Sitting and KnittingCrocheting

Sitting out in the garden with Lola, and working on the middles to some more granny squares is the perfect way to end a busy May day. It is glorious outside and the garden is growing and blooming, and is just filled with life. A garden post is definitely on its way. I have decided to aim high with my grannies and work towards a blanket. It may be a small blanket, and it may take months and months, but it will get there. This is the perfect project to keep my hands busy without having to think too much about what they are doing.

Today was also a perfect mail day, with a package full of vintage goodies arriving at my doorstep. These wood spools, shaped like pine trees, are perfection. I'm not sure what I will do with them, but they sure are pretty to look at.

These little wooden people beads came too. How sweet are they? I seem to be gathering quite the collection of tiny wooden, beautifully painted people.

They go quite nicely with this little 10 cent mushroom man I picked up thrifting a while ago. The poor dear is missing an arm, but he is so charming perched atop his mushroom, sitting underneath a flower. He is really a Christmas tree ornament, but he seems much more suited to Spring to me.

Finding

My year in Peterborough ended on Saturday. The year was a struggle in many ways, but I am trying to take away the good and leave the bad behind. My beautiful apartment was carefully taken apart and moved back to Toronto. Into a basement, and anywhere else it will fit. You see, this year I am house sitting. I have trimmed down a lot, donating, sharing, trading, and posting on Etsy once again, but I will admit that there has been a teensy bit of thrifting too. I haven't had much time for it in many months, so it is hard to resist when I do get the chance.

I finally got that sewing box I had been dreaming of. I found it at an antique mall, full of vintage notions and trims, a steal at less than $10.


Right now I am looking forward to a special GTA Pyrex meet-up/trade a few of us are planning for early next month. There may be some antiquing too. I cannot wait!

Thrifting Day.

Rummaging through thrift stores, antique shops, church sales, bazaars, flea markets, yard sales, and any place of the sort, is one of my favourite pastimes. There are so many interesting things to discover. Things that someone has discarded or passed on. Being a Pyrex junkie, this bodes well for me since it means I can hunt for my beloved Pyrex and not break the bank. Plus, it's much more fun than buying online! I often stumble upon other things too.

Like these plates! I'm not sure what they are, but they have the bumpy bottoms that Glasbake dishes have. Searching online hasn't brought up anything. In any case, they are super cute and how could I go wrong for $2 for four plates? EDIT: I've found out these are by Federal Glass. It's a pattern called Chalet.

Now on to the Pyrex! I did very well today, finding three Pyrex dishes in excellent condition. I already had the small Shenandoah casserole dish, but I wanted to photograph them as a set. $2

One thrift store near me always seems to have English Pyrex on their shelves. I've been there three times, and all three times I've found something. I first got two Vine casserole dishes, and then this casserole dish, and today I found this Chelsea casserole dish. $3

Butterprint! This is one of my favourite patterns. $3

I also picked up this set of Betty Crocker recipe cards. Some of the recipes look really awful, but some are really cool. $2

I also picked up that woven mat for 99 cents. It reminded me of the braided rugs my great uncle had in his cottage. He had one in every single room, including the bathroom. I always wanted one of my own.

Thrifting is about saving money, re-using, and re-purposing - being 'thrifty' - but in some cases it helps fuel our hobbies too. For $12.99, that's okay. I feel as long as I actually use the things I buy (which I do, the Pyrex gets cycled in my kitchen), and I enjoy it, it's fine to have more dishes than necessary. In my book, you can never have too many pretty dishes!

Spring Sales.

There were a lot of sales this Saturday. Estate sales, church sales, garage sales, and even a rummage sale at a fancy private school (people started lining up at 5 am for that one!). I was going to prepare my garden beds this morning, but I decided to put that off for a morning of sales with my mom. We both did extremely well too.

This is just part of our haul. My mom also found 50+ children's books, a huge set of K'nex, some wonderful handmade dress-up costumes, math manipulatives, puppets, and vintage puzzles and blocks, for her grade one classroom. All for under $30. Some of the books were brand new, with the $18.99 price tags still on them.

It's probably not surprising that I kept my eye out for Pyrex while we were looking around. The blue and orange dishes came from an estate sale. The man who was running it had a great collection of vintage dishes and kitchen appliances. By the time we got there most of it was gone, but I managed to get these two dishes and a white Fiestaware pitcher. A guy who went in right before us grabbed a few great Pyrex dishes. Lucky him!

This chicken pot holder came from the same sale. I'm going to have to make some more of these! I'm adding that to my sewing queue.

One of the estate sales we visited was at the home of an interior decorator. She had an amazing antique collection she was selling off, and among all the furniture I found a box of fabric remnants. Can you believe I got all of this, plus some trim for $1? Most of the pieces are quite large, large enough to sew into a bag or a pillow. I have a lot of ideas for this pile of fabric!

I always have so much fun at these kinds of sales! This was a perfect way to spend a Saturday morning.

Spring Holidays.

This has been a busy week! Mid-terms (my University was on strike for three months, so our second semester has been pushed far forward), a Spring haircut for a certain little pup, dog safety lessons for grade one students, Passover Seders with friends and family, a show played by a friend's band, and now Easter weekend. It seems that in the rush I completely forgot to carry my camera with me. During a quiet moment early this morning I brought it out for the first time since Monday, as I hung ornaments on our Easter tree. I guess I can't really call it a tree as it's really only a few branches in a vase. Most of the ornaments were thrifted last fall. They were originally attached to wires wrapped with coloured tape, which I did not like the look of at all. They were easy to remove, and I think they look great hanging from branches. They remind me of the Erzgebirge Easter ornaments, which I think attracted me to them. I love Erzgebirge ornaments!

As you can see, my dear Snowie likes to perch herself on the dining room table. She had to be included.

This little egg was thrifted along with the other ornaments. The bouquet was sent along with an Etsy order, and I thought it looked perfect tied around this vase.

I especially love the little painted eggs. I wouldn't mind having a whole tree of just these!

This bunny is actually from my childhood easter basket. It's a little larger than the rest of the ornaments, but I thought it still fit in quite well.

A row of rabbits ready to be hung! A couple are missing ears, but most are in very good condition. A lucky find!

I did a little rearranging of the dining room plant table, and here the tree will stay through the rest of the weekend (and probably a little longer too)!

Finding Treasures.

Sometimes it can be nice to spend the afternoon searching through a thrift shop with a good friend, finding those treasures that would fit right into your home.

A pink bowl and a lone Pyrex plate, both in pristine condition. They will be put to good use here.

Ceramic canisters with an owl motif. The colours and tree branches remind me of fall even though the scene is more likely to represent spring, with flowers on the ground and buds on the trees. These are a little worse for wear, the pattern being scratched in a few places, but still have a lot of life left in them.

What special treasures have you discovered lately?

November Fairs.

This weekend was filled with craft and nostalgia fairs, and holiday bazaars. It is definitely November. We ran into many old friends, some who were selling their wares and others who were there to look, and we met many new people who were more than eager to share their stories with us. I even got an offer for a quilting lesson! The special finds and great deals are always fun, but the kind words shared along the way really make the day for me.

I had seen little spice canisters exactly like this only smaller at Linens 'n Things, for $4.99 each. These were $2 for the set, brand new. They were orginally $3 a piece, but the kind lady selling them kept lowering the price without prompting. She was happy to be rid of them. Plus another pile of sweet linens!

A couple Pyrex dishes. I have been coveting the blue snowflake pattern since I saw it on a friend's flickr photostream, so I was glad to find this one. They need a good wash, but are in otherwise perfect condition.

A husband and wife team were selling these little pop-out Dutch cards. I couldn't resist. How cute are they?

I can't decide if I want to frame these or send them off to some very special friends.

The rest of the weekend was spent knitting the scarf that won't end! I have been working on this for a very, very long time, but I have had some wonderful company along the way. Can you spy the little fuzzy ones? One day soon this scarf will be finished, and just in time for the cold weather!

Michael's Train.

It can be hard to find toys made of natural materials for an affordable price. Going by the less is more theory, which I subscribe to, you will still save money in the long run buying fewer better quality, more costly toys. These toys tend to last, and some of the more open ended ones can be used by the same child for years and years. Sometimes it's still nice to find a bargain, and often it's just a matter of knowing where to look. Local craft fairs are a great place to start.

This past weekend I visited a craft fair and struck up a conversation with a lovely older man who crafts wooden toys, mostly vehicles. He sells them at small craft fairs, and donates some to local schools.

I love all the little details on this train of his. There are wheel covers on all the cars, and little sliding doors on one of them.

It's a little more delicate than a train designed for a toddler, but it's sturdy enough for an older child. This one is going to a little boy in Vancouver.

I also picked up a couple wooden cars for $2 a piece. These will be put to good use in a classroom.

Bazaar Days.

With November 1st comes the start of the Christmas Bazaar season. I am lucky to live in a city with so many Churches and Community Centres who put on these events. There are many great things to be found, both new and old. Tables upon tables of knitted sweaters and hats, beautiful handmade crafts, crafting supplies, and various previously owned items waiting for a new home.

This is just a small selection of my haul for the day. My best find - a bag full of old buttons, beads, thread spools, embroidery floss, needles, snaps, and various other sewing notions, for 25 cents. Can you believe it? There was even something called panty-hose sealer, which is that little match-book like thing you see there. Another great find was the stack of old sewing, knitting, and crochet patterns for a dollar.

A few doilies that would be perfect for tote bags, and some wooden embroidery hoops that feel much better on my hands than my current selection.

As we were leaving some ladies opened a big box full of linen tea towels with the old Simpsons and Eatons tags still on! They do not make them like this anymore.

Adorable coasters with wee wooden folk. These are just too cute for words! There is writing on the bottom that is very hard to make out. A little internet snooping has led me to believe these are made in Italy.

There is much more I haven't shared here, all for around $20. There are so many more Bazaars I want to hit this season, hopefully before the antique dealers get to them (there are some dishes I've been searching for that always seem to get snatched up right away). I cannot wait to start crafting with my new supplies!