Thrift Haul: Mid Century Modern Furniture, Barware, Cases, Pink Elephants...

Holy hell I'm working hard to get ahead lately, this is my second all-nighter this week! I can't wait to get some sleep, but I'm grateful for the motivation and inspiration to find quality vintage, get it listed and sold, and re-vamp my branding! I went with the inspiration boost and found some amazing quality vintage this week, behold the glory:

First, let's gawk at the glory of my first mid century modern hutch find with the glass front intact! I'm hoping this sells soon but I won't mind keeping it around to store merchandise. If you're local and in the market for any of the gorgeous mid century modern pieces seen in this post, send me an e-mail please!

The hutch comes with this matching buffet/credenza. I'm using it to store art supplies at the moment and it's holding many cans of paint and a multitude of supplies like damn champ! It's my hero. Still for sale, of course!

Yuko did not get to enjoy "her" telephone table for long, it sold nearly immediately after it was listed online. Little wonder, it's a gorgeous piece and in like-new condition!

Now let's examine those smalls, I found so many fun ones. This guy is actually a lamp, I'm going to get a lamp kit and shade for it soon and will enjoy the hell out of it until it sells. ---- > Etsy Listing

I love this adorable vintage barware instant collection, too. I'm a sucker for barware as you know, could specialize in that and feel completely satisfied ----> Etsy Listing

And I got charmed by this lovely tartan portable coffee set, too. ----> Etsy Listing

No mod bar is complete without drink stirrers! I found classy glass ones / hotel ones / more hotel ones / and working whistle ones. Will have to come back and take better pictures of all of them, ran out of time with these ones.

I keep finding these lovely small desk lamps, can't resist them when I see them. ----> Etsy Listing

And here's another beautiful lamp in black. ----> Etsy Listing

I found this classic snack set (I think my mom had these same ones growing up, or very similar ones) in-box! Check it out ----> Etsy

And I can't stop myself with Avon men's aftershave decanters, either. When the price is right. ------> Etsy

This haul post is turning into a few of my favorite things, train cases are making their triumphant return. ----> Etsy Listing

And we have a lovely tan one as well, both are in like-new condition and shall be used to tote all of this merchandise to my Southern Crossing Antique Mall booth soon!  ----> Etsy Listing

Last and certainly not least, observe this stunning atomic style magazine rack. A beau she be! -----> On Etsy

I have much more vintage to be listed so keep an eye on Etsy! I'm clearing out space to make room for more goods, excited to bring home more toys (robots, of course) and incorporate them into my Southern Crossing booth and some art projects!

Don't Be Shy: If you like anything on the Etsy shop or in this post, send me an e-mail . I will work out a shipping deal for multiple items. Time to brew a strong pot of tea before I get to the store for more price tags...

Find anything amazing at the thrifts this weekend?! Do share your finds and posts in the comments.

Linked to: [Nifty Thrifty] [Thrift Share Monday] [The Penny Worthy Project] [Sir Thrift a Lot]

Daily thrifting updates, information, & Inspiration: Follow Thrift Core on Twitter and Facebook.

When Struggling With Sales, Remember This Tip (Via Virginia Ross Vintage)

After switching things around in my tiny Southern Crossing Antique Mall booth last weekend I took a stroll around the corner to Virginia Ross (website here) for some much-needed inspiration. Owner Malori (interviewed here) and I got to chatting about selling mid century modern wares and vintage in Jacksonville, Florida. It was such an inspiring chat that I had to share my biggest take-away:

"Sell what no one else in your area is selling. Don't follow the crowd, be unique."

I take this to heart with my online branding and writing, but I often forget the importance of incorporating this into what I sell. It's our idiosyncrasies that set us apart from the competition, don't assimilate; embrace them. I froth at the mouth with rabid passion for robots, have Power Rangers Megazords and Transformers in my kitchen, watch horror movies, shoot zombies in video games, own an extensive anime/manga collection and wear my Batman cap with pride. I'll continue to incorporate nerdness into everything I do!

I loved what Malori had to say about her trip through the nearby antique mall where I sell wares, Southern Crossing. Most retailers automatically go for conformity, looking at what others are selling successfully and going with the flow to get those run-off sales. Malori went through Southern Crossing, noted what the various vendors had in stock, then took all of those similar items out of her shop! This keeps Virgina Ross Vintage a unique, singular experience. And that dedication to quality shows as you can plainly see in the photos!

I'm back to the drawing board, evaluating how I can satisfy unfulfilled needs with my online and offline shops in my own distinctive style. I recommend you trying the same soul-searching over the weekend!

Got any tips for keeping sales (or other goals) going strong? Do you go out of your way to stand out from the competition, too?

Daily thrifting updates, information, & Inspiration: Follow Thrift Core on Twitter and Facebook.

Nicole's Thrift Score, Skull, Critter and Local Art Collection Filled Family Pad

My friend Nicole, and incredibly talented artist, thrift store comber, and fellow-reseller has closed the deal on a larger house for her growing family! She let me document her old pad, a large rental house, so we can remember it before she moves on to the new space. I'll certainly be back to document the gorgeous new one when it's ready. Nicole has an amazing collection of art and vintage finds, all beautifully displayed. Let's take a look!

When you first enter there's a beautiful paint by number collection to the right and a nice bench and chair for taking off your shoes and getting comfortable.

In front of you will be a dining room, the only walls painted bright red as an accent. It's filled with favorite thrift finds, family photos, and wedding mementos. (I documented Nicole's gorgeous DIY wedding here.)

I love this display on the right wall  of personal photos and keepsakes. The right wall has a built-in china cabinet.

I love the collection of framed owl needlepoint artwork above the living room area too, each with a different bright background!

Beside the dining room there's a gorgeous mini-bar, this one brings me back to drinks and big shop planning a couple years back when we were actively trying to open up a vintage shop! Inspiring times, can't wait to get back to collaborating!

The living room has a gorgeous sectional and a gallery wall featuring local and nearby artist's work. The bear piece is by Nicole.

The couch is the perfect fit for a small family, very cozy, inviting, and comfortable. Love this duo of pillows and the white Ugly Doll!

And across the way, two more ugly dolls chilling by the working fireplace. I adore Ugly Dolls, I can never hold on to them long before they sell.

The TV Corner showcases the gorgeous velvet painting collection. The juxtapose yet go per5fectly with the sleek modern TV and entertainment center.

I really appreciate this little record/music media corner. I saw some of my favorites in there, like Purple Rain, of course. You know I love my Prince!

The gorgeous brick fireplace makes me want to find some bricks and built my own right now! It makes such a gorgeous focal piece.

All the family portraits scattered around are so sweet! Love all the N&Rs around the pad, too. (For "Nicole & Rob")

The hallway is another gallery showcase with more local art pieces and estate sale/thrift store finds. I need to check some books out of this library!

Her hallway inspires me to get all my favorite art pieces framed and hung in a hurry! So much to get on my walls. I like it with lots of stimulation like this space!

As you can tell by the packed walls Nicole's outgrown her wall space, I know she's excited to fill up her new home. I love all the pieces on this wall, especially the fish, skull, zombie, and squid!

And this sweet recent edition from a year ago is the corner of Nicole's bedroom set up for her one-year-old son Emmett. With the next house he'll have a room all his own!

Nicole's house is cozy and lived-in and full of beautiful thrifed bits and art to behold. I'm excited for her to set-up in her new home, she has plans to make a lounge with built-in bar and pool table. Looks like we have a lot thrifting and estate sales to hit-up!

What's your favorite element of Nicole's space? This has me inspired to rearrange and get hutning for sure!

Promoting Your Website or Store, Graphic/ Web Design and Business Help

Right now is the time to prepare for Christmas sales, are you stocking up on boxes and bubble wrap? Are you listing as much as possible? I sure as hell am working hard behind-the-scenes to prep for it! Check out my advertising page for more info if you need to promote your blog or online store for October and November, important months to get your name out there before the Holiday storm!

If you don't have an ad designed I'll make one for you for free! Let me know if you need small business help, business plan assistance, help setting up your blog, graphic/web design, banner designs and more! Back to work with me, need more tea, so much to do! E-mail me if you have any questions!

Daily thrifting updates, information, & Inspiration: Follow Thrift Core on Twitter and Facebook.

Thrift Haul: Retro Typography, Artwork, Shelves, Lamps and Christmas Fruit!

I have much to document! I haven't really stopped working except to sleep for days now. Let's behold some of the vintage beauties I've uncovered and photographed lately:

And I love this Tensor desk lamp for task lighting, it's woodgrain and retro glorious beauty. See 'em on Etsy.

Who can resist this lovely retro wooden curio shelf? This one reminds me of playing with transformers and G.I.Joe's in my brother's bedroom, they had bunk beds very similar in texture/shape to this shelf. Hence why it's staged with robots on Etsy.



I've been a bit impulsive digging up finds again, bad me! This one bought me back to Science club, had to have it. Check out this Emergency Eye Wash Sign on Etsy.

Another impulse buy! I immediately thought this fun Fisher-Price TV set was from the 1960s but it's one from the 1980s. Still loving it though, you know I can't resist blocky plastic things with bold primaries and secondaries. See it on Etsy.

And this glorious vintage banner collection had to come home with me, beautiful Vintage Typography Batman! They are so beautiful grouped together Each one is listed individually on Etsy for the moment but I'm willing to sell them as a group or as groups.

See the San Francisco One / Harrisburg PA / Niagara Falls Rainbow / Niagara Falls Normal / Nags Head / South Carolina / William Penn Museum / Lebanon PA / Statue of Liberty / Boardwalk Baseball / Skimobile North Conway /  Anchorage, Alaska / Grand Canyon all on Etsy.

I also found some beautiful fruit and vegetable Christmas ornaments, what vegan could resist? They're making me quite hungry just looking at them, actually. See more detail on Etsy.

I also got around to listing some of my favorite old finds. This Barry Ross 1975 screen print of a tranquil Japanese garden is so beautiful! Glad it's finally in front of admiring eyes on Etsy.

I really wanted to keep this gift, I really bad for listing it. I've tried and tried but can't fit it into my decor. Hopefully someone will be able to fit it into theirs. It's in perfect shape. Even since a friend say he's looks like David Bowie I think him as "David Bowie the clown"  and almost listed it as such my instinct! See 'em on Etsy.

And some gorgeous old needlepoint artwork, I found this years ago at a yard sale and it's been hanging around needing to be listed! I love the fern leaves sprouting from the composition in 3D! See 'em on Etsy.

So about those chairs! I earned a nice t-shirt tan line (sleeves rolled-up, thankfully) spending hours in the scorching summer sun cleaning these nostalgic industrial style preschool chairs. So many people strolling by asked if I teach a class or joked about class being in session outside. Worth it, they were an amazing deal and fun to photograph. Some sets are currently at Southern Crossing Antique Mall, others will be listed on Craigslist. E-mail me if you're interested in buying some or all of them.

TAKE IT ALL AWAY: I'm always open to group deals and will gladly calculate group shipping rates. Check out the Etsy. Everything in haul posts is always for sale so e-mail me if you see anything you like or have any questions.

Find anything amazing at the thrifts this weekend?! Do share your finds and posts in the comments.

Linked to: [Nifty Thrifty] [Thrift Share Monday] [The Penny Worthy Project] [Sir Thrift a Lot]

Daily thrifting updates, information, & Inspiration: Follow Thrift Core on Twitter and Facebook.

Thrifting Rebuttals for the Non-Believers: How To Handle Thrifting Nay-Sayers

I'm a lifelong thrifter and most of my social circle doesn't thrift and even thinks it's gross. It's easy to forget when you're in a community of creatives or frequently thrift, but most people don't like it and may even attack you for doing it. Here are some frequent insults and my responses, maybe they'll help you, too:

Another common one: "You found all that good stuff at the THRIFT STORE? This house is thrift furnished? Wow!"

Q: What if that thrifted thing belonged to a dead person? What if it's haunted*?
What if the new clothes you tried on in the fitting room of Macy's were previously tried out by a person with Scabies? What if many of the asteroids floating precariously around this pathetic rock we're on dooms us all?! I think you'll be fine with the dead-people clothes.

Q: But isn't it unsanitary, you don't know where it's been?
During the Q&A after I gave a speech on Thrift Core an audience member asked this about my dumpster diving experiment. I impatiently blurted, "You don't know where your burger from Burger King's been!!!" Point is, you don't know where anything's been. Mind Blown! Boof!!!

Q: Whenever I go I never find anything but trash!
Like my hero Morpheus says, you have to free your mind. Check out this post on How to Thrift for the Good Stuff and it's comments for details. In short, there's a "zen" in thrifting. You have to Make Thrift Love, you have to have to be an artist and see the treasure in the rubble.

Q: But how do you get the gross "Thrift Store Smell" Out?
The same way you get the "New Retail Smell" out, throw it in the wash before you wear it if it's clothes, wash it with soap and water if it's housewares. I promise it's reversible.

Q:  But I don't have the time and it's too much work!
You don't have to thrift, more goodies for me! But seriously, it helps to stop frequently. Even short trips can yield a treasure. I used to do lunch break trips all the time.

* I have many more haunting stories coming for my favorite season/genre of anything. Stay tuned!

I know I sound smarmy here but many of the questions are positioned as attacks. I understand the importance of educating non-thrifters about the perks of this lifestyle. I've changed many thrift-haters into frequent-thrifters without much coercing. With a house full of awesome stuff, incredibly low personal and business overhead thrifting is easy to see thrifting is awesome and nothing to fear or be disgusted over.

These are the common 5 questions I get and my usual rebuttals. Are you ever met with thrifting haterade? What are the common questions/your responses?

Daily thrifting updates, information, & Inspiration: Follow Thrift Core on Twitter and Facebook.

A Muse: A Look at Authentic Mid Century Modern (1959) Home Decor + Silliness

I love peeking through vintage ephemera for ideas and inspiration. I have a sizable amount to document, sort, and sell and I'm giving myself less than a month to do it! I've always wanted to share some of the amusing bits from these old ads, books, catalogs, and magazines. Let's start with one of the first I found, this 1959 Sherwin-Williams catalog:

I'm enjoying the dining room gun rack, personally. Too many fussy details but the gun saves it. The kitchen to the right looks like a kitchen from Lassie. Where Lassie? The barn's on fire? Show me the way!

I love the chairs and even the pink walls somehow. I like bubble gum and painfully neon hot pinks. Manly pinks that hurt your eyes!

The curtains match that chair, dayum! I secretly hope that chicken photo changes out with whatever's for dinner. For steak night that better be a photo of a cow!

See, painted brick walls are not blasphemy. People from 1959 can do it, and so can you! I want to live in this den, even though the shutters matching the couches freaks me out. Starting to realize I don't like TOO much symmetry.

Woah, tacky! This goes beyond acceptable kitsch, this is gross. Is that a birdhouse on a train bed with a rail road crossing sign next to it? Musical instruments precariously balanced on a bed board above your little girl's HEAD?! No! Don't do it!

Kind of enjoying that kitchen From the Future on the right but the scene on the left has its merits.

I love those shutters, nice texture! Everything in the photo looks so plastic and staged I want to...eat it? Is it a gummy candy? I think I'm just hungry...for that giant platter of wax fruit. Mmm...

Not my kind of space so I'll just say nice color? Nicely laid out? Nice chicken coop for the plates you got there.

I love the couches and side chairs here. Looking so comfortable and beautiful. Can I dive into the pillows and help myself to whatever's in that decanter? And the fruit too, please.

I want the shoji screen and what I see of the painting in the left photo. Do I spy some pre-photoshop photo manipulation? The fruits look cut and pasted into that photo!

I love all the pops of red and teal in the space on the left. Just noticed both are always the same space but flipped for gender. I always wanted one of those nook-beds as a kid, they look so cozy. Perfect for making blanket forts, too.

Closing out with some favorites, as much as I complained about matchy-matchy I enjoy the shutters, doors, and cabinets painted in bubble gum-hot pink. I think because here the rest of the space is bright, white, and minimal, it's just better design than in some of the other photos. Would move into this kitchen in a heartbeat.

Not a favorite design wise but just...so many questions. Why fencing swords in this pink kitchen? Why the tiny grill thing in that aclove? With the little bench so you can sit, grill, and enjoy? While puffing on a pipe? It brings the indoors outdoors? Where do you live where you can't grill outside? Explain room, explain!

And I cannot resist a manly gun room with matching couch-curtains and sage green walls. Love that spcae to the right. It reminds me of a Resident Evil video game mansion room. Can I take the shotgun to shoot zombies? If I take it will I trigger a boobie trap? Is there a trap door not shown behind a bookshelf that will lead me to Bruce Wayne's Bat Cave?! I want that room!

Which room is your favorite? Do you love looking through vintage ads and documents, too?

Daily thrifting updates, information, & Inspiration: Follow Thrift Core on Twitter and Facebook.