One man's trash is another woman's treasure hunt...

Last Saturday the OH Frank went out to one of the Indian casinos. Gambling is his hobby, not mine, so I don't go along. I have no complaints; the bills are paid, there is food on the table, and I have a roof over my head. He works hard and doesn't get much time off, so he should get to spend some of his leisure time his own way. So I just kind of waved him goodbye and spent the day pursuing projects of my own. When he got home Frank suggested we could hit the local outdoor flea market in the morning. Lee and I usually go once a month, so we thought that was a great idea, and off we went.

I think what excites me most about thrifting is the hunt. I get the same kind of rush from it that people like Frank get from gambling. This flea market is held Sundays from 8-3 (though it dies after noon) on the grounds of one of the last drive-in movie complexes in the state. And it is both a thriving theater and a very successful flea market that is open 5-6 months of the year as weather permits. I've been going to this flea market since I was in my late teens/early 20s, still living at home with my parents. We parked the car at the far end, and all went off on our way to look for whatever it is we hoped to find. I tend to cruise the aisles slowly and glance at everything on one side, rounding the corner to look at things on the other side. Lee is just looking for specific items and will spend a lot of time at certain tables. Frank whizzes through and spots items he likes and only stops for them.

Whenever I go shopping, when I get home, the change goes into a glass dish to save for Christmas, and the $1 bills get put aside in a separate wallet for the flea market. I go when I have enough to spend that I don't have to dip into my house money. On this day I had plenty with me, but Frank spotted me a bit more because I guess I looked poor and forlorn. LOL

Here's some of the haul...


One of the first tables I stopped at had all kinds of costume jewelry, amongst other things. They had some older pieces stapled into yucky looking plastic sleeves that were priced 25¢ each. I got what you see here for my mother for $1! Nothing wrong with any of these either, just the bags looked yucky. The jewelry looks like new. Decent quality too - definitely not the really cheap stuff.





I actually got Ma the little heart shaped pillow toward the end of the day. I want it for a template for making others, and thought it would look cute with some of her pins on it. We washed it because it was faintly musty and now she has it on her bed.





My bling for the day. The silvertone hoops and the Tiki head pendant were also in the 25¢ box. The mother of pearl and leaf earrings (I've worn those leaves twice already) were carded and I paid $2 for both of them. The owl pin is a vintage discontinued Sarah Coventry piece, very heavy and well made so I splurged and spent $7 on that. Their stuff goes for big $$$ in the antique shops. The little ceramic blue cats hugging each other Lee bought for me because it reminded him of Merlin and Mischief, the new fur kids. Not a bad haul.




I bought the Lucy from Peanuts candle holder for Lee for $1 because he is a big Charlie Brown fan and we are always kidding one another about needing some psychiatric help. I got the horsie for $1 too, at a dealer who always marks everything down as the morning wears on. It is old, and very heavy ceramic with a thick glaze. Lucy now smiles out at us from a bookshelf in the office, and the horsie is on the craft bookshelf in my bedroom.





This was a bag lot for $5, and I would have dickered, but the lady seemed to know her prices. The steel crochet hooks are worth more than that. This is my second shoe button hook that I got in with other craft/sewing items, no one seems to know what they are. I thought that was a wooden darning egg, and it turned out to be wax for thread - oh well! The celluloid tatting shuttle I have seen for sale for anywhere from $25-$35! Not sure what I will do with all those pen nibs, but I do know a woodworker...





I haven't decided yet if I will keep the antique knitting knobby or gift someone with it. The directions are decomposing so I will likely lay them out on the copier and make a new set. These are great for making cording for other projects. Same table as the horsie, same $1 price tag.






I don't know where he got them or what he paid, but Frank picked out a whole bunch of kewl cookie cutters for me. I have the star and the cat and a similar gingerbread man, but the rest are all new. I love the little Jello molds too, he did good. I can't wait to make frosted gingerbread gnomes!





The $1 guys again. Frank grabbed both of these. I wanted the colander, it is good sized and I have another like it that I got from a junk shop years ago that has seen almost daily use. Very handy when the veggies are coming in from the garden hand over fist, or you are making big holiday meals. We sometimes cook a 5 quart pot of potatoes or pasta. The Lums glass has a chip that he didn't notice, but I told him not to worry, it ill make an interesting vase. That thing weighs a ton, very thick glass.

These are my picks. I have a thing for the enamel basins, I have several large ones that I take down to the garden with me. They spend a lot of the summer holding tomatoes and other produce. These are small, good for fragile things like cherry tomatoes, that you don't want piled deep. I paid $2 for both. I like fancy molds, this one is in good shape. I think that came from the $1 guy too. I paid $1 for the pie tin as well, those old ones are heavy and I use them every Thanksgiving. My dad used to buy us Table Talk pies, but I bake my own because my crust is better. If you look closely, on the left side it is embossed with '10¢ DEPOSIT' so if you bought the pie, you had to pay that and got the dime back when you returned the tin. History folks, there's history in this stuff.

Don't know what Frank paid for the little sifter, but he seemed to think it was old and collectible. It does have a wooden handle. You see stuff like that in the antique shops all the time. I got the wooden dasher for a chinoise (cone shaped colander/sieve) for $1 - that one is very old. I paid $3 for the tomato slicer but gave that to Frank. It is a Hammond circa about 1940. I saw another one with a bit more red paint left on the handle for $18 at one of the bonafide antique dealers there, so I think I did OK. Someday when my kitchen is all redone, I will likely dedicate some wall space to that stuff. Yeah, someday...

A pretty French platter I got for $1. I will use this one. Some detail to the right, not the best picture but the best one I could get.

Frank has a thing for cookie jars. He got the brown one in the middle from a fund-raiser tag sale at a local supermarket recently. I forget what he said the name of the company is but it is something that was sold by the piece in supermarkets back in the 70s. The Doughboy and the Oreo Snowman came from the flea market this weekend. I have a Doughboy already (packed away) but am in LOVE with that snowman, and said he couldn't resell that ever, ever. Not sure what he paid for the others, the brown one has a sticker that says $2.50.

Oh yeah, this is another of Frank's must-buys, a vintage Corning Wear coffee pot in perfect shape. This is speculation, he will never use it but will try and resell it someday. My MIL does this, buys on speculation and tries to resell them higher later. She does OK. I just don't have the storage room, and I mostly buy stuff to use or to gift someone with.











My big splurge on myself for the day, and it came out of the money Frank gave me. I walked past this one dealer that had a whole bunch of cast iron outdoor decor and spotted this enameled half moon goddess. She talked to me then, and I had to pass by a couple of times and each time she called my name. Right at the end of my day there, I went by one last time, and they still had her, so I finally asked for the price. It was $15, and she had almost been sold once. I decided she was coming home with me. I asked Frank to somehow put her up in our bedroom, in my devotional corner. Yeah, there is a scratch on her cheek, not sure when that happened. I adore this piece and it is heavy and well made.

One thing I've learned about thrifting - if something talks to you like this, you'd better get it. I would have regretted it if I didn't.

The three of us went out to a local Chinese/American buffet for a late lunch, and then did a bit of shopping and went home. It was a good full day with plenty of fresh air and walking. So I got some exercise, had some fun, and came home with stuff - what's not to love? *G*

When Lee and I were out grocery shopping yesterday, I spotted a bunch of cast off stuff by a group of charity dumpsters that only accept clothing, shoes and cloth items. There was a shopping cart shoved nearby full of a combination of trash and rather sad looking household stuff, and someone had dumped off a small press board dresser, and a bunch of carelessly tossed open boxed items were spilling over onto the ground. Some of it had been rained on over the weekend. I spied the little clay pots here strewed all over the ground and knew those would wind up getting run over and crushed. I picked them up and stacked them to take with me for my cactus plants. That's when I saw what looked like a small wooden box lying next to an old crate. It turned out to be...

...a small drawer from this sad looking but still quite pretty shelf. I know from past experience the grocery store will just heave this stuff into their trash when it gets left behind by the charity people, so I did the sensible thing and took it with me. I did not touch the charity boxes themselves, or anything on or around them that looked like it was something they would collect and use, so at least give me some credit there. Lee was mortified that I would be so bold, but I just couldn't believe someone would dump out something that is still this nice. It's quite dirty, but solid. Cleaned up and polished, and given new drawer pulls, it will look great on the wall with some of my little pewter fantasy collectibles on the shelves. I just couldn't bear the thought of it being crushed in the trash compacter.

OK, current projects on the hooks...


Below is a little gingerbread man I made from a crochet ornament book pattern that I modified. It is supposed to be double crochet and flat but I made it single crochet and stuffed him. Not sure what I will do after that. The yarn for this little guy was thrifted worsted weight, something I got in a box lot. It has a funny 'crispy' texture and I suspect it is either a weird synthetic or one of the newer naturals like bamboo, soy or banana. Not too easy to work with, but the color is perfect.

The book is something I got at Goodwill this summer for 50¢, and it is very good, a real classic that children and adults can enjoy. The animated movie The Secret Of NIMH was based on it.

This is the other project, a mermaid. Her head and torso are the same as the little guy above, but that is where I started fiddling with it on my own. It's been trial and error all the way but I have been writing the pattern down as I go along, and will try and duplicate the results when I finish this one. I think she is turning out rather well so far. The pink yarn is thrifted, the blue is what is left of something I bought for another project. Both of these are sport weight and I used the same size F Boye aluminum hook that was used in the gingerbread boy project. I am still working the bugs out of the arms, they are tubular and fine stitches so they tie my fingers up in knots. I think her face will be embroidered and I am not sure what I will do for a bikini top. I will have to look through my buttons and see if I have any shaped like shells, or I might do something with felt.





I have a few plants that haven't made it outdoors and should, and some outdoors that haven't made it in and should. I have taken a few cuttings from a couple of my coleus plants and will take more, and will also get some more from that bloodleaf - it is very pretty. I have one bank of lights still on a timer in the cellar just to get them all through. I'd like to have new plants for next spring and maybe bring some of these up as house plants once they get big enough.

Last shot of the day, gratuitous kitten cuteness. Mischief all curled up in the clean laundry to be put away, making sure we have our requisite amount of white cat hair on everything. I didn't have the heart to shoo him off, he looked so peaceful.

And that is what I've been up to lately, living happy and content out here in the boonies.