Thrifty Crafters Are Trendsetters!

I just got back from opening day at CHA {Craft and Hobby Association} Winter tradeshow. It is the largest tradeshow for the crafting industry. I can only describe it as fun, exciting, entertaining and enlightening.

I admit that I am a bit star-struck by the famous crafter/bloggers in the industry. The first favorite person I saw was Tim Holtz. He is so popular that I got just a quick hello and then he was off talking to the retailers.

Perfect Garage Sale Weather

Winter in Southern California = 81 degrees, t-shirts, shorts and flip-flops. Perfect weather for some garage sales. We only went to two sales because we found some really fun treasures and decided to relax for the rest of the day.

My absolute favorite find was a vintage string of Christmas lights with little Spun-head and chenille stick winged angels. These are so amazingly sweet.

At one garage sale I was two steps behind a woman who was buying for her local antique shop. She picked up every vintage toy the seller had. I was able to find just a couple of items that she missed. One was a Fisher-Price toy lunch box. It is missing the toy thermos but was instead, filled with little doll accessories. I liked the little toy clothes hangers.

I found two boxes of paper dolls from 1942. I used to love paper dolls. These are great because the paper clothes are classic 1942 styles.

I found two children's records from 1950 by Remington Records Inc. The graphics on both the covers and the records were so interesting. There are also three smaller records that are made out of very thin vinyl.

I couldn't resist these 1960s era prints of the little girls from the Northern Tissue packaging illustrated by Frances Hook. These just brought back a flood of memories. I remember my mother must have sent away for a set because we had a set safely put away in a box {I don't know where they went.}

This last item is a cardboard and metal cookie bucket by the Sunshine Biscuit company. There is something about a vintage bucket that says "Toy" that catches my attention.

I also found more buttons and spools which will just get added to my growing collection.

Off to enjoy the warm sunshine. Hope everyone is having a great thrifting day.

Biscuit Tin Organizer and CHA Preparations

I've had a couple of vintage biscuit tins sitting around just looking pretty. I knew they made great storage solutions but with a bit of luck I discovered the perfect use for them.

If you're a paper crafter then you know that some scrapbooking supplies come in 12"x 12" sizes. Papers are easy to organize by theme or color but what do you do with things like 12" Grungepaper or 12" stencils or 12" chipboard alphabet sheets?

I discovered that they will fix perfectly in a biscuit tin. The larger sheets are in back and the smaller, bulky items fit in front.

My biscuit tin is sitting on a wooden stool that was my chair when I was a toddler. I like that it places the container higher so that I can tuck some sewing supplies underneath.

The two strawberry canisters hold vintage millinery supplies. On the wall to the right are some of my Tilt Bins holding items like acid free drawing ink and Glimmer Mist. I'm slowly but happily organizing my studio.

On a personal note: I finally completed the two catalogs, 47 packages and three booklets for Tim Holtz's new Sizzix lines for CHA {Craft and Hobby Association trade show} this weekend. This should explain why I haven't had the energy to do very many creative projects on my blog recently. I love working with Tim but his "creative genius" brain keeps me hopping. {Luv ya t!m} Hopefully I'll get my studio organized and be back making projects soon.

And in a few days I'll be at CHA in Anaheim, California and have a chance to meet up with some talented friends from the crafting industry. Hopefully I will get some great sneak peek photos of what is new and trending in the crafting world. It is very exciting!

This is linked to:
Coastal Charm, It's a Very Cherry World, Mod Vintage Life, Savvy Southern Style, Tales From Bloggeritaville, The Thrifty Home, Thrifty Decorating and Very Merry Vintage Style

Finding Treasures in the Rain

Rain was predicted for Saturday so lots of people cancelled or rescheduled their garage sales. Luckily some people rescheduled their sales for Sunday. I only found one but it had some nice things and the prices were reasonable.

My favorite find was this pair of paper storks with honeycomb bodies made in Denmark {Hi Lisbet!}. Both are very fragile and one is in better shape than the other but they are both so cute.

I also found some vintage aluminum pieces. It is usually the bright aluminum colors that catch my eye. This candy/nut dish is a most amazing bright pink. In the center of the dish is an oak leaf and an acorn.

While I was reaching for this bright pink dish I also noticed a very beautiful, soft pink, aluminum butter dish. It was just the sweetest shade of retro pink. 

Yesterday I discovered a fun blog called Magpie Ethel where she shares her overflowing, treasure-filled studio. I don't have the space she does but I was inspired by her display and use of vintage trays and tins. Having said that, here's what else I found today.

First, a cracker tin from 1969. The lid was such a nice blue to go with my vintage studio trash can. But if I took the lid off then the colors would be a patriotic red, white and blue to use for holiday decorating.

I also found seven State souvenir trays. These are so cool but I don't have enough wall space to display them properly. These will go into my store unless I find an undiscovered new wall somewhere.

Next weekend's weather is supposed to be dry so there should be lots of sales. Hope everyone had a fun thrifting weekend.

I will try to get some of these items listed in my store as soon as possible. Please visit StuffToTreasure.storenvy.com later this week.

This is linked to:
Apron Thrift Girl, Brambleberry Cottage, Cherished Treasures, Her Library Adventures, Hey What's for Dinner Mom?, The Colorado Lady and The Sound How Sweet

Joy of Thrifting

I'm happy to say that I'm back on track finding some sweet vintage treasures. It was a fun day which started early in my own city and ended at a house next door to my cousin. 

My favorite find of the day was this vintage "card display". Well, it isn't really a card display but when I first saw it I assumed it was. The old cards are from previous sales and together with the wire display it just makes me so happy. Can you guess what it was originally? Here's a clue: Originally it would have been used either in the kitchen or outside.

Here is how it should look.

It is a utensil that holds food flat on a grill. Now doesn't it look better as a card display? I just need to remove the handle.

Another treasure I found was this Anchor Hocking Serva-Snack Set of glass trays and cups in a near-new box. Amazing condition for something from the 1950s. The glass is in perfect condition. And it even had the original price tag on the box.

I also found this vintage, painted tin trash can in a beautiful delft blue. I'm thinking of remodeling my studio using vintage pieces so this will probably be the studio trash can. It needs a lot of cleaning and a fresh coat of white paint on the inside but it will be perfect.

The last item is this sweet, shabby chic bud vase holder. The seller used to have an antique store and said that it was old. I just fell in love with the delicate glass vials and the sweet fan shape.

I hope everyone had a great thrifting day!

This is linked to:
Apron Thrift Girl, Brambleberry Cottage, Cherished Treasures, Coastal Charm, Creating a House of Grace, Her Library Adventures, Hey What's For Dinner Mom?, Home Savvy A to Z, It's a Very Cherry World, Mod Vintage Life, Savvy Southern Style, Tales From Bloggeritaville, The Colorado Lady, The Southern Institute and Very Merry Vintage Style

A Quiet Thrift Day

I'm not sure if I'm just being more selective in my thrifting purchases or if there just wasn't anything worth buying out there right now. It was a very quiet day and the few sales out there were extremely over-priced. I did manage to find a few treasures.

My favorite find was this ceramic figurine of three Wirehaired or Sealyham Terriers. The figurine is of a mom and two puppies. The puppies are absolutely adorable in their poses and expressions. I think it is from the 50s because it is marked "Made in Japan" on the bottom.

Keeping with the dog theme, we also found this pillowcase of Poodles on Parade. I think the technique used to embellish this was called Liquid Embroidery. Who could resist pink and aqua poodles?

The last treasure we found was a silver plated baby spoon with the Gerber baby portrait. This version was from the 1950s by the Winthrop Silver Co.

I hope everyone had a wonderful day of thrifting. 

This is linked to:

Apron Thrift Girl, Her Library Adventures and Hey What's For Dinner Mom?

Thrifting in My Own Attic

I started the new year by spending the day in my own attic. I went up there to look for something, started organizing and ended up finding lots of things to add to my store. And the best part was that it was all FREE!

The experience made me remember that I have a long history of thrifting. I spent part of my childhood rummaging through thrift stores with my mother. She would buy things for a nickel and then dream of selling it for a profit. Of course there wasn't eBay or Storenvy around back then so she didn't have any way of reselling these items easily. I feel like I'm bringing her dream around full circle by having my  Stuff to Treasure store.

Here are a few things that I found in my attic:

I designed this packaging when I worked for this company.

My friend worked for Matchbox when this came out.

A set of six drinking glasses with the RCA logo. Dad got these as a promotion item through RCA.

These were my mother's old Japanese silver and glass dresser jars. I can't read the Japanese hallmark.

An old Japanese porcelain vase. Again, I can't read the Japanese markings.

My mother was going to throw out these food color jars and I saved them because they were so cute.

Mom collected a few pieces of Carnival ware.

I saved these 7up bottles from the 60s. Don't even ask me why.

Old, French perfume bottle that my mother had. The gold-leaf bottle looks so amazing.

I was into toys, my dad had connections with RCA and my mom collected glass pieces. At least now I can have some fun looking into the history of these items. And many of these pieces will go into my store soon. I already added a lot of new items so please stop by often and take a look. 

I hope everyone had a great beginning to the new year. Let's go thrifting and recycle the fun!

This is linked to:

Apron Thrift Girl, Her Library Adventures, Hey Mom What's for Dinner? and Mod Mix Monday