The Gift of Thrift

Saturday turned out to be a day of gifts, beginning with mother nature’s gift of the first day of spring warm enough to frolic around without tights or sleeves… oh happy day!

I frolicked on down to the farmer’s market that morning in my long ago thrifted strawberry wrap skirt to find that coincidentally it just happened to be the beginning of strawberry season and got several compliments on my skirt while cruising around the market with Clover.

I came across a new vendor selling French macarons, how is it that I had never tried one of these tasty morsels of happiness?! With visions of Marie Antoinette dancing through my head, I went to purchase one and the lady suggested I get strawberry to go with my outfit.

At this point, the conundrum of whether to go with strawberry as the perfect finishing touch to my outfit or chocolate because IT’S CHOCOLATE quietly ensued. For a moment I was torn, but only for a moment… my love of chocolate runs deep... the macaron was deee-frickin-licious! I’m already looking forward to next Saturday just to hit up the macaron lady again, I’m hooked I tell ya ;)

I thrifted this yellow vintage clip-on bow tie last week from Sacks for 25 cents and it clips so perfectly onto this awesome little crochet top I received as a swap gift from Lauren of Strike Match. The tiny silver 4-leaf clover pendant was a birthday gift from my in-laws which I strung onto my trusty heart necklace and I love the combination of the two, for obvious reasons ;)

That afternoon, I did some birthday gift shopping for a friend and picked up this adorable vintage postcard at my favorite local antique shop for a postcard swap with Anna of much love. I've already seen the postcard she's sending so I think it's ok that I'm showing it. Sorry Anna if I’ve ruined the surprise, I couldn’t resist sharing its cuteness!

Then to top it all off, I returned home from shopping and the gift of all gifts showed up at my door in the form of a huge box of thrifted treasures from Milla! From the moment I saw the size of the box, I couldn’t wipe the silly grin off my face. I opened it to find this beautiful poem (which couldn’t have gone more perfectly with the day) sitting atop a heap of amazing finds in florals, tapestries, gold, and leather, oh my! Speaking of leather, you’re not going to believe this:

She did it, she found me the ankle booties that had been at the top of my wishlist for months, instantly catapulting her to shoe thrifting hero status! I’m sure you’ll be seeing these beauties and many other fun items from her package turning up in many a post to come :D

Milla, you are awesome possum, thankyou thankyou thankyou!!!

And the Winner Is...

I put all the names from the giveaway into my most cherished thrifted tin and called upon my lovely little assistant to do the honors.

Drumroll please...



Ooooh, the suspense!

Tadaa... Congrats to the lovely Sal of Already Pretty! Looking forward to thrifting for you Sal and I'll be emailing you soon about details :D Thanks again to everyone who entered. It was especially fun to get to see so many previously unknown readers :)

Spring Mix

It has really begun to feel like spring this week! So in celebration, I tied on my thrifted smock apron for some floral mixing with these leggings from Target and added a dash of thrifted stripes for good measure ;)

P.S. - I still need to draw a winner for the giveaway, hopefully today or tomorrow. Thanks so much again for all the entries!

Nifty Thrift Picks of the Week (3.26.09)

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 :)

bunny molds
Originally uploaded by becles

Groovy Giftboxes
Originally uploaded by moxie-girl

Warmer weather.
Originally uploaded by sherbet tone

Knot Collection
Originally uploaded by anja louise verdugo

Globe
Originally uploaded by Quietland

100% Thrifted Pick of the Week (3.24.09)

wr 32 - Back in time 4 sunshine, originally uploaded by lambandlynx.

Baby's Got a Brand New Second Hand Disguise, originally uploaded by missemma.peel.

good luck day later!, originally uploaded by zombielace.

This week's inspiration comes in the form of lovely ladies rocking baggy pleated-front thrift store pants in a variety of shapes and colors! I love seeing the variation in styling too. Not to mention, they’ve reminded me that I still need to put together the perfect outfit with these and it may even be time to revisit these again :)

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

Japanese Inspired and Fit for Fondue

I discovered the Japanese website COTON a few months ago through Jenny Gordy's wonderful wiksten-made blog and have been finding it incredibly inspiring ever since.

I immediately fell in love with the styling... the muted color palette and the gorgeous layering of cotton, denim, and cozy knit pieces. The loose proportions are really interesting and beautiful and the boots... ooh, they pair many of the outfits with the sort of boots I dream of!

Though it wasn't intentional, I think the outfit I wore yesterday (photo links to w_r post for details) was subconciously inspired by the sorts of looks I've been admiring on the COTON site:



I wore the outfit to my niece Vida's chocolate fondue themed 12th birthday party at which I proceeded to stuff my face with strawberries and mini macaroons, madelines, ginger snaps, and peanut butter cookies dipped in the most delicious chocolate sauce... so good. There was even a chocolate fountain! I think we might go back over tonight to help finish off the leftovers ;)



I thrifted this handmade girls dress on my trip to Santa Cruz and gave it to Vida as a birthday gift. Isn't it absolutely precious?! She is one of the most stylish 12-year olds I've come across and, along with her mom, is an avid thrifter herself. She loved the dress and I was so glad that when she tried it on it was a perfect fit :)

Thanks so much everyone for the enthusiastic response to the giveaway post! There's still a couple of days left if you haven't already entered. Also, thanks for all the trip well-wishes, Santa Cruz was awesome. Speaking of which, there are more thrift finds and many pictures were taken so I'll be putting together a post to share them soon :)

Matchy Finds and a Giveaway!!!

The other day I found this cotton, presumably 90's, button-down baby-doll dress for $4.50 at Salvos. I like the soft faded plaid AND it even has side pockets! I also picked up the adorable little boy's bow tie on the same trip (the lady didn't even charge me for it :). Aren't they just perfect together?

Among life's simple pleasures, the more common than one might imagine phenomena of thrift finds that magically seem destined to be together is a personal favorite. I love the way the floral print on this recently thrifted skirt ($3, Salvos) and the small flower painting I found for a dollar at the Hospice Thrift compliment one another and seem to call out springtime in unison.


Now, you may be wondering, what in tarnation does any of this have to do with a giveaway? Well first of all, no, I'm not planning to give away the above items. In fact, I'm not even sure yet what I'm planning to give away because that all depends on who enters and wins, and of course what the thrifty powers that be happen to send my way for said person.

As I've mentioned before, since starting this blog, I've discovered my LOVE of thrift swaps, and more specifically, the art of putting together individualized thrift packages. I really can't even tell you how much fun it is for me and if I could make a viable career out of being a personal thrift shopper, I so would.

In relation to the topic of the post, I love how themes seem to always work their way into the putting together of these packages. I'm convinced there is something magical about it all ;)

So, as a way of paying tribute to my one year blogiversary and the reaching of my 200th post, both of which I recently let slip by without noticing, and also just cause I think it would be fun, I'd like to say thanks by giving all my readers, and yes that includes you if you happen to have just randomly stumbled here for the first time, a chance to receive a personalized thrift package put together just for you by none other than yours truly :)

So if you're interested, all you need to do is leave a comment on this post. Simple as that. I'll leave it open for a week (through next Tuesday) then come up with some method of randomly choosing a name probably involving some sort of vessel containing names on pieces of paper and I'll announce the winner later in the week. Good luck!

P.S. - I'm off to Santa Cruz for a few days to visit a good friend I haven't seen since we were both pregnant. We're going to introduce our daughters who are only a few months apart in age for the first time so I'm excited. The weather is supposed to be beautiful and they live near the beach, so it should be lots of fun. I'll continue with my Weekly Picks posts next week. Hope you all have a great week!

New Booties

Here you go Sal :)

Play Clothes

Everytime I look at this lil' sweater I found last week at Salvos ($3) it makes me think of a fresh box of crayons... I can almost smell their waxy goodness. I'm calling it my Crayola sweater.

In other words, it makes me happy, and it's perfectly cropped for wearing with the high-waisted birthday-thrifted jeans I found recently too. Not to mention, the colors go really well with my new bag :)

Definitely an outfit made for playing in:

I kinda felt dressed to head out to the tetherball courts at recess (I was quite the champ back in my elementary school days ;)

Nifty Thrift Picks of the Week (3.11.09)

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 :)

Embroidered wall hanging
Originally uploaded by Sister Goldenhair

kitcsh kenrose day dress
Originally uploaded by rags.for.slags

cups
Originally uploaded by ffls haul

100% Thrifted Pick of the Week (3.10.09)

Bulloch Hall, originally uploaded by liebemarlene.

Never Love A Wild Thing..., originally uploaded by sunshineupton.

spring fling, originally uploaded by caroline@goodwiu.

I’m feeling inspired this week by all the little floral dresses starting to pop up like the daffodils at liebmarlene’s feet. Can you believe that gorgeous photo?! Where do I find me a Kumar? I think it’s time to enroll Lucas in a photography class ;)

Like the daffodils, the floral dresses seem to be coming out in increasing numbers to usher in the spring season and I say bring ‘em on. Love seeing the florals from different eras and the variation in styling here too… a Lula-esque take on the 50’s, a feminine ode to 90’s grunge, and a modern interpretation of 80’s pastels… there’s room for it all, and it’s all good.

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