Thriftaholic

I love to thift shop. LOVE it, especially as of late. And I've been scoring big time. But more about that in a minute. First I'd like to give a little background to my love of all things old.

It all began when I was a young child, my parents have collected antiques (furniture, art, lighting, knick knacks etc.) since I was very young. I have distinct memories of my parents loading me and my brothers in the van and going antique hunting for an entire saturday. They'd hunt in the city and the country, scouring fancy antique stores and old run down barns chalk full of anything and everything old. I loved it. I especially loved staring at all the old things, especially the toys - dolls, doll furniture, teddy bears, all of it. I would slowly walk around whereever we were and take it all in. More often than not the store owner would have a cat - there must be some connection with antique dealers and cats - even the antique stores I've been to here in St. John's have cats! My brothers and I would pet the cat and try to play with it, they were always vying for our attention, they kept us distracted so my parents could browse. When my parents found something they wanted, I would always watch in awe as my father would barter back and forth with the dealer to get a better price on whatever he and my mother had their eyes on. Unfortunatly this is something I didn't inherite, *sigh*.

The house I grew up in was filled with antiques, the older my brothers and I got the most they would aquire, likely because there was less chance of one of us wrecking something. I had friends who always used to say my house looked like a museum, they werent used to seeing so many antiques in one place, because like a lot of people their parents purchased a majority of modern day furniture and housewares. My childhood bedroom furniture was all antique, the dresser, night stand and desk. The kitchen table, and the furniture that filled the living room, dining room and den were mostly antique pieces. When my parrents purchased our family cottage ten years ago, it to was filled with antiques. I grew up with things that were older than me, that weren't bought at Leons or Ikea, they were unique, one of a kind pieces with a history, a story to tell - if only they could talk; the desire to be surrounded by old things is in my blood.

Oddly I didn't start thrifting until I moved to Newfoundland. I originally started doing it so I could find things to sell in my Etsy shop, and it morphed into something Brad and I loved doing in our spare time. Brad and I hunt primarly for toys - ones from our own childhood and the decades before our time. I also like to look for houseware item and vintage linens (table clothes, sheets, pillow cases etc.) At the end of April Im starting a machine sewing course (four saturdays long) and I know how expensive fabric can be so I thought I'd jump on the upcycling bandwagon and create using fabrics I could find for a couple dollars at a thrift store. Both of us scour the book section whenever we go. The thrift store we frequent most has a great book section, filled with childrens book, adult books and everything in between. we dont always find what were looking for but theres always incentive to look.

These past few weeks weve gone thrifting A LOT. So much so that I'm afriad the staff are starting to take notice. I know I shouldnt care, but I can't help it. It wont stop me from going though, haha. I'm not sure if its our frequent visits of the time of year (can you say spring cleaning) but we've been scoring some great finds.

Heres a little of what I found this past week:

This was a deal I couldn't pass up. all this lovely wrapping paper and tissue paper (patterened) for 2.99 CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? I couldn't so I grabbed it. A lot of it is vintage, not sure how old, but the patterns and designs arn't somthing youd see now a days. Almost all of is in the original packaging. Score.

I don't know if this is vintage or notm but it looks like it. No markings or anything but I found it in the christmas section under a bunch of ceramic snowmen. and for .99 cents it came home with me. Ya thats snow on the wall outside. So eastery isn't it?

This is a mix of vintage sheets and new ones - all thrifted obviously. Many are crib sheets whose patterns called my name. On top are several pillowcases.

These are both vintage, the bottom one is 100% Virgin Wool and made in Quebec, the trim on both of them brought me right back to my childhood. I'm not even sure if we had blankets like this, but they called out to me. The top one is fuzzy and so soft, its smaller and is a baby blanket. One day I will have children and will wrap them in this.

These were all found on the same day at a Salvation Army we rarely frequent. Its located in the west end of the city, which we don't venture too often. The little yellow pants appear to be handmade from tea towels, and when I saw the fushia purple denim geometric jumpsuit (whew!), I couldn't resist. This is all going in my Etsy shop.

When I saw this my heart stopped. Ive wanted a stand mixer for sometime but didnt feel like forking out the money (I'd rather save that for thirfting!). So when I saw this delicious piece of vintage I had to get it, and at 6.99 wouldn't you? Its made by general electric, and thats the original bowl and beaters. It also comes apart to function as a hand mixer. Two for one!

This is a Musical Winnie the Pooh. when you pull the plastic handle it plays the "winnine the pooh" theme song. Its made by walt disney productions - made in Japan! 1.99 woot woot! I'm thinking of listing this in my Etsy shop, but Im kinda in love with it..we'll see.

The second I saw this game I was transported back to 1991 and I was 5 years old. My next door neighbour had this game and I have vivid memories playing it with her. So I bought it. Brad and I played it last night, we played two games in about ten minutes. It was still fun though, but probably not as fun as when I was five.

I only spotted one of these guys before I realized there were four. Then when I stumpled across all four I hoarded them into my basket and brought 'em home. At .69 cents a piece how could I resist?!

Ahhh Bert. My love. He was just lying there on top of a buch of other stuffed animals and my childhood self screamed GET THAT NOW! So I did, and I'm so happy. Not to mention I'm a die hard sesame street fan (Vintage sesame street that is) and I collect vintage sesame street stuff. I had this same Bert as a kid, as well as the Ernie, both long gone now. I must keep an eye out for Ernie.

Long post, I know.

More vintage goodness to come soon!



Im linking up with:



  herlibraryadventures.blogspot.com http://commonground-debrasvintagedesigns.blogspot.ca/