Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Happy New Year!

{The current Sacks Hospice Thrift window displays}

Whether you're having a cozy evening at home or out partying it up,
I hope you're all having fun tonight :)

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

100% Thrifted Pick of the Week (12.30.08)

, originally uploaded by marcinéma.
Marcine always always looks perfectly put together and lovely in a timeless sort of way. Whether it’s one of her classic ladylike looks such as this or one of her cute quirky schoolgirl ensembles like this one, she has a way of combining interesting elements with an ease and seamlessness to be both admired and aspired to. Not to mention, she’s a total charmer this one :)

First of all, her outfit makes me want to run out and buy a pair of lace tights STAT. I love how the lacy pattern mixes here with the pattern on the dress. Also, vintage silk cocktail dress (that she found for a dollar by the way, bravo) + black velvet belt + lace stockings + leather bag = brilliant mix of textures! Who needs color to be interesting?

Check out the
100% Thrifted flickr group for more fabulous fully thrifted outfits.

Monday, December 29, 2008

Recent Finds

Wow, it's been way too long since I've simply posted some of my thrift finds! Here are some goodies I've picked up over the past few weeks:

Christmas-y finds that came in pairs :)
The vintage ornaments were practically free at 20% off of 25 cents each at the Welfare League Thrift. I found these wonderful vintage wool gloves at the Hospice Thrift. They were a bit pricey at 8 dollars but they had never been worn, were still attached with the size large tag, fit me perfectly, AND look at those adorable details! I needed new gloves too so the timing was perfect.

I got this cute little vintage faux fur collar with velvety ties at the Welfare League Thrift for a dollar.

I pretty much have no words for how awesome this vintage bird scarf is. Another Welfare League Thrift find for only $2, it has no label of any kind, I wish I knew more about it. The material is so soft and thin enough that you can see through it. It's super light and airy and the print, oh my gosh, the print is so amazing...

... and it's huge!

I love the colors and all the feathers!


I found this lovely 1947 copy of Little Women at Sacks for a dollar. It's in wonderful condition and has beautiful illustrations.

Also, from the dollar books at Sack's, this early eighties copy of The Bell Jar, which I've never read but have been wanting to. I found the the floral ribbon at the same time for a dollar and the two items went so well together.

A DVD of the Sci Fi classic Blade Runner, $5 from Sacks. Sci Fi isn't normally my genre but I do love this one with its film noir mood and of course Rachael's amazing futuristic 40's styling.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Our Sunday






The beach... not just for warm sunny days ;)

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Terrariums

Every once in a while I stumble across a blog that I fall in love with immediately. This happened a couple of months ago when I first came across Amy Elizabeth Merrick's blog An Apple A Day. It's one of those blogs that just oozes charm and inspiration.

One thing I was especially inspired by when reading through her archives was her infectious love of terrariums and since reading
this post in particular, I've been wanting to try making some of my own.

Lucky for me and anyone else interested in trying their hand at terrarium making, Amy put together
this wonderful easy-to-follow tutorial for the Domino Magazine site which takes you step-by-step through the process. I am now officially left with no excuse not try it for myself.

I've been spending more and more time in the glassware sections of thrift stores these days looking for suitable vessels. I got these three for about $1.50 a piece. The fact that this type of glassware is usually cheap and easy to find makes this hobby even more appealing.

I love the way they look grouped together with their similar, yet slightly different, shapes and sizes, unfortunately they're quite small at around 4 inches tall not including the lids. I would have to find something pretty tiny to plant in them. So I'm thinking I may just fill these with something interesting to display.

I like how the glass jar in this inspiration collage looks filled with seashells. Incidentally, this image is from another love-at-first-site blog that I discovered through Mila's inspirational treasure trove of a blog, Loveology.

The blog, called Record the Day, consists of pictures of the most beautiful collection of date stamped inspiration collages. If you're like me and love looking at other people's inspiration boards, notebooks, etc. or just enjoy collections of lovely things, I highly recommend checking it out.



The other glass jar I picked up for $2 at the Goodwill was this Planter's Peanuts jar from 1979. It's got Mr. Peanut on the bottom and the lid (monocle, top hat, cane and all :) and it's nice and tall.

So we'll see what I'm able to come up with. I'll do an update post once I get some completed. In the meantime, these are some recent flickr favorites that I've found inspiring:

Originally uploaded by alicesaunders

ferns under glass
Originally uploaded by
melissamh

Originally uploaded by alicesaunders

Originally uploaded by palindromepress

bhg - terra
Originally uploaded by
tiny palpitation

tiny terrarium
Originally uploaded by
Justin and Elise

Terrariums
Originally uploaded by
SarahIvy

P.S. - I hope you all had a really lovely holiday!

Monday, December 22, 2008

The Fussy Bohemian

With the cold wet weather we've had lately, I've been hard pressed to come up with outfits that involve much beyond the same old boots, jeans, and warm cozy cardigans to get me through these final days of last minute Christmas shopping.

Most of my dresses are better suited for warm weather, but when I started thinking about putting together an outfit that might be worthy of posting, I remembered this peach dress that my friend Laura Jane thrifted and gave to me months ago. It was too hot out to wear it for so long that I kinda forgot about it. I love its little pearly buttons :)


Especially paired with the granny boots, this dress could easily have gone the fussy secretary route, but I liked the combination of the peach with the plum colored floral vest and the subtle mix of patterns. Along with my little Guatemalan belt it brought me right back to my bohemian comfort zone.



I picked up this vintage 70’s denim jacket last year at a local consignment shop. It’s a little beat-up but I fell in love with it’s shape and the faded purpley corduroy detailing. All the corduroy bits were once the navy color where the sleeves have been rolled once. The original owner must have had short arms because if you roll the sleeves one more time the corduroy is the same faded purple color as the rest.

In other news: my hair continues to grow like a weed.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Nifty Thrift Picks of the Week (12.17.08)

Sharing my weekly faves from the Nifty Thrift flickr group where people post pics of their nifty thrifty finds. In other words a weekly spot for me to publicly covet the finds of others :)

Today
Originally uploaded by
kristenaderrick


birds
Originally uploaded by
rags and bones

Milk & Cookies
Originally uploaded by kendra-jane

Some lovely vintage milk glass and a lovely glass of milk. Mmm... those cookies look gooooood.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

100% Thrifted Pick of the Week (12.16.08)

Dec 12 (coat), originally uploaded by Ashleigh E.
What a score on that coat! I would be overjoyed to thrift me one of these, both the shape and the color are pretty darn perfect. Those puffed sleeves, those buttons, those pockets… oh my!

I love Ashleigh E’s styling too, that mustard hue paired with the fuchsia tights is spectacular and small details like how she matched her bangles to the colors in her scarf make me smile, nicely done!

Check out the 100% Thrifted flickr group for more fabulous fully thrifted outfits.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

What We Wore

On Me:
Flowery cardigan: Vintage (scored for me by my sister-in-law at a clothing swap :)
Stripey top: Thrifted
Jeans: Passed on to me by my sister :)
Shoes: old from JCPenny
Socks: Target
Shoe bows: Gift from Milla :)
Headband: Thrifted scarf

On Clover:
Vintage handmade quilted floral smock dress with pockets in front: This may be my favorite garment I've thrifted for her.
Longsleeve shirt with pink stars: Thrifted
Leggings: Hand-me-downs
Shoes: Target



We had a little mother/daughter pose-off the other day...check her out! She's got Blue Steel DOWN and I swear she practices Magnum when I'm not looking ;)

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Red, Gold, and Green


When I thrifted this dress a few weeks ago at Salvos for $4.50, I was filled with thoughts of Autumn colors and the changing leaves. Imagine my delight when I went out to the spot where I’ve been taking my outfit photos to find that our Japanese maple tree was thinking the same thing.

Its leaves were still quite green just a couple of weeks ago when I took my last outfit photo, but on Monday afternoon (jeez, how did it get to be Friday already?) the sun was shining on it in a way that set the leaves aflame.


This green cardigan is a favorite, bought while I was pregnant (hence its large size) from a local vintage store on sale for $5. I love the colorful yarn embroidered flowers, the big covered buttons, and the shape of the collar. Other than the tights, the outfit is 100% thrifted.



My cat Guinness basking in the sun. Poor thing has been limping around with a hurt paw :(

Monday evening we went on a little family outing to pick out a Christmas tree from the lot down the street. We had to get a little one that would fit up on a table high enough that you-know-who would not be able to reach the ever-so-tempting shiny ornaments.

Here’s our cute little tree, which you can see is about the size of an average window. It’s decorated with a mix of things thrifted and non-thrifted, vintage and new-bought items. Clover is quite taken with it and so am I. She was barely three months old last year so this is kind of her first real Christmas which is fun.


These weird blown-glass animals with strange pointy ears in tutus and pink ballet slippers are my absolute favorite ornaments ever. They’re not vintage, I actually bought them a few years ago at Cost Plus World Market. They are however, oddly alien-ish, totally bizarre, and even a little bit creepy… oh how I love them so!


We decorated the tree while sipping hot cocoa and listening to the soundtrack from A Charlie Brown Christmas. The best Christmas music there is in my opinion, it sets that perfect warm nostalgic mood without being cheesy and is absolutely perfect for cuddling up, dimming the lights and gazing at our sweet lil’ tree… I’ve been listening to it a lot lately :)


In case that first clip was too melancholy and you need some cheering up :)