Sunday Best (thrift-style)

Remember this cute little outfit I bought at a thrift store for 3, maybe 4 dollars?

Here is the result--Maren all dressed up to go to Church, wearing her new outfit. It fit perfectly, and looked adorable!

Check me out on eBay

For Meredith and for anyone else who is curious, you can see what I've listed on eBay by checking out my seller name: fluffimusmonkimus (that would be Fluffy Monkey in Latin).

I don't have anything up for auction right now, and probably won't until next Tuesday. You can, however, check my completed auctions and see what I've sold recently! I had several auctions end last night and was thrilled to make a tidy little sum on what originally cost me a total of about $6.00. I think I was most shocked by the vintage Strawberry Shortcake fabric, which cost about $1.00 and went for $15.00 to a gal in Belgium. Wow!

Right now I'm trying to make money through eBay to fund a trip to New York City that my mom and I are planning for October. I'd love to make my little junking hobby self-sufficient; that is, make enough selling on eBay to continue to fund my thrift-buying sprees. I think it's possible!

Button, Button

What is it about buttons that makes you just want to run your hands through them, feeling the smooth roundness and hearing the noise they make when they click together? I bought these buttons at two estate sales a couple of weeks ago, and this past weekend when I was home visiting, my mom and I had great fun going through and examining them. That alone was worth the money I spent on them.

I remember when I was young, maybe 5 or 6, we lived in Grand Junction and there was a fabric store that I used to go to with my mother. This fabric store had what could best be called a sandbox, only instead of sand it was full of buttons! This was obviously designed as a place for kids to play while their mothers shopped, and I loved it. It was so much fun to sit in all those buttons and pick through them, looking for treasure. My favorites (of course) were those with a rhinestone in the middle, and I remember convincing my mom to buy me one or two. I have no idea where all those buttons came from, but even now as an adult, I'd absolutely love to sit in a big tub of buttons and sift through them, like a magpie looking for something shiny.

Junque, the final frontier

Reversible dress for Maren, $2.95. I thought it was so cute and I love that it is reversible! It has double-sided snaps up the back. Because it is reversible, there are no tags, so I don’t know the brand or the size. It is too big for her now, though, and will go in the box in the basement to try again next summer.


Old Navy “Mother” pillow, $.50. This was from an estate sale, and I’m going to put it on eBay. It’s from Farragut Naval Training Center in Idaho, which I’ve never heard of. Seems kind of odd to train Navy guys in the middle of land-locked Idaho, doesn’t it?

And that's it--I think I'm finally caught up now. I wanted to go thrifting today after reading all weekend long about Bakelite and costume jewelry, but I resisted. I'm going to wait and go with my dad when he visits this weekend. And now, back to refreshing my eBay listings every 15 minutes! (they end tonight and I'm hoping for some big money!)

Junque, part 4

Child's party set, $10.00. This was purchased at an estate sale and the box also held a bunch of other junk, so I didn't pay $10 for just this. It is obviously for a child, but I don't know what to call it other than a tea set. There is a little pitcher, 8 of the large goblets (2 not shown) and 6 of the smaller champagne-type glasses. They're just darling! I know they're old, as everything else in the house was! I think I'll list these on eBay, as soon as I figure out what to call them.



Old child's dishes, same box as above.














Old paperdolls, same box as above. I have a weakness for paper dolls. The 'international' dolls on the top row must have been on some sort of product box, because they're cardboard on the back. The baby, which is simply adorable, was cut out of a magazine. There are snippets of poem written by children on the back, as well as a portion of a rebus puzzle.







Old patterns. These were from an estate sale and came from two big bags, which were $3.00 total. These were the only patterns I want to keep, and the rest might just go to charity in my next donation. On the left there's a cute apron pattern, in the middle an old Vogue suit pattern, and on the right a set of transfers for a Birds of the United States quilt. I think they are the state birds, and I wonder if they are the same pattern used in the old quilt I have the Quin's grandmother made? I'll have to check.


More later when Blogger gets rid of the glitches...

Junque, part 3

Vintage printed tablecloth, $2.95. I was excited to find this for my collection, as it is in wonderful condition and this is one of my favorite prints. Usually the printed tablecloths you find are somewhat faded, due I'm sure to repeated washings and ironings. This one looks like it was rarely used, as the colors are crisp and bright. I did find a few yellow stains, but for the most part this one is fabulous!





Faribault/Faribo camp-style wool blanket, $4.95. There were originally 2 of these on the rack, and I contemplated over them for a while. I decided to walk around a while and if I came back and they were still there, I'd buy them. Well, I came back and one was gone, so I snapped up the other one! I may have made an error in judgement in passing the other one up. Oh well. This isn't one of the older blankets; it's a newer reproduction but still this size (I think it's a Twin) retails for $90+ new! Not sure if I'll keep this one or try to sell it later this fall.


Bathing beauty, $4.00. I'm normally not much into knicky-knacky types of things, but this little cutie caught my eye and I just had to have her! I bought her at an estate sale last weekend. I just think she's adorable, and she makes me so happy to look at!














Vintage Stitch-A-Story embroidery projects, $2.00. I bought these from a most amazing estate sale. These are marked 1948 and they are little embroidery projects for a little girl. The one on the left still has a needle attached to the floss! I think they are absolutely adorable! I'll probably try to resell them, but I have no idea on a price because I can't find any previous listed. If I don't think I can make good money on them, I'd rather keep them for myself!


Vintage crocheted bloomer potholders, $.69 each and vintage wood-handled melon baller, $1.00. The bloomers are from the thrift store and the melon baller is from the same estate sale where I got the Stitch a Story pieces. I soaked the potholders in Oxyclean (I know, I sound like a commercial for the stuff, but I love it!) and all of the stains came right out! When I came home I noticed I already have a melon baller with a red handle, so now I have one of each!

If you can believe it, there's still more junque I haven't posted, but that's all for now, as I have to head to the airport! The rest of the junque when I get back next week!

Crafting gone awry

"What," you may be asking, "in the hell is that thing?" If I hadn't photographed it atop a lamp, it's doubtful you'd be able to identify it as a lampshade, as it currently is a hot mess of fake peonies from Wal-Mart and hot glue gun strings. This, my friends, is When Crafting Goes Horribly Wrong. I have seen this idea before in magazines and such and I had this old lampshade I don't particularly like, and I found these silk peonies at Wal-Mart when I was shopping for a Mother's Day craft for my Cub Scouts. I'm really not sure where things took such a turn for the worse, but all I can tell you is that in my head, this was way, WAY cuter.

The problem now is that I could only get enough flowers to fill about half the lampshade, so I'm left with two choices: 1) go spend another $12 on fake flowers and finish out the ugly thing, so at least when I give it to Goodwill it's finished or 2) just give it to Goodwill as is and cut my losses. I'm leaning towards #2. At one point I was thinking maybe some beaded fringe along the bottom could save it, but I think it's even beyond that. You win some, you make some really ugly. Dang.

Junque, part 2

Old Pinewood Derby car kit, $.80. This is pretty cool! It must be from before 1967 because on the back it makes reference to "Lions", which was a rank that was discontinued in 1967. I'm going to list this on eBay tonight and hopefully it will do well! Some other old boxes of PWD car kits have gone for a lot of money. Oddly enough, people even buy the already-made-up cars, for quite a lot of money! Weird, the things people will buy.











Hello Kitty tissue packets, $.80. These are also for resale, and I plan to list them tonight. I think Hello Kitty stuff can bring money, but we'll see. These are kinda cool because they feature a popular Japanese baseball team, the Hanshin Tigers. So possibly I could appeal to HK fans and baseball fans as well. Figured for 80 cents I couldn't go too wrong. Let's hope not!











Length of vintage Strawberry Shortcake fabric, $1.00. I bought this in a package with some other fabric, but I bought it for this one. It's about a yard and a half and it's going on eBay tonight. I think it will sell.









Old 1960s Crewel Embroidery kit, $.95. This one is also for resale. I took a chance on it because it is still in the original packaging. Similar items have sold, so hope this one will too! I think it's ugly, but hope there is someone out there who likes it and will plunk down some cash!














Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cookie cutters, $.35. These are also going on eBay tonight. Figured I couldn't go too wrong for 35 cents, and they will be easy to package and ship. I won't make much on them, maybe a couple bucks.















Two 1965 round Springbok jigsaw puzzles, $1.69 for both. I've learned from the Yardsalequeen.com boards that these are desirable, so I've been on the lookout and last week I found two! Makes me wonder how many I've passed up before I knew to look for them! I have to put them both together before I can list them, as complete puzzles bring more $ than those missing pieces. I did the bird one and it's complete, so now I'm working on the other one (British Soldiers and Battles). Not sure if I'll try to list them separately or together as a lot.

It's just after 9 am. So far this morning Maren has: pulled the tablecloth off my kitchen table, spilling a full glass of ice and water all over the table, the books and papers on the table and the kitchen floor; pulled some of my scrapbooking embellishments off my desk and strewed them all over the house; pulled off her poopy diaper and got her hands in it; messed with the fish lamp in her bedroom and got water all over the carpet; and took off her clean diaper and peed in her highchair (for the second day in a row). It's like she suddenly became 500% naughtier the exact moment Quin crossed the state line.

Junque, part 1

Old Ball canning jar, $.69 and two pillowcases, about $1.00 for both. I was totally excited to find the canning jar, and for so cheap. Now, if I could only find some old marbles to go inside! The pillowcases are to make into pillowcase dresses.









Vintage Halloween cake picks, $.99. I have these up on eBay right now and there are no bids, but a couple of watchers. If they don't sell I may wait to relist them until the fall, when people have Halloween on their minds! I figured for a buck I couldn't go too wrong with these, even though many of them are broken. Hopefully some Halloween collector out there will want them.






Two old cookbooks, $1.29? and one old pattern, $.29. The title of the cookbook on the left cracks me up! It was put out by Slovenian Women's Union of America in 1951, on the group's Silver Anniversary. I love that there are handwritten notes and recipes throughout the book. There are probably some really good recipes inside! The middle book is another 1050s cookbooklet-type with fun illustrations and scary-looking food.




Old aluminum cookie cutters, $.99. I haven't decided to keep or try to sell these. I don't think they'd bring very much as they are; I'd have to wait and see if I could find more to combine into a larger lot. The scottie dog is probably the most desirable of these, but I love the Santa as well. Wish I could find more of these, but this is the first time I've ever found old cookie cutters at a thrift.






Old utensils, $1.00 each and cookie cutters, $.25 each. These were from a really great garage sale that my mom and I found. I love the wood-handled utensils, especially the icing knife and the chopper, because they're unusual.








Vintage Christmas Tablecloth, $3.00 and vintage dishtowel, $.75. These were from the same garage sale as the items above. The seller must have either been a collector or had all her mom's or grandma's stuff, because she had a ton of it, lucky for us!









Old child's gloves, $2.00 and vintage embroidery transfers, $1.00. These were found at estates sales when I was out with my mom. The little gloves are sweet; I soaked them in Oxyclean and they came pretty clean. I have a couple of thrifted shadowbox frames upstairs that I might try to put these in, we'll see.







I also bought a couple of board games and a puzzle to try to resell. So far only one of the games has a bid, but it only cost me $.69 so if I make anything I'll be happy. I need to do the puzzle to see if it's complete, and if so I may try to list it with some other puzzles in a lot. They seem to do better that way unless they're very desirable, like the round puzzles I'll post in my next grouping!

Monday update

Lawn mowing update: I still have all ten of my toes attached firmly to my feet, so I consider that a success! Actually, it was easier than I had expected and once I got the motor started initially, it was all smooth sailing. Now, as for the quality of the job--well, let's just say that if I ever got a haircut like that, I'd go back, complain loudly and insist they do the job again at no charge! It's not terribly even, especially in the back yard. There are a few little tufts of long grass still sticking up here and there that I missed, and the OCD in me is tempted to go out with a pair of scissors and trim them up! I'll resist, but I can't say the thought didn't cross my mind.

Life as a single parent continues to challenge my patience and in some cases, reaction time. On Saturday Maren grabbed my cell phone off the kitchen table (shame on me for leaving it within 6 inches of the edge) and dunked it in the dog's water bowl. It no longer works. Additionally, Maren has: pulled the tablecloth off the kitchen table several times, dumped out the dog's water dish 3 days in a row, spilled a bag of screws all over the floor, written on herself and her clothing with a pen, thrown a spatula and a hairbrush in the trash, figured out how to unlock the dishwasher door when it's running, and torn up numerous paper items. Church yesterday was a challenge; I made it through 2 of the 3 hours and that's actually more than I thought I could handle. I had to take her out of Sacrament Meeting 3 times, but I think most of the people who were in view of her antics find them to be entertaining, and hopefully they have some sympathy for me! She's so much fun, and I adore her, but man, she wears me out!

Not much for the holiday for us here--just another day. I want a new coverlet for our bed, as the down comforter and duvet we have now is just too darn hot for the summer, but I still like having a blanket of some sort on me. I checked the ads in the Sunday paper and found one that looked perfect at Kohl's, but I went to 2 different locations and neither one had the color I want in the size I need. Grr! And that particular item isn't available online. I checked at Linens N Things and Target as well, but a king-size quilt at both of those stores is in the neighborhood of $60-$80, which is way above my price range. I would have hit the thrifts, but most of them are having 50% off sales today, which means they are absolute madhouses and you usually can't even get a cart. I checked eBay and there are a few promising options, so maybe something will pan out.

I'm way behind on posting my thrift/garage sale/estate sale finds, so I'll do that in chunks over the next couple of days. I've got lots of good junk to report!

Good morning!

Up early this morning, and I feel good--it's only 8:45 am and already I've started the dishwasher, switched the laundry, and fed Maren. I'm waiting for it to be 9:00 am so that I can mow the lawn; I figure that's not so early that the neighbors will be cussing me, but I don't want to wait too long because it's supposed to be above 90 degrees today! I've never mowed a lawn before in my life so this will be a new adventure for me. I'm not even sure how to start the mower, so I think I may have to call my Dad to walk me through it. We have a teeny-tiny lawn, so I don't think it will be that hard. My greatest fear is chopping off my toes with the mower, but I put on my running shoes so at least now there are a few layers between the blades and my tootsies. I'll let you know how it goes. For now, I think I have enough time to run the vacuum and maybe even do the stairs. Sometimes this getting up early on a Saturday thing isn't so bad!

Iris

Last year, about this time actually, my dad was here and he helped me rearrange the big flowerbed in my back yard. One thing we moved was these iris plants, only I didn't know they were iris. Last year was our first spring in this house and when we moved the plants they hadn't actually bloomed yet, so I didn't know if they were iris or gladiolus or what. The shock of the transplanting kept them from ever blooming last year, but this year they've decided to show themselves, and when I came home on Tuesday I was greeted with this lovely surprise! The columbine you see in the background was also planted last year (my dad actually brought them to me from his own garden) and although they spent last year looking pitiful and dried out, they've rebounded this year and each of the three plants has a few little yellow blossoms nodding on top. They're nothing like the bushy plants my dad has in his backyard, but I think if I give them a few years, they'll fill out nicely. It's so nice to finally have some color in that flowerbed!

Today has been long, and it's barely half over. Maren woke up at 5:45 am and wouldn't go back to sleep, so I got up by default. By 9:00 am I had: cleaned up pee from the bathroom floor, wiped up all the water from the dog's bowl and put his mat out to dry after Maren dumped the bowl, bathed Maren twice , changed her diaper three times, and wrestled a fat black permanent marker away from Maren, but not before she managed to get the lid off and plant a black mark in the middle of her lips. Thankfully she took a nap not long after that and is napping again right now, which gives me a few disaster- and mess-free hours. My Visiting Teaching appointment for this evening just called and cancelled, so that means I only have once place to go, hooray! I am tired and I just want to sit on the couch and veg out to my guilty pleasure reality show, So You Think You Can Dance, which premieres tonight. Come 7:00 pm, you know where to find me--on the couch!

Guilty pleasure

This is today's lunch. There's no food in the house since I've been out of town, but I always have a box or two of the orange stuff stashed in the pantry. Mmmm....unnaturally orange....mmm...

I think I am IN LOVE

I saw this waffle iron featured in May's Country Home magazine and was instantly charmed. The back plate is regular square waffle pattern, but the front side is these gorgeous roses. Doesn't it just make you want to eat waffles for every meal from now until forever? I bet waffles made with this iron even taste better than regular boring old Belgian waffles.

Mother's Day flowers

These are the flowers Quin sent me for Mother's Day. Aren't they pretty? He always makes me feel special. There are iris, tulips, mums and two kinds of lilies, all in shades of yellow, orange and purple. I love having fresh flowers in the house, but rarely do. They seem like such an extravagance but I think they add such a nice touch. Maybe I need to treat myself to flowers more often!

Sometimes I can't believe how blessed and lucky I am to have the privilege of being a mother to this sweet, happy, smart, beautiful little girl. She makes my heart sing!

Thrift store finds, part 2

Here are the clothes that I bought Maren the other day along with the rest of the stuff in the post below. I don't usually check the baby clothes because it takes a long time to get through them all and I'm usually trying to hurry because Maren's doing her very best to climb out of the cart. I'm glad I stopped this time, as I found some really adorable things! All of the clothes I bought were $2.95-$3.95.


I love this little sailor dress! I think sailor dresses on little girls are classic and adorable. This one fits her perfectly right now, so she'll be wearing it to church tomorrow. I'll try to post a picture.






This little yellow outfit is really neat. It's made of a heavy material and the front is decorated with pintucks and intricate embroidery. The back has darts and the little sleeves are so cute! It's in perfect condition and looks like it will fit Maren right now. I was so excited to find this--what a treasure!













It's a toss-up between this pink dress and the previous yellow outfit as to which is my favorite find. This is a handmade dress, and whoever made it did a fabulous job! The front, hem, and bands of the sleeves are all decorated with pintucking. There's piping along the waistline and it has the wide hem that is indicative of an old-fashioned style. It even has 2 pockets sewn in! The dress is in perfect shape. It's too big for Maren now, but I think next spring/summer it will fit her. This was another treasure! I can't believe someone would get rid of a dress like this.









This little yellow dress will also fit Maren now. It is hand-smocked in the front and has embroidery along the bodice. There is pink and blue piping along the skirt. (Can you tell I'm a sucker for smocking, embroidery, and piping?) When I got home I noticed that a few of the stitches have come out of the smocked part, but it looks like a pretty easy fix.







This is a cute little black velvet jumper from Gymboree. Maren won't be able to wear it for a couple of years yet, but it's in perfect shape and it won't go out of style.

















This is a Ralph Lauren jumper. I've seen the prices for RL baby clothes and they are insane! Who buys that stuff for their kids? People with money to burn, I guess. I would never have paid retail, but at $2.95, it was a steal! It will fit Maren this fall and I think this will be so cute with a little white shirt and tights.

I also bought 3 Gymboree onesies in various sizes that I didn't take pictures of. From what I hear on Two Peas, Gymbo clothes hold up really well and keep a lot of resale value. I have noticed that they seem to be made well and have cute details that other clothing lines don't.

So Maren has some cute new clothes and I can't wait to dress up my little living doll. :)

Thrift store finds, part 1

So I really wasn't going to go to the thrift store yesterday. I wasn't, I promise. I was trying to show some restraint, and I totally failed. And you know what? I think I'm glad I did. I found some pretty cool stuff!

Shabby white bedside table, $4.95. I've been looking for another bedside table for the guest bedroom, and this was perfect. Cheap, lots of storage space, and great shabby look. I can tell it was homemade. It just so happens to be the exact width of the old cabinet we found a couple weeks ago, but I'm not sure if I like how it looks on top of the table, so it probably won't stay there.





Chenille baby blanket, $2.95. I'm not sure if this is a quilt top or what, becausethe back seems a little unfinished to be an actual baby blanket. This is so cute! It is made of pale yellow, soft, corduroy. There is a white chenille border and then the chenille lamb in the middle. If I can figure out what it is supposed to be, maybe I'll finish it. I love chenille!







Satin baby quilt, $1.95. This is really neat! All of the little colored triangles are actually like pockets. The colors are lovely and soft and I can imagine a baby would love a silky blankie like this! There are a few stains, so I'll soak it in Oxyclean and hope they come out. I'm going to wash it and give it to Maren to see if she likes it.







Old Farm Bureau cookbook "The Way to a Man's Heart" from1961, $.80. This is one of those cookbooks where all the ladies contributed their own recipes. I find cookbooks like this fascinating because I assume these are the recipes they actually used, whereas you never know how popular or realistic the recipes you find in commercially-produced cookbooks were. I also find it slightly bizarre that all the Farm Bureau ladies are credited as "Mrs. Husband's Full Name." I realize that was perfectly normal and acceptable and correct at the time, but I still find it crazy that women would be okay with giving up their own names. The Artful Cupcake, $1.81. This has lots of neat recipes and decorating ideas. I love anything cupcake-related right now.

Old child-sized mug, $1.81. This little mug is just darling! I love the little graphic on the front. On the back in gold lettering it says, "With Best Wishes, McGrath's Furniture Store, Nevada, IA." I just Googled Nevada, Iowa and found that it is a tiny town in central Iowa with a population of less than 7000. McGrath's Furniture Store doesn't bring up any results, so it must be gone. Anyway, this little cup was some sort of premium or advertising piece, and it's adorable! It will go in Maren's room.



I also bought a cute Crate & Barrel dishcloth with cherries on it for my kitchen, a flowered pillowcase to try to make a pillowcase dress for Maren, a set of vintage Winnie the Pooh sheets for resale on eBay, and a whole bunch of clothes for Maren that I'll post later.

Moving the furniture around

Just want to point out that I added a bunch of links to my sidebar over there on the right. These are blogs I read daily and message boards where I post. In other words, where I waste a whole lotta time. :)