Thrift Report: California Dreamin'

We had so much fun thrifting in California! Stephanie took us to so many amazing places - everywhere from a strip of 12 thrift stores in Poway to antique malls in Ocean Beach, to Goodwill in Escondido, to estate sales in Kensington and Point Loma!

I found many things for myself and for my booth. I love buying sewing supplies at estate sales - you can get such a good deal on a variety of thread. I like to stock up on thread so I'm not scrounging around in the middle of a project for the right color! Also found some elastic thread which I use all the time when making dresses. And extra bobbins - you can never have enough bobbins. :)

I also found a really fun crewel piece of jolly little bears and a vintage 45 holder. There's a great children's book about New York that was re-released some years ago but all the original illustrations are inside. I also love this Betty Crocker cooking calendar - it was great suggestions on what to cook when. I will be selling the books and the 45 holder and the crewel piece.

I'm keeping the alphabet stamps, the vintage sheet (either to make a dress out of or to use as a picnic blanket), and the beautiful cloth napkins. I haven't decided on whether or not to keep the scarf yet!

I also picked up a little notebook that I will either cut up the pages of, or glue my own images to the outside. Still figuring that out. :)

I loved thrifting in California! The prices didn't seem too outrageous- I found a ton of great deals! These items will be in my booth later this week- stay tuned for them if you're local.

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Back from California!

I'm home!! I can't remember the last time I took that long of a vacation! We saw SO much. It was a whirlwind. I want to blog properly about it but for now, our vacation in instagrams! See the feed with comments/descriptions here!

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Headed to California!!!

image source

Five years ago, my mom and I had a grand plan of flying to California and driving the Pacific Coast Highway. Unfortunately, we didn't have the resources, so the trip got shelved. 

Earlier this summer, our dear blog friend Stephanie invited us out to her house outside of San Diego. We were thrilled to receive the invitation and so thankful for her generosity!

I have only been to CA on quick work trips and I've never able to explore, while my mom has never seen the Pacific Ocean. I am so excited that we get to go do this! Since we had wanted to drive the PCH years ago, we decided to fly into San Francisco and take a quick drive to see the sights as we make our way to Stephanie's house. 

I am so excited and so grateful for this opportunity!! I fly out seriously early tomorrow (7am) and meet my mom in San Francisco.

I can't wait to see the Golden Gate Bridge in person and actually go to the Santa Monica pier instead of just see it from a distance! And it's going to be SO fun to meet Stephanie and pal around San Diego with her! 

Do you have favorite stops along the PCH or any must-see recommendations in San Diego? Our trip down the coast is seriously short/quick - we will do the drive in about a day and a half so we won't have time to go off the road or spend tons of time anywhere, but I'd love to hear recommendations!

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Thrift Report: August Finds

Just a few things I've found recently... I went to a very interesting estate sale of a woman who owned a wallpaper business and lived in one half of her business. It was a beautiful house with lots of character. She is moving to Mexico and so she was selling her entire stash of crafts - which worked well for me!

I found an awesome embroidery book from the 70s with tons of great embroidery/crewel patterns inside and at Goodwill, I picked up a french grammar book. At the estate sale, I grabbed 4 vintage maps, some library book envelope thingies, and some casters that I'm going to give my mom for her projects.

At Goodwill, I found some crazy graph paper. I can't wait to cut it up for minibooks!

That's all for now! I hope you've been finding great stuff too. :)

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Mary Poppins and Me

There are rumors that I watched Mary Poppins every day when I was 4. That sounds like a pretty awesome childhood to me. :)

I love the movie Mary Poppins and recently I have discovered how much I love the products that came out in support of the movie. They have a very distinct and colorful branding that is so fun and whimsical.



Remember when I found these Mary Poppins board games? That colorful style is so inspiring to me!

I started a Pinterest board to collect Mary Poppins items and inspiration- everything from a vintage lunchbox to Mary Poppins tattoos. (!!!!! I have one tattoo - a very, very tiny brown cross on my wrist. I have often daydreamed about getting another but no tattoo idea has twitterpated my heart quite like the idea of a Mary Poppins tattoo has! I know, I'm OBSESSED!)

Check out the board here and if you're ever thrifing/junking and see something Mary Poppins and it's under $10 and in good condition, buy it for me and I will pay you back. :)

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Estate Sale Art

Recently there was a really unique estate sale on Music Row featuring hundreds of autographs and hundreds of pieces of art - plus tons of other really interesting things! Rae posted photos from the sale here.

I was really overwhelmed by the amount of items for sale, but I managed to find two pieces of art that I really loved. I hardly ever buy original art, but it tends to be more affordable at estate sales and therefore more accessible. The homeowner's father helped found the Tennessee Art League and he and his wife supported any and every local artist they met by buying art from them. There was so, so, so much art!

On a table piled high of unframed art, I found the below pieces. The first was really intriguing - a forest scene that was complete except for the deer. I'm going through a bit of a deer phase right now anyway, but I just thought it was so cool how everything was finished except for them. There are pencil outlines and marks, but no paint. It's so unique and now hangs in our dining room.

The second piece I bought looks straight from Etsy. I'm not sure when it was painted but it looks really modern. I like its unusual size/shape and the colors match the majority of our living room. It just looks peaceful!

Click to see what Rae and Lisa found at the same sale!

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Booth Updates: August 2012

Last week, I gave you a peek into my booth mid-reorganizing. It was a total disaster! I stopped back by to take some better "after" photos and discovered that my big yellow/orange armchair sold! I was so happy and thankful - it felt like such a beast sitting in the corner, taking up too much room. I was beginning to question if it would ever sell and even thought about bringing it home and trying to sell it on Craigslist!

I still have those teal canisters - come and get them! I priced them on the higher end at first because they are SO amazing but they haven't moved, so I brought the price down a little. I think it's about $28 now, but I can't remember. I will hold onto them at that price for awhile longer - they are so, so cute. I try to keep my prices pretty low but when I find a real gem, I try to price accordingly.

I tried to centralize the children's items and also the "wearables" - everything from kids' clothes to scarves and neckties to dresses and aprons. I love, love, love the blouse below. I think it would be SUCH a cute fall outfit with a highwaisted pencil skirt or some skinny jeans.

Still have the horse cardigan, too. I can't believe someone hasn't scooped it up yet. Maybe it will find a new home this fall.

I have been trying to highlight crewel work in my booth after the Design*Sponge feature on crewel! I sold a giant piece last week, so I think it's working. :)

I also brought in these really cute blue, industrial/schoolhouse children's chairs. They would look so good in a nursery or child's room! I set the pink royal typewriter atop them - it was a bit hidden previously.

And you can always find great vintage luggage and travel bags in my booth! This is my current selection of shoulder bags. I'm kind of obsessed with bags like these.

And there you have it!

If you're not local and you see something you have to have, drop me a line and I will try to make it happen for you!

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