Tail end of a Community Yard Sale!

I know everyone likes to get out early to the yard sales, some people are up and out by 6:00am, 7:00.  I do it too.  I know the early bird does catch a lot of worms.  But I have had the experience where I just can't seem to get out the door early on a Saturday and wind up at the yard sale right before closing time.    You can get some really good deals that way too.  Today I stopped by one that was three houses together and as soon as I walked up a lady handed me a box and said to fill it up for 1.00!   Well there was actually tons of cute stuff left so my son and I looked around.  I got quite a few Christmas items here, brand new garlands to decorate with, beaded garlands, glass balls to craft with, etc.   I filled my box with my goodies and gave the yard sale 10.00 for my box instead of the 1.00.  I like a good deal but I can't walk away with so much great stuff for nothing.  At 10.00 it was still and excellent deal for what I found.  

Adorable little corduroy romper for my little niece.  So cute!!

Appliqued piggies, cows and ruffles, so sweet!!

Patriotic swags 

I love this!!   I think it is a cheese cover, that's what I was thinking of using it for anyway, with the little knives and snowflake pattern.  I have a set of snowman dinnerware that this will go with nicely : )

A vintage 1987 DAKIN plush animal, so cute!  He is a duckbilled platypus in an outback outfit.  He's like new!

A pile of Christmas things: 


garlands, beads, candles, glass balls and vintage ornaments and a blue tree skirt for my little silver tree with the all-blue decorations!

I had both of these when I was a child!   We had bags of elves we used to play with and my grandma had a pin just like this.  You pull the string and Santa's nose lights up : )

I just love him <3 <3

This adorable handmade gingerbread couple!  I was thinking of changing their bows to Christmas colors and making the Mrs. a Christmas apron.  

This really cute nutcracker mug still in the box with the packaging.  I bought my sister some pumpkin spice cappuccino last night at a crafts fair so this will be the perfect mug to give her with the coffee  to drink it in.

I found these really cute t shirts that are handmade with cute Christmas pictures sewed on them with some lace.  A bear, a fawn, and two puppies.  The snowflakes have rhinestones on them.   Brand new and still in the bags, they will be perfect for 4 of my nieces for a little pre-Christmas gift.  

I feel like I really made out and found some great things for a great price.  Sometimes everything isn't picked over so I'm so glad I stopped.  Fun, fun!

Happy birthday to me, I'm fifty three!

There's nothing too thrifty about this post, nothing at all really.  It's my birthday today, I'm 53 and proud of it : ). I always celebrate with my twin.  We had Victorian tea.  Very nice : ).

Rummage sale and Halloween Craft Fair on Friday!

My sister came up again this Friday and we picked up our mom and hit a rummage sale.  It was a pretty big one and we all found something.  First off, I picked up a few pieces of jewelry and a scarf for a whopping 4.00!

The cutest little Christmas ball earrings for 1.00, star earrings 1.00, zebra striped scarf/pashmina 1.00!!!!  A snowman pin, .50,  a pair of red rhinestone earrings, .50,  and one USA earring, .50 that I plan  to use as a lapel pin.

I love this scarf and I'm starrting to plan what I can wear with it.  It's pretty big, much bigger than I scarf, more like a wrap.

These no flame candles were a gift from a friend.  I 've been driving her husband to doctor appts because she has to work and is worried about losing her job.  Her husband requires a lot of doctor visits, he crushed his leg a few months ago working.   She gave me these flameless  candles and a nice bottle of wine.  Very sweet : )



Found:  Gurley Halloween candle!!  Vintage witch for 25cents.

These candles were .25 each.  Vintage painted candles.  I remember having these types of candles around when I was little.  The witch is definitely old but the pumpkin head may be a little newer.   Gurley Candle Co. was known for making holiday candles, especially Halloween and Christmas.  They are highly collectible today.  I was thrilled to find one for next to nothing to add to my Halloween decor.  

Isn't she awesome,  I love her!!

I picked up these little pumpkins and basket for .10 each!!!!!!

This little wooden carved cat is a treasure in my opinion, I love him : )  Got him at the Goodwill for 5.00.  I had to have him.  My husband loves wood and things carved from wood so I picked this up for him.  He put it on top of a pretty wooden jewelry type box he has next to the bed.  It looks really cute there : )      ( Excuse my nail polish!!!  I've got to get it off right away!)

We went to a big craft fair called the Sugar Plum.    We have them nearby 4 times a year right before big holidays.  I love to support local artists and try to buy from the people who have the Handmade Items certification.  Some are not.

They always have this cool Halloween house!   This fair really but me in the mood for Halloween and fall but we walk outside and its 90 outside with hot Santa Ana winds!  Yesterday it got up to 92 and it is 930 am right now and I am already sweating and getting ready to turn the air on.  Yuck.   On a happier note I still have tomatos in my garden!  They must like the heat, I picked 5 really big, fat, juicy ones today and there are still a few greenies left that need to ripen.  I love having my own tomatos, I guess that's kind of thrifty too but I grow them because they are so delicious and have so much flavor.

Yes, my 22 year old son here, went with us to a craft fair.  It's kind of a tradition, he always went when he was little with me and his grandmother  and we still love him to go and obliges us.  Nice guy : )   Well I found some great things I think, enjoy!

Thrifty Holiday Decorating

I am a big decorator at Christmastime.  I have boxes and boxes of decorations in my attic and I buy new ones every year too.  Some of the decorations I have on my tree I've had for 30 years.  Ornaments given as gifts, ornaments my children made, etc.   I love them.  And I love the new ones I find too.  Pretty soon I'm going to need two Christmas trees! ( I would actually LOVE that!)   Well I was at the Dollar store the other day and they had a Christmas Village display!  Now that is something I don't have.  I do have a display of an Autumn Village and last year I sprayed it with that spray on snow and used it at Christmas too.  But it doesn't have a lot of stuff.   Anyway, the Christmas Village at the Dollar store was very pretty and had a lot of pieces.  The bottle brush trees are a lot more money at Michaels, etc and here they were 3 in a package for 1.00!   There are all the different stores and lamposts, benches, people, even a skating rink pond.  I am going back ASAP to get all the pieces.   I can get pretty much the whole village for 20.00 and the whole thing will fit on top of my desk, the buildings are bout 3 inches high.  So pretty.  It has holes on the bottom to put in light bulbs and cords too.  If you have a Dollar store check it out!

I stopped in the 99 cent store too and found some really pretty things for Halloween a few weeks ago.  If you find something at the 99cent store you better get it and don't wait because things go fast.   I love owls and found the cutest owl tealight holders and glittery owl stand decoration this cute rubber mat and a black straw hat I'm hoping to turn it to a pretty Halloween hat : ) .    I usually go to the Sugar Plum festival which is a really nice craft fair here in SoCal that sells a lot of handmade crafts for all the Holidays.  I always buy something new and awesome for Halloween and Christmas there too.  Some of their stuff is pricey but alot of it is reasonable and I like to support local artists and crafters. 
  

Christian Dior score!

My sister came up to spend the day with me Thursday and we had such a fun day! Coffee at the beach at the Mermaid Coffee Bar, then we visited with our mom at her store around the corner. We visited our niece and her new baby boy and had lunch after that. Then we went thrifting! My sister (my twin) hardly ever goes thrifting because she can never find anything. So we went to a few of my favorite places and I put all my efforts towards finding stuff for her and I didn't buy anything. She took her things home so I don't have many pics but I did get her to photograph this bag and send it to me. The Christian Dior J'adore Hardcore poison punk saddle bag. Whew! That's some name. I looked around the Internet and it seems it came out around 2005 as a limited edition. And someone is selling one just like it , used, on eBay for 99.00. My sister loved it for her 13 year old granddaughter. It is pretty cute and she got it for 20.00.  That morning my sis tried on a tshirt at a retail store from Christian Audiger by Ed Hardy and it was too small. It was 99.00 too! She loved it though and was dissappointed. Well at one of our stops I found her a hoodie by the Same maker for 4.99, she couldn't believe it! She had such a good time we're going again in two weeks : ).
 We ended our day by picking up our mom and going for dinner. Perfect ending to a perfect day!

One week!

One week ago..........I got married! After 19 years together and one child we tied the knot. Yes, we were a little unconventional but that's how it happened. I guess we were doing the brad and Angelina before they did : ). Well what does this have to do with thrifting?? I will tell you, We had a civil ceremony at the courthouse but I still wanted a pretty dress. I thought I would buy a new one and went looking. I looked everywhere and could not find one I liked or fit right, etc. So I was driving and noticed a sign for a brand new thrift store in my area and pulled in. I immediately found a dress, within the first 10 minutes, and after looking a little harder found the perfect lite sweater to add a little color and wasnt too hot. There was a 30% off sale so I got my outfit for 16 bucks. I was so pleased and I thought the dress was perfect. If you're in the Orange County area check out What Goes Around Clothing in Costa Mesa for some great things : )