Holiday Fair doll, 1964.

She had to come home with me!

It's happened, friends. I am now a recognized "regular" at the thrift stores. While we were checking out the cashier asked whether or not I collected dolls, since I was buying (snapping up greedily) a Holiday Fair poseable doll. I explained that I am an indiscriminate collector who will buy anything I think is cute, pointing to my day's finds as evidence. I said, "I think I have a problem, I am here a lot." She said, "Oh yes. I recognized you."

This made me suddenly bubble into a conversation about how my mom is convinced I am a hoarder, how Megan is an excellent quilter and how overalls are making a comeback in my world. I also blathered on about my freestyle embroidery habits. So, not only am I one of those people who hang out at thrift stores, I'm also becoming one of those people who share their life stories with random strangers. Good thing my life is on track.

We had a lot of luck yesterday. Or I should say, Meg had a lot of luck yesterday, and I happened to be along for the ride. She found some great stuff, and was nice enough to share some of her luck. Look at this amazing Sterilite salad set she found for me! It's an aquamarine dream. She also pointed out this amazing pink and aqua tinged seashell soap holder and said it would be perfect for my future pink bathroom in my future all-pink home. You see? This girl gets me.

Sterilite salad set

The original set came with four shakers.

Summer-y finds from the past few months, including:

2 Fire King casseroles and a snack set
2 pink Thermoware tumblers
a sweet little embroidered coaster, that came with a matching placemat and napkin
1 Swanky Swig, which matches another I have
a set of 7 Anchor Hocking Depression Glass pink juice glasses
a flower-y tin (never enough flower-y tins)

Ultimate Summertime Thriftiness - Urban Foraging!

I don't have very many thrift finds to share lately. I'm trying to save money for future endeavours. So in the spirit of thriftiness, today I went out to do some foraging.

I may have mentioned (a million, trillion times to anyone who will listen) how I have this dream of living in the woods, in a big old house with creaky floors, and having a massive garden and doing all manner of domestic things, like baking my own bread, mixing herbs to create the perfect tea, knowing the constellations, etc, etc.

Unfortunately, my current living situation is a little more Walmart than Walden. When I was a kid, there was a giant field across the street from my house, with three ball diamonds and some great places to explore. We used to make "nests" in the tall grass. I vividly remember sitting in the middle of one, listening to Annie Lennox on my neighbour's pink "boombox".  We don't have a field anymore, but we do have a Walmart, and a Superstore, and a dollar store, and a lot of other stores.

Last year, my mom and I discovered a patch of  nature behind the Superstore while we were on an evening walk. There were a ton of raspberry and blackberry bushes, all along the train tracks there. Our fingers were stained purple by the time we got home. So I decided today that I would go back and collect some for some jam.

The urban foraging gods were good to me. I had to wade through a pretty dense patch, but finally I found some beautiful red berries, and started picking.

I collected a big bowl before the heat, and an oncoming train got to me. It sure satisfied my city-living, country-loving heart, though.

Canada Day

Staffordville, Ontario. I thrifted the dress earlier this week and thought the colour was perfect for Canada Day. The label says "Sears Shift Shop".

Meg and I had a pretty perfect Canada Day. We started out the day at the herb farm. The countryside where we live is traditionally tobacco country, so it's dotted with old tobacco drying houses. Fortunately, many of the former farms are now exploring new crops and this specific farm has turned into a really successful herb farm, which is awesome, since I have this dream where I have a giant herb garden and know all the correct uses for all of the herbs. I'm working on it.

Afterwards, we made our way to one of our favourite small towns in the area, Courtland. Courtland has two fair sized antique markets and we both usually come away with some treasure. This time it was an original Diana camera, with its box, for me, and two heavenly blue Pyrex dishes for Megan.

The best part about Courtland is their bakery. It has a lot of vintage charm. The walls are painted a warm pink, and there are glass hanging lamps along the counters that give everything a soft glow and make the baked goods glisten under their glass (it's either that or the copious amounts of sugar glaze). We stopped for lunch (soup and a donut and a Coke). It really is a glutton's paradise, especially if your gluttony leans toward the bread and pastry end of things.

We drove back into the city to meet up with Sean (Meg's gentleman friend), stopping on the way to see my gentleman friend at the honey farm. He is so adorable, but I think the infatuation is a little one-sided on my part. It's hard to compete with all that sweet, green grass.

Sean joined us for a picnic in the park and then we camped out to wait for the fireworks. We waited and waited and waited until finally they turned off the lights at the ballpark and the sky became all electric with a million sparks that fell to the ground in streams of pixie dust (this according to the little girl sitting beside us).

It was worth it.

Labours of love and my triumphant return

(I had to open with that picture because I'm so excited)

No, it turns out, I did not fall off the face of the earth. We had hardwood floors put in the ENTIRE house which turned into a whole ordeal. My pyrex was being stored like this:



No, it's not very safely put away but after I loaded up two giant storage boxes, I was in such a rush, and so tired, that it ended up on the dining room table and in laundry baskets. None of these things gave me any inclination to go thrifting or bring anything else into the house... but it's back away so I went thrifting with the rachiekins



I scored like never before! I even had to leave items behind (like a blue snowflake casserole, sigh) because I just don't have the money. I couldn't believe my luck when I found the pyrex shakers! I've only ever seen them on the internet! And the pink gooseberry?!? I just about died! diiiied!

Rachel seems to have much better pyrex luck. She scored me these awesome finds



I mean, promo christmas?!? come on! All I ever seem to find is butterfly gold and forest fancies. She also brought back the little JAJ (non-american pyrex) bowl all the way from England. She loves me lots.

Speaking of love, I, ladies and gentlemen, finished my first real quilt! Took me three days of solid quilting plus another 3 days for the rest of the sewing. But it's finally done and I am beyond proud of myself. I can't wait to give it to my little niece/nephew in December (yes, I really did think it would take me that long).



And related to love, this is my future husband (according to a 1930s arcade card)



Isn't he dreamy? I have more for christmas gifts for others

Today I Found....

Skirts, Shorts, Skorts and Rompers.

Hey, remember skorts, the garment that allowed you to wear both a skirt and shorts at the same time?! I happen to have acquired several of them on my trips to Thrifttown. They often come in very 90s floral patterns and are made of that synthetic material that is light and comfortable and they are EVERYWHERE, so hey, I bought a few.

I decided tonight that I was going to refashion two pairs of skorts. The original idea was to cut away the skirt part and be left with sort of 1940s high waisted "silk" shorts. I still plan on doing this to one pair. As I was cutting, though, I realized that I could probably make some kind of playsuit out of it!

Playsuits. Rompers. Jumpsuits. They are a wardrobe essential for me during summer. Next to a sundress, I think they are the easiest way to make a complete "outfit" with minimal effort.

For vintage clothing or vintage "look" lovers, they fit into almost any era, from the 40s to the 80s. They are fantastic for a day at the beach, for picnics, for bike rides- literally the perfect summer piece!

Luckily, they've been experiencing a resurgence as of late, and you can find vintage inspired ones through most of the major clothing brands.

I think part of the appeal of the romper is that it's youthful and carefree and extremely feminine. It reminds me of the summer clothes I wore when I was little- tiny dresses and babydoll pajamas. At Sincerely Yours, Kate, Kate talks about the "Lolita" aspect of the romper, it being a garment that "plays on both childlike AND sexy imagery".

This is definitely something that Megan noticed when she did a search of "romper" on google and found the results were nothing but lingerie!

I own a few playsuits. My favourite is definitely the one that belonged to my great aunt. My mom said she wore it every year at the cottage that my great Grandmother owned, lounging on a recliner overlooking Lake Erie.

Here's the little 1970s inspired number that I fashioned from that skort I was talking about.

Happy romping!