Thriftin' on a Thursday: Vintage Shiny Brites!

 The fronts, the label on the hanger reads "Poland".

Sometimes, on a Thursday, even when you're tired, and it's hot, and you really don't want to stop at that garage sale, you probably should.

 The backs of the same.

Because sometimes, underneath a table in that garage, there will be a dirty old box, with boxes inside.

And the label will say "$3 WHOLE BOX.
(You stifle a scream!)

And you'll buy it.


Then take it home.


And look through your treasure trove.  


(Because you didn't look before you bought, you only saw the SHINY BRITE label, and decided "yes!".)

Then you might say "Oh, MY.  GOSH.  It REALLY STINKS!!"

Like fifty years worth of chain-smoking stink.  
Yes, that kind.  ((CHOKE))

So, you might want to leave them out on your porch for a month to air out.


And they still stink!

You might think, "Are they worth saving?"




Well...you might say...


They got put back out there for another few weeks.  


I figure I've got until Christmas, I'll wait!


Our air turned cool and crisp on Monday.  I'm thinking it might take less time with this turn of events!

My Favorite Mother's Day Card + A Garage Sale "How To"...

This was my favorite card for Mother's Day, HANDS DOWN.  I am adding it to my little collection of all Levi's hand print cards:   Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day.  I am so glad that Jamie is taking time to do the little things that mean SO MUCH.  It just makes me smile every time I see it hanging on my fridge.

I collect vintage children's books,  and sometimes I'm literally stuck with the price stickers left on them from the garage sale.  Well, I'll share a little secret:  you can get the stickers off the books fairly easily without ripping the paper and print off the cute little covers.

It won't take off ancient stickers, or stickers that have been left on the books for years and years and allowed to completely dry out--but with this trick, most of the stickers will come off.

I was even able to get the library stickers off these two vintage Nancy Drew books when I tried it.


All this trick requires is that the adhesive is not dried out completely.

Get your blow dryer out and set the heat to the highest or "hot" setting and aim it at the stickers, don't touch the book with it, hold it a few inches away, waving it back and forth.  Heat that sticker up!


Work one edge of the sticker loose and slowly pull on it while applying the heat to it.  Eventually, slowly and surely the sticker will release and take all of the adhesive with it.


These Nancy Drew books came out great!  

I removed all the garage sale stickers I could off my vintage Little Golden Books that were up in my bookshelf.  They look so much better!


  

Here are some other finds from my pickin' last Thursday, some girl things JUST IN CASE!  When you only pay a quarter for onesies, and fifty cents for pajamas that are like new...

And one dollar for such beauty as this smocked little number...I can wait the two weeks until Jamie finds out if the new baby is a boy or a girl, and if we're getting another boy, I can save these for my niece, Autumn, who is having a baby in December!  We are so excited for her and her husband, Clint!

I am heading out today with my sister for some fun, she came down from her home two hours north of here and we will spend the day seeing what we can find.  There's a subdivision sale in my town, and in a town not far from here, they're having their city-wide garage sale!


Have a THRIFTY THURSDAY!
xoxo
Joni

Bright & Beautiful

It's a bright, bright, sunshiny (unusual) day in Mid-Michigan!
(Holy smokes, we've had several in a ROW! Get a load of the blue sky in the photo below....unreal!)

And to demonstrate my weakness for nesting bowls further: I brought out these nesting bowls for a photo session, because I found this set last fall and still hadn't shared them with you all.

(You'll be happy to know that the bowls cooperated nicely and posed perfectly.)

The bowls didn't even mind when I turned them over to show you their bottoms.
They have cute bottoms; just a little chippy.
The best part about the bottoms of these vintage bowls?
As with most of my other vintage finds, their bottoms show that they were made in the U.S.A.!

Bright 'n beautiful.
And sporting spring-like posies.

Thirfty Thursday: Jackpot!

Edwin M. Knowles China Co.
Made in U.S.A.
428


It was a good day at Salvation Army...you know how I am about bowls!
I am just lovin' this yellowed and crazed crackly bowl, it just makes me smile!

It was $6 to begin with, but anything dated more than two weeks old in their "collectibles showcase" is 20% off, so I paid $4.80. I didn't know that about the dates and the discount, so now I will be a wiser shopper.

I found a couple more things, but I can't show you because they're going to be gifts! I'll show you after they've been given to the recipients. I just KNOW that they're going to love my finds!
(Now, if I just remember where I put them when it's time to do the wrapping!)

Tomorrow? Another Vintage Children's Book for
STORY TIME!

XOXO
Joni

Thrifty Thursday: A Fun Vintage Find...OLD MAID!

How about this set of "OLD MAID" cards?
(click to enlarge photo & view easier)
I found them last weekend when I was up north, we had a chance to stop at a few garage sales while I was there with my family.
They are too cute and they would be perfect to use (when color-copied!) as gift tags, the graphics are so awesome!

There are no copyright markings on the box as to what year, I would love to know. Judging from the outfits I'm thinking sixties or seventies, if you know, help me out!

Thrifty Thursday: On the Hunt for Vintage Linens

Old linens, flyin' on the laundry line!

Last year, I picked up this book at a garage sale. I've always loved old linens, and already had a collection of vintage linens going, but this book showed a wonderful variety of uses for linens too damaged to keep and use as they were originally intended. It shows many projects that can be done using the salvageable parts of beautiful old fabric and handwork. So, that began for me, an even more intense search at garage sales or thrift stores for the beautiful and rare fabrics of households past. Where before, I might have only collected embroidered pieces in perfect condition, now just about anything works! And, the creativity of fellow bloggers who make beautiful aprons and pillows is an inspiration to someone like me who has sewing skills but often isn't the most creative THINKER. (My mom has that gift, but it did not get passed to me!)

Look at this idea....perfect use for an imperfect Christmas tablecloth or Christmas hankies...a way to enjoy the graphics and colors without seeing all the stains!

And for kitchen linens...remade and mixed together into useful and beautiful items for the kitchen and dining area!

And who wouldn't love that cherry and aqua/red pillow for their front porch swing?

I had some luck last Saturday on a couple hour late afternoon hunt in a subdivision sale. I picked up all the items shown in this post that day, and this Dutch boy/girl kitchen towel was in perfect condition and will probably become a gift for someone. I LOVE IT! I paid one dollar!

This hankie was in perfect condition, and was a quarter. It's not necessarily my style, but on a white background, it would make a bright pillow cover.

I couldn't leave this...it's an old barbeque apron! I love the graphics and the colors, but don't like the rope-like"string" that you put around your neck and tie in the back. (The string is probably the reason this apron was just like new! It is a VERY uncomfortable design.) I will probably remake the ties and neck loop with fabric that coordinates to make it more user friendly. I haven't decided if I'm going to keep it or not, but it was so bright and happy and was only two dollars!

I put the worst of the stained items in a soak...

This tablecloth is a big square, cost was fifty cents (!!!) and each of the four corners have this teapot and embroidery, and the killer is that each teapot is a pocket that will hold a teabag! TOO CUTE! In this photo, you can see the little pouch or pocket that is formed by the blue part of the teapot! There were two small stains in the center that I've removed using Suzanne's recipe, from her COLORADO LADY'S blog, listed under tutorials, called "Cleaning Vintage Linens". Her tutorial/recipe can be found here. (She also hosts something called "Vintage Thingy Thursdays" which you may find fun if you're a vintage hound!)

This is a large round vintage Christmas tablecloth, with a fine woven yarn fringe edging. It was in excellent condition and needed practically NO stain removal, fifty cents. UNREAL. The lady who sold it said "I take it you like old things! You should have seen what I had here when the sale started!" UH OH! Better late than never, and well, I was pretty content with these finds.

The fabric on this one is thick and heavy and ironed up beautifully. I enjoy the QUALITY of old fabrics as well as their prints. The fabric made in the USA (back when) was EXCELLENT!

This is a wonderful large rectangular vintage print Christmas tablecloth, but was VERY BADLY STAINED, for fifty cents. I was guessing either gravy or Italian food/tomato stains from the color of the blotches. All you need for Suzanne's stain recipe is some time, patience, some Biz, Oxyclean, and boiled water and a plastic tub or plastic dishpan. I got almost every single bad stain out, and I highly recommend her tutorial, because these old items are now almost as good as new!

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So, while you're out on the hunt --thrifting or at a garage sale --and you see these rare old beauties, don't be afraid of them if they're stained. You can work on the stains, and if they don't come out, you can always remake it or find a new use for it like this book shows. Or like the many bloggers out there, for instance, Kathleen Grace from Kathy's Cottage, so creative

to make these into something new.

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I was so thrilled after that particular "hunt", I can't even begin to tell you how lucky I felt that after a couple days of selling, that these things were still left on the tables! And just looking at them makes me happy. I can't wait to use them, remake them. And of course, a big part of the fun is sharing what I find with you!

Thrifty Thursdays: Old Gingham in a Basket

A couple weeks back, I had a chance to run into the Salvation Army store for a quick visit (this was before garage sale season began!). While there, I walked several times by this old basket with handles, that may at one time have been a picnic basket. It had obviously seen its better days and was in decent but not great shape, but that raggedy red gingham lining had me. I brought the basket home and it sat here awhile until I figured out just where it should live.

Finally its destiny was determined, the front porch should be its new home, with its cheerful red gingham, it was perfect. I'm using it to hold magazines. It was cheap enough that if Mr. Squirrel decides one day that it should become lunch, that's fine. If it gets rained on, that's fine, too. It was only eighty cents and if it lasts all summer, it was a bargain. If it makes it through summer no worse off than it is now, a can of spray paint can be used to remake it, and I can take the liner apart and use that for a pattern to make a new gingham liner and re-use it elsewhere for the winter.

I've always been a sucker for containers, old boxes, tins, and baskets: they are something I can rarely refuse...can you see why? What are you drawn to?

Thriftin' on a Thursday: A Treasure From The Past!

This Bing Crosby album made me squeal, and it was open, but still in its cellophane wrap!

FIFTY CENTS. A half dollar is all that I gave for this sweet treasure in a little thrift store called "The Strawberry Patch" a couple of weeks ago when I was visiting my sister. It'll be such a nice album to listen to as we trim the tree (on this record player that my daughter bought her dad one Christmas not long ago)!

I was so pleased, and even though my sister doesn't have a record player she got a very nice-looking jazz album with a cover (a black and white beauty) that is frame- able as art.

I think the thrill of thrifting, garage-saling, and antiquing is that you never know what is hidden inside even the most dreary little places. You can leave with a treasure that may be only fifty cents but it will make you smile for years to come!