Yaaay Thriftstores!!!

If you know me personally, you'll know that I love a good velvet painting. It's a secret dream of mine to own a velvet Elvis or other socially acceptable velvet painting. I once had the chance to have a paint-your-own velvet peacock at a friend's garage sale and now wish I'd bought it. I don't see velvet paintings often and when I do, they're usually the ubiquitous southwestern sunset or waterfall. Last Monday, I saw two velvet paintings, TWO...

My family lives just outside of a large metropolitan city where my Father works. Last Monday my mother woke me up early by knocking on my bedroom door:

Mom: (knocking)
Me: What?
Mom: Get dressed. We have to go to Dad's work.
Me: Why?
Mom: He left his phone at home.
Me: Smooth, Dad. Why do I have to go?
Mom: You don't. But since I'm going into the city, I figured I'd hit a few thrift stores...
Me: I'll be ready in ten.

Before going to see my Dad we had to stop at the Salvation Army. Locally, the Salvation Army is having a 50% off sale every Monday till September. Their everyday prices are so high, we only go when it's 50% off. While there, we found some good things; a few blue glass jars, a nesting shelf set, and some others. We also saw some really great things that we couldn't buy.

Like this Ironrite presser. I think it would be just the cutest thing in someone's laundry room. Ignore ugly sink.

They were asking $100 for it, or $50 at half price. This last Monday it was still there. I hope someone finds it and takes it home soon.

After the Salvation Army, we drove across the bridge to my Dad's work, delivered his phone to him, and set off for an adventure in the city! We turned on the trusty GPS, found a thrift store we'd never been to, and set off. As it was lunchtime, We kept ours eyes out for someplace to eat.

Soon, we saw this.

The name, "Ole Frijole" loosely translates to "Yaaay Beans!". (Not to be confused with the "Yaaay Beer!" sign at our corner Gas 'N' Git) We drive by it fairly often when in the city, and it always makes us laugh, but we have never eaten there.

It was wonderful. It's a little bit ghetto looking outside but it had delicious Mexican food at decent prices and we ate on real plates. From now on, when we say "Yaaay Beans!" we'll mean it.

The new thrift store was quite small, was run by two very fun older ladies, and had great prices. We got a Tupperware Hamburger Press, a salad tossing fork that matches my silverware set, a few pretty pink plastic hangers, a Lilo and Stitch toy, some very pretty vintage linens, and five large Laura Ashley curtain panels. The curtain panels are going to be turned into liners for our two wire shopping carts.

After that store, we drove around and found a very cute "antiques" store (mostly mid-century stuff) and had a lot of fun browsing. They had everything you could expect:

Webbed lawn chairs

swag lamps (sorry for the terrible pictures)

Loud couches,

And, of course, lots of Pyrex! Bake-Serve-Store dishes, butter dishes, margarine tubs, divided dishes and more.

In many different patterns; verde, spring blossom, square flowers, and butterfly gold, etc.

Some had their cradles! There was even Fire King.

They had so much beautiful Pyrex I just wished I could take some home with me. The best piece of all was this:

The spring blossom clear juice carafe! It was just oh-so pretty. Spring Blossom is MY pattern. At $16, I couldn't afford it, but a girl can wish, can't she?

The store also had lots of other nice and fun things:

This cute picnic basket

A beautiful Society china service for ten in the Larchwood pattern.

My mother's favorite thing was this lovely arts and crafts style rocking chair. She's always wanted one like it. This one is made of beautiful red-blonde oak and is in wonderful condition. My mother just wanted to stand there and stare at it forever, I had to peel her away from it slowly.

We bought several vintage postcards, mostly from one young woman's trip to Europe, but also one of a hotel pool in Hawaii, from a woman who commented that it was 80' and too hot; they needed some rain. I thought when you left the Pacific Northwest and went to Hawaii it was to get AWAY from the rain.

We saw tons of other great things in that store and had lots of fun. After that store, we made our way to an Antique mall, one we hear a lot about, and saw some fun stuff including some gorgeous quilts,

A whole spoon rack full of handkerchiefs! Who doesn't want one of these?! I didn't even know I wanted one before seeing this.

I didn't even know they had made a gooseberry fridge set let alone think I would ever see one!

And now for the velvet paintings. I saw one at each antique store; one very well painted and one not so much. First the bad:

Then the not so bad:

Disclaimer: The rating on this picture has been changed to PG-13.

I have never before seen a nude on velvet but according to my mother, the results are often much more like the painting of the tiger.

We had a great adventure filled with lots of "OOOH, look at that!" and "Really? You like that?" and "Mom... turn around very slowly and tell me if you see what I'm looking at". We came home with some great stuff from the first two places and lots of pictures from everywhere else. I hope my Dad forgets his phone at home again soon.

I'm linking this post to:

Thrifty Tuesdays @ Coastal Charm