Red is for love, thrifting finds

Here we are trudging through January 2015.  Lately the weather has alternated between mildly cold with soft fluffy snowflakes, and blistering cold.  I sigh when I read fashion blogs.  The women in those blogs can drape a coat over their outfit, while wearing high heels with cropped, tight pants.  If I were to do that, I'd get frostbite on my exposed ankles, or slip and fall on the snow and ice.

The good news is that I'm gearing up for Valentine's Day with these latest finds.  A cool, jet necklace with matching earrings (only the beads are crimson red instead of black), and 2 decorative boxes.

All these goodies set me back $10 at the Salv Army.

Then I found a whole whack of sewing notions. Some were quite old.  I snapped up some binding tape, and stretchy lace.

happy thrifting ;)

What I found thrifting ..vintage promo glass goodness

Lately the thrift store gods have been smiling on me.  I found these beauts in the housewares section.  It's like they were waiting for me. 

2 glasses from a set of six 7-Up glasses

These glasses were in MINT condition.  They looked like they were never used.  I snapped up all six of them.

Then I found....

More glass goodness!!

Two more promotional glasses!!!  With my 50% off coupon, the eight glasses came to $12.

These glasses went to youngest stepson.  He was sad because his beloved, Disney glass was chipped.  These glasses will replace it nicely.

happy thrifting ;)

When the going gets tough, the tough sew blocks!!

Happy New Year friends!!!  I hope that everyone in blogland had a restful and enjoyable holiday.  Here I am all bright-eyed and bushy tailed (hmmm, maybe it's all the caffeine).  And I'm fairly bursting with New Years goals (gosh, maybe I should start by finishing those late Christmas presents ;).

 

2014 was a good year, I'm hoping that 2015 will be even better.  Lately I've had a few poopy days - you know, where nothing seems to go right, and when everything seems against you.

 

So what do tough people do, when the going gets tough?

Erm, pardon the sideways pic.

 

 

 

Nothing vents steam like ironing :)

 

 

Log cabin blocks baby!!

You betcha...a couple of sessions cutting strips for log cabins, a couple of visits to the gym - where I rowed ferociously, and the rhythmic Zen-ness that is piecing and ironing.

Don't ever let life get you down.  Find something that you love, that is mindless and soothing (not TV) and JUST DO IT!!!

 

happy thrifting ;)

failure, Jacob's Tears

Hello friends!  Have you ever had a moment when you had to admit defeat?  Last week I experienced such a moment. After spending months lusting over a spectacular Jacob's Tears quilt, I decided to make my own.

I played with fabric and figured out my color scheme.

fabric

When I had a quiet moment, I cleared off the kitchen table (that was a feat in itself!) and started my calculations.

Hypotenuese

Despite my careful calculations, and allowances for diagonal seams, my pattern wouldn't draft properly, and I was left with this.

Argh!

So for the first time ever, I'm going to work from someone else's pattern.  I have given up trying to draft my own pattern.

I've asked Santa for a special quilting book this year.  I won't tell you the title yet.  Let's cross our fingers and hope that I was nice enough to get this book.  My intent is to read the pattern (and read the pattern all the way through, not just ooh and awww over the pictures), and diligently follow the pattern (which is going to be very tough for me).  

happy thrifting everyone ;)

Birthday OOTD What I wore out to dinner

I had exactly 6.57 minutes to get dressed and out the door for my birthday dinner.  My gorgeous guy, and some friends and I were going to an upscale, trendy restaurant to dine on delicious food.

The weather was cold (as usual), and incredibly windy!! Holy cow, I think I saw Toto and a couple of cows flying through the air.  

Here is what I threw on to brave the elements.

Danier leather hoody jacket (end of season sale, $200), Jacob white sweater (ancient, $15), thrifted merino wool maxi skirt ($3), Coach orange tote (clearance, $100), Aldo sparkly flats (thrifted, $3).

The picture of these shoes doesn't do them justice.  They are cheetah print with sparkly bits..I always get compliments when I wear them.

This was the perfect outfit for dining and staying warm.  Happy Birthday to me.

happy thrifting to you ;)

Blingy Birthday jewelery finds!!

hello all!  I hope everyone has been keeping warm.  It's been unbelievable cold AND damp where I live.  The weather went from let's throw on a denim shirt and jacket over a nice flowy skirt to "Get out the thermal underwear...it's COLD!!"

It is seriously cold.  I've been frantically digging through boxes searching for hats, mitts and scarves. It just seems wayyy to early for this to be happening.  Oh well.

I've been wasting biding my time watching Sherlock on Netflix.  I imagine the cold, damp fall weather here in Northwestern Ontario must be similar to the winter weather in London (actually I checked - the temps here fluctuate between -5 and 9 degrees Celcius, the winter temps in London fluctuate between 2 to 5 degrees - correct me if I'm wrong).

Nonetheless, I've been curled up in bed watching Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman work their magic.  I love Shelock's uniform of dark pants, white shirt, scarf and a sweeping tweed coat.  I plan to wear a similar look (but without the deerstalker hat ;)

My birthday was a few weeks ago, and I treated myself to some birthday thrifting.  Here are my jewelery finds.

Thermoset jackpot!!!

Pink moonglow

T

Yup, I managed to find some vintage thermoset pieces - they're unmarked but I imagine they are Coro.  The pink moonglow necklace was $4.99, the blue flower necklace was $6.99.  The 2 pairs of earrings were 99 cents each.

Gold and pearls!!

The gold necklace was $3.99, the large pearl necklace was $4.99, the outrageously large clip earrings were $2.99.   I clipped one of the earrings to the pearl necklace, and I plan to wear it layered with another gold choker.  Love gold and pearls worn together!!  The bigger the better.

happy thrifting ;)

Vintage Fire King temptation and thrifting karma

Random picture of a gorgeous, knee length, sheer, beaded top.  Sorry for the faded picture.

Beaded goodness!!

This beauty was a mere $8 at the Salv Army.  I was tempted to buy it, but it was wayyy to large.  I hope it finds a good home.  It was absolutely lovely.

Close-up

Aha!  Another blingy ring!!

Kitty ring!!  This was part of an ebay haul.

Sometimes thrifting can yield too much of a good thing.  I have a modest, but well-loved collection of vintage Fire King cups and saucers.  I'm always on the lookout to find more.

On a recent visit to the Salv Ann, I found some amazingly mint-condition Fire King for pennies!!  The 3 Lustreware cups were a mere 49 cents each.  The 20 piece set of milk glass Fire King was a paltry $14.99.   It look liked these items were priced by someone who didn't know what they were doing, as vintage Fire King usually fetches a more money.  This put me in a conundrum, do I knowingly buy something that was drastically underpriced at a thrift store???

Temptation

I carefully examined these pieces...I was particularly impressed by the milk glass pieces.  They looked like they had never been used!!  Nary a faded spot, or a scratch, or any other signs of wear!!!

After much thought I rolled my cart to manager and insisted that they reprice these pieces.  The manager agreed that they had been under-priced... and rolled them to the back to get re-priced.  Hah!  There was my good deed for the day.

I left the Salv Ann empty handed, and wandered over to Value Village, where I found some treasure!

Velvet jewelery case $4

Vintage display case, $10

Metal suitcase, $20

Both cases tucked away in my cart.

These cases will make a welcome addition to my house.  I am always on the lookout for functional pieces that will help me store my stuff.

A previous trip to Value Village yielded this vanity case (I love me some vanity cases!!!).

Jetliner...made in Canada!!

This grey lovely was $5 at Value Village.  I'd love to find a few more.

I plan to put these items to good use in my house - they'll be use to store clothing and other bits and pieces.  Pics will follow when I get a chance to take some.

happy thrifting :)