A Thrifted Piece of Paradise

I tested the lovely Yard Sale Treasure Map tool this weekend but while biking around I stopped all the sales but the ones listed, oops. Then it started to rain. I still got some much needed wares at a good price.

I feel guilty about the impulse purchase of these two bits of "art". They look exactly like the cheesy bit of tropical art they sell at dollar stores in Puerto Rico. The scenes reminded me of the classic charm of downtown Ponce. I'm trying to cut down on unnecessary purchases but these two remind me of home.

 Both of my basil plants needed these pots, the large one was $3 and the small one was $2.

After the rainfall we hit up a goodwill and got hours of entertainment for a few bucks. These VHS tapes were .49 cents each and thoroughly entertaining. So far I like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles tape best- thoroughly ridiculous storytelling. Also, I've never blogged about the thrifted Godzilla pictured. He's huge and he was worth every cent, all .50 I paid for him a while back.

I found Plenty of educational science books and couple of gardening books- even a detailed book on making tofu (not pictured). I'm going to love reading "The Indispensable Cat" which celebrates the relationship between cats and humans from the dawn of civilization to modern times, particularly the cat's influence on human art.

I  also found some nice quality work clothes; a white button up, khakis, and a yellow dress- all too boring to warrant pictures. Everything was one dollar and the shoes will replace my black pumps that were literally falling apart at the seams. It would have cost me more in glue and effort to fix them.

And now I'm off to bike to a nearby pair of antique stores to check out the advertised Memorial Day sidewalk sales, then perhaps a couple of thrift stores. I love three day weekends!

Thrift Porn: A Cozy Thrifty Home

Who's ready for a weekend of thrifting, yard sale hopping, and searching for thrifted deal and treasures? Got your thrift lists ready? Here's a bit of healthy Thrift Porn to get you ready for a weekend of thrift fun.

 Betty Jo Designs' Flickr Photostream! (Initially typed as Betty Ho Designs' Flickr Photostream, oh, you saucy thrift arousing link, you!)

I love the eclectic mix of fabrics and objects, all lovely. But what's really got me breathing hot and heavy for thrift fun is her Flickr Photostream.

So inviting and retro fun and filled with stimulation, yet not cluttered. This is a space that inspires thirft.

I love how it's warm, inviting, and not overhwleming for a space with so many objects. A keen eye for balance is evident.

My favorite element of the kitchen is the Spanish style night time serenade painting high on the wall. The green cabinets and orange back splash are a nice touch though, very 70s while reminding me of my family's houses in Puerto Rico.

She has one of the most warm, inviting, deliciously thrift ecclectic abodes I've ever seen!

Betty Jo Designs are available on Etsy and Bigcartel. Check out her beautiful artwork! This certainly inspires me to make more art and get to work sewing some curtains for my apartment.

Footnote: I made a new twitter account @thriftcore. I maintain six different corporate accounts updating with industry news throughout the day, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to maintain a twitter account dedicated to thrift news as well. I'll update with industry news, thrift inspiration, thrifting blog posts, internet coupons and deals, and general thrift inspiration. Do Follow if you desire.

The Epic Thrift Trip

Yesterday my friend, the amazing Birdie of The Haiku Life posted a comic on our Epic Thrift Trip. The trip actually did kill me. By midday, nothing stayed down. Not even water. As I type this, I'm still sick and recovering from that nightmare. Lesson learned- don't take more than the written dosage of medicine and never take medicine on an empty stomach!

Now on to some funny thrift encounters...

Shame, shame! Let's all hope this was donated because of the shame the owners felt at the revelation of it's meaning.

I thought of Mortal Kombat when I encountered this beauty on a top shelf. This boat is beautiful and detailed, but I'm not allowed to bring home more unnecessary items that need repairs... nope..

The sight that makes every thrifter's heart flutter. There was nothing I needed in this pile, not even for .25 cents. But Shana found a charming little daisy cup.

Birdie and his awesome little girl's bike. By the way, a bike is the latest addition to my thrift list. Sucks to live in my new bike-friendly neighborhood without a bicycle!

I liked these beautiful umbrella mugs, never seen a mug set with an umbrella pattern! I'm not allowed to bring home more mugs, there's already more than one person can use in my household. I added the cute buttons jar to the tray for fun, resisted that as well.

My first time visiting this thrift store- it had a mini green house inside! A thrift store after my own heart!

 This was another virgin thrift store for me to ravage. It was truly an immense labyrinth, practically a thrift warehouse.You can make this store your sole stop for the day. By this point I wasn't feel well enough to explore but I did find a nifty label maker for .50 cents.

Here's a short within the giant thrift maze, I'll be back here to explore in full in the future. Fun composition. I love the bright blue walls, signage, and the deer head. I'm a video game nerd so it reminded me of the one in Resident Evil.

Past the interior of the store was the back "warehouse" assessable to customers. Possibly the biggest most endless thrift store I've ever encountered.

This weekend I'm opting for a yard sale adventure, using the Yard Sale Treasure Map tool to find some yard sales in biking distance. Thrift Store prices are getting to high for me, I'm looking forward to some low priced yard sale treasures.

Thrift Adventure Finds: Vintage Glasses, Poe, & More

My Saturday Thrift Adventure yielded more finds that I could cover in one blog post. The pretty fern glasses above were a bit unnecessary but at $1.00 for 5 glasses I couldn't resist. The chicken pitcher is for my mom who has an extensive collection. It was .80 cents.

I've been trying to cut down on thrifting for unnecessary clutter but I really liked this wooden Japanese doll. It goes well with the two behind it which my dad bought home from Japan about a decade ago. My unorganized manga collection on the shelf was all patiently foraged second-hand, of course.

The book of illustrated Edgar Allan Poe's tales is brilliant and beautiful, although it's missing a few of my favorites. I love the quirky gothic style.

And now, back to loafing about and feeling ill. This is my first time calling out of work in two years and yet I still feel guilty about it. My thrifty soul doesn't like missing the hours; we don't get sick time.

The Yard Sale Treasure Map

Soon after writing my post on finding the best local thrift stores I found the Yard Sale Treasure Map Tool. With it, you can map out a day of yard sale treasure hunting with ease. Try it out here.

The map above shows all the yard sales within a 20 mile radius of my area. Like magic, you can optimize the perfect route, allowing you to yard sale hop with ease.

The Planning tool is another bit of genius. With it you can add more sales not included on the pre-determined itinerary, search for specific items (dammit, no Beluga Whales again?!) and plan other stops along the way.

 I'll find one of these at a yard sale one day...

Once all your stops are determined Optimize your route and you'll have an easy weekend journey of yard sale hopping ahead of you. I recommend using the "instructions" feature so you know all the perks you can take advantage of with this tool. For instance, you can even send your route to your GPS. I'm definitely going to utilize yardsaletreasuremap.com this weekend. Thrift Store prices can be depressingly high sometimes, I'm looking forward to rock-bottom prices and unique treasures.

*The map above shows all the yard sales in my "area", I live in the largest city in the U.S land-wise; other Jacksonville resident are sure to yield something whenever they search with this tool. For others in smaller cities, consider expanding your search to nearby cities for a "yard sale" road trip. (For the die-hard thrifters.)

Retro Crafts, Books, Records, & Art!

My thrifty/crafty pals Shana, Birdie, and I embarked on a thrift adventure this Saturday. Between us we yielded some amazing finds and had much fun along the way!

I left out one of my favorite book finds of the weekend, an illustrated book of Edgar Allen Poe's poems. Pictured are a couple of writing/research books, a cook book, a book on ancient art history (I'm an art geek; I love reading art history books) and a "Design on a Dime" book. A "Dime" for them is $1,000 per room- we thrifters can do it better for less!

I found a few fun records. Some Salsa. an Irish Humor Record, and "Music to Paint By" - which I will Paint By,naturally.

I paid too much for this unnecessary bit of kitty tile art but it was too sweet to resist. I love night time scenes. I love cats.

For $1.00 this Pirates of the Caribbean light-switch plate was impossible to resist. Love the colors and dynamic action! But then I realized...my vintage bathroom doesn't have a light switch, I use a chain to turn on the light. Aw well, this will be a fun addition to my freshly "Laguna Green" painted dining/craft room.

These very comfortable and high quality cardigans are brand new with tags attached. The Green one was $3 and the blue one was $4, perfect for work when the AC makes it too chilly.You can buy the same exact EP Pro "Grass Green" cardigan online for $77.00! I think I got a deal.

I was very ill for the last half of our journey but I still had some fruitful thrifting. I came home with fun finds and I'll need a second post to document everything. Expect a few more fun thrift haul and "thrift journey" posts this week.

Dr. Sketchy's Thrift Porn Inspiration

 Our recent muse and today's Thrift Porn Inspiration.

I'm always inspired in many ways by my favorite local art event, Dr. Sketchy's. A lovely model posing amid vintage furniture and accessories is the perfect Thrift Porn. This Wednesday our muse channeled Core Crane, brothel owner and common-law wife of write Stephen Crane. She opened a brothel in Jacksonville, Florida in 1902 called "The Court". Behold last night's beautiful muse:

Delicious thrifty details, the live potted plants are a nice touch.

 

Soft lighting for an ethereal glow.

Last month's groovy 70s theme was full of retro Thrift-spirational Thrift Porn Goodness! I had the live performance of "Brand New Key" stuck in my head for a week and loved it!

Goodwill 70s Goodness!

Well, I've got a brand new pair of roller skates...

...you've got a brand new key

I think we should get together and try them out, you see...

 

I''m okay alone, but you've got something I need...

 Here's the resplendently talented and beautiful Aaron signing "Brand New Key".

I'm confident our local Dr. Sketchy's crew is the best in existence, but your should check around and see if you have a local Dr. Sketchy's so you can take part in this Thrift Porn fun first hand. I know these pictures alone and memories of sketchy fun will inspire me and my partners in crime Birdie, and Shana as we embark on thrift store adventure this weekend.

Check out last week's Thrift Porn: Sea of Shoes

A Stroll Through the Thrift Store

I encounter a lot of temptation at thrift stores but never know if what I see is worth the cost (in money AND clutter) of bringing it home. Here's a few of the thrift temptations and curiosities I encountered this weekend at the "hidden" Seaside Thrift Store.

A sunny faux sunflower and home made sun flower vignette I arranged while rummaging. I hope they don't mind...

Vintage-style linoleum tile that looked like they were from the 70s-80s, I love the pattern and color and they were cheap, but I resisted.

Wooden salad set. Not a bad price at $7.00 but absolutely unnecessary. I contemplated the joy of bowls that won't shatter when I wash them (I break 1.5 things per week it seems) but ignored these.

A nice picnic set that made me long for a picnic in the sun. I've always wanted one of these but I always resist. The lack of space in the closets gives me the willpower to resist.

 Groovy coat! I tried it on but it was too heavy and large for me to wear.

 I ponder if this is truly from 1943? Nice mirror.

 The scale and slide projector were tempting, but when have I ever used either of these contraptions. All wishful thinking.

 A beautiful record stand. I don't have space for such a thing and don't even need it (My record player has a space for holding records) but I would have bought it if it was around $7-$10 and not $54!

I loved the texture and pattern of this seemingly retro style screen. I contemplated painting it and using it as a headboard but I proudly resisted. I have enough projects in the house as it is.

It's important for me to bring a camera when I thrift. There's no regret when I don't bring home a tempting or intriguing item because I still have the memory and inspiration it brings in a photograph- and ess clutter!