Nifty Thrift Picks of the Week (3.31.08)

Sharing my weekly faves from the Nifty Thrift flickr group where people post pics of their nifty thrifty finds:

thrift rocks. charity shop find
Originally uploaded by Oliveark

This wooden puzzle is really just too adorable for words! I love the color combination, and it would be PERFECT in the little girl's room that I dream of decorating based on this image.

Vintage Wood Handle Clutch Purse Strawberry Daisy
Originally uploaded by DoNotDestroy®

I just love all the great details on this sweet vintage purse, from the buttons to the green piping to the wood handle, and don't even get me started on that strawberry/daisy motif, too cute!

Memories
Originally uploaded by ThriftCraft

Vintage photo collections seem to be all the rage right now and the photos in this group from an estate sale are especially lovely, great score!

Thrift Art

Pictures of the offices of Drew Barrymore's production company, Flower Films, (decorated by Ruthie Sommers) from the March issue of Domino were all over the design blogs this month. Of course this one on desire to inspire with the wall full of thrifted art caught my eye... LOVE it. Hmm, thrifting for celebrities... where do I sign up for that job?!

Also at desire to inspire, this fun transformation of a funky thrift store "shell painting", all it took was a little white and yellow paint.

And next time you find yourself wandering aimlessly on the Internet, stop by thriftstoreart.com, and browse this online gallery of thrift store paintings. Reading their witty titles is pretty entertaining and there are some that I find quite lovely. For example, "Sherri" and "Unattended Toddler Sits with Balloons and Playing Children", with their bright cheery colors and happy subject matter, are totally wall-worthy.

And in an alternate reality where Lucas doesn't exist, the more subdued "Small Dutch Couple Beneath Yellow Tulips" and "New Shoes 2" would be more than welcome to join my decor as well.

However, most of what you will find on display ranges from wacky to weird to WTF? and for the embodiment of all three, you need look no further than "Unidentified Person in Multicolored Sweater Looks up at Bald Man with Paunch". While there is a creepiness here that can not be denied, something about its muted palette along with the stripy sweater strangely appeals to me. Perhaps if "Man with Paunch" was clothed or less mean-looking and if "Unidentified Person" didn't look so frightened?... no, perhaps not... enjoy!

Today's Outfit

3.27.08, originally uploaded by thriftcandy.

Ok, so the only thing thrifted in this picture is the hat but really, isn't this outfit SO all about the hat?

Interesting (?) fact: when I purchased this hat it reeked of old lady perfume. Luckily I was able to wash that away, but I am still very curious about what she looked like wearing it.

New Dress

Wore the pink one today and posted on wardrobe remix. Dress, boots, and necklace all thrifted. Sweater and slip second hand from a consignment shop.

Nifty Thrift Picks of the Week (3.24.08)

Not only do I love thrifting myself, I also really enjoy checking out other people's thrift finds and my favorite place to do this is in the photo pool for the flickr group Nifty Thrift (my other flickr addiction). So, I've decided to start a new weekly post sharing my top three picks. Here are this week's faves:

Child Craft: Creative Play & Hobbies, originally uploaded by anja louise verdugo.

I am totally smitten with the cover of this vintage book. I think it would be fun to decorate a little girl's room using this image as the inspiration.

Puttin' on the spritz!, originally uploaded by greenapplegrenade.

Perfume... not really a fan, but I am in LOVE with this pretty little spritzer! Beautiful 25 cent flea market find.

Mint condition 1960's Made in Japan coffee set with rack
Originally uploaded by merebearlandon

This one actually came from an antique store but it is SO cool and $20 seems like such a great deal!

Thrift Bunnies

Happy Easter!

Spring Loot

All vintage except the mini dress:

• one pink floral polyester dress ($4.50)
• one blue and green floral mini dress ($2.50)
• two pillow cases (.50 each)
• two patchwork place mats (.50 each)
• One children's book of poems ($1)

My latest batch of thrift scores seems to be screaming "yay, spring is finally here!" There definitely seems to be a sunny floral thing going on which makes me think about this:

Often I will go into a thrift store, buy a bunch of random things, and realize when I get them home that somehow they just magically seem to go together. This usually involves a common theme of complimentary colors and/or patterns. I know from reading other people's blogs and viewing photos of finds on flickr that this is actually a very common thrifting phenomenon. I find it interesting and it does seem to add something to each item when it feels like it belongs to a cohesive set, for me at least. I suppose it's not surprising since our purchases reflect our current moods and tastes.

Speaking of which, while going through this set of photos, I happened to notice that one of the cork board inspiration squares that I have hanging near my desk had images with the same soft pinks, blues, and greens. It's hard to see here but the splotchy blue and green pattern on one of the presents in the gift wrapping image looks suspiciously like the floral pattern on my mini dress... hmm. I just love that kind of stuff... :)

Thrift Trend: Vintage Children's Books

It seems that vintage children's books are on every thrifter's list of items to look for. They are definitely up there on my list. They're widely available (at least where I shop), usually very cheap ($1 or less), and you just can't beat the illustrations found in these old books... amazing. Here are a few from my collection:

Browsing Etsy, I've come across people using vintage children's books as crafting material with some really cool results:

Set of 3 magnets for $5 available from WordySmith.

Belt buckle for $23 available from MaxineDear.

Set of 6 buttons for $5 and poker chip pendant for $12 available from Sushipot.

And in my opinion, the coolest thing ever made using vintage children's books... this decoupaged vintage teardrop case by pixiegenne. Unfortunately it was sold months ago, which is sad for me but great for whoever was lucky enough to buy it. Check out more of meg from pixiegenne's amazing decoupage work here. All I can say is... complete awesomeness. I also know from reading her wonderful blog that she is an excellent thrifter. Check it out, she regularly shows off her enviable finds.

Teacups Revisited

My very first post was about teacups and how I wanted to try to repurpose some of mine as they do not see much actual tea action (not much meaning none). So I finally got around to dusting some of them off and sprucing them up. While I didn't attempt anything too challenging, I'm pleased with how they turned out:

This is my lazy but still pretty version of the teacup candle idea. The clear depression glass cup is perfect for floating a single lotus flower candle and the tiny pair of pink and green demitasse cups (I buy them because they are too cute not to, but do people really drink out of these?) are the perfect size to use as tea light votives.

I'm especially proud of my variation on the teacups as planters idea and these tiny succulents look perfect in my set of retro cups.

I'm thinking table centerpiece with the three succulent cups perched atop an amazing cake plate. I've always wanted a cake plate, I don't know why as I rarely bake (rarely meaning almost never). Something like my dream cake plate from Etsy seller witney smith pottery would be perfect... love that little bird!!! But lets be real, for $58 that's not going to happen. Oh well, now I have something new to look for on my next trip to the thrift store.