Monday, Muggy, Monday

What a strange day we have going here today.  We have rain, humidity and about 25 degrees above normal.  Between frizzy hair and a sinus headache I am not loving it. 

They are saying we are going to drop 30 degrees in two hours tonight.

Hold on for a bumpy ride.

The Thanksgiving plans are beginning in earnest around here.  There is a cranberry-apple cobbler in the oven, new roll recipes are being researched on the internet, and these two fellows recently came home to live with me.  They were alone and filthy when I found them cruelly neglected on the shelf at Goodwill.  Four dollars later and a good bath they are happily decorated my shelf for the holiday.  They are both Avon aftershave bottles from the seventies and still smell faintly of grandpa.  My only disapointment was that after a little Etsy research I found that they have a little quail friend that completes the trio.  I guess I have a new item to add to my hunt list.

And, I have a big announcement....I finally got the Etsy store up and running.  You can visit Willew Creations by clicking the link or clicking the new button on the side of the blog.  I am currently working on stocking scarves, washcloth sets and coaster sets.  After the holidays I am hoping to get many more fun things added.

Also, don't forget to enter the Jolee's Jewels Giveaway before Saturday.  You can enter here.

Where Are My Deals At?

Anyone else having a real slow start to the thrifting/garage sale season?  It is slim pickings around these part. 

I found a couple cute little girl patterns.  The one is a Laura Ashley pattern that originally cost eleven dollars.  I laughed as I paid my seventy-nine cents.

Then I found some nice camp mugs,

and the matching skillet a week later.

This sun hat was an unbelievable find, since I got the matching dress, in the same size, at a different thrift store last year.  Even more unbelievable is that Little Girl will actually keep it on her head.

I saw this tray from across the store and knew it must be mine.  For a dollar I now have psychedelic honeybees to decorate my kitchen.

Finally, the piece de resistance, a canner.  Finally, finally, finally, a canner.  I have been prowling for one of these for years.  Imagine my surprise when bam, there is not one, but two sitting on the thrift store shelf.

I guess I have had a few good conquests, but I am hoping things will pick up soon. I am growing tired of going to garage sales where they are selling all the same things that are sitting in my garage sale pile.  I need a good retirement community sale.  Those are always the best.  I wonder who the patron saint of garage sales is.   

The Season Opener

Yesterday was my season opener for the garage sale season. Little Boy and I got a bit of a late start, since mama has been suffering so with these allergies. Unfortunately, if you get a late start this early in the season the pickin's are slim. We did manage to find a couple goodies.

Two glass lids to match some of my vintage canning jars. The blue is so beautiful and they were only five cents each.

  

Then we stumbled upon this little percolator for our camping trip this summer. It was a little beat up, but for fifty cents it was a steal. Then the owners started telling us about what wonderful coffee it had made on all their camping trips over the year. I believe the gentleman was getting sentimental about a percolator which is something I can completely understand. I guaranteed this little guy would be well used on many more camping trips and departed with my little percolator and its big history.   

Oh, and they gave Little Boy a giant, hairy spider on our way out.  Not sure how I feel about that.  I guess I will go with appreciative of the kindness (since it can go in with the Halloween decorations).

A Very Unthrifty Day

Dear Thrift Store,


I am very disappointed in your decision to discontinue your fifty percent off program. Over the years, you have trained me to search out your little color tags of the weeks. This system not only helped my wallet, but curtailed my thrifting habit a bit. Frankly, I think you are pretty stinky for doing this. You are also lucky I remained relatively calm when your sales associate delivered this news to me. My first instinct was to grab him by the shirt collars and cry, "why, why, why?" Please know that due to this change in store policy this green pitcher will be my last purchase...

...this week.

A Thrifty Thursday

Even though I still feel like I am on death's door, I could not stand one more day of being cooped up in the house when the sun is out. 

The sun is actually out!

So, I packed up Little Girl and we headed out to our favorite thrift store.  We found the shelves mostly bare, had a couple of melt downs,

mama, I want Goldfish!

and found a few fun things for mama.  I swear I wasn't looking for myself.

For your consideration:

1. Spring sweater $1.67

2. Belt $0.49

3. Mason Jar $0.49

4. Purse for St. Patirck's Day $0.99

So, I'm feeling a little thrifty savy right now.

Now please excuse me, I have to go lay down.  I have hit my wall and plan on curling up in my bed that is sitting in a puddle of

 sunshine.

A Day Interrupted

Try as we might, today, we could not get to anything we needed to. When we went to run errands we found that our car seats were not in our car. When we wanted to play outside the rain began pouring. When the rain let up a bit we stuffed ourselves into raincoats only to be met outside by a rabid skunk. In we went and gave up on the day. We built a fort, climbed inside, and talked about the best things from the last week. Here are some of my highlights:

The airshow that The Mister was kind enough to talk the little ones to, so Mama could have a vacation day.

Vintage quilt squares found at the thrift store. They cost all of twenty-nine cents.

A fabulous book also from the thrift store. It's the best of Pack-O-Fun complied from September 1962 to June 1963.

It has wonderful craft ideas like what to do with discarded window screens and great things to make from Christmas cards.

A beautiful Ikea remnant to make a Christmas present for Little Girl.

Oh, and the blueberry coffee cake that just came out of the oven. That, too.

Welcome Home Amelia Earhart

I have a little rule when it comes to thrifting; if it isn't fifty percent off, it isn't coming home. This usually works pretty well for me. Apparently, what I lust after is not what the rest of the folks in my area are looking for. I am occasionally disappointed, but many times my patience is well rewarded. Last week I noticed this lovely vintage Amelia Earhart train case and very much

wanted it to come home and live with me, but alas it was still full price. This week I hopefully wandered over to the luggage area and found my train case still there and now priced at $1.50. Home, home, home it went. I thought at first I might replace the fabric, but it was too perfect for the case and smelled faintly of cold cream. After a little tender loving caring it is almost flawless and now houses my vintage patterns.

Very Bad Things

It is a very bad thing to suffer from a stomach bug one weekend, limp along through the week, only to be sidelined by a back injury. Who knew preschoolers flying off of counters into your arms could cause so much damage? So, life has ground to a halt here. If I didn't have the help of my wonderful husband I don't know where I would be right now. Crafting has fizzled to a halt. I tried to work on a baby gift, but between the exhaustion and pain, I sewed my fingernail to the material. Once, I cut myself free (and yes I should have taken a picture) my nerves were a little too frazzled to keep sewing. And, on to the worst thing of all:






Whoever keeps donating these vintage patterns to my Goodwill must stop. I have no willpower and I am running out of room. The final tally this week was twenty-nine patterns for thirty-nine cents each (it was half-off yellow tag week). As soon as I get going again I am going to be a very busy mama!