankies. I spent a relaxing afternoon earlier this week ironing each and every one. Hankies are the ideal thing to iron--no tricky cuffs or plackets to work around, and they're pretty to look at while you're working! Here are a few of my favorites:

And here is my very favorite hankie of the bunch:

Not only is it pink and turquoise, but it's a state souvenir, and it's from Colorado! A trifecta!


I cannot pass up pretty crocheted potholders, especially when they're in such lovely colors and such good condition. The jewelry will be remade, and there's also an old glass knob hiding in there. And would you believe that I once had a big bag full of those vintage Halloween cake picks? I sold it on eBay, and for not even that much money. Whoops! These may find their way into something for the Sweet & Sinister Halloween Swap.

This is a fun little trifle. It's not a hat, but I do believe it was meant to be worn on the head over the hairstyle. I thought maybe I can use it for Halloween somehow, as it does remind me of a spiderweb. If nothing else I can use it for parts. The bows are velvet ribbon and the little crescents are flocked as well.

And one last treasure:

This is a bit odd. It's definitely a veil, as there are small hair combs sewn on the underside but the lace feels very heavy, like it was a curtain panel or a tablecloth in a former life. Generally you expect a veil to have lace or tulle that is very fine and light, so that leads me to believe that this must have been homemade. The trim is vintage with pearl beads and rhinestones and it's gorgeous!

My goodness, I'm glad it's Friday! This has been a long, busy week and I'm worn out. Because The Mister is in the National Guard, they've been staying downtown for the past week to be available in case riots happened during the Democratic National Convention. Thankfully things were much more peaceful than everyone had worried they might be, and we are more than ready for DH to be done with all of that monkey business. We're leaving town next Wednesday for a week and I have a huge project for church to prepare for as it happens right after we get home, so that has me stressed. And I love my kid but she wears me out, so I'm eager for DH to come home and give me a break! Our plans for Labor Day are mostly to relax. Hope you all enjoy your long weekend!

Thank you and Thrift Thursday

Thank you all SO VERY MUCH for the lovely birthday wishes you left! They truly did make my day even happier. :) I had a great birthday, even though our original plans didn't work out. I enjoyed eating a yummy dinner here with my little family, and Maren even acted like a human child (rather than a young chimpanzee) in the restaurant. We made a quick stop by Whole Foods to ogle the desserts and load up a container with Chicken Korma for tonight's dinner, then home for presents and cake & ice cream.

A few of you commented about the Texas Sheet Cake--Pioneer Woman has a version here (with step-by-step instructions) that is very similar to my recipe. In fact, I may try her recipe next time, just to see how it stacks up against mine. I'm definitely going to try her version of the frosting, because for some reason the measurements on my recipe were off and things went a little wonky. And really, I think it's the frosting that really makes this cake the best, so you want it to be perfect.

Because it's so easy and makes so much, this is a great cake to take to a function where you need to feed a whole lotta folks. Or you can just make it for yourself and eat it for breakfast and dessert and every meal in between every day for a week, like I usually do. :) Seriously, we ate plenty last night I sent two big plates-full to work with the Mister this morning and I still have half a cake left. And I'll have you know that it is taking every ounce of self-control I possess to not be in there scarfing it down straight out of the pan right this very second.

I haven't posted anything for Thrift Thursday in a while, but don't let that fool you into thinking I've quit shopping. Ha! Here's a little something I found more than a month ago, but I just now got around to photographing (albeit poorly. Maybe I should have asked for photography lessons for my birthday. sheesh.)

This cutie pie little chair was a mere $3 at the thrift. Actually, it might even have been $2 now that I think about it. Either way, it was ridiculously cheap for such a perfectly pink, delightfully shabby little chair! I wonder if perhaps it might have been a sewing table chair as it's quite small, but not small enough to be for a child. The top has a big crack so I thought it might be homemade, but I flipped it over and there is the manufacturer's stamp. It has been repainted though, and the cotton-candy colored paint is chipping in the most perfect way! I have not one single place in my house to put this and I had sworn off buying orphaned chairs, but for less than the price of a Happy Meal I simply couldn't pass this up! On the same shopping trip I also found the matching pink vintage tablecloth with a gorgeous gold Greek-style motif. Watch out, Sarah! I'm catching up to you--only about 150 more to go! :)

Thrift / trash-picking Thursday

It's Thursday (the day after trash day in my neighborhood) so that can only mean that it's time for another installment of What Heidi Dragged Out of the Trash! And this week's find is:


Two perfectly good plastic faux-Adirondack chairs, with foot rests! I've looked them over and there is absolutely nothing wrong that a good squirt with a hose won't fix. Can you believe these were out in the trash? Yipes. They were at the same house where I scored all the flower pots a few weeks ago. Apparently those are some seriously wasteful people living in that house, eh? I'm going to keep a close eye on their trash in case they decide to throw out any expensive electronics or $100 bills.

My neighbors threw out a ceiling fan and a cute metal window box the same day, both of which I would have rescued if I didn't already have a fan in every room and three such window boxes on my back deck. And two weeks ago I trash-picked a giant roll of brand-new chicken wire, although I didn't photograph it because a picture of chicken wire is just not that interesting. But really, I was psyched to find it because I had been talking to my dad about using chicken wire in my garden just the week before, and now I don't have to buy any! Plus I can use the extra to make one of those cute chicken-wire frames I've been seeing around blogland.

And as it is Thrift Thursday, I thought I'd show a few pics of some recent finds.


The vintage pearls, brown earrings, two Christmas pins and the wing pin were all found at the same sale. I'm completely in love with the Christmas tree pin--it reminds me of the big Czech glass trees that I saw in Omaha last year. This is the new star of my vintage Christmas brooch collection! The pearls are great, though the clasp needs a cleaning. The silver wing pin has me intrigued. It has the letters W A R D and is engraved with an inscription on the back. I can't figure out what it is from, though I've done quite a bit of Googling already. Does it ring a bell for anyone out there in blogland?


And of course, more vintage ornaments and a box in good condition. This morning there was a sale advertised at a senior center in a neighboring town. The ad sounded rather promising and you know about my old people = good vintage junk theory, so Maren and I drove over. I'm afraid it was a bust--tons of stuff, and all I bought was the box on the right and the crystal necklace pictured above. The sale was rather disorganized and a good portion of the items were still in boxes. Normally that doesn't bother me, but the mess combined with tight spaces, a whiny toddler and gale-force winds made it most unpleasant. Oh well, there's always next week!

Thrift Thursday

Oh, your comments on the spider pictures were just hilarious! :) I had an idea those photos might elicit some good stuff, and I was right. A little more info--we were out visiting yard sales on Saturday morning when we came upon a sale run by a couple of tween girls, one of whom had her pet tarantula climbing up her leg. Well, of course we had to go check that out! She said it was a Rosy Tarantula, so named because of the slightly iridescent russet-colored hair all over it. It was actually kind of pretty, if you could get over the fact that it was still a GIANT HAIRY SPIDER. As far as being brave enough to let it traverse my torso, you'll notice that I'm not actually holding it in any of the photos--it was far less creepy to just let it climb than to actually touch it! And although I'm not a huge fan of spiders in general, they are not #1 on my list of Most Hated Creatures; that honor goes squarely to scorpions of any type. You can bet if those girls had a pet scorpion that I'd have screamed and run in the other direction.

Giant arachnids aside, we had a grand time junking on Friday and Saturday and here are a few of my favorite finds.


No matter how many I already have, I just can't resist vintage ornaments! The ones in the back aren't old but they are neat and because of their small size I thought they'd be good for crafting. I love the red one on the right in the front--it has a crown on it! I've been wanting one ever since I saw one like it that Rebecca found. And in front of the crown ornament is my very favorite--a beautifully aged blown-glass toadstool. That one was from an antique shop but well worth the $5 I paid.


The background of this photo is a vintage dogwood tablecloth. When I spread it out for this photo I realized that it's in very poor condition with several large holes and stains, so it will definitely have to be a cutter. Good thing it was less than $1.00! The sandwich bags were a fun find--thanks to my mom for spotting them! The package is unopened. Not sure what I'll do with it yet. The souvenir Utah teacup and yellow Fire King mug were a dime apiece, as were two other mod Pyrex coffee cups that aren't pictured. The salt and pepper shakers still had their antique-booth label on them which said that they are chrome and bakelite. Not sure how they ended up in a thrift but I'm just glad they did!

This little guy is a hard plastic Knickerbocker rattle. My sweet mom gifted him to me--she thought he'd look great in my kitchen with all the Jadeite. I think she's right, don't you?

A few other "finds" from the weekend:


--A tiny baby bunny, found in my grandpa's front yard. Maren loved him!

--Wild asparagus, gathered along roadside ditches. We were a bit late in the season so this was all we could find but it was still fun to look.

Between the junking, the critters and the vegetables, it was a weekend full of discoveries! Wait until you see what else we discovered ;) but that's another post!

I have long had this junking theory that old people have good old junk. Ergo, if you want to have the best chance of finding cool vintage stuff, increase your chances by going to sales run by older folks. My theory has proven itself time and again, so it makes my junkin' heart leap to see a sign advertising a church rummage sale, especially when it's at a long-established church in an older part of town.

I put my theory into action on Friday morning when Maren and I ventured downtown to such an event. This particular church holds a sale in the summer and then again in the fall. I missed the autumn event but still remember the goodies I found at last summer's sale, so gas-prices-be-damned, we packed up and journeyed forth. The way this sale is run is that there is a preview on Thursday night but it costs $5 to get in. Friday is free, and Saturday afternoon is a bag sale. I always wonder what I'm missing on that Thursday night--is it attended solely by dealers, who swoop up and snatch anything good? Sometimes I think I'm better off not knowing what I might have missed.

We got there Friday morning not long after the sale opened. I could tell immediately that attendance was down from last year, since I was able to find a spot in the parking lot. Overall, there was far less merchandise than last year. There were still a ton of clothes, but that's just not what I'm looking for (although I did flick through the coat racks to make sure I wasn't missing any fabulous vintage coats), and they didn't have any children's clothing. Everything else was pretty thin, and since I was early to the sale I don't think it was all bought up before I got there--I think they just didn't have as many donations. The upside--the smaller crowd and emptier space did make it much easier to keep an eye on Maren!

I did find a few things that made the drive and the toddler-wrangling worth it to me.

This great pink Shawnee planter is very similar to an aqua one I bought in Utah at the antique store at the beginning of this month. The pink is so pretty and reminds me of the inside of a conch shell.

To fill the planter, I found:

My old favorite, vintage Christmas ornaments. :) I picked out all the pale green, aqua and pink ornies--about three dozen in all. I was tickled to find the silver tree topper (I may actually have a bowlful by next Christmas!) as well as the smaller red and gold one--which unfortunately Maren dropped, thereby breaking the tip and nearly bringing me to tears. I love how the ornaments look in the planter and I'd absolutely leave them that way if I had a place to display them that was safe from little fingers.

I picked up a few other things--an unused candle, six bricks of floral foam (for 50¢ for the lot I couldn't leave it) a copy of a book that I love, and a big box of random envelopes for a nickel (good because I live with a rampant and unrepentant little envelope thief). Not near as much as last year, but still good stuff and I was happy with my haul.

I'm going away for the weekend. My parents are driving down to southern Colorado to visit my grandparents so I'm going to meet them there and stay for a few days. I'm excited to break up the monotony of 2.5 weeks sans husband, see my parents, and do some small-town junking! We've already got a Saturday-morning garage-saling date and I'm itching to get back to the junk shops.

I'll be back tomorrow with a photo of something crafty I've almost finished. I'll have access to a computer so I'll do the Giveaway drawing this weekend as well and post the winner. You still have time to enter if you haven't done so yet!

Junk, glorious junk

I promised to share what I dragged home from the neighbor's yard sale last weekend.


This darling wool kilt was the only thing I dug out of the giant pile of children's clothing on my lawn. It's a size 4, so I'll put it away for Maren for next year but just look at that little kilt pin! That was definitely worth a quarter. I also bought a neat pair of vintage shoes for $2.00 (eBay-bound because at size 6 they'd fit about half my foot), a tall Haeger aqua vase (not the "good" kind of Haeger, the florist kind but still looks great with my aqua pottery collection) and what I believe to be my very first ever Fenton glass find! I think that is a Silvercrest footed candy dish. I also found this darling brand-new Pottery Barn kids frame (perfect for my Americana displays which will go up just before Flag Day), a book on ukulele songs (bought for eBay but it's a dud), a fun vintage coloring book, a big pile of old seam binding and twill tape, a neat pair of old scissors with very ornate handles (bought as a photo prop for a future project) and a fun old reading book with vintage illustrations that I plan to cut & use in collage.

Quin left on Wednesday for work and will be gone for 2.5 weeks. {sigh} That would explain why when I got home last night at 7:15 p.m. after a very long, busy day in which Maren had no nap, the garage door decided to be broken. Thank you, Mr. Murphy, you big jerk! The back slider door was latched, and the front door was not only deadbolted but the anti-Maren-escape latch at the top was slid to, making my keys useless. After I cried a little, I summoned my Hulk strength and heaved up the garage door just enough so I could get in and unlock the front door. At least it didn't happen when I was home, trapping both cars inside the garage--there's nothing that will unhinge me like being trapped in a house without the possibility of escape. (Even if I don't want to go anywhere, knowing I can't freaks me out.) It's not a crisis, but it certainly is an inconvenience, so I'll be putting in a call to the ol' Home Teachers this afternoon.

This morning we're heading over to a big church rummage sale downtown. It's a bit of a drive but it's an old church with people who've been members forever, and generally old people=good old junk! We went to this church's sale last year and picked up some fun stuff. I'm not sure how I'm going to wrangle Maren--the sale is held in the church's social area and it's pretty packed. Last year I strapped her into a small stroller but even that was difficult. This year the footrest on that stroller is broken, plus she can get out of the buckles anyway so it might prove to be more hindrance than help. I know I'm going to really wish I had gotten a babysitter, but I'm going to take her anyway. Hopefully I can find some goodies to make the drive & the hassle worth it!

You still have until noon MDT to enter into this week's drawing! I'll pick the winner when I get back later this afternoon and I promise I won't take so long to announce it this week. :)

Trash pickin' and a-grinnin'

It's time for this week's installment of "What Did Heidi Dig out of Someone's Trash Pile?" Today's featured junk is:

Flowerpots!!

I was on the way to an appointment this morning when I saw these in a neighbor's trash pile. I turned around and loaded them up in the back of my car without a second thought. It drives me crazy that someone would throw away perfectly good pots like these! They may not be the style I would choose to buy but for FREE, guess what will be holding my herb garden this year?

Don't forget to enter this week's giveaway by leaving a comment on this post. I've received comments from so many new people--thanks for un-lurking! :) I love to meet new blog friends.

5-13-08

Due to weather, a 3-year-old and a chocolate festival, I was only able to visit one garage sale this past weekend. My friends Kayla and Lindsay and Kayla's mom had a sale on Friday. Kayla and I have discussed our mutual love for *junque* so I knew I needed to check it out! They had lots of fun things, and I ended up with a big oval mirror and this cute vintage lard can.


I think it will be just charming with some flowers planted in it. It's quite large--about as large as a paint can. Now I just need the weather to cooperate so my flowers won't freeze. I'm hoping for July, at this point.

Yesterday I was able to make a run to the antique mall sans grabby-handed toddler. We were there last Thursday to find a Mother's Day gift for my mom when I saw an interesting table out of the corner of my eye. Because I was busy trying to keep my kid from smashing hundreds of dollars' worth of antique pottery I was unable to give it a good look, but I thought about it all weekend and so I went back yesterday with my measuring tape in hand. Alas, I didn't buy it. It really was the shape and size I've been looking for and it was reasonably priced, but its condition left much to be desired and I am just not up to dragging home another piece of furniture that needs refinishing (much to my long-suffering DH's relief). I did find something else I couldn't live without:


Does this not look like something your grandma would have had on your bed? (See again: Long-Suffering DH) I LOVE IT! It's the most beautiful shade of turquoise satin and it's in great shape, and it was a great price to boot! I have a thing for these old smocked pillows so I was thrilled to find such a nice specimen.

It's cold and drizzly today so we're having dinner in the slow cooker. It smells delicious! The recipe is from Real Simple magazine, March 2004 issue and it's one of our favorites:

Spicy Country Ribs
1 small onion, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 c. ketchup
1/2 c. cider vinegar
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 Tbsp kosher salt
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp ground chipotle chili powder *(I just use regular chili powder)*
1 tsp dried oregano
4 pounds pork country ribs

Combine all ingredients in the bottom of a large slow cooker and add the ribs. Cook on low heat for 6 hours. Using tongs, remove ribs from the cooker and arrange on a broiler pan. Heat the broiler, and pour the juices from the cooker into a bowl. Place in the freezer for 10 minutes to hasten the separation of fat. Remove and discard fat. Pour the juices into a saucepan; boil over high heat until reduced by half, about 15 minutes. Broil the ribs until browned and serve with the sauce. Makes 4 servings.

We just finished eating and I wanted to add a note: I cooked the ribs for 6 hours on low and they were a bit overdone. Still yummy, but a bit on the dry side. My slow cooker seems to cook things really quickly (ironic, no?) so I usually cut the suggested cooking time way down. For this one I'd probably be good with just 5 hours, but YMMV depending on your slow cooker. Also, if you use regular chili powder instead of the chipotle they are not spicy at all, in case that was a concern.

Andie asked if you could skip the boiling/broiling part at the end--I think you can definitely skip it and they will still be delish!

In a little while I'll make some buttermilk biscuits and I'll serve it with baked beans and potato salad. Yum! I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!

Yard sale treasures

Two Saturdays ago I was able to leave Maren with Daddy and go out junkin' by myself for the first time this season. I checked the online classifieds to see if there were any estate sales in my area and found a listing for a sale that advertised tons of vintage kitchenware. Hello! Luckily, it was not too far away (most estate sales around here are in the older parts of town, which are quite far from me) and I made that one my first stop of the morning. It was amazing--the kind of sale that I literally dream about. The owner had a business selling vintage kitchenware on eBay but was moving in with her boyfriend and couldn't take it all with her. I was there on the second day of the sale and there was still a ton of stuff and by then, she wanted it all GONE and was more than willing to deal to get it out of there. Music to my ears! I grabbed a box and set to digging.I hit the kitchen first and was immediately amazed by the amount of dishes and glasses for sale, and at the cheap prices! I was tickled to find this vintage strawberry tablecloth (it's a Startex--still has its tag) for only $2! It has a small hole in one corner but the colors are nice and bright.

I also started grabbing vintage painted drinking glasses. There were probably two dozen, some in sets and some singles. The two in the middle are Anchor Hocking and match the juice carafe I already own. They have great Halloween colors! The little one on the right was by itself and the color combination is unusual (pink, yellow and burgundy?) but I couldn't leave it there! Can you guess which one is my favorite? The turquoise and red one on the left, of course! Also in this photo are strand of red mercury glass Christmas beads, a pink Royal Haeger candlestick (marked 75¢!) and a bunch of vintage millinery lilies of the valley from another sale.

Here are the other glasses I bought--this set of four with stripes in pretty pastel colors. I think I paid maybe $2 for all four! I'm not sure what the pale green ceramic square piece in front is--doesn't look like an ashtray, but I'm not sure. The white milk glass bottle in the back is an old Pond's cold cream jar and was 25¢--it has a great metal lid with shabby red roses printed on it. The poodle in the middle is a Christmas ornament from another estate sale, and the vintage Hazel Atlas tulip sour cream? container in the back was 25¢ at yet another sale. In the middle of the photo is some pretty green vintage seam binding and a pile of Trader Vic's swizzle sticks.

Also from the kitchenware sale: the aqua planter, round dish, and a pile of vintage colored metal icicles to hang on a Christmas tree. The cute vintage playing cards in front were from the same sale as the lilies and the seam binding. The Victory cookbook in the back was $1 and is from 1945, while the Solitaire cookbook is from the late 1930s. I also found 3 of the old jars with zinc lids for $2 each at a different sale (and narrowly missed out on buying 11 more zinc lids for a quarter each...that made me sick).

The vintage ornaments were from the kitchenware sale, as was the vintage printed dishcloth. I also found a pretty pink & aqua tablecloth at that same sale but it has a large stain in the middle. I've already soaked it in Oxyclean once but the stain didn't budge, so I'm going to get some Biz and try again--hopefully then I can get a photo. The item in the top right corner is a vintage satin hankie holder. It's so pretty! I bought it from an elderly lady who said it belonged to her mother.

And the last photo--a vintage Christmas apron I bought from the hankie holder lady. It looks like it was homemade from a printed panel and it has old prong-set rhinestones in the centers of the poinsettias.

I had such a great day! That kitchenware sale was to.die.for. In the basement were rows of shelves just filled with stacks of mid-century kitchenware of every kind. Amazing! I looked and looked for my beloved Lu-Ray but all I found were three saucers. I wonder if maybe there had been more the first day but it had been snapped up by the time I got there. The basement was a mess and there were still boxes that hadn't been unpacked--who knows what treasures were waiting in those!

I'm still in Utah (it's actually Sunday night, I just started writing this yesterday morning so it will show up as a Saturday post) but we leave for home tomorrow (Monday) morning. I hope to post again on Tuesday with a giveaway, so be sure to check back then!

Thrift Thursday

I'm back from thrifting, and I had so much fun! My friends Jennifer and Rachel must be good luck charms because I found good stuff at great prices. In a last-minute bit of luck for me, Quin was home so I didn't have to take Maren! Three mommies - kiddos + two thrift stores full of treasures = a great morning! We had so much fun that we're planning to do it again, and maybe even meet up on a Saturday for some garage-saling adventures.


I spotted this picnic basket across the room when I was literally in mid-sentence, and I had to say, "hang on!" and run to get it! It's quite large and even has a removable shelf inside that I assume is to keep crushable food safe. The top has some water damage and needs cleaning, but otherwise it's in good shape. $2.99


All of this trim came in one huge bag--what a treat! Tons of rickrack, lots of (evil) narrow bias tape, some seam binding, zippers, patches, elastic and velcro. Great stuff! I was surprised to find the four little bottles of Zirh products in the bag as well. Zirh is a fancy-schmancy men's toiletry line that Quin really likes--I actually bought him a bunch of stuff for our anniversary. So this bag was great--something to make us both happy!


Since Maren moved to her big-girl bed, I've been on the lookout for some colorful vintage floral sheets to dress it. This pink flowered sheet is exactly what I had in mind! It was $2.99 and may also end up serving as a tablecloth for the baby shower I'm throwing next weekend if I can't find another I like better. The pink napkins are also for the shower, and were 40¢ for the package. Don't they go great with the sheet? The BakePacker was a 50¢ gamble for eBay and the LeapPad cartridge was 80¢--they are normally about $15. I also got a new spool of brown satin ribbon for 50¢ and this book for Maren for $1. It's one of my favorites! The brown tube is a container of new wooden skewers from Williams-Sonoma, and it was 50¢.


The sucker sticks (just what I'll need to make these) and the little picks were in a baggie together. I couldn't tell if the picks were for cocktails or cakes but once I saw the pink poodles, I was sold! Now that I've looked at them closer they seem a little juvenile to hold a cocktail onion or an olive, so I think they must be cake picks, although I've never seen any like them before. I think they are darling and they may be my favorite find of the day!

The snow has mostly melted and the storm is on its way out, with sunshine forecast for the next few days. Hopefully that means there will be garage sales this Saturday, and Quin will even be home to watch Maren. Not sure if I'll go solo or with my friends, but either way I'm itching to get out there and find some more good junk!