Finds from the Road

Last week I tagged along with my husband when he had to go away for business, I like when that happens, especially when it's in an area where there are numerous thrift shops and a few antique malls within a nice distance - oh, GPS, you're a great invention!!!

How many times have you seen something on a blog or on Instagram and immediately think you need that item?  I've been seeing vintage Valentine candy boxes, it made me remember Dad buying those for Mom, I have never seen them in a shop, so I never imagined I would ever have one!  Jackpot - I found a booth that had five boxes - two were red, the others were non Valentine colors, I knew I was taking one, but I came to my senses and took the other red one too.

Both of the boxes are a nice size, about 10 inches in length.  The top one has writing on the back - From Warren, 1940.  The bottom one is very fancy and still has the Moirs, Halifax, Canada, tag on it.  You don't see elaborate things like this anymore.  The paper liner is still inside the box.  I really don't have anything in the line of vintage Valentines, now I do!!

I've been on an Ideals kick lately, my good friend, Sharon, told me they were great for SMASHing, I never gave them a second glance before, but she was right, they're great -  I found a few for Christmas, I used some for pages, some of the pictures are beautiful and some of the verses are ok to use too!    Jackpot, again - four Valentine Ideals books!

I can't remember the last time I bought a postcard but these were cheap and cute!

I very seldom ever look at the children's book section anymore, I have quite a few Eloise Wilkin books and any I do see are the usual ones you see all the time.  I was just walking past the books and this one was sitting to the side - I grabbed it - it was 50 cents.   It's a beautiful book, it was given to Katie from Birgitta, 1st Christmas, 1989 - you should have kept this book, Katie.  

I have never seen an Eloise Wilkin illustration that wasn't beautiful!

No trip would be successful without finding a Vera or two - I'm really liking that animal print one - it's different, has the tag attached and was only 75 cents!!!  

Yay - I actually have a post to link up, so I'm linking with Thriftasaurus, Vintage Bliss Tuesdays and Thrifter Share

Went Away - Shopped!

Last Tuesday, I tagged along with my husband, he had two days of meetings in London, Ontario, I had two days of poking around down there and then Friday we headed for home but crossed into the US at Port Huron, Michigan and drove the length of the state until we were back in Ontario again.  I'll just say that the weather was not great, especially Saturday, high winds, snow squalls and slippery roads did not make for good driving, it was tense at times!!!

I hit quite a few thrifts in London, along with a couple of antique shops - I picked up a few things, if I had been actively looking for Pyrex, I could have probably purchased something at every shop I was at - it has to be pretty special for me to buy a piece now, unless it's a fridgie!!!  

I went to one thrift in Michigan, it was in and out pretty quickly!!  But, the antique malls and shops that we went to, oh, my - we went to the largest one in Michigan in Bay City - it was huge and definitely the biggest one we had ever been in - there was just so much to look at - I wish I could go there every few weeks!!!

My plan was to show a few pics from my trip as well, that will wait for another post, I'm afraid I might loose your attention, it would be too long, so here it goes with my purchases.  I kind of went crazy on the Christmas.....

This is definitely my favourite purchase of all - this is just the cutest little planter - and he's stamped on the bottom - 1962 - Napco, Bedford, Ohio - Japan, it has also a sticker on it - National Potteries, Cleveland, OH - I hardly want to put this away!!

Is this guy a gnome, an elf? I'm not sure but he caught my eye right away - he also has a sticker on the back - Brite Star - Japan.

Finally, I don't have to be jealous anymore, I have my own spun head - stamped Japan on the bottom!

Every shop had baskets of shiny brites and various ornaments, I looked at so many and this is the only one I bought, I think I didn't know what I was doing!!  This one is really pretty though!

Some plastic Christmas is always good!!!  Made in Hong Kong.

This package is for display, I don't think I'll be taking the cookie cutters out.

I am always hopeful I will find another piece of Christmas Pyrex, but once again, no luck.  But, this will do, it's a McKee bowl, I assume it's a punch bowl,  I think I might leave it out for a while yet.

Both of these books are older, from the 50's  - I posted a picture on Instagram yesterday of a young girl making spaghetti and meatballs, they're some monster meatballs -here they are - are you on Instagram?  If you're not, you should be!!!!

It seemed like every shop had tons of Little Golden Books but not an Eloise Wilkin that I didn't have, I looked at so many.  This book was at the last shop we stopped at - the illustrations are so sweet...

This one is my favourite in the book!

I bought Little Swimmers because I had that when I was a wee girl.  The Mary Poppins is missing its record, after seeing Saving Mr. Banks, it got me to thinking about my Mary Poppins book that I had and gave away, so until I see that one, I have this copy! The Golden Book is an old one, anytime I see an old Golden Book,  I usually purchase!

My trip was complete - I found some Vera too - and one different item - a pink necktie - Vicky Davis - made for the Vera Companies, I've never seen one of these before.

We had a great time, even if the weather was not so great,  I came home with quite a few vintage things and a pile of stuff for SMASHing - I'm happy!!

Today I'm linking my finds up with Sir Thrift a Lot of Thriftasaurus fame and Dawn at We Call it Junkin

Catching Up..

I haven't  written a blog post in a week - we were in Toronto last weekend and heading to Michigan this weekend, so I better get caught up.  I've been on a berry picking frenzy - I went picking blueberries again this week, that is 6 litres I've picked - they are just so plentiful this year - and they're so good!  Yesterday I picked raspberries, I have to say, that is my least favourite berry to pick - the lady put me in not a great row - it was hard work - I probably picked more than I needed to because I ended up being able to make two batches of jam.  Raspberry jam will be the one I'll be sharing this year..

I was bagging up my blueberries for the freezer and I took a notion to make blueberry muffins - I used a recipe on All Recipes - I've never tried it before but judging by the look and aroma of them - they're going to be good.

We went to Toronto last weekend - Carla was running the 20 k in the Beaches Jazz Tune Up Fun Run - but, that wasn't until Sunday - on Saturday, Carla and I took off for St. Jacobs, we toured the farmers market and then hit the antique markets - sadly, purchases were just about non existent.  We had a great day though, because all the men folk were off at the Canadian Open Golf Tournament!  

Have you ever seen a spoon bracelet?  I didn't have any purchases at this one particular shop - these bracelets were in a bowl at the cash, I bought one for myself and one for Carla, it's her birthday next week.  The tag on it read Grosevnor, 1921, I think it's so neat and it has a magnetic clasp which I like, it's a really unique bracelet!  Excuse the picture, it's not the best, but I just can't take another one!!

Do you ever feel that you go away and you don't take enough pictures, that happened this weekend, I took my good camera with me but it never moved from the trunk, I just took a few with my phone.  I plan to do better this weekend!

How's that for a giant zucchini?  I love fresh Ontario peaches!  We went to Freelton, that's where I purchased these next times.  We also split the sweetest box of vintage children's Christmas cards - but, we forgot to split them, so I'll share those when I get them.  She spotted them so I guess she'll be keeping the box.  

It's a Holt Howard Santa mug - made in Japan, copyright 1960 - too cute!!

Finally, I found myself a Gurley candle.  I bought one online last year after reading so much about them - this is the first one I've ever seen in a shop!!

This Eloise Wilkin book was my only purchase at one of the antique markets at St. Jacobs - as always, the illustrations are just so sweet!

This book is so nice - I picked it up at a Value Village - it appears that it was a library book - it's full of vintage pictures of old Hallmark cards, there's text too, it's going to be interesting to read.

I also found a few Vera's - two on my trip, and two yesterday - the yellow sheer one was only 25 cents - no scarf was more than $1.99.

Sunday was the big run - here's Carla at the half way point - 20 k in 1 hour, 47 minutes - that's nothing to sneeze at!!

I managed to SMASH the race - and that's the only SMASH page I've done this week, I sure wish I had taken more pictures.

I'm linking this post with Thursday Favorite Things and Vintage Thingie Thursday

A Thrifty Package and More...

Getting mail that isn't bills or flyers is a treat these days, so when a parcel arrives, it's a good day, and when it's a package full of thrifty vintage goods, it's even better.  Holly and I look out for things that we both like and trade back and forth, she really found special things for me -thanks so much, Holly!

It's too bad this guy has to be put away now until Christmas!

Perfect for me - vintage Prince Edward Island souvenirs - the cream and sugar were made by ManorWare in England.  I know I've seen this pixie before, I have to look around when I get back home, I may have another piece there.  I love the pin - I'll be wearing it!!

A vintage apron with such a delicate pattern.

After finding wrapping paper the other week, I have quite a stash now, I better get busy and do something with it!

It was so nice of Holly to share her vintage greeting cards with me!

I'm always on the hunt for Eloise Wilkin books.

This book is chock full of old ads from the British Good Housekeeping magazine - so neat to go through.

Holly made this apron - it is made from a vintage sheet.  She asked me which one I would like, I picked this, with no hesitation, because I had this very exact same sheet set on my bed when I was a little girl.  I remember I picked them out from the Sears catalogue, they were my favourites, the bottom sheet became so threadbare, I always wanted them on my bed  - this piece of fabric is in perfect condition and so bright, she did a beautiful job on it!

Do you have a little girl that plays with dolls - she just might need an apron - Holly makes those too and they're for sale right now in her Etsy shop - check them out because if you use this discount code(for aprons only) alittlebit25 you can take 25% off your apron and shipping is free for Canada and the US until the end of May - there couldn't be a better deal than that!  Check out these sweet little aprons  here at GidgetSews.  She also has a draw happening on her Facebook page - all you have to do is like it and share - click here for that - it's a very generous draw!

Today I'm joining in with Thriftasaurus and The Nifty Thrifty

I Need to Catch Up!

I really do need to catch up with my thrifty finds, last week I spent the night at Carla's, there are five thrift shops in her city, I did find a few things, nothing real exciting but things I like.  This week I made my weekly trip to my closest city, all of the thrift shops are on one street and a new one just opened - it wasn't bad at all!!  Every time I go to Value Village now I see items that are so wrongly priced, there is an old Jeopardy game on the shelf, it has been there for a couple of weeks now, I'm thinking it will be there for awhile, they've priced it at $19.99.  That's crazy!!

I give you warning, there's going to be a fair amount of pictures in this  post!

They were selling this 441 Golden Grapes bowl at Value Village  for 9.99 - come on... that's too much..

I really had no business buying these last week - but vintage pillowcases, still in the package - for the Mr. and Mrs, I couldn't leave them behind!!  I have a pair of these at home that Mom and Dad received as a shower gift 58 years ago, but really, how often do you ever see something like this?  I had to buy them!!  They were only $2.99.  It's hard to get a good picture as the plastic is still on them.

I never find vintage wrapping paper - I found 20 sheets at the Salvation Army- take a close look at the unicorn paper - I remember that kind..Regal used to carry that in their catalogue.  

Love the Christmas patterns - there's more but I didn't want to show every piece I bought!

The vintage greeting cards were bagged up at Value Village

Aren't these cute?  There were two packs of them.  I'll probably list a pack and save one for  SMASHING and sharing.

These weren't even opened

Just a small sample of some of the other cards.

The cover of this Eloise Wilkin book was covered in purple crayon, I got as much off as I could - I never treated my books like that - my children didn't either!!

Christmas Carols and a baking pamphlet.  The carol book was published by the Green Giant Company

I've already done a Snoopy page in my SMASH book and used this book,  I plan to do the same with the other books too.  I had to buy the Anne books, that is the very same cover as my first Anne book, it was a hardcover, I should never have gotten rid of it!!   I had a few Cherry Ames books, they were harder to come by, I would have read anything back then, I even had some Hardy Boys but  my favourite was always Nancy Drew.

This is a beautiful book on Hummels.

It was printed in West Germany, 1972

This good sized old Christmas tin will be good for decorating.  I had picked that up first thing, I took it to the cash, later when I went back to the cash with my other purchases, someone had put my tin back on the shelf - lucky it was still there!

One lone juice glass but she's a beauty!

The UNO game came from Value Village, we still like to play it, it's a great game!  I want to use the cards for SMASHING.  I'm going to use this old dictionary for SMASHing too, I actually found the dictionary and album at a yard sale, I asked the old lady how much, she said, well, it is Michael Jackson, I said $3 - she didn't put up a fight!!

Thriller!  What a great album this is!!

Gary bought these the other day - staples, thumb tacks, clips and chalk.  They're sitting on his work bench right now, not really sure what he's going to do with them but the boxes are awfully cute.

Another book for my Christmas collection, from 1965

These sweet little juice glasses came from the new thrift shop,  I very ever seldom see nice glasses, I would have had another one last week, but I set it down while I was browsing at something else, never thought of it again, until it was too late.

Yard sales will be starting, I don't hold out much hope for them around here, I went just about every Saturday last year and I only hit one good sale - not lucky at all!!  

I'm joining in with Thrifty Things Friday , Junkin Joe and new linky party at Bright Green Door