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.

Saturday, May 2, 2015

The Week in Thrifting: April 20-26

My friend Rachael and I made a trip to The Goodwill Outlet last week, and here are some of my finds:


For those of you who aren't aware, The Goodwill Outlet (commonly known as The Bins) is where they send items deemed not good enough to be put in a Goodwill Store, or things that were in the store for several weeks and didn't sell.  Everything is jumbled together in shallow bins that people rummage through and almost everything is sold by the pound.  It's kind of a mess, and not for the squeamish.  You never know what you will find, but I usually find a bargain or two.


Like a Vera Bradley purse!!  It looks like it's never been used.  I cannot for the life of me figure out how it ended up at The Bins,  I'm just glad it did.  There are several pockets in it that should make it a great project bag for crochet.

 

A cashmere sweater.  Mom and I have already started unraveling it for the yarn, and I think I will try overdyeing it to get a darker variegated purple color.  It will eventually become a shawl for a friend.

 

I picked out the silk tie because I want to try using it to dye eggs.  The small skein of yarn feels like chenille, so I had to get it, but I'm not sure what I'll do with it.  The Santa needs some repair and will go into my Christmas supplies, and I couldn't pass up toy Corningware.  Rachael and I wanted something for a journal cover, and we really liked the pretty green pattern of the heavy library binding on this book.
 

Although the Vera bag is definitely the best deal, this is my favorite find.  It's a wool hat, I'm guessing from the 1930s or 1940s, and I would have rescued it from The Bins regardless, but the best part is, it fits my giant head.


Here's the label stamped inside.  I can't find anything about Henry Pollak hats on the internet, but there are an awful lot of them being offered for sale, so he must have been pretty successful. 


I was looking for something that could serve as a small tray and found this shadow box picture frame.  It will be repainted and decorated with scrapbook paper.  I was also able to find a few Shiny Brites and similar ornaments. 

 

These must be from the sixties.  They're wearing fishnet stockings.

 

Silverware - some to keep and some to turn into herb markers.


There was a whole bundle of wrapping paper pieces.  I searched through it all and finally chose these to bring home.


These three are my favorites.  Sweet little babies and a vintage-looking wedding shower pattern.  I'm hoping they will be strong enough to use for crafting.

In addition to the pictured items Rachael picked up a Tolkien boxed set in paperback.  We each got a few articles of clothing and I admit I bought some discontinued nail polishes.  I actually found a few colors I've been keeping an eye out for.

The two most fun things to find were a pristine women's motorcycle jacket from Wilson's Leathers for Rachael and a hilariously ridiculous knitting and crochet pattern book entitled "Sexy Little Knits" and filled with bikinis, crop tops and lots of mesh.


I found a picture of the book on Amazon.  According to the reviews there, this book is horrible; the patterns are full of errors and unworkable.  Good thing we only bought it for the laughs.

Our trip to the bins yielded several things we were both searching for and at a great price point.  I paid about $7.00 for everything I showed you.  What great deals have you been finding at the thrift store lately?

I'm linking up with these parties:
Show and Share
Vintage Bliss Tuesdays
Roses of Inspiration
Vintage Inspiration Party
Nifty Thrifty Sunday
Thrifter Share
Frugal Friday
 

11 comments:

  1. The Bins sound like a lot of fun! I think my favorite is the sweet wrapping paper. But I really think you should knit a bikini or something! :)

    ~Trisha

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    1. Lol, I sent that book home with Rachael. I'll post if she makes anything.

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  2. I didn't know that Goodwill had outlet stores! You got some good stuff there. Can you imagine wearing a knit bikini?

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  3. I've never had a bikini body. Ok, maybe when I was in elementary school. But even if I could, I can't imagine I would. You might as well wear nothing. But I think that was the point, lol.

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  4. What a fun place to shop in. You found some great finds.

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  5. I have never heard of the bins, interesting ideas you had for things, so fun to find fun things at great price

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  6. Oh what fun finds! How delightful to have found a Vera Bradley purse. I have a Vera purse with that same fabric only mine is an over-the-shoulder bag :)

    Thanks for sharing with Roses of Inspiration.

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  7. I take gloves to wear when I am at the bins. You never know what is lurking in all that stuff. LOL! I have found some good stuff there. You found a lot of great stuff for $7!

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    1. I tried wearing gloves, but I just couldn't get used to them, so I take baby wipes and use them frequently. And boy do I use them to clean stuff when I get it home.

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  8. This is the best outlet haul I've ever seen! Congrats on the great finds

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  9. totally jealous! no NOT ONE Goodwill up here and definitely NO outlets!! Nice haul and hey I have a HUGE head too!!! CLAN OF THE BIG HEADS!!

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