Why 'My Mink Betty'?

Why 'My Mink Betty'?
I'm not your common, everyday twenty-something year old and when I graduated from High School I got an equally uncommon gift. My parents found for me a beautiful 1940's mink stole at a garage sale. It had belonged to the woman's Great Aunt Betty who had married late in life to a man with money and had only allowed him to buy her this one luxury. The unusually styled stole has the name, Betty L. Jones, embroidered in the satin lining so that's what I call her. They never had children of their own and the mink was passed to Aunt Betty's niece and on to her daughter. Until it got to me, no one since Aunt Betty had worn it. Now Betty the mink and I go to the theater together on special occasions and I hope that someday I can take her to the Symphony or the Ballet. Although Betty hadn't been worn or loved for many years she was waiting for someone to love her again as are most other things I look for when thrifting.

Monday, March 23, 2015

Taking a Short Break

I am sorry to have to say this, but I haven't been able to post or respond to comments for several days due to a recent medical emergency within the family.  I do not think I will be able to post actively for the time being but hope to be back in a few weeks.
I do have a limited amount of free time but I have a few crafting deadlines fast approaching and until such things are completed I cannot dedicate my time to blogging.  
I hope you all have a lovely few weeks and find many great, fun or even outrageous things to blog about in your own thrifting adventures.

Thank you for understanding, 
Betty.

Friday, March 6, 2015

What the Frickety-Frack? Friday

Welcome to what I hope will be a regular feature on my blog, "What the Frickety-Frack Friday," where I share the weird, unusual, creepy, puzzling, or even downright terrifying things I've seen offered for sale or just around town.  The things that make me say, "What the Frickety-Frack?"

Today was the grand opening of a new Salvation Army Thrift Store.  They closed down the old store a few months ago and moved to a new location very near my house, and I have high hopes for this new location.  The store was very crowded.  I guess the opening of a thrift store is the height of the social season in my neighborhood.  I didn't buy anything, but I did get into an altercation with a woman who thought she owned the aisles and was incensed that I didn't jump when she barked.  And I do mean barked.  She even growled a little.  When I refused to let her run me over with her cart, she told me that I needed to go home and take some prozac so I wouldn't be so "rude."  I guess someone's on medication, but it ain't me.

So she qualifies as weird, and a little terrifying.  I don't have a picture of her.
 
But she looked kind of like this.

Except with a really bad page boy haircut.

Like I had in kindergarten.  Thanks, Mom.

I did sign up for the drawing for a free flat screen TV, an autographed Mariners' baseball and an autographed Trailblazers' basketball.    It appeared the Trailblazer organization may have donated a bunch of Blazers gear, including shorts, jerseys and shoes.  My boyfriend saw the first rack of shoes and exclaimed "Look, they have real shoe sizes!"  He is six foot seven and wears a size 14 :)

And then we saw this.

What the Frickety-Frack?
It appears to be two dragons made from shells.  And they are about to KISS!
Dragons making out in aisle five.  Yours for only $14.79.
But wait!  There are more!

And they are even weirder.
In this version, one dragon appears to be kissing the other dragon's tail.
Perfect beach cottage decor, right?

If you like the second one, there is a third that is a mirror image of it.
Bookends!
No wait, a three piece set for your mantle.
"Romantic" Shell Dragon Statues.

Would you have bought them?

If after seeing these pictures, you absolutely feel that you cannot live without them, they can be yours for the grand sum of $44.37 plus tax, shipping, and a fee of $50.00 to cover my pain and suffering should I be recognized purchasing such atrocities.  Before you ask, NO, I will not split up the set.


I'm linking up with these parties:

Show and Share
Thrifter Share
Vintage Bliss Tuesdays
Roses of Inspiration

Thursday, March 5, 2015

The Week in Thrifting: Feb 22-28


 Last week I did a small amount of thrifting and spent very little but was very happy to find some things I had been specifically looking for.

I have a friend from church with two lovely little boys and my boyfriend and I had wanted to thank the family for help with something recently so we've been on the lookout for a toy and a book for their 2 year old that the infant can enjoy when he is the right age.

There is a small independent thrift store in town that I hadn't been to in about a year so we stopped in last week and discovered that two days a week everything is 60% off and we were there on the exact right day!
 
 

 Everything in this picture was $0.98!  The Brown Bear book and the Fisher Price Corn Popper were bought for our friend's son and he loves his "pop pop" toy. They cost a total of $0.25 because you get a free toy with each purchase.  We will definitely be going to this thrift store more often.

 

This Bear Scouts book was only $0.25 and begs to become a spiral notebook.  There are some really great illustrations inside including Father running from alligators.  (I love alligators).


This little made in Japan Christmas Pixie had a friend who was broken beyond repair, which was disappointing, but this one was only $0.40 and I brought him home for Mom. 

 Later in the week my mother spotted a Strawberry Shortcake lunchbox in the photos of an estate sale and called my boyfriend to see if he would want to go look for it as a surprise for me.  (You can read about my Strawberry Shortcake Dollhouse here)  He blew the surprise with good intentions and we went together to find it.  The lunchbox was gone but I did get some treasures. 

 

Each item in this photo was only $0.50 totalling a big $2.50.
The pastry blender and cupcake papers are just because they're useful while the measuring spoons and strange brown and orange thing are for a swap I'm involved in on Ravelry.

 
These little beauties are wine charms that will eventually become stitch markers or adorn a charm bracelet, whichever I need wine-themed charms for first.


This "strange orange and brown thing" is a handle-less Terra Pyrex mug.  Terra is an uncommon pattern of Pyrex, produced in a matte finish.  It is a chocolate brown with concentric circles of burnt orange throughout.  These handle-less mugs are 13 oz and Terra is the only pattern they were produced in.  Several years ago I found one of these at a Goodwill in the next city over.   I was overjoyed to find it at this sale as my swap partner's favorite color is orange!  The large size makes for a great pen holder if she doesn't want to use it as a mug.

The next sale was a blessing to find!  My mother found an estate sale listed online with photos of HORIZON BLUE PYREX BOWLS.  I have been looking for Horizon Blue Pyrex for several months as a wedding present for a friend.  The shade of blue it comes in is very close to her wedding colors and she only learned this year that Pyrex ever came in colors!  

The last time I found Horizon Blue in the wilds was November 2011 and I passed up a small casserole thinking I would easily find one at a lower price.  Boy was I wrong!

My church has an annual regional convention (4 churches in the area meet at my church for sermons and to discuss upcoming camps and other events in the greater church organization) and this year's convention fell on Saturday.   I went an hour ahead of the sale and was the first person in line.  I was late to church by about 20 minutes but it was worth it since I only missed the greetings!


 My usual price for a 4 bowl set is $20 so when I found only the two smallest bowls for $10 I grabbed them.  Even without the larger bowls I think they make a lovely gift.  The heart shaped jello molds came along for the ride at $2.00 for 8 of them.


Isn't Horizon Blue just such a lovely pattern?  It's a shame that Horizon Blue and it's sister pattern Friendship are so hard to find.


Here's a picture of a set of Friendship cinderella bowls courtesy of the internet.  If I could find it more easily and inexpensively I think Friendship would be MY pattern. 


My father came to the same sale, was in line a few people behind me, and went home with a few small things, all for $2.00.  The two paper fans are from Taiwan.  I lost the cord to Mom's 70's slow cooker a couple of weeks ago, so Dad found a replacement.  (Ssshh... don't tell him I found the cord a few days ago.  He's a hero.)  Not pictured is a large vintage Farberware skillet for my mother.  She is so tired of teflon!

The week was very productive with a grand total spent of $17.48 and having found a few things I've been on the look out for.  What have you been looking for lately?  Perhaps you will find it at the next sale.

I'm linking up with these parties:

Show and Share
Thrifter Share
Vintage Bliss Tuesdays
Roses of Inspiration



Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...