Merry Christmas Everyone!

I haven't posted in a while because Mom had another surgery and I have been helping her with her recovery.  She is completely recovered now, and I have a new job that is keeping me very busy, but I didn't want to miss wishing you all a Merry Christmas.

I haven't been able to get to any sales recently, but I have picked up a few Christmas items throughout the year that I would like to share with you.

I found these Victorian Christmas nesting boxes at an estate sale.  I thought I was buying three boxes, but there turned out to be seven.  I paid $2.50.

 

The fancy glass ornaments came from the same sale for 50c each, but I rescued the Gurley Christmas Angel from the bins at the Goodwill Outlet.

 

She's a little worse for wear, but she's my only Gurley, and she's probably over 50 years old, so I think she's lovely.  She cost all of 10c.

They had quite a few very nice sisal animal ornaments at the estate sale, but they were marked $2.00 each, so I only chose one, the giraffe.  When I went to pay for him, it turned out they had marked all the ornaments down to 50c, but it had been a long day at this particular sale and I was ready to go home.

I found the elf at a small thrift shop marked down to 50c because she has a small chip on her left hand where her thumb would be.  She is still the most glamorous elf I have ever seen.  She is a gift for Mom.

Speaking of gifts, Mom found the plastic church at the Goodwill Outlet for 43c and gave it to me.  I have plans to make a Putz house village and it should fit in nicely.  The very tip of the steeple is broken off, and it used to be glued to a base, but all the cellophane windows are intact!  I'm thrilled to have it.

 

The pink ornament is a Shiny Brite and I think it's the largest I've ever found - 3.5 inches in diameter.  I have been hoping to find an affordable ceramic light up Christmas tree, so when Mom found one at the bins, she was very excited.  It turned out to be broken beyond repair, but she rescued the lights for 20c.  If I ever find that tree, I'll have plenty of replacement bulbs, lol. 

 Christmas isn't the only holiday I've thrifted things for.  I found the pumpkin picks at the bins for 14c.

The jack-o-lanterns are very cute.

This is one of Mom's favorite Goodwill Outlet rescues of all time.

A Halloween owl blow mold lantern.
It is missing it's cord, but that should be an easy fix.  They sold on Ebay this year for around $30.  Mom paid 69c.  After he's fixed. we'll hang him in our craft room.

I hope you have all enjoyed my blog this year.  Thank you to all who have taken the time to visit and a special thank you to those who are kind enough to leave a comment.

May you all have a truly blessed Christmas and much joy in the coming new year!

Thrifting finds for June and July

Thrifting in the months of June and July didn't yield a lot of terribly notable finds but there were some gems.  Neighborhood garage sales are not usually our thing, but there is one neighborhood in town where you can find really nice things.  It is the fancy neighborhood overlooking the lake and is filled with million dollar homes, owned by people who understand garage sale pricing.  

I hiked all over the hills of that neighborhood, and was rewarded with this Le Creuset dutch oven.  

Isn't it beautiful?  I have been looking for an enamel pan for baking bread, but I never would have dreamed I could find a Le Creuset in my favorite colorway and at my price.

I was shocked to see that the price was only $2, and when I double-checked with the owner, she said it was because of the tiny chips to the interior of the pan.  As I will be baking bread wrapped in parchment, they won't matter at all.  When I brought it home and showed it to Mom, she asked me how much I paid, and I held up 2 fingers.  "Only $20?  What a steal!"  For those of you who don't know, a brand new equivalent to this pan retails for $300-$400.  Vintage pans usually run $50 to $150 depending on color and condition.

 

I found some interesting vintage booklets at the same sale (20c each).

I was especially pleased to find the owners manual to our 1957 pink Sunbeam MIXMASTER.



Inside the back cover are some very useful instructions for oiling the machine, as well as a chart showing that the mixing bowls were not only made in pink, they were also available in yellow and turquoise.  Wouldn't that be a nice thing to stumble upon at an estate sale - a 1957 Sunbeam turquoise mixing bowl!



I picked up a manual for the 1948 model, too.  Approximately 2 years after I found the pink 1957 12 speed, Mom found a white 10 speed model.  It looks identical to the 1948 one, and we suspect it was made a few years later.  It was interesting to see how things were different 9 years earlier, even though that's apparently the same old cake on the same old plate.  "Jackie, what the he**!?"  Doesn't everyone else love "That '70s Show" as much as we do?

In 1948, a MIXMASTER had 9 speeds, 3 fewer than ours,



and there were 13 attachments available, from butter churn to potato peeler.  All there was for ours is a food grinder.  I guess by 1957, people were buying stand alone appliances to do things.  Some of those attachments looked pretty cool.  I would love to have the high-speed drink mixer attachment

I thought this booklet was pretty cool.  It was distributed by the portable appliances department of General Electric in 1963 and encouraged people to "make the most of your electrical servants."

I would love to make the most of my electrical servants.  When is G.E. releasing their design for the robot butler?  The booklet included menu planning, recipes, party themes, buffet table set-ups, and even how to have two parties in one day.

I have never been a fan of Corning ware, preferring Pyrex, but when I saw this at Goodwill, I couldn't resist it.

It is a 1960 Corning 2.5 qt saucepan with handle, fin lid, and cradle in excellent condition.  I especially love the fin lid.  I paid $8.00 for it - an enormous sum for a tightwad such as me.

The candle warmer looks like it has never been used.

I also picked up this cheese dome decorated with piano keys for $2 because it seemed unusual.  I guess I was right, because when I searched the internet for it, I found absolutely nothing.

I also made a few trips to the Goodwill Outlet.  

I bought some useful boring things like clothes and jelly jars, but I also found a few treasures.

2 small enamel saucepans, 95c each.  I love the golden yellow one.  These will be used for a "camping" themed birthday party for the son of a friend of mine.

2 pink aluminum jello molds, 30c each.  I really like the pinwheel.

This is a picture from ebay.  I found a Fisher-Price Roly Poly chime ball just like this ($1.32) and gave it to a friend for her new baby before I could take a picture.  Mine was just as yellowed as this one, and had many scuff marks, but it cleaned up nicely with some help from Bar Keeper's Friend. 

 I love Roly Poly balls.  They are practically indestructible.  This one is 50 years old.

I picked up this book thinking I could cut it up and make a cute notebook, 

 but as soon as I opened it I knew better.

 

 It is full of beautiful illustrations of children from all over the world.

 

 

 

 Doesn't she look like a Spanish version of Snow White?

The illustrations accompany stories of life in various countries.

This book was printed in 1937, and so tells of a world very different than that of today.

I was not surprised to see that it is a Platt and Munk book, as they are known for their charming illustrations and I am a big fan.

This is my favorite illustration,

Kala and his father surfing with Diamond Head in the background.

Look, they all got together for an ocean cruise.
An improbable but charming illustration for the facing pages.
I happily paid the $2 asking price.

So those are my finds for June and July.  Which one do you think is the best?

I'm linking up to these parties.  Please stop by and join the fun:

Show and Share
Roses of Inspiration

Vintage Bliss Tuesdays
Treasure Hunt Thursday

Life Magazine, Nov 3, 1941

Several weeks ago, on one of my trips to The Goodwill Outlet with my friend Rachael, we stopped in the furniture section and this is what I found sitting on a chair:

Yes, please, I'll take an Exciting Pyrex Flameware teapot.  And I won't even insist on a price of $1.75.  Nor does it have to be new.  (Although, how cool would that be?)  I don't only love colorful vintage Pyrex,  I'm also a fan of Flameware.  I have a percolator and a double boiler, but the one piece I have always really wanted is the teapot.  And yes, I would actually use it to serve cocktails.  For now, I will have to content myself with this really cool full page color advertisement.  I need to get it framed so it can hang in my kitchen someday.  

The funny thing is, I was just telling Rachael the other day about Flameware teapots and how I wanted one.  And then voila, I get the paper doll version.  It's kind of like when you ask Santa for a pony and you get a Barbie one.  Not exactly what you asked for, but still pretty sweet.

The Flameware ad wasn't the only thing I found.  It was part of a 12-page section out of a vintage copy of Life magazine.  I don't know who picked it up and placed it in the furniture section just for me, but I'm sure glad they did.  After a little research online, I discovered that it was part of the Nov 3, 1941 issue.

Look what was on the back side of the Flameware ad:  a very cute Thanksgiving themed advertisement for Rice Krispies Marshmallow Squares, featuring Snap, Crackle and Pop as Pilgrims.  If you read it carefully, I'll bet you'll find out some things you didn't know.  Like, Rice Krispies cereal puts new sparkle into breakfast.  The Marshmallow Squares are thrilling, sensational and gay!  Sounds like an MGM musical.  No wonder it's America's cereal sensation

According to Wikipedia, Rice Krispies Treats are widely thought to have been invented in 1939 by Malitta Jensen and Mildred Day at the Kellogg Company home economics department, so these were a fairly new recipe. 

Included in the 12-page section were two articles: one about the new production of "Ah, Wilderness!" on Broadway and one about a topiary garden.  But it was the advertisements I was interested in.

This advertisement for Chatham blankets uses elegence, quality, economy and even patriotism to convince people to buy their blankets.  You could even buy stunning matching housecoats at smart shops everywhere!  I want one of those housecoats; they are pretty stunning, but I especially like the beautiful hats they apparently wear around the house as they are getting ready for bed.  Beats me in my terry cloth robe, any day, lol. Those closet boxes were pretty cool too.

Am I the only one who finds a vacuum cleaner with "magic fingers" a little creepy?  On the other hand, this reminds me of one of my favorite movies, "The Sandlot," so that makes me feel a little better.

"Your feet tell your station in life."  Boy, life was sure easier in 1941.  You didn't need the latest electronic gadget or a new car to impress people, you just needed a good pair of socks!

And here's a very cute little baby to tell you how to wash your lambskin gloves.

I wonder what those makers of famous gloves are doing now that ladies gloves aren't as fashionable as they used to be.

This is a pretty stylish ad for winter underwear.  Longjohns have sure come a long way from their representation in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.  Look it up, it's worth it.

Another patriotic appeal not to waste things.

I have to keep searching for the Flameware teapot but I'm very glad to have found such fun advertisements that I hope you enjoy as much as I do.

Show and Share
Make It Pretty Monday
Roses of Inspiration

Thrifty Gift Basket Ideas

Remember the trip my friend Rachael and I took to The Bins last month?  You can read about it here.

We were searching for some raw materials to use for an annual fund-raiser my church does.  Every year members of the congregation make up gift baskets for Mother's Day and auction them off.  The proceeds go for scholarships to send people to our church camp.

I thought you might like to see what we made.  Remember the green book with the nice library binding?

I used the cover for a blank journal.

I kept the pocket in the back just for fun.

I made this set of coasters using sharpie markers and alcohol.  Aren't they pretty?  I will be writing a post later showing how to do it.   I also decorated a glass candle plate in the same colors and added a jasmine and coconut pillar candle.

These were all part of a Meditation themed basket.  It also contained a large mug, an assortment of bagged and loose teas, a tea diffuser, and a gift certificate for 2 lbs of coffee roasted to your preferences by a friend and her husband.  I'm sorry I don't have a picture of the finished basket.  I just didn't have the time between assembling the basket and the start of the auction.  This basket was the hit of the auction and quite a bidding war broke out. Some people REALLY love their coffee.

Remember this shadow box frame?

I spray-painted it white...

and used mod podge to add a piece of scrapbook paper to the back and waterproof it.  Then I glued the back on to turn it into a tray or shelf for use in the bathroom.

It became part of a bathroom basket that included my homemade body scrub (coconut oil, sugar and cinnamon), 6 crocheted face scrubbies and a crocheted "loofah" bath pouf, all made by Rachael, 3 bottles of Revlon nail polish, a bottle of nail oil I blended myself (apricot, baby oil, and orange essential oil) and several face masks.

I bought these pieces of silverware to turn into herb markers.

I already had these Currier and Ives pots that we got at the bins 5 years ago, so I filled them with herb starts.

Basil

Mint


Lavender


 Rosemary

The pictures are a little fuzzy, but that hides the bad job I did with the stamping (and that I misspelled lavender, oops).  This was my first try.  I'll get better, right?



These all became part of this kitchen basket.  I made some Tunisian crocheted washcloths and a trivet/hot pad.  I added a jar of my Mom's spice rub for vertical roasted chicken, some decorative recipe cards and a piece of vintage Tupperware: a "Sweet Savor" for storing syrup or cream.



I added the Tupperware because Mom and I made this.

It's a travel recipe notebook.  We used a vintage Tupperware brochure we found at an estate sale.  We laminated each page, so they could serve as dividers, making six sections for recipes, and filled it with about 100 lined pages.  The pages of the brochure actually had some handy information about how long you can keep foods and what freezes well, etc.

I carry a notebook with a similar purpose to this in my purse.  I can take my recipes to my friends' houses when I cook for them and I can share my recipes when someone asks me for one.
 I hope whoever received this notebook likes it as much as I like mine.

I had the actual baskets in my room holding beauty products, so I swapped them out for 3 dollar store totes.  As you can see, we were able to put together three gift baskets, without having to spend much actual cash.  I hope this will inspire some of you to do the same when you need a gift or a prize. 

I'm linking up with these parties:

Show and Share
Tips and Tricks
Vintage Inspiration Party
Roses of Inspiration