Thrifty shopping weekend

This past weekend Ken and I went to a few garage sales. It was fun, but we really didn't find much. I think the weather reports made people afraid it was going to be cold so they put their sales off. Quite a few of the sales that were advertised early in the week had their ad pulled late Wednesday and on Thursday. I didn't find anything 'shareworthy' so I am sharing a few things found in the past month. First up is this pretty coffeepot. It isn't really all crooked, I don't know how I manage to take such awful pictures sometimes! I found this at the same estate sale where I found last weeks birds. I think the reason it didn't sell earlier is because the previous owner had written 'Germany' on the side with some other words. When I rubbed it with my finger it didn't come off-but I thought the old Magic Eraser would take off the writing, and it did! Another find at that same sale: a little metal dogwood bloom and bird tray (?). It's about 3" long. I am using as a tray for by my sink when I need to take off my rings. And finally, one of my favorite recent Goodwill finds. How cool is this flour shaker?? So retro and the neatest color and font. I can just imagine the great things a baker did with this. It's about 4" tall and just feels really cool in the hand. I am hoping for it to find a happy home with an industrious baker who loves it as much as I do.

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head over to Apron Thrift Girls and prepare

to spend a hour or two checking out everyone elses finds!

out of hibernation

The birds are singing, flowers are blooming and I am crawling out of my winter den to share more of my favorites! Annie and I hit some garage sales today. It is nice to see the yard sale app say there were over 25 yard sales instead of 2 or 3. The first one that we hit was an estate sale. It was the 3rd day of a 3 day sale--1/2 off day. I can't imagine what that place looked like 3 days ago. It was knee deep in the book and craft room. The lady of the house painted porcelain and had enough blank pieces to start a warehouse-it was amazing. Annie found some painting supplies and I picked up a 1928 National Geographic (missing its cover but has neat advertising and an article about Sweden), a coffee pot from Germany, and a couple glass birds.

I love them. They are sitting in my kitchen window right now. Hopefully over the summer while I'm shopping for eBay inventory I will find more of these little guys.

Speaking of inventory, here is my favorite find from the past couple weeks.

It is a cup and saucer from Rosenthal, a design company in Denmark. The dinner line it is part of was designed for the 200th anniversary of Hans Christian Andersen. Can you see the Little Mermaid?

Such a cool piece of Scandinavian china.

Now that warm weather is here I am hoping to find a lot more favorite things to share with all of you!

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Random camera pictures

I finally downloaded the pictures from my phone after 9 months of owning it.
In the last post I talked about how I never take my camera out at all. But, since I always have my phone with me, I do sometimes take pictures with it.
so, here are some random photos.....


Wyatt, Shelby and Annie in the back seat of the pickup on the way to California. This was taken on the 2nd day of the trip just east of Las Vegas.

Evie in the feather boas at Joannes craft store.

Annie getting her Converse signed by Christian comedian Tim Hawkins. The kids and I saw him in Denver. If you don't know him look him up on YouTube. funny stuff.

Clay getting ready to take his first bite of corn on the cob after getting his braces off. He was very excited.

Mom's memorial rock at the pit. The quote is by Whittier: "The steps of faith fall on the seeming void but find the rock beneath." Fitting.

All this makes me think I really need to be better about taking my camera; but I am happy that my phone was there :)

I discover I like taking pictures

One of the things I have learned about myself is that I like to take pictures!
I am notorious for not having pictures of my kids, family, or any event I have practically ever been too.
But I have found I like taking pictures when I have complete and total control, everything stays where I put it, and I have a nice and quiet place to do it. Control freak? Me? whatever :)

I discovered that my basement is too dark for pictures so I moved my base of Operation Photos to the dining room table. I had a white sheet but it would stubbornly wrinkle or cause shadows I didn't want. Then I had 2 pieces of white foam board but you could see where the back and front did not quite meet up in the corner. So I bought a white tri-fold project board and use it for the base and the backdrop.

I like the way the measuring spoons are sparkly,

and the way my little bird is looking at his shadow,

and how the light is thrown by these spoon handles. Ok, the fact they are not PERFECTLY lined up bothers me, just a little bit, but I still like it overall.

Maybe someday I will actually take my camera out of the house :)

The post in which I want to cry and/or hit something

I apologize ahead of time.
This post is going to be a 'whine' moment.
Remember when this blog was only going to be about happy things, my favorite things; great finds, crafts, etc??
well, forget that for a moment or just ignore this entry.

I am tired, grouchy, emotional, and in an overall bad mood.
The dogs are hiding in the kitchen, Annie is hiding in her bedroom, Ken is hiding in his office, Clay is hiding at a friends house, and Wyatt is blissfully unaware of the black cloud and silence that has descended over mi casa. I am in the kind of mood where I don't even say anything, everyone just knows to lay low for the evening. I want to cry or hit something but I don't have the energy for either one.

First thing this morning I was missing my debit card, then there was a problem with an Etsy sale (which I had a feeling was going to go bad and it did, don't ask), then I feel like I can't do anything right at new job (which is my own fault since I expect perfection out of myself and then crumble when it turns out I am human and make mistakes), then dinner out which by that time I was a mess so it wasn't fun and they sat us in a back corner next to a stack of empty chairs, an enormous stack of plastic cowboy hats full of peanuts and a guy who sang really loud along with the Johnny Cash song playing in the background, then a movie (Megamind) which either wasn't funny AT ALL or I may have not heard any laughter from within my fort of self pity (((insert violins here))) then JUST NOW I can't find my wallet and throw the pants I had on this morning at the wall while saying "why is everything so damn hard??!!??"

Ken and I did go to a couple estate sales this morning and I found a couple good things. An entire storage box full of all sorts of ribbon for $5. For some reason I love ribbon so that made me happy. And I drove home without crashing, so considering how everything else today went we will count that as a win too.

now, I am going to open a diet Dr Pepper, turn off the computer and go read more in a book called The Bells. It is SO good and deserves it's own happy post.

promising happier posts to come,
Tanya

screeching halt

After going into garge sale overdrive last weekend I feel like I've come to a screeching halt.
I started my new part-time job as a court clerk on Monday, and have not been very productive.
I have not been to the thrift store or sewn a stitch at all this week. yuck.
On the good side I have sold some things I already had and put more pieces for sale on both eBay and etsy, so all is not lost.

I had to sneak this picture of a pumpkin Annie carved. She had a sticky stencil you put on the pumpkin for a guide. The funny part is that she only had this huge knife to use and I told her that she wouldn't be able to do it since the knife was too big. So, being her little crazy self, she found a very large safety pin and used that. Yes, she carved this with a safety pin!! It took her about an hour but she got it done.

Nobody should ever tell her that she can't do something!

Garage Sale overload

I am on garage sale overload! I went to a estate sale on Friday that was so cool that I spent 2 hours there (and had to call Ken for backup and additional cash) and then I went back today for half price day and found even more fun things!

Here is a small sampling:

A really cool art deco pair of orange glass candlesticks. These are heavy and sleek. So very cool and I LOVE the color!

A diminutive bird to hold recipes or place cards. She is just over an inch tall and so cute! I found 2 of these.

A neat old moonstone and brass set of screw-back earrings. I love that these are so detailed, they have intricate filigree on the backs. So pretty!

This is a very small peek at what I found at that great sale. If that is what estate sales are always like I am going to make sure that I attend many more.

but then, the garage sale find of the year..

Ken, Annie and I pulled up to a garage sale not expecting much. It was the last one that we were going to before heading home. Their advertisement just mentioned 'household goods and a washer and dryer set'.

I looked around and was happy to see two pieces of Frankoma pottery in the Ranch pattern. I picked them up for cheap, found a neat fall leaf table runner and went to pay.

There was a table with 4 brightly colored bowls, slightly dusty and marked from 7-15 dollars each. I looked at them, and then decided to pass since I had spent too much money at the estate sale.

As we drove away I told Ken I should have bought them, even though I didn't really know what they were. I decided to pull out my phone and Google what I remembered of the largest bowl. I knew I had seen the style before but couldn't remember anything about it until my Google query pulled up "carnival glass". A quick, more detailed Google later and I knew I had to get back to that sale.

We were almost home so dropped Ken off and then Annie and I went back.

The bowls were still there (thank God)

The lady explained they were her husband's grandmas bowls. The grandma had died and they didn't like the bowls so they decided to sell them. I couldn't pull my money out fast enough and 40 dollars later I held myself back from running to the car with them in my arms.

Here is one of them.

This is the largest, and ironically, the least valuable. I bought a carnival glass book and have spent about 2 hours on the internet researching this find. This one is a Grapes and Cable pattern by Northwood.

Just look at the purple glow when you hold it up to sunlight!

I am hoping to get about $80-$100 out of this one. It is the only one that I have listed on eBay. The other 3 I am trying to decide if I should list and hope for the best, or contact an auction house specializing in carnival glass. One of the bowls, ironically the $7 one, is worth at least $300 and maybe more depending on the color classification.
This new hobby/money making adventure of mine is just like a full-time job but I am enjoying it way more!

Speaking of job, I start a part-time job doing court clerk work on Monday! Nervous about it but hoping for the best :)