$22 Vintage Pyrex 471, 472, 473 Horizon Blue!!

Yee-haw!!  Last night I went to bed salivating over pictures of Pyrex collections (try googling "Pyrex Collective", the blog posts will keep you up for hours!!).

I woke up this morning with a huge yearning to hit the thrift stores.  Guess what I found at the FIRST thrift store!!!

Yippee!!!

I snapped up these three casseroles for a grand total of $22 for all of them.  While I was waiting in line to pay for these beauties, I realized I didn't have my wallet in my purse!!  Argh!!  Luckily, between the $20 I had in my pocket, and all the spare change I had in my car, I was able to come up with the money.

I carefully hand washed these casseroles and now I need to figure out where I can store these - as my Pyrex collection now exceeds the 2 shelves I had allotted in my kitchen.

...I need to caffeine up, and hit a few more thrift stores...wish me luck!!!

happy thrifting ;)

Dogs and quilt making don't mix

Hello friends!!  I hope all is well and sunny where you are. We've been blessed with about 4 weeks of no snow or frost. Mind you, I got a bit careless with the last round of frost - and I neglected to bring my potted plants in.  The result was a trip to the greenhouse to buy more replacement plants ;)

I've been lucky enough to find fabric at the thrift stores. Normally a a few casual visits to the thrift store will yield a couple of pieces of fabric.

Nice bit of quilting fabric and stretch denim.

Lo and behold.  One day I popped into the thrift store between errands, and I came away with a whole load of fabric.  Most of it for quilting.  The black and white bundles are for clothing.

Jackpot!

Which lead me to my next conundrum.  Now almost all available surfaces in my sewing room are covered with fabric.  Which normally wouldn't be a problem, except for the fact that I'm in the middle of piecing denim quilts.

The finished quilt top looks like this.

I have several more quilt tops to make...and I need to cut strips of fabric.  I need to cut a LOT of strips.

After I sew the fabric together, I lay the strips on the floor to get a sense of what they will look like when pieced together. I'm going for a 97% random look.

Hmmm, not random enough.

"Approaching 97% randomness Captain!!"

In order for my system to work. I need to lay material out on the floor and leave the house.  When I come back, the first impression of the material layout either works or doesn't. I'll rearrange the material then try again.

Here's the problem.

I like to roll in fabric :)

My dog is a lovely dog.  She sheds lots, and she loves it when I leave fabric on the ground where she can cover my beautiful, potential quilt with dog hair.

Which means I get to wash the fabric, again.  If I don't zigzag stitch the fabric, this is what it looks like when I pull it out of the dryer.

What a mess!

Untangling and ironing this bundle took a couple of hours, grrr! Because the fabric is now frayed, it's too narrow to use in the quilt.  It went into the scrap bin instead.  I went back to work cutting more fabric to replace what I lost.

This is why quilting can take a loooong time with a naughty dog in the house.  But I'm persisting.

Get 'er done!

I'm *hoping* to post pictures of 2 more quilt tops soon.  Then, dog willing, I'll be able to actually *finish* the quilts.  What a concept!!

happy thrifting ;)

Thrifty storage solutions..if you wait, you can buy it second hand.

The dandelions were in full bloom on my lawn - I thought they looked rather pretty myself.  But I took pity on my neighbours across the street - they like to drink their morning coffee outside which means they get to face my house.  So I cut the lawn while enjoying the warm springy air.

The air is getting warmer and muggier.  The sky was an incredibly clear blue this morning, but now it has gotten muggier with a hint of smoke. There is probably a forest fire burning somewhere here in Northwestern Ontario.

When I moved into my house a few years ago, I downsized from a large kitchen with tons of cupboards and a good-sized pantry to a smaller kitchen with less than half the cupboards and no pantry.  And so my canned goods sat in boxes on the floor.

I had priced cupboards and pantries, the one below is from IKEA and it sells for $229 (plus taxes, shipping, assembly, yadda yadda yadda).  The problem was it was too expensive, it was too small and I wanted white.

And so the boxes of canned goods stayed on my kitchen floor.  But then, lo and behold, what did I find at the Salv Army....!!!!

Witness this modular, entertainment centre.  It's actually half of the 6 piece set that was available for $120.

I snapped this set up as quickly as I could!!!  There were 2 units that were used to hold TV or stereo equipment. I re-purposed them for use in my kitchen.  The microwave went into one unit and the toaster oven went into the other.  

Off to the right is a skinny unit that was probably used to hold books and knickknacks.  Right now they are living in my garage, but when I redo the closets these babies will hold sweaters.

The remaining two units are in my sewing room.  The cupboards are perfect for holding fabric that has been pre-washed and dried.  If you look closely, the unit on the left is showcasing my California Singing Raisins collection.

Normally I don't post the amount of money I save by shopping second hand.  But I figured I saved at least $500 in the kitchen.  The additional units that I use in my sewing room, and (eventually) the closets were a great bonus.  Yes, I did have to live with boxes of cans on my kitchen floor, meh, I've lived through worse.

I also wanted to show you this gorgeous canvas and leather duffle.  

This bag is new...and the protective tabs are still on the zippers!!

Still in the mood for comparison pricing, I found this J Crew version.  It retails for over $400!!!

happy thrifting ;)

My happy place, thrifted fabric and the 99 cent sale that wasn't

 Ah! It's cottage weather.  Soon I will be hitting the open road to travel to our lakeside cottage.  Here are some pictures I took enroute.  Aren't the clouds magnificent?

Here is the lake. We are fortunate enough to enjoy a small cabin with lakeside frontage.  The kids have spent many hours fishing off that dock. It's heaven.

Last week I saw that there was going to be a 99 cent sale at the Salv Army.  I went to the Salv Army a few days prior to the sale to scout out some possible buys.

Here is my thrifty outfit, thrifted scarf (about $3), thrifted Reitman's tunic (about $3), Aeropostal cords (clearance $10).

This fabulous blouse caught my eye.  I snapped it up without waiting for the sale.  I can hardly wait to wear it!!!  

I didn't notice that the original tag was on it. $109!?! Cripes!! I'd never pay that.  It is silk though.

During the scouting trip, I hit the jackpot for fabric!!  Plus fabric and linens were 50% off!!  I purchased about 60 metres of fabric for $42!! Most of the fabric was for quilting. Hmmm, I better start piecing quilt blocks soon. My sewing room is packed with fabric!!!

It's the day of the sale!!!  Thrifty OOTD, blue chiffony top from RW (thrifted), tweed jacket (thrifted), jeans (thrifted).

White blazer, it needed a gentle hand wash.  It's perfect for the office!!

Ornate beaded jacket, sadly this would languish in my closet - it got left behind.

Tuxedo jacket by RW, LOVE IT!!

I love how the satin collar goes up a bit at the back.

This vintage pink jacket was tempting, but the collar looked funny on me. I left it behind.

The tag looks vintage.  How old do you think it is?  Aside from a missing button, it was in perfect condition.

Ooooh, the thrift gods were kind to me.  I looooove this cropped, swingy jacket. Vintage Louben, Made in Canada.

Unfortunately, in between trying on the jackets, I discovered that they weren`t included in the 99 cent sale.  So I bought 4 jackets and paid full-price for them.  But heck, they were only $10 each, and the money went to Salv Army.

Plus I did have that cart of fabulous fabric!!

happy thrifting ;)

Thrifted Office OOTD & things I've left behind

Brrrr!  Once again Mother Nature has thrown us a curve ball. I've had to crack out the sweaters as the temperature has been dropping to the freezing mark at night.  How is the weather where you are from??

Here are some pictures I had on my old iPhone.  

This is a thrifty outfit - the pale pink cardigan is part of a vintage, cardi and skirt set from Ports.  I don't know if Ports is still in business.  They sold high-end clothing back in the 80s. The skirt and cardi are made of virgin wool - it's just warm enough, but not too warm, to wear in an overly air-conditioned office in the summer.  I believe I paid about $4 for the set, so the cardi was $2.

The blue Reitman's tunic was thrifted for a few dollars.

I collect these vintage, multi-strand chokers.  I usually pay about $3-$4 for them at thrift stores.  The silver necklace underneath was a $5 clearance find from Bianca Nygard.

I'm particularly fond of the following find.

It's a vintage Capezio bag!!   I thrifted it from the Goodwill by the Pound in Minnieapolis.  If you are a hard-core thrifter, and you haven't been to a Goodwill clearance....ya gotta go!! They charge about $1.60 per pound for clothing and purses - prices vary by region though.  I paid about $1 for this purse.

I try very hard not to bring home too much clutter.  I know I am a clutterbug, and I like my knickknacks.  Sometimes things will catch my eye at the thrift store.  Instead of buying it, I'll take a picture of it.

Et voila!  Here is a terrifying glimpse of  a collection of things that caught my eye.  Proceed with caution.  

Pig shaped creamer.

Vintage nursery decoration.

It hurt to leave this cannister set behind.

Mint condition cannister set!!

This bear would have done well on eBay.  I used to buy things from thrift stores and resell on eBay - but I don't do that anymore.

Souvenir Koala bear

Wah! This vintage shirt has Parisian, night life scenes!!

Once I described this coin bank to my (Scottish) step-son, he insisted I buy it for him (which I did).

Hmmm.  I think there is stereotyping going on here.

OK, these candlesticks came home with me.  They are clean and elegant - and I think they'll look FAB with my white collection.

Fine, bone china candlesticks.

This is another souvenir item that I would have sold on eBay.

Irridescent chicken!!  Wwah!!!  It's so kitsch (forget the statement I made about clean, white candlesticks!!!).  

It hurt, but I left this behind.  I hope it found a good home.

Hmmmm, I really liked this elf, sugar bowl too.  But it stayed behind.  Dammit!!

Vintage, made in Japan.

Gah!! I fell in love with these velvet, wingback chairs.  But my garage is already full of chairs and furniture that is going to be refinished or repainted.  So they stayed behind.

This collection of pastel colored dishes was delicious.  But I have no need for them. Gah!!

Well, these are the sorts of things that I love to look at in thrift stores.  I'm glad I kept my resolve and that I didn't buy these things, as they would have added a significant amount of clutter to my house.  Remember kids, you don't want to end up on Hoarders. 

happy thrifting ;)