Marsala madness!!

Have you checked out Pantone's 2015 color of the year?  It's a delectable shade called "Marsala".  It reminds me of burgundy tinged with taupe.  I love it!!!!

A few months ago, I picked up this vintage blouse at the Salvation Army.  It's Marsala baby!!

Check out the pleated, pie frill collar...I originally purchased this blouse to wear to a fashion costume party.  But now I think I may take it in, and shorten the sleeves.  The beauty of Marsala, is that it can be paired with so many other colors in my wardrobe.

Vintage Mister Leonard!

I think this is a very versaltile, and lovely color...I'm looking forward to thrifting for more!!

happy thrifting ;)

Purse and fabric haul from the thrift store

Hello friends, I hope you are all staying warm during this cold month of February.  I've been purging clutter and unused stuff.  I dropped off a bag of donations at the Salv Army and I perused the purses.

There was a decent selection of purses.  They were in great shape.  My eyes were immediately drawn to the mustard yellow Anne Klein purse.  It came home with me for $17.

Pardon the sideways shot

I loved this color blue.  This le chateau purse was a nice size, but it wasn't in excellent condition, so I passed.

This cute velvet purse still had the tag on it.  Judging from the printing on the price tag, this purse was old deadstock from the 1990s.  The purse was cute, but I need cross-body purses, so I passed.

Here is my new Anne Klein.  Cool thing was that I had been lusting after a very similar Anne Klein at TJ Max - but I balked at the pricetag.

Trademark lion head design.

Cross body strap was in the bag.

No visit to the thrift store is complete without checking out the fabric.  This trip was a score...plus I was able to use a $10 off coupon I had.  From top, top to left we have, about 2 metres of purple daisy material $7.  Blue/brown Aztec print, about 2 metre $4.99.  The most softest flannel ever...very nice quality!! Sunflower print, about 3 1/2 yards for $6.99.  Burgundy print fabric, 2 metres for $4.99.  Blue sunflower print fabric, 2 metres for $4.99.  All of this fabric is going to  be used in quilts.

Here are 2 other purses I found at Value Village.  When I saw the black purse on the rack, I was hoping it was vintage. Sadly it turned out to be a Liz Claiborne repro - but it was in excellent condition,so it came home with me for $15.

The cute little red purse is vintage.  It has a long chain handle and sparkly rhinestones.  It was $7.

happy thrifting ;)

Go recycling!!

This was my recycling and garbage pile 2 weeks ago.

As you can see, I had a LOT of stuff that had to get recycled. Cardboard boxes, cans and lots of misc paper.

Here are some old pics on my phone that I'm finally using (hey, that counts as recycling, right?).  These are things that I picked up at the 4 items for $15 sale at Salv Army.  With the blustery cold weather we've had, I was magnetized to colorful, summer clothing.

Alia Bandana shirt

Joe Fresh print blouse

Ann Taylor silk blouse

Liz Claiborn camouflage print blouse

Blue and grey check shirt

Louben orange linen blazer

print blazer

Gap green blazer

Banana Republic blouse

Everything has been washed and packed away for the summer.  This haul also gave me an opportunity to go through my closet and get rid of some stuff...one bag in, one bag out...it's all about recycling.

happy thrifting ;)

Aldo shoes, Roots purse and other random finds from 2014

Hello! Whoo, look at me doing several posts in one day!! 

I was reviewing images on my camera iPhone, and I found some pictures of random finds from 2014.

This buttery-soft Roots purse set me back $15. These type of purses retail for about $100.  It was in mint condition!!  I love the color!!  It's the perfect size to hold a wallet, cell phone and chapstick. It's the kind of thing I take with me on trips - I can sling it across my body and walk for miles.

Three purses, a large red tote, an Ed Hardy purse and a vintage leather cross body.  Love them!!  I used the red tote a lot during 2014 - it was my goto purse for work.  I threw in my wallet, cell phone, lunch, water bottle, makeup bag etc.  It held everything!  The red tote is a shiny tote from Sears, I think I got it for a few dollars.  The Ed Hardy purse was used for overnight trips - it held a remarkable amount of clothing. I bought it for about $10, I'm not sure how much it retailed for. The leather cross body is vintage, circa 1980s...it has no cell phone pocket inside ;)  Love it!!

 Radom clothing that was 50% off. 

I purchased this shirt for the buttons....it's cheaper to buy a shirt for a few dollars, then to purchase new buttons.

The buttons went on this Ralph Lauren chambray shirt. It looks much nicer now!

Love this oversized cotton sweater by Jones of New York.  Oversized sweaters are my kryptonite (I guess that makes me the Superman of thrift stores ;).

This sweater was $3 on sale.

The pattern on this silk t-shirt reminded me of the iconic, Louis Vuitton pattern.  I snapped it up for $1.50.  It's a vintage Spenser Jeremy top.  I washed it by hand but sadly some of the dye bled on the sleeve.  It's still perfectly wearable though. I plan to wear it with black shorts and a green Gap blazer that I picked up.

This is a cute RW dress made of brown cordouroy.   I have it packed away - to be worn when the weather warms up.

I remember finding a lot of cute, new shoes in my size at the thrift store that day.  I walked away with the sparkly Aldo loafers on the left. They were about $3, they would retail for at least $50 in the store.  I wore them on my birthday.

happy thrifting ;)

Pink to silver, lamp DIY makeover

Hello friends! Over the Christmas holidays, I did a DIY makeover on two lamps I had purchased at a thrift store. 

While I was at the thrift store, I found a great selection of lamps. 

There was a great selection of sizes and shapes.  I then saw this pair of lamps.  I thought the shape had a lot of potential, but I hated the color.

I paid a visit to Canadian Tire, and picked out some spray paint.

A couple of coats later, here was the end result.

The knick-knacks are all thrifted too.

As hard as I tried, I couldn't find two decent, secondhand lampshades, so I bought new ones at Walmart. They're kinda boring (bleah!), but my choices were limited.

Cost of project:

lamps, 2 for $7.50 each  $15

1 can of spray paint  $5.75 (including tax)

2 lampshades, 2 for $8 each  $18.40 (including tax)

Total cost $39.15 for both lamps.  I know that I could have bought cheaper, new lamps at Walmart - but these lamps have some heft and quality to them.  And they are exactly what I wanted.  

Isn't the silver penguin cute? He was a $2 thrift store find from 2014.

happy thrifting ;)

Thrift Store haul! Salvation Army four items for $15 sale!!

Hello friends!  Here is my haul from the Salvation Army's "buy four items for $15" sale.  So everything cost $3.75.  I found the pickings were kind of slim, but I managed to snaffle a few items.

This 2-piece top and bottom set counted as one item!! Hurrah.  It's a vintage, oversized shirt with elastic waist pants. I really liked the rugged look of the material.  I'm going to DIY this into a romper.

This snuggly sweater is by Elizabeth (a plus sized line from Liz Claiborne).  It pays to check *all* sections of a thrift store, including the plus sized section.

Love this grid patterned skirt.  It's midi length, wool, by Jones of New York. 

I wasn't keen on the frumpy length of this Lands End dress. But I loved the thick material!  I'll either shorten this, or chop off the skirt and use the material to make leggings.

Just a pretty sweater dress that I threw into my cart.  It's made of silk and cotton.  It's not terribly warm. I would wear it with leggings or cords, and layer another shorter sweater over top.

Bonus!  I found a few pairs of warm dress pants I can wear to work!! 

These Banana Republic pants were in mint condition (they are wrinkled because I washed them and haven't ironed them yet).  Sadly, they are linen.  I can't wear them till the summer.

I also picked up this cute scarf...love the colors!!

And!!  I found this metalisized, bag made from burlap...love it!!

happy thrifting ;)