Thrifting, lately

Please help welcome the newest member of our furniture family - the sewing chest!

{sewing chest}

I'm sorry the picture isn't the best, but it's raining here and there is NO LIGHT and lots of teeth gnashing and camera adjusting. Rest assured that she is much more beautiful in person.

{vintage sewing chest}

I see sewing chests around sometimes* (my mom owns one too) but I've never felt compelled to purchase one. For some reason this one, with the curved handles and the dark wood, hooked me. She can live next to the couch and it will be a big upgrade over my current situation, where I dump all my materials in a plastic bin and lug it out and then put it all away again later. The drawers fan out on both sides, so there is a ton of storage space.

It was $35 well spent at the flea market, and it came with some remnants of the previous owner. She liked green velvet leaves, sweet little labels and 70s orange pom pom trim. If anyone needs some festive, shaggy pom poms, let me know. I'm allergic to the 70s.

* I'm not finding many options online right now, so maybe they aren't as common as I think. There are a couple available on Etsy currently, here and here.

Thrifting, lately

Ginormous ring - large enough to be a fairly effective mirror, excellent for checking to make sure nothing is stuck in your teeth, awesome filigree detail on the underside, fits perfectly on my middle finger which could come in handy in so many situations.
$15
(from the NCJW thrift store on Santa Monica Blvd, always pricier than your average thrift store but also a little better organized and curated)

{vintage ring}

Milk glass baking dish with vintage detailing. Cleaned after I took this picture - looks even more gorgeous now.  Love.
$2.99
(from my usual Goodwill, also on Santa Monica Blvd)

 

{vintage baking dish}

Thrifting, lately

And by lately, I mean months and months ago. Just haven't gotten around to posting these guys yet.

{milk glass bakers}

Milk glass baking dishes from the local Goodwill, picked up for two dollars apiece. The rectangular ones are Anchor Hocking Fire King and the square one is GlasBake.

{milk glass fire king}

Love the just slightly curved handles on the Fire King pieces. It's those little details that get me.

Sometimes it's tough to decide whether or not to make a thrift store purchase. My midcentury fondue pot, for instance, is gorgeous but remains unused to this day. Eventually I'll have to decide whether to let it find a new home. But baking dishes are always a no brainer for me. Useful, because I cook a lot, and if I ever end up with too many I'll just drop off my newer ones at the thrift store for someone else to find.

Vintage silver serving pieces, revealed

Polishing away at my thrifted silver over the weekend.

{vintage servers}

{vintage servers}

I realize these pictures give you no sense of scale (sorry!) but these are beautiful, long handled serving pieces. I love how modern they look. I couldn't get rid of all the tarnish and they still have a few stains, but I love them.

P.S. You guys are the smartest. I tried the baking soda + aluminum foil trick that Abbie recommended and a few others seconded. I lined a dish with aluminum foil, set the silver on it and sprinkled it generously with baking soda before covering it with boiling water. It didn't make my pieces look polished (they were tarnished to the point of blackness) but when I took them out about half and hour later and wiped them with regular silver polish, it was amazing. So much easier than before. I think it cut my polishing time in half.

Quick choker re-do

Lately I've been looking for vintage chains at the thrift store. You would think they'd be easy to find, but you actually don't see them that often, so when I saw this three chain piece I snatched it up.

{thrift store choker}

Sadly, my sense of scale failed me completely here. I got this out of the store before I realized that it is a choker. A serious choker, as in, I put it on as a joke and then started to have a mild panic attack when I realized it was inhibiting my breathing and I couldn't get it off quickly enough because man, that clasp is sturdy. Thrifting life is exciting, you guys. Full of drama and adventure.

I let it sit around my house for several months, which is sad because 10 minutes + a couple feet of silk ribbon remedied the problem nicely. I don't have a picture of me wearing it because it is truly difficult to take a picture of your own torso if you are too lazy to get out the camera tripod.

{finished}

DIY details: I just made a long braid out of the ribbon and then tucked each end through the clasp ends of the choker, folded them over and secured them with a few stitches (you could use hot glue if you're sewing averse, or simply knot it if your ribbon isn't too thick). I ended up cutting the braid in the middle, holding the entire thing around my neck and then tying it back together so it was the perfect length for me.

Silver, reclaimed

Our everyday flatware is very simple and I love it. But I have a serious soft spot for ornate silverplate and when I saw this box full of mixed pieces for $8, I couldn't resist.

{old silver}

This is my favorite kind of antique find - it's like a treasure hunt because you really have no idea what you'll find under all that tarnish. And it is some serious tarnish. The polishing process is going to be slow going, because my hands can only stand so much and each piece takes 15 - 20 minutes. So far I've unearthed several pieces of this beautiful pattern, all large enough to be used as serving pieces.

{old silver, polished}

{silver crests}

It's hard to tell, with the scroll-y script, but I think those might be "B"s. But if I squint a bit I can call them "R"s.

There's much more to come. I'll share as I work my way through it.

Thrifted glasses

I found a set of twelve Duralex glasses at the thrift store the other day for 50 cents a piece. A pretty good steal considering that they run about $3 a piece if you buy them new (in a 6 piece set here or a 4 piece set here).

{duralex still life}

The only problem is that they are seriously foggy. I've already gone through my bleaching routine so I know they're sterilized and they look perfectly normal when wet, but once they dry you can see the residue. Sad.

{duralex stacks}

I'm thinking it's hard water deposits from the previous owner's dishwasher. I've been reading up on solutions and it looks like I'll start with a simple vinegar soak and if that doesn't work I'll move on to more drastic methods. I'll report back. I'm determined to salvage them because they are truly amazing glasses (made in France since 1939, stackable, handle hot or cold liquids, difficult to break) and they don't deserve to be tossed.

{duralex outside}

{duralex inside}

Vintage fondue pot

I love LA, but I have to admit that I usually have better luck thrifting in the suburbs. The person who sets the prices at my favorite thrift store clearly disapproves of mid-century modern pieces and prices them accordingly.

This enamel-ware fondue pot was three bucks. I have to admit that I have never made fondue, but I couldn't just leave the poor thing languishing there unwanted.

{enamelware fondue pot}

It doesn't have a maker's mark on the bottom, but it looks very similar to some of my Dansk pieces.

{enamelware fondue pot}

I think he'll feel right at home with us.

Special splurge

My mom has one beautiful Catherineholm lotus bowl that she received as a wedding gift 40 years ago. It's always been one of my favorite things in her kitchen. It's enameled metal, which means it's lightweight enough for every day use but durable enough to last a lifetime and pretty enough to go straight to the table.

And after years of waiting and searching, I finally have my own set. Found on Etsy, of course.

{catherineholm lotus bowls}

I am smitten. I love them even more than I thought I would. They cost more than I care to think about, but my doubts about the expense evaporated the second I pulled them out of the box and held them in my hands.

{catherineholm lotus bowls, nested}

You know those big splurges that end up being the best value you ever got? I think this is one of them. Here's to the next 40 years of cooking together, beloved bowls.

{catherineholm lotus bowls}

New plates!

I love the plum and turquoise Sasaki dishes that D's grandmother gave us years ago, but there are times when a simple white plate is exactly what you want. I started browsing the whiteware collections at Macy*s, hoping for something to go on sale. Dishes are expensive! It's hard to justify buying new ones when we already have a complete set on hand.

Goodwill to the rescue! A few weeks before Christmas I went to Goodwill looking for lace trim to repurpose. I struck out, but I did happen to find a set of 6 place settings (each has a dinner plate, salad plate, bread plate, cup + saucer) in a beautiful matte white china. It is certainly used, as evidenced by a few chips and scratches, but I love it.

{white plates}

The best part? It was a half off blue tag day and I got the entire set for $12.50. Score.

{white plates, stacked}

People sometimes ask me how I find stuff at the thrift store and all I can say is that a lot of the time I don't. If I'm in the neighborhood I'll stop by and browse and frequently I don't pick up anything. I just look successful because I don't post when I come up empty handed (because posts that say "I went to the thrift store again but didn't find anything" would get terribly repetitive). The key is to drop in regularly, avoid getting discouraged and have an open eye (be willing to look past minor repairs, paint touch ups, dirt, etc).

General cleanliness tips - if you purchase clothes or sheets (my favorite source of vintage cloth) put them in the dryer IMMEDIATELY. I openly admit that I am terrified of bedbugs, but the high heat of the dryer kills them dead. Apparently 10 minutes is all you need, but I play it safe with 30 on maximum heat. I wash them as well, of course. Dishes get plopped in the sink right away and soaked for 30 minutes in a 10% bleach solution. This is what we use to remove DNA from stuff in the lab, so I can guarantee that it's effective.

New (to me) boots

So, the Old Navy tights are working out fabulously. I recommend them, even though they are $6.50 in the store despite being $5 online. They are opaque and cozy. Thumbs up. If you are eying the two tone dress from last week, I highly recommend going up a size from your usual Old Navy size (which is probably much smaller than your regular size). It's very cute but the fabric doesn't have much give and the size small and the v-neck cut combined to make me look way too busty for public.

And why did I need new tights so urgently? To pair with my new boots, of course.

D's grandma had these in her closet and she kindly passed them along to me recently. They are wonderful soft leather with contrast stitching, and I've been wearing them with tights and adding a dress and a cardigan.

It's the most comfortable fall uniform ever.

Flea market finds

Sunday morning we set out for the Rose Bowl flea market with a very short list - phones, clocks.

We have a land line for the first time in 3 years and we needed a fun phone to go with it. I've never adjusted to talking on the cell phone. I can't seem to get a good connection, and talking to someone I love over a bad connection makes me feel lonelier than not talking at all.

{rotary phone}

We liked the soft green of this rotary phone and it actually works! It does take me about 5 minutes to dial a number in, but I'm sure I'll get faster with practice. I am going to try to clean it up a bit.

I also got a pretty little clock for my bedside table. It's beat up, but I love the numbers.

{little clock}

We got another clock and another phone, just because it's so hard to stop at one. But I didn't manage to get pictures of those, so I'll have to save them for another time. All told, we came out better than we would have on Ebay, even when you factor in the admission fee and the exorbitantly priced frozen lemonades we had to buy in order to prevent heatstroke.

Pretty little things, handmade and thrifted

I have acquired a couple new things for the house.

:: Beautiful magnet clips from the oh-so-talented Courtney over at Wunderbug. I let Courtney choose the color and I'm glad I did because she picked out one of my favorite shades of green with an amazing ivory print. These little clothespin clips have magnets on the back and they are now happily living on my magnetic chalkboard, holding important bits of paper. You can get some for yourself in her Etsy shop.

:: A bright yellow ceramic butter dish from the thrift store ($2). We've lived without a butter dish for a long time, so I snatched this one up the moment I saw it. I guess I was just waiting for the right one.

:: And some of you have already noticed the milk glass plate coyly hiding under my birthday cake. It was another thrift store find ($4) and I love that I can weave ribbon through the edging. It's just right for a 6" cake.

Thrifting, last week

Last week, at Goodwill...

Vases for Mother's Day.

{i forgot to take a picture until after i'd filled them}

Fun little odds and ends for my kitchen cupboard.

{lotus bowls, no name paper thin porcelain bowls, japanese bowls with lids, danish porcelain bowls with yellow tulip edging}

We had these lotus bowls growing up (anyone else? apparently they were quite the rage) and now I pick them up whenever I see them.

{stack of lotus bowls}

I was out the door for only $25. You have to love the thrift store.

Good luck at Goodwill

You already know that I frequently haunt thrift stores looking for sheets for my sewing projects. Which I realize sounds a little gross, but it isn't. Okay, I did find it icky at first. But I've learned which stores thoroughly wash and then hang their sheets, which makes the experience much more pleasant.

I scored last week.

{you'll be seeing these fabrics in various forms for a few months}

That one in the front is a great print that reminds of tiki style things. And you can see a hint of the pink stripey one I found. I also got some plain jane white and yellow ones that are really good cotton and will be lovely to work with.

And for the first time in years, I wandered into the clothing section, lured in by this sweet little corduroy jacket. It is so well made and it has tiny puffs at the sleeves and cuffs. I love it. And then I found a dress, which I remember seeing at Urban a while back.

{the jacket + a little pleated dress}

It quickly devolved into a two hour Goodwill rampage, and I walked out $60 poorer but in possession of both the jacket and the dress, along with two fabulous tunic tops, an Italian spring weight wool coat (currently at the dry cleaners), and my 5 sets of sheets, all crammed into a giant trash bag.

The only sad part is that I then had to make the one mile (slightly uphill) walk home cradling said giant trash bag, and my arms ached for two days. Ouch.

Chalkboard cannisters - DIY

Are you sighing already when you see new uses for chalkboard paint? I know it's all over the place, but I think that's partly because it's so practical.

Take these for instance. Perfectly serviceable tea tins that I didn't want to just toss out. But the labels are not removable and sadly, they aren't quite pretty enough to stay as they are. (They have nutrition facts on the back. Despite the fact that all the values are zero, because it is TEA.) EDIT: I wasn't clear enough about the nature of the labels - they are actually screen printed on, not just stuck on, so it really is impossible to remove them.

{tea tins}

Solution? Carefully tape them off.

{prepping}

Prime them. Paint them with chalkboard paint.

{enjoying}

Write the contents on them in chalk and change it up as often as you like. You could do this project with any container, really. Leftover glass jars with a rectangle of chalkboard paint might be my next project. My sister and I were talking this weekend about doing this with larger containers for pantry storage in her new house. It's a bit like Martha's etching idea, but without the hazardous chemicals or the commitment.

Maybe I just like chalkboard paint because I am indecisive.


*This tutorial is provided for personal use only. Please do not sell this tutorial or create items for re-sale using this tutorial. Tutorial may be re-published only with my permission.

No shopping update (week 5)

I powered through this last week without any major temptations to buy. Of course, I did receive some little gifts, and that was nice.

I'll admit that I purchased one thing, but luckily it was thrifted and thus doesn't break my shopping hiatus according to the rules I made up in the beginning. And, it was irresistible. P, you are completely to blame for this, but I kind of love you for it.

Pictures are from Thorwald Home

Seriously, how cool is it? It's a fortune telling vintage tea cup from the 1930s. I can't wait till it comes to live with me, at which point you will probably all grow sick and tired of seeing it photographed again and again. Check out the rest of Genevieve's blog and her new Etsy shop, Thorwald Home, to see her other amazing finds.

And so it continues...

You already know that I have an issue with cake stands. I have those three lovely pressed glass pieces that I picked up at various flea markets. I have a couple sets of highly functional Anchor Hocking glass stacking tiers that I purchased for my sister's wedding buffet (those are boxed up in the attic, because they aren't used often, being practical rather than gorgeous).

But people, I can't stop.



My parents purchased me the diminutive scalloped edge stand for Christmas, and I've been keeping it in the center of our table, as a showcase for little treasures (recently, my antique tea cups).

I found the tall jadite beauty on Ebay and I had to buy it because I'd seen the same one in an antique store and nearly keeled over when I checked the price tag and saw that it was $120. I tracked it down for $50 (including shipping) and decided it would be my Christmas gift to myself.

And then Daily Candy had the audacity to send me an email about a 30% off deal at Layla Grayce last week and I found this ruffled, oversized one that screamed at me and forced me to buy it because it was such a good deal.

Here's the thing - I live in an apartment. An apartment that cannot be filled to the brim with cake stands, no matter how beautiful they may be. I can see only one solution. I need to start a dessert business that involves displaying things on cake stands. Then my obsession would be a justifiable business expense. Right?



Until then, I'll just content myself with taking lots of pictures of them.

The dirtier the better

when it comes to flea markets, that is. Nothing makes me happier than stumbling upon a random, slightly run down one, preferably staffed by people that look like they might possibly be on the run from the law. I think the deals are better and the sense of excitement is exponentially greater.

I picked up these darling vintage Wedgewood tea cups this weekend. I have dreams of a collection of mismatched tea cups and saucers. I might have been able to bargain down from $5 per cup, but I was too intimidated (the only downside to sketchy flea markets).



Whenever I buy vintage kitchenware, I bring it home and bleach it, just to be sure I'm not getting any weird germs. Take it from a scientist - a 30 minute soak in a 10% bleach solution will kill absolutely everything, so you'll have nothing to worry about.

If you'd prefer your tea cups shiny and new, check out these beauties from Anthropologie. At $18 for a cup and saucer, they aren't exactly a steal, but I'll admit that they tempt me.

(Not) Eames

I just realized I haven't shared one of our new furniture acquisitions. No, in case you are wondering, I don't run around buying new furniture constantly - it just sounds like that. I do think about it (and talk about it), but I have some restraint.

This piece doesn't even count, because it was free. D has had a serious craving for an Eames rocker.

He wants a chair like this, but without the molded arms and in a different color

But there is no way we can currently spend close to $500 on a chair that we don't even technically need.

Then one day he came home with this...



He got it for free from school, because it had broken off the base (he fixed it). It's Eames-ish, no? The original intention was to buy a rocker base on Ebay (~ $90), but I fell for the way it looks with it's old school fold up writing surface. I'm not sure that D is totally convinced, but we're trying it out.



I put the surface area to good use last weekend - no need to precariously juggle tea, buttered toast and a book all at once. Plus, it's right by our glass sliding door, which makes it a very nice space to sit and soak up afternoon sunlight.