An Accidental Staycation

We had plans to go to the Craft and Hobby Association Show in Las Vegas this week and enjoy a little mini-vacation at the same time. Through a series of events {Dear Handyman's work suddenly became very busy and I had some important business to take care of} we had to cancel our trip. I ended up on an accidental staycation.

On Thursday and Friday, I had some really good estate sales planned. Unfortunately the company that ran the Thursday sale had a pre-sale on Wednesday just for "select buyers". So the really good stuff was already gone. And the company that ran the Friday sale only allowed the first 10 people in line to begin with and they bought everything that I had wanted at this sale. So it was a rather disappointing two sales but I did find some nice treasures.

My favorite find were these vintage Barbie and Ken booklets. One is marked 1961. These used to come with each Barbie outfit.

I also found this sweet Pyrex Butterfly pattern casserole dish.

Remember those colorful rotating floodlights that lit up the metallic Christmas trees? Well I found a  floodlight by the same company, Penetray, and it is still in the original box.

I found this bird feeder but I need to clean it up a bit.

I also found was a metal tray from Maxwell House Coffee. I like the shape and the red color. Also another small square hanger.

The last piece is this wood and metal hat stand. It slides on to the edge of a table so that a hat can be displayed. There is also a hook on the bottom possibly to hold a purse.

So my accidental staycation was filled with lazy Summer days of crafting and hectic days of thrifting. I got a lot done and I feel so much more relaxed.

I will keep adding new things to my Stuff to Treasure store so please check it out. I just added lots of  vintage burlap bags with great graphics perfect for crafting.

Hope everyone has a great weekend of thrifting.

Tight Quarters and Fat Quarters

I recently became the owner of a really big pick up truck. It is huge! My neighbor installs drywall and this was his work truck. The engine was broken so he sold it to my son for a fraction of its worth. My son installed a new engine and suddenly I own a really big pick up truck. The problem is trying to drive that truck to garage sales on very narrow streets. Luckily my son offered to drive me in his compact car. This was a good thing since we came across some very tight quarters which I am convinced the truck would not have fit through.

My favorite thrift find today was a stack of Fat Quarters. This is a term for a quarter of a yard of fabric used for quilting. This is all new fabric but the patterns are based on old flour sack aprons. I've recently designed some quilt die packaging so I'm inspired to try some sewing projects.

I also found some vintage buttons including a set of old porcelain buttons with paintings depicting the  Mary Had a Little Lamb nursery rhyme.

This is a sweet little hankie with dangling cherries on each corner. 

The last thing I found were these two charming "Bellhop" keys for American Tourister suitcases.

I hope everyone had a great day thrifting. I can't wait to start sewing some fabric projects!

Thrifting on a Budget

Maybe "thrifting on a budget" is a bit redundant but I need to keep reminding myself of this fact. Imagine you're holding something in your hand that you may never, ever have the opportunity to purchase again and there is a crush of buyers hovering all around you... what to do??? Buy it now and justify it later? Walk away and always think of it as the one that got away? I have no answer to this one except that I'm trying to thrift on a budget.

My favorite find today is this Pyrex, yellow Polka Dot bowl. Summer sunshine on a bowl!

And how could I resist more vintage Christmas ornaments with these awesome old tree toppers?

Also found a few old Smalls. I love old silk and velvet flowers.

Found a couple of old soda bottles from a man who had dug these out of a drained lake bed. The are old and dirty but I thought the Dad's Rootbeer bottle would be great for a Father's Day display and the KIST bottle could be used for a Valentine's display.

Vintage Poppin' Fresh salt and pepper shakers.

This is a heavy, metal flower frog in the shape of a turtle.

And today's mystery find is a handful of curved 24" wooden rulers. I think they were used in dress making to measure from the waist through the curve of the hips. I just couldn't resist a handful of wooden curved rulers.

So I stayed on budget and had a grand day of treasure hunting.

Hope everyone had a great day of thrifting. I'll be putting some of these items in my Stuff to Treasure store so please check it out.

Happy Fourth of July!

The fireworks won't start until this evening so the morning is quite still. Just taking a moment to appreciate the freedoms we have here in the United States and count my blessings.

Here is my collection of vintage Sparklers. They are illegal to light in my city and I do miss the thrill of holding something so bright and sparkly in my hands. These old boxes are just fun to collect.

Happy birthday to the United States of America! Thank you to all who have sacrificed for our freedoms!