Sleepless and Weird

Posted on June 28, 2013 by April

So, it’s nearly 1AM… on a work night…. and I can’t sleep. I’ve tried the warm milk thing, I’ve tried to quietly read a book, but it’s just not gonna happen tonight. Ya know, that elusive thing that some people call sleep. So, I thought, if I can’t sleep why not share some random things I’ve found while oot and aboot. Or rather, a sleepless in thrifting post, but that would be lying because some of these things were found at non-thrifty type stores. Maybe, Sleepless in Shopping?? Anywho, all post titles aside, here’s some weirdness I’ve found odd enough to shoot, edit, and share here.

A cute trio of squirrels right?

Yeeeah…notsomuch…how about a giant ash tray? Nothing says class like Marlboro’s and squirrels. (no offense to those fans of Marlboro’s, or bushy tailed woodland creatures.)

Oh now, this gem would be perfect for storing that yearly dose of candy corn. Honestly, this Halloween kitty kind of creeped me out a little bit. Maybe it’s the head gazing straight up as if he has a crick in his neck. And now my neck hurts.

Finally the pièce de résistance (I totally didn’t copy and paste that from wiki)

Bubba wouldn’t let bring one of those awesome tiger heads home. Actually, I really wanted two of them to flank the front entry way. Ya know, to match my Mary of Guadalupe that I have displayed in a bathtub prominently in the front yard. (Again, no offense to those who enjoy a good Catholic saint displayed in the front yard. It can be done quite tastefully.)

Well, I think that’s all the weirdness I can handle for tonight. In the meantime, here’s a couple shots of those in casa de yellow not suffering from sleeplessness.

Honestly, I didn’t even get off the couch to take these, lazy much?

Let’s just say I’m a little jealous of my furry companions. But in the meantime, I have just discovered the 1AM rerun of Rehab Addict. *Enter sleepy happy dance*

Thrifting Thursday: Thrifting with the Royals

Posted on April 25, 2013 by April

Can everyone say Friday-Eve? Yeah, that’s what I call Thursday’s now, makes them that much more jovial dontcha think? Well, to celebrate the wonderfull-ness that is Friday Eve, I like to partake in what I call Thrifting Thursday. A time when I stop and reflect on all things gloriously thrifted. It’s been a very long time since I’ve gotten to celebrate my Friday Eve in such a manner, so I might be a little rusty. But here goes….

This week I’ll be showing you all the great and marvelous thrifty goodness I’ve spotted while out and about.

If only I could sew. I loved this Pfaff sewing machine. The chair went under the table and looked like a drawer when stowed away. It was adorable.

Apparently, this guy was purchased in June of 1962. I love it when these items come with a known story. Ya know, instead of making one up to fill in the gaps.

Then I found this giant. I loved the chunky wood and the sturdy-ness. Not so much the dark wood, but that can always be changed.

If you don’t believe me about the chunky-ness, here’s a shot of the lower door. That’s at least 3 inches thick.

And the little drawers were just as chunky. Let’s just say if this cabinet were a woman, she’d be wearing curvy fit jeans.

Speaking of curvy, I’m such a sucker for chests with curvy lines. Wait, that came out wrong. I think you know what I mean.

It was all I could do to leave this curvy beauty, but she was a bit wibbly wobbly (timey wimey, Doctor Who much?) and I didn’t have the time to rid of her of her wibble. So, she was left to be adopted by someone else who had the time for her, doesn’t every girl deserve that?

Oh, have I mentioned how much I love old electronics. I don’t necessarily want to bring them home, but I do enjoy a quick sniff around to see what they’re all about.

This one had me with all those cool knobs, well the two knobs. There aren’t many things you can buy these days that have knobs on them.

I’m not a coffee drinker, but I liked the way this coffee grinder looked. Maybe it’s the history and the untold story that intrigued me.

And I found these awesome thrones! I have no idea what I would have done with them, but darn it they’re thrones and everyone knows a queen needs a throne for her castle.

Thrifting Thursday: Catching up with the Care Bears

Posted on April 18, 2013 by April

My records indicate I’ve missed a couple of Thrifting Thursdays, so one is due. But today, I really don’t feel like doing a thrift heavy post. There’s been so much randomness happening lately, I’ve been having trouble keeping my jumbled mind on one topic. So how about a random post mixing in just a little thrift for sweetness?

A couple Tuesday’s ago (April 2nd) I turned 20+12, for those of you without a calculator handy, that’s 32. That means, I have been alive for 280,506 hours, 11,687 days, 1,669 weeks, 384 months, and 32 years, give or take a few nanoseconds. That’s a lot of time to waste on Pinterest, blogging, photographing my beloved canines, and in general piddling around this little world of mine. And I wouldn’t give up any of my 1.01e+18 nanoseconds on this earth for another life.( Thank you Google for doing the math!)

So here’s what’s been happening in my little life as of late….

Painting walls, more on that later. That one red wall in my kitchen was driving me nuts, now I have one wall painted one of these two colors.

Reorganizing, our storage room or what others may call a spare room had to get cleaned out and fast for a special guest (Hi Mom!). Isn’t it crazy how much chaos occurs before the order can begin? And yes, that’s a twin mattress in my living room, blocking my TV. What better motivation to get things done than by blocking ones television.

Things haven’t been all chaos in the month since I last blogged. There’s been some time spent on the couch. Relaxing.

Eating some popcorn.

Hammin’ it up.

Enjoying the company of pancake man.

Having a drink because, everyone knows that puddle water tastes the best after leaping tall buildings.

I still can’t believe Easter has come and gone. Before we know it, we’ll be celebrating our mother’s and then our father’s, and then it’ll be time to pull out the red, white, and blue.

But in the meantime, there’s the memory of Easter and the enjoyment of the here and now. Which as it happens, it’s still spring time! Personally, my favorite season.

For Easter, I had the great pleasure of hosting my Mom for dinner. I pulled out all the pastel glassware I could find. Which happened to be the glasses, but the plates were white. That counts as pastel. Sorta..

She brought with her some beautiful tulips. My favorite flower.

A few days after Easter, I enjoyed my first glass of tea as a 32 year old from the most mature glass in the cupboard. Who says you have to stop drinking your favorite beverage from Care Bear glasses once your 30’s come along?

Not I, which is probably why I’m starting a little collection.

So, I’ve got Cheer Bear (my personal fave) Tenderheart and Grumpy Bear.

Originally offered by Pizza Hut in 1983 or ’84.

The entire set included six of the most popular Care Bears, the three that I’m missing, Funshine Bear, Good Luck Bear and Friend Bear. Plus, the three that I currently use whenever they are clean, Cheer Bear, Tenderheart, and Grumpy Bear.

These glasses bring back so many childhood memories….aww…yes…the glorious ’80’s. The decade of my childhood. It went by so fast.

Better remember not to blink now, or I’ll open my eyes and be in my 40’s!

And on that note, I bid you adieu!

Thrifting Thursday: Random Shopping

Posted on February 28, 2013 by April

Has it really been two weeks since I last celebrated Thrifting Thursday?! Actually, I do believe, it’s been two weeks since I’ve even blogged! Talk about being behind on the blog schedule! I think it’s time I cash out and give you that meaty Thrifting Thursday post you have all surely been biting at the bit to read.

If you’re new here, Thrifting Thursdays are the day I’ve set aside to talk about all the great antique, vintage, and otherwise previously loved goods to be found in thrift stores. Thursday also makes a great day to celebrate all things thrifted since Thursday sort of rhymes with thirfting, but not really. Let’s just pretend it rhymes.

Anyways….back at the ranch.

Here are some cool things I’ve spotted while rooting around my favorite thrift stores.

I couldn’t help myself, that poor kid plunged me back to 1987. I had the girl version of this haircut. It was awesome and went great with my equally awesome pink CareBear, velcro sneakers.

Speaking of awesome haircuts, check this guy out. Apparently, he is Mostly Male.

Evidenced by the interchangeable outfits between the mostly female ,the mostly male is pictured with.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that. (Quoted from Seinfeld.)

After savoring the openness of clothing from the ’70’s I wandered over to another section of the store and was officially creeped out by this Elvis head. I guess The King is still alive, at least at our local Goodwill.

As always, when I’m out thrifting I’m on the look out for some really nice vintage-y furniture. I am obsessed with the sturdiness and design of pieces that are 40 years or older.

I LOVED the legs on this elegant lady! And those clean lines…OH LA LA.

And then there was this guy, I have no idea what I would’ve used him for, but I would’ve found a place for him. If only I could find a way of making the trunk of my Malibu stretch.

Oh, and then I found this pretty secretary.

She wasn’t that well made, nor that old. But I still liked the idea.

Plus, she offered extra storage. See those little ledges on the sides? Those are meant for shelving, I couldn’t find the shelves nearby so I can only guess they were either broken or just got separated.

All in all, I’d say there were some pretty good finds, nothing that I felt warranted handing over my hard earned beans or cramming into my already cluttered home, but some pretty great stuff nonetheless. Although, I might go back for that Elvis head, that’s a classic piece.

Thrifting Thursday: They Cut My Shins Off

Posted on February 7, 2013 by April

Today is Thursday not Friday… I’ve been having to tell myself that all day long, wishful thinking I suppose. Not that today is a particularly bad day or that this week has been stressful, it’s just that I look forward to the excitement and energy that surrounds an upcoming weekend. There’s just something about the promise of two full days free from the office, and from the electricity in the air I know my officemates would agree. Again, it’s not that the 9-5 job is horrible, in fact I quite enjoy it, but to have time without a schedule is bliss.

And to celebrate that upcoming bliss, let’s partake in my weekly indulgence of Thrifting Thursday. I found something really awesome to show off this week…

At first, I thought this was a pretty awesome coffee table, maybe a little rough, but with a little sanding and some paint it would be good as new. Then I looked a little closer and saw hinges.

GASP! Upon further inspection, I found two labels…

DOUBLE GASP!

At the thrift store I really didn’t know what all this meant, I just knew it had to be old and it had to come home with me. So, $25 later this rugged beauty was standing in my living room.

After a few moments of admiring by newest acquisition, I couldn’t take the suspense anymore and did a quick Google search.

Turns out my unique and awesome coffee table wasn’t really a coffee table in her original life, and she was much taller in her younger years.

Via

Actually, she originally housed an Atwater Kent Radio! The manufacturer of the table was Kiel. According to this awesome ad:

Via

She’s pretty old, I’ve read several different sources that give her year of birth between 1929 and 1931. If she were a person, she could be my grandma!!

If you look at the ad, the going rate for this beauty ,at the time, was $179, in 2013 that’s equivalent to $2500. So, she would have been the center of one’s sitting room, much like a TV is today.

So, I’m pretty proud of my “coffee table”, even if she’s had her shins cut off much like Cotton from King of the Hill.

He’s the short guy on the right, short due to the lack of shins.

And I am having second thoughts on painting this piece, maybe a sand down to the bare wood and a re-stain is in order. I think she’s much too lady like to be painted.

What do you think?

Thrifting Thursday on a Monday

Posted on February 4, 2013 by April

Well, now that the weekend has come and gone, and I’ve gone a week without a post, I thought I owed it to you guys to do a Thrifting Thursday post. Yeah, I know it’s Monday, but maybe it’ll make that weekly transition from weekend warrior to office monkey a littler easier.

This past weekend, I found something I couldn’t leave behind.

I know, they’re kind of kitschy, but aren’t they cutest kind of kitsch? At first glance, I thought they were so ugly they would be perfect to make fun of on the blog. Then after taking this picture:

I noticed the lids, oh geez, those lids, they slay me. Don’t know what I’m talking about, here let me demonstrate:

How cute is that? It’s the whole egg to chick progression. Now do you see why I couldn’t leave this set behind? I HAD to rescue them! They were all priced separately so I knew the set would get split up. I just COULDN’T let that happen people!

On the bottom of each canister is a Sears and Roebuck trademark with the year 1976. They do look pretty ’70’s don’t they?

So, now I have a super cute set of chicken canisters, with no place to put them. Currently, they are cluttering up my kitchen table. Bubba (husband) and I have been opting to eat in the living room in front of the TV, or just giving in and eating on one end of the table while the chickens stare back at us. This makes it difficult to eat an omelet, or any other type of chicken product. Let’s just say, Bubba and I have been eating lots of beans and rice lately.

Aside from avoiding dishes that contain a certain fowl, I’ve also been admiring these beauties:

A set of six ,footed and beveled tumblers. After purchasing this duo a couple weeks ago I’ve had my eye out for more.

I just love how they catch the light.

And I can’t get enough of that beveled texture.

I wasn’t completely sold on the peach tone, but it’s grown on me.

I am guessing the maker of these sparkly glasses could be the Indiana Glass Company and they could be from the American Whitehall line from the mid ’70’s based on this information. If that’s the case then they are an imitation of the more expensive Fostoria American. Either way, I don’t really care if they’re valuable or not I’m just happy to have some pretty glasses to sip sweet tea from.

Oh yeah, and I’m participating in a little linky party/scavenger hunt over at Young House Love. There’s more of the low down on that here. Basically, the challenge is to hunt for things mentioned in the Macklemore song “Thrift Shop”. I won’t be linking to the original because there are lots of dirty words in it, so here’s the clean version. And I should also warn you, it’s rap, so if that’s offensive or just plain annoying you may want to avoid listening.

Macklemore Challenge:

Step 1: Go to the thrift store with a $20 in your pocket and take a picture.

Step 2: Spend $20 and photograph your spoils (hello, thrifting thursdays!)

Step 3: Find one item (or more) referenced in the song and snap a pic.

Alright, so I failed at taking a picture of the $20 that was in my pocket or rather in my purse. But I did photograph and gab about my spoils. (See above.)

Also, I did come across one item mentioned in the song.

A big ugly coat. I was much too fearful of what may be lurking in that fake fur to try it on, call me a weenie, but at least I don’t have head lice. Now, my head itches.

Thrifting Thursday: Husbands and Wives

Posted on January 24, 2013 by April

Welcome to Thrifting Thursday, my personal celebration of what I like to call Friday Eve. Which normal people just call Thursday. How boring right? Shouldn’t the day before happy Friday be celebrated too? Unless of course you do some sort of shift work and your Friday is on a Tuesday in which case Monday would be your Friday eve and Friday would be your Monday so Thursday and Friday would be nothing to celebrate for you. Unless of course you absolutely love your job and can’t wait to jump into your work week. Then YAY for you!

But back to Thrifting Thursday….

Today is going to be one part talk-about-old-stuff and another part oh-yay-there’s-cookies! Confused yet? I think I’m still confused about the Friday on a Tuesday thing….

Anywho, here’s a picture to help illustrate this windy path I’ve set us down.

See that cute blue pedestal plate? Yeah, that’s the let’s-talk-about-old-stuff part of this post. The pedestal really isn’t all that old though, I just brought it home because it was cute and blue and cheap. Those a few of the criteria this girl can’t pass up when she’s sniffing around old junk shops. (I say sniffing, but in some of those places you really don’t wanna literally sniff too deeply. IfyaknowwhatImean)

You see that yummy magic deliciousness sitting upon my pretty blue pedestal plate? That’s the oh-yay-there’s-cookies part of the post.

These are cookie bars I made a while ago for a little office get together. I used Martha Stewarts Cookie Bar Recipe. Which can be found here.

The cookies turned out OK, and honestly, I had no complaints from my co-workers. But the cookies just seemed a bit dry to me, I like my cookies to be gooey and soft. Maybe next time I won’t cook them as long. Most food stuffs I prepare end up being a little on the “well done” side. For instance, when I was making grilled cheese sandwiches for me and Bubba the other night, my sweet, gentle, and honest husband politely requested his sandwich lightly brunt instead of charred. I then promptly dropped his on the floor and let the dog lick it while he wasn’t looking. Ya know, being the sweet, gentle and PATIENT wife that I am.

How’s that for a random post about everything from Friday Eve, cookies, plates, and husbands and wives?

Thrifting Thursday: Smiling Mice

Posted on January 17, 2013 by April

Welcome to Thrifting Thursday, my own little personal celebration of Friday eve! It’s a day I’ve set aside to talk about all things thrifty, in other words, it’s a day I blab on about old stuff I’ve seen or purchased recently from a local thrift store. Fun times right? And honestly, what better way is there to celebrate the approaching weekend than to discuss all those wonderful vintage goods out there?

This week, I broke my non-buying pact with myself and bought a pair of amber beveled glasses…

I couldn’t help myself, I’ve been looking for a set similar to these. I figure I’ll start out with two and build upon that with different colored but same in shape glasses. Maybe I like these so much because they remind me of the blue ones my grandmother used to have, somehow sweet tea tastes so much better when enjoyed from one of these guys.

I also picked up this little bubble plate, it’s clear but is the same texture as my favorite blue platter…

According to Bubba, who does all the research on these things, this design is from the 30’s and reproduced during the 70’s. The 70’s designs are usually in yellow or brown tones, but the older versions typically are lighter in color. I don’t know for sure if my plates are that old, but all I know is that I love them.

And what better place to put all that pretty glassware but a mid-century china cabinet. I saw this at the Humane Society thrift store and it took my breath away. Or at least had be stop my conversation in mid-sentence. At $100 I really considered this piece, but there was no glass on the shelves and I pictured myself having to dust dinnerware and other glass pretties off before use. That’s what swayed me away from this lovely, hopefully she found a good home elsewhere.

At another store I found this little mouse staring back at me. He has nothing to do with glassware or hutches, I just thought he was cute.

And at the same mouse-y thrift store, I saw this bike. You can’t really tell from this photo, but it was caked in mud. I wondered if someone just decided to buy a new bike instead of washing the old one off.

Well that wraps up a nice week of thrifting. Have you found some hidden treasures recently? Possibly a muddy bike? Maybe a cute ceramic mouse smiling back at you? Hopefully no real mice, unless your into that sort of thing.

Thrifting Thursday: Dr. Rice McSteamy

Posted on January 10, 2013 by April

When I was an infant my family spent about a year living in the back woods of Louisiana. Apparently, we lived near a rice field and were pretty close to the owner of said field, because we’d end up with huge bags of rice. Hence, the many rice centered dishes my mom cooked for us, hence my first solid food being rice and probably beans, hence my great love of this grainy carb. As a child, I remember craving things with rice, particularly rice, gravy, and chicken with a handle (ya know because I couldn’t call it a leg, things from the meat tree don’t have legs!), and for dessert red jello topped with a little poof of cream. Well, the point of this story is not tell you about my favorite childhood meal, but to share with you an appliance I remember my beloved carb being prepared in.

A Hitachi Chime-O-Matic Rice Cooker. Yeah, I realize it’s a weird thing to share on Thrifting Thursday, because it’s kind of an appliance and it’s not really something I’ve thrifted. But it’s old, and I think it’s kinda cool. I mean who wouldn’t love the giant orange bell, and where can you find something with a chime-o-matic feature nowadays?

Anywho, while we lived in Louisiana, my mom received this magical cooker of rice as a gift from my dad’s brother’s in-laws who were visiting for dinner. My mom was cooking rice on the stove top, ya know the old fashioned way waiting for the water to boil or however you cook rice the old fashioned way. Anyways, the point is that they thought it was taking waaay too long for that rice to get done, and that it was just a sin that my mother didn’t have a rice cooker to provide her family with rice almost instantly. So, they gave to her my most favorite of small appliances. That was 30 years ago, I was 1.5 years old.

So, I’ve grown up with rice cooked in a rice cooker, particularly the Chime-O-Matic Rice Cooker.

And ya know what?

It still chimes when the rice is done.

Thrifting Thursday: Vacation Thrifting

Posted on December 14, 2012 by April

Oy vey, that’s all I can say after nearly two weeks of not posting. Let’s see what have I been up to, we took a week long vacation (don’t worry, you’ll be sick of seeing my vacation shots when I finally get them edited), then the holidays I think that’s enough said about that, and then of course, the week of catch up work that comes with taking a week off of work. But it was all totally worth it, the only thing I regret is not keeping up with the ol’ blog. I had planned on posting while I was out of town, but I only got one of the pre-prepared posts published, then it was all down hill from there.

But I’m not here to complain about my non-bloggyness, I’m here to talk about all things thrifted as today is Thrifting Thursday!! Aren’t you excited?! If you’re new around here, every Thursday (and sometimes on Friday when I’m too late for a Thursday post) I talk about items I’ve either thrift-ED or have deemed interesting enough to photograph and share with you here on the ol’ blog. The thrifting doesn’t necessarily happen on a Thursday, I just thought that TH-rifting went well with TH-ursday, besides is there a better way to celebrate Friday eve than enjoying all the thrifted goodness out there in the world?

So on this Thrifting Thursday I’ll be sharing some interesting items I found while sniffing around some shops on my vacation. Because, ya know, I can’t go a week without thrifting! And really, you can find some pretty awesome and unique souvenirs on the cheap at these places.

I know this isn’t that original as I’ve seen similar frames at Target, but this one was too funny not to photograph.

Then there was this little puppet family. I really don’t know what to say about these guys, but doesn’t the father look like Gomez Adams? Maybe it’s just me.

I couldn’t resist not documenting this rooster omelet pan. I didn’t buy him, but isn’t he cheery?

Isn’t this little bee/honey comb cute? Yeah, I thought so too, that’s why I gleefully packed him away in my carry on luggage. After paying for him of course.

And finally, with all the Christmas busy-ness around us, here’s one thing to remember.

Happy Friday everyone!!!

Semi-Seasonal

Tag Archives: Thrifting

Sleepless and Weird

Thrifting Thursday: Thrifting with the Royals

Thrifting Thursday: Catching up with the Care Bears

Thrifting Thursday: Random Shopping

Thrifting Thursday: They Cut My Shins Off

Thrifting Thursday on a Monday

Thrifting Thursday: Smiling Mice

Thrifting Thursday: Dr. Rice McSteamy

Thrifting Thursday: Vacation Thrifting

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: