Vintage Sewing Treasures ...

E. Otto Schmidt Hinged Biscuit Tin -Albrecht Durer

Unfinished 60s Little Girl Outfits

Went yard saling with my dear friend, Hazel, again last Friday.  There were quite a few sales going and one street had four or five ... which we loved.  We were going along picking up this and that .. a few books for my daughter, some replacement drawer handles, etc..  It was okay.  Then we found a sale where a little German lady was selling two large vintage Otto Schmidt tins full of vintage sewing supplies ... made my yard salin day!  Here are pics of some of the items...

Also found four pairs of jeans for my boys at $2 each and a couple of shirts as well ... Yeah!  Love clothing my kiddos with nice clothes at thrift prices. :)

Saturday when out running errands I found some wooden trunks, modern, but nice and picked up the pair for $35.00.  Not sure if I will keep them or resell.  Need to see if they will fit in my living room.

Various sewi

Remember to check out the yard saling share at Rhoda's site http://southernhospitalityblog.com/ and at Serena's site http://apronthriftgirl.typepad.com/apron_thrift_girl/
    Hope you had good success with thrifting this past weekend!

Blessings,  Leah :)

New Counter Tops are in...

Our new counter tops arrived and were installed on Thursday.  We chose quartz after some research on consumerreports.org.  Quartz is a mix of natural stone and man made materials that is non-pourous and less likely to break than granite. Here are a few pics of the results...

We were very happy with how it turned out. The former backsplash behind the sink turned out to be the only part that was damaged.  Hoping to find a good home for the old counter tops that are still in great condition.




We now need to train ourselves to set the glass
dishware down gently on the counter tops. 

Had a great day thrifting with my dear friend, Hazel, yesterday.  We both found some great buys.  Will post about those on Monday.  Have a wonderful weekend! :)

Trip to DC

Amphitheater, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington

Hubby has a conference in the DC area this week, so he and I went up early to do some touristing.  The weather was gorgeous for sightseeing and we had a wonderful time.  Here are a few pics of our trip...

Robert E. Lee's Home at Arlington

I really got into the architecture...

Window at Lee's Arlington Home

Mantel Engraving at Lee's Arlington Home

Friendship Fire House Banner

Pretty Berries in Alexandra

Old Presbyterian Meeting House, Alexandria

The flora and fauna were lovely too...









Did not do much thrifting this weekend as a result of the trip.  Will have to catch up this Friday. Hope your weekend was a good one.       Leah :)

What is this?

Hi Gals!  I stopped by two of my favorite thrift stores yesterday and found this item .  At first I thought it was a tea towel, because it only had the decorative lace trim and cross stitch on one end, but it is huge, 44" x 37".  No stains, holes ... perfect.  Thought it might be a baby sheet ... what do you think?  I loved the dainty lace work.

Also found this sweet Magic Hanky.  Pure Irish linen hanky formed into a baby bonnet.  To be given as a baby gift and then to be used as the "something old" when married.  It was in it's original cellophane wrapping, but had to discard it due to damage.  This particular hanky bonnet was from 1986 and has a special poem to go with it.  They are going for $17 - $22 new on Ebay.  Thinking of putting it up for auction.

Hope your week is going great!  Happy Thrifting to you ...               Leah :)

Thrifty Friday Finds

1940's? North Star Wool Blanket, VGC

Here are pics of a few of my thrifty Friday finds as well as some thrift store loot (of course I paid for it, so it is not really loot).  How'd you do this past week?  Any great finds you would like to share?


The North Star Woolen Company moved from Minnesota to Ohio in 1947 and changed their name.  So I know the blanket is no more recent than the 40's.  It has the North Star tag.

Shabby wall art

Syracuse China.  Can't find pattern or date.

Sweet Shabby plant stand

File and Drawer units... great for storage.

Be sure to check out ...
http://apronthriftgirl.typepad.com/apron_thrift_girl/ and
http://southernhospitalityblog.com/
to see the great finds of other thrifters.

Family Time! Woo Hoo!

With one child married and two away in college, all in the same city two hours from home, having family time is so precious.  Our oldest son turned 20 last week so the four of us left at home made the two hour trip to celebrate his birthday.  Our second daughter is house sitting and asked if she could host her brother's party there.  The beautiful home is on the St. John's River with a gorgeous view. We had a wonderful time.

I am trying to learn to enjoy every moment we have together, being thankful for the time we have, not resentful that it was not longer or disappointed if everyone cannot make it.  Everyone wants to be there, but sometimes schedules and demands do not allow.  I have to say that since I have adopted this attitude I enjoy our times together so much more.  I am a blessed woman.

  Don't get me wrong, we have family issues and disappointments, but I am amazed at how much difference a change in my attitude can make on the whole family.  Ok, so it has only taken me 25 years to begin to get a clue, but that white hair you see in the photo used to be blonde. :) 






My dear thrifting buddy and I did hit some yard sales on Friday.  I will try to get pictures to post of those tomorrow.  How was your thrifting week?  To find great thrift finds and tips from others check out The Apron Thrift Girl and Southern Hospitality at these sites: 
 http://apronthriftgirl.typepad.com/apron_thrift_girl/
http://southernhospitalityblog.com/


Hope you had a wonderful weekend!    Leah :)

A Friend's Finds

I am putting some items belonging to a friend on Ebay.  It is not something she enjoys, so I will post and ship and we will split the profit.  Wanted to share some of the treasures with you.  Anyone ever seen these primitive dolls by Joyce Tenay of Ragpatch? Hubby and 17 year old son saw me photographing them and commented they were two ugly dolls.  I am sure they are treasures to primitive doll collectors.

Also in her collection was this beautiful vintage black tole tray.  It is unusually large, 24" x 20" and in very good condition.  Isn't it lovely? 

She also had this gorgeous vintage wedding photo, which is also quite large at 16" x 20".   Do you think it is form the 1920's?

Last, and least, is the antique baby shoe.  It was on one of the primitive dolls, but when I started looking at it closely I believe it did not come with her.  It is missing one button, but is all leather, lined with fabric and looks quite old.  Whatcha think? Antique?

Out With the Old, In With the New

Getting new counter tops soon.  We had new cabinets and counter tops installed in 2003, but a design flaw in our sink has caused water to collect between the sink and the back splash and damage the current counter top.  I really love the counter tops I have now, even if they are laminate.  Cannot remember what the Wilsonart pattern was titled, but I call it "dry creek bed". Here's a shot of it ...

Here's a pic of how close the sink is to the back splash and what caused the problem...











I will have to show you the quartz pattern in a later post.  I left our sample with the fellows who will be installing the new counter tops.  Decided on quartz tops this time, after researching quality and durability at Consumer Reports online.  The new tops will have a little more color and pattern.  I will post pics of them when they are installed next week.

Here is a picture of my kitchen at present.  I really love my Raymond Waites wallpaper, but is has seen it's better days, a number of tears, etc., so need to plan on redoing the walls.  I am thinking about painting them a similar color of red and then lightly rag rolling with metalic copper and pewter colors.  Of course, I will test this out before doing all my walls, but what do you think about this idea?

Thrift Store Goodies ...

Today I had several errands to run, but the Post Office was too backed up from a day off on Monday and I talked myself into hitting a few thrift stores.  I found these five cute and colorful framed canvas prints, which I do not need, but hoping they will sell in my booth when I reopen.

I also found a sweet pale pink and white china bird with a hole in his back.  I am guessing he is a vase?  Didn't matter that I did not know his use, he was adorable and had to come home with me.  If you know his use is other than a vase, please let me know.

Also pictured is a linen and lace, crewel embroider pillow cover. Found this at the Women's Club Rummage Sale on Labor Day, as well as the beautiful aqua and clear cut glass vase and vintage brown satin Ande' purse.

Thanks for visiting my blog. Let me know how your thrifting is going.  I often check on other thrifters great buys at Selena's and Rhoda's sites.  Below are the links so you can see the treasures others have found.  Maybe it will inspire you to get out there and do some thrifting too.
http://apronthriftgirl.typepad.com/apron_thrift_girl/http://southernhospitalityblog.com/

Labor Day Weekend Finds ...

Happy Labor Day! Hope you have had a wonderful long weekend. There were not too many yard sales out this weekend, but I still managed to pick up a few great deals.  My good friend and saling buddy, Hazel, and I hit a sale on Friday where the lady had three garage bays full of stuff.  Found these vintage 50s decals there for 50 cents each.  They are on Ebay now and already have a bid ... Yeah!

I also found this beautiful framed print for 75 cents, which needs a new mat, but still put it up in my kitchen until I have time to get that done.

Please excuse the lines in my photos.  My new camera is on order, as it would cost almost as much to fix the old as it would to buy the new.

Also found this piece that I think is yellow depression glass.  Anyone out there know for sure?  I have several books in which I hunted, but could not find this piece in this pattern.  I believe it is a handled celery or relish tray.

Sunday I revisited a moving sale in my neighborhood that I had been to on Saturday.  They were packing up and offered me three upholstered chairs in great condition for $15.00.  Could not pass that up, as I am thinking of renting a resale booth again.  Did this from October through May and really enjoyed it.

Just when I thought there were no more sales to be found for the holiday weekend I found a Labor Day rummage sale put on by a local Women's Club.  Called Hazel to see if she could get away and off we went. Found a few goodies there as well.

Hope your weekend was fruitful sale wise and restful as well.  Thank you for visiting my blog.  Be sure to check out these two sights where the gals let us share our great thrifting treasures .... http://apronthriftgirl.typepad.com/apron_thrift_girl/ 
and ... http://southernhospitalityblog.com/

I Love Google ...

How did I ever get by without Google?  Today I was looking for free autumn pics, but all the sites I found wanted money for their shots ... how dare them! :o)  I finally just typed fall in the google bar and up popped Google images ... lots of beautiful fall pics for free ... Yay!

Google has also been great for recipe hunting.  Last night I discovered I had no canned enchilada sauce and had never made it from scratch, so I went to Google and had a recipe in no time. Hope you are enjoying the beginnings of fall.  If you live where the colors change for the season, experience those beautiful leaves for me.

Happy September and a cute puppy pic ....

Just hung my fall wreath on the front door even though fall does not officially begin until September ... is it 20th? Sorry no picks of the fall decor. My camera is acting up.  Will have to see if hubby can figure out what is wrong with it.

In Florida we have to get into fall by decorating since there is not much changing of color. :o(  Having spent part of my growing up years in the foothills of the Ozarks, I sure do miss the change of colors in the autumn.  With kiddos in school I can  never seem to get away in the fall to trek north and see the changing of the leaves.  Maybe some day.

I do have a cute picture a cousin sent of a sweet pup who got caught in the batter bowl.  Hope you enjoy it.  Happy September!