Tag Archives: Thrifting

Some Recent Finds

Lately I have been checking Craigslist every morning for estate sales. This morning I was beyond delighted when I learned of a monthly antiques and collectibles show going on just a few miles from my home. How have I not heard of this before? It wasn’t a very big show, but there were definitely some good finds. I left with just a few little things, but do plan on going back next month!

I got this giant stash of hankies for $1. Most are ripped or badly stained, but they were so pretty, I know I can find a project to use them for.

I bought these two hankies for my collection. How amazing is the heart one?!

I am a little obsessed with old photos, have been since I was a little girl. Honestly, I could stare at them for hours and hours and hours. These two pictures caught my eye. They were purchased from the same seller, and I am pretty sure the woman is the same, though the man is not.

This Palm Springs postcard caught my eye, I love what is written on the back. It seems so hard to imagine not sending this message as a quick text to a family member. Oh, how the times have changed!

This lot of jewelry I found at an estate sale last weekend.

Mikasa plate and crewel, thrifted.

Travel bar, also thrifted. Who doesn’t love a travel bar? Martinis on the road anyone? (I kid, I kid)

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My Cypress Knee

If you follow me on twitter or instagram (username misscedar for new ig-ers), you probably already heard plenty about my latest thrift find–my new cypress knee!

I have been slightly obsessed with cypress knees since I was a young girl. One of my aunts has the most incredible mid century cypress knee lamp (which looks kind of like this one!) in her living room. Over the years I have daydreamed about kidnapping said lamp. It would look better with my stuff anyway, right? I guess I wouldn’t be able to invite her over, but I think it still might be worth it (glad this aunt definitely doesn’t read my blog!).

Anyway, I am obsessed with cypress knees, and have been since I was young and had a really good look at my aunt’s awesome lamp. I guess I never looked that hard for them (like seeking them out on etsy, they are pretty cheap), but I always envisioned a little army of them sitting atop one of my bookshelves. Well, the army has begun. I found my first cypress knee.

Quite honestly, I have always known what the weird knobby looking thing was called, but I never knew what it really was. After a quick Wikipedia search I am even more fascinated by these strange pieces of nature.

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Decorating our New Home

Things are looking up here. This weekend is our big moving weekend, my ear is feeling ever so slightly better (still not great, but I will take it!), Halloween is just days away, and I am finally starting to get excited about our new home. In the past month I have been thrifting and estate sale-ing like crazy, trying to find things to decorate. A new home needs some new (well, to us anyway) things to put in them, right?

I found these amazing curtains at an estate sale last weekend. There was a box of them (4 panels) for $20. How could I possibly say no?  They need a good cleaning and to be hemmed, but I think they will look fantastic in our green kitchen.

The lamp I found in a thrift store a few weeks back for $12. It had a hideous shade on it, which I threw in the dumpster immediately after buying it (really, it was totally 80′s, cracked, torn, and mashed in on one side, no one would have wanted it). I found the perfect shade on eBay.

Little things like this are making me super excited about the move. I can’t wait to see what our new home looks like all set up.

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Thrifting and Baby Artichokes

Friday I went to my favorite thrift store in search of some large pots for my garden. While I didn’t find what I went for, I did leave with all sorts of other goodies. The most exciting of which is this lamp. I had been eying something similar on Anthropologie’s website for a while, but anything from that store is far outside of my budget. When I found this vintage lamp I was thrilled, it was only $4. Take that Anthropologie! I also got a lovely granny style carpet bag, a pink wine glass (which you can hardly see in this photo!), some fabric, and the book Revolutionary Road. I am unsure yet what to do with the fabric, it is only two yards, but I just loved the print. I have a really bad habit of buying small pieces of vintage fabric–and then adding them to the fabric box in my closet! One of these days I will find something to do with them all!

I meant to post about the baby artichokes I bought at the farmer’s market last week, since a few people have asked about them, and it was almost a week ago that we ate them!!

I didn’t do anything that special with the artichokes, but they turned out to be a delicious, and pretty easy side dish. The most difficult part of working with artichokes is getting them prepared by cutting off all the bits you can’t eat. It isn’t so much difficult as it is time consuming. First I trimmed off the outer leaves, the bottom of the stem, and the fibrous outer part of the stem. After doing that I used a serrated knife to cut the top half of the artichoke off. As I was going along I cut the artichokes in half, threw them in a bowl, and squeezed some lemon juice over them so they wouldn’t turn brown.

After I finished cleaning the artichokes up I threw them in a pot of boiling water for about 12 minutes, until they were tender. From there I heated up a pan with some olive oil and a bit of minced garlic. I threw them in and sauteed for a few minutes, adding parsley, salt, and pepper for added flavor. Maybe next time I will do something a bit more fancy with them, but these were absolutely delicious without tons of added ingredients.

Sorry about the poor quality of the last photo. It was toward the end of the day, when it is hard to get a picture….also we just wanted to eat, so I didn’t bother looking for a better place to photograph them.

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How to Thrift Like a Pro

Like my tutorial on How to Cut Your Own Bangs, this is an article I wrote several years ago for my previous blog. I have had lots of questions recently about where I get a lot of my vintage, so I thought I would post this and share it all over again.

To me thrifting is not just a hobby but a sport rather. I have gotten it down to a science, and there have been several instances when I have raced down an isle to beat another thrifter to an item. Like any other sport, to become a truly good thrifter it takes time, dedication, and lots of practice.

I have been going to thrift stores my entire life. When I was in high school I had a friend who admitted to me that he had never been in a thrift store. I was in shock, partly because he had missed out on so many wonderful things, but mostly because I thought everyone went to thrift stores. Well I took him to one of my favorite thrift stores, and he found a bunch of clothes, and he was instantly in love with the idea of spending so little money for things he could have paid much, much more for. Later he told me that when he got home and told his mom about it she was grossed out by the idea of wearing someone else’s clothes.

I know there are many people out there that feel the exact same way. Besides my undergarments, my entire wardrobe is thrifted, and almost every item in my apartment (that wasn’t gifted) was purchased secondhand. With a good washing (or dry cleaning) beforehand, thrifted clothes not only guarantees an original wardrobe, but also ensures that you do so for a fraction of the price that department stores charge. Besides being stylish, original, and hip, buying second hand is like recycling. Why fill our landfills with clothes just because it had a previous owner?

That being said, here are some tips that will guarantee a more successful thrift store trip.

Never, ever, ever go into a thrift store looking for something specifically. Unless you go in looking for a white top, it is highly likely that you will be disappointed. If you want something specific go to a vintage shop.

If you are a girl wear a loose fitting skirt, and sleeveless top when shopping. The majority of thrift shops do not have dressing rooms. With a loose skirt, you can still try on bottoms, while with a tight fitting sleeveless top, you can get a real idea of how a top will fit.

Everyone says it, but really, look at everything. Books, dresses, jewelry, housewares, everything! You don’t always know what you need until you see it!

Study the clothing you have. Look at common styles in your clothes, and find the shapes that best suit your body. This will help save you a lot of time while browsing the racks.

Find out when new items are put out, and start shopping on those days. Get to know the employees, they can give you a heads up when good things come in.

Carry a tape measure. There are some things that are just too hard to try on in a store. Sizes have changed over the years, and it isn’t really safe to assume something will fit by the number on the tag. I also carry around a paper with my husband’s measurements written on it, so if I see anything that he would like, I can make sure it will fit!

Look through one section at a time. It is hard to decide where to start, and very easy to jump from one section to another without looking thoroughly.

Make sure you will actually use the item, and that you aren’t just buying it because it is cheap. I can’t tell you how many times I have bought things that never got used, only to be re-donated.

Carefully check each clothing item for stains, holes, or tears. Know which ones are easy to fix, and which ones are hopeless.

Look for lengths. If you are tall and looking for pants, take a peek towards the bottom of the rack to see which pants hang lower.

Look for thrift shops in wealthy neighborhoods. The locals are likely to donate, and even less likely to shop at these stores.

Shop the night before a sale. If you know there will be a big sale the next day, go in the evening before. The store will be almost empty (people are waiting for the next day to get their bargains), and the shelves will be packed. You are already getting a good deal shopping second hand, why stress yourself out to save a few bucks?

Certain thrift shops sell by the pound, or by the bag. Definitely check and see if there are any of these in your area, they are generally the cheapest.

Always go to the bathroom before hand. Thrifting takes time, and most places don’t have public restrooms. I can’t tell you how many times I have had to cut a thrifting trip short in order to find a lady’s room.

….AND…..most importantly, be patient. There are some days when I leave empty handed, and some days that I am lugging three bags of things behind me. Do not give up hope if your first trip is unsuccessful.

Check out The Thrift Shopper for more tips, a great forum, and to find thrift stores in your area.

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