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.

Thursday, July 16, 2015

The Week in Thrifting: May 11-17, Part 1

This post has been a long time coming as I haven't been able to blog much with my mother's medical issues.  There was a surgery and there have been lots of appointments and need for assistance from me.  I began this post soon after the trip was taken but haven't had time to finish it until now.  I apologize for the delay

This last week (May 11-17) my mother found ads on Craigslist for not one but TWO church rummage sales! Church rummage sales are the best.  Everything is donated so prices tend to stay low when there isn't a lot of sentimental value for the person marking the prices and they're usually raising money for something I can support like missions trips and Children's Ministry.


The first sale we went to was empty, almost no one there to shop and great prices.  Lots of things were unmarked but the prices quoted to us were around $0.25-$1.00.  We got everything pictured above from this first sale for under $13.00!


The entire box of ribbon was $1 and if I only ever use two rolls up I've still gotten a deal on them as many rolls are brand new.  The Tupperware measuring spoons were actually FREE because they were "dirty".  I can't believe that.

 

Do you see the smudge on the smallest one?  that was the only thing off about it.  The small assorted things like the "Hawaii" cocktail works, the rosette irons and the melon baller cost less than $1 total.  I am very excited to try and turn the rosette irons into fun Christmas ornaments as they are a bell and a fir tree.  Purple Kukui Nuts are for my bead stash as I already use some black ones with hibiscus flowers on them as focal beads for row counter bracelets.  The plastic measuring scoops are one of the things I had told my mother about wanting only days before this sale and then there they were!  Those scoops are wonderful for flour and sugar especially. 


Mom and I had been toying with the idea of making mini bath bombs for soaking feet or hands so when we found these decorative ice cube trays we just had to have them!  I haven't had time to try my hand at bath bombs but I'm certainly going to share my adventures when I do.


We did pay a whole $1 each for these Reader's Digest Condensed Books which is usually above our price for hardback books but the covers were just too good to pass up.


Don't you think those will make beautiful notebooks?  I am hoping to do a craft night with some ladies at my church to make bound journals with my Bind-It-All machine and these should be perfect for that.  My personal favorite is the one on the far left from Autumn of 1962 as I love the wallpaper-like pattern. What's yours?

Mom has an exasperating habit of insisting on reading EVERY book that enters the house, so who knows when I'll get to work on them...

MOM:  "Hey!  There are 5-6 books in each one of those.  That's 15 books, and they're usually best sellers.  And I can't even leave the house except to go to the doctor.
And there's nothing good on TV.
And I have nobody to play with.
All the other Moms get to read books.
You never let me do anything fun.
You don't love me anymore.
Wah.....
 
ME:  Ok, Mom, you can stop using all my old arguments. You convinced me, lol.


This is the thing we paid the most money for at a whopping $3.  A Rolykit is an old As Seen on TV product designed to hold sewing notions, craft supplies, beads, fishing tackle - whatever someone might need stored in the same place but separate compartments. 


The container unrolls to be several feet long (That table is about 4'6" across I think) and will roll back together, securely locking your small supplies in place.  I think I will start to use this for beads as it should work better than the train case I am currently using.  Mom was very excited to find this as she thought it would be perfect for beads for me; isn't she wonderful?


The mini muffin pan is also to be used for mini bath bombs, it just didn't get into the photos with it's plastic brethren.  The bed sheets pictured here were $1 each and we bought them to hopefully use the fabric for a future project; aren't they just lovely?  I love vintage floral print sheets!


This women's devotional set will go to my Women's Ministry leader for a door prize as she likes to do a small drawing at every social event we have and it is very nearly brand new - I only paid $1.50!

These shoes were probably the best find of the sale (not my photo obviously) I got a pair of these same Sofft Mary Jane style low heeled shoes in black leather and they are lovely and so comfortable.  I have admired Sofft shoes at consignment shops for years and used they often run around $20 which is just more than I can justify for used shoes.  These were $2!


The second rummage sale we went to was a HUGE affair, and I don't have time to show you everything we found in this post, but I'll be sharing them with you soon.

I'm linking up to these parties.  Please stop by and join the fun:
Show and Share
Roses of Inspiration
Vintage Bliss Tuesdays
Vintage Inspiration Party
Treasure Hunt Thursday

6 comments:

  1. Good evening, dear Betty! It's always a joy to have you link up with Roses of Inspiration :)

    My, what delightful finds. I am in love with the shoes - so pretty! And the roll up storage is quite fabulous.

    Have a great week! Hugs!

    ReplyDelete
  2. you did great finding all of that for $13 great deals

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Betty--thanks so much for dropping by my blog and leaving such lovely comments. I think you and I are cut from the same junkin' cloth! Love your Reader's Digest covers and beautiful sheets, especially :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great finds, I always say that churches rummage sales are the best!!. I even buy a mid century sofa reduced from $5 to $1, can you belive that!!. Linking From My Porch to Yours.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am in love with mid-century couches, tuxedo ones in particular, so I know what a find that would be.

      Delete
  5. Hello, I've come to visit from the Vintage Bliss link up party. I'm so jealous of your $1 retro bedsheets, and those hardback books are gorgeous too, lucky you! :)

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...