Thrift Store and Free Finds: Kawaii Kitties, Mod Furniture, Clothes, Books, Kitsch

I've slowly been letting myself go back to the hunt, confident in my new will power to resist picking up new wares to sell.  I'm a minimalist and anti-consumerist at heart, and every item I purge in my minimalist journey is weight off my soul. That said, I'm glad to continue using second-hand shopping for necessities and muse seeking. The past couple of weeks have been particularly bountiful.

I never need another mug as long as I live but I bought three $1.00 mugs from my new favorite junk hunting spot. It was hard to resist bringing home one of the varieties offered.

I have a mug fetish; a sickness, even. I could operate a museum of artistic mugs and live happily. They combine my appreciate of art pottery and healing herbal tea. I enjoyted the random English, bright colors and rounded shape on these. Working House? Why? So fun.

I even love the packaging, they read, completely verbatim:

"Classic & Stylish. The features of practicality and beauty show perfection great efforts and endless seeking: excellent design, delicate details, exquisite shapes and pleasant feelings. Warning: This is a ceramic fragile,Please use under adultsguidance, don't put children can be contracted."

I love to collect random weird English in any language, I had to photograph the boxes to remember them. Any typos or weird spacing is exactly the way it's printed on the box.

I let myself buy some new books for the first time in a while. The Dr. Phil weight loss and "dressing for your shape" books were put in AJ's v-day gift bag as gags. I'm going to read them with a grain of salt and then sell them. There are some universal "flattering way to dress" tips I understand but I don't follow them all like a lemming. Cover my big arms in Florida? BITCH please, I wear all the sleeveless, always.

Speaking of gags, AJ's gift came in this hilarious 2nd hand, fifty cent bag. We're both anti-wedding ceremony types (I was never the little girl who dreamed of her princess wedding. NEVER. I dreamed of fighting crime with Optimus Prime and Batman.) The celebrity marriage book was the icing on the anti-wedding cake.

I also indulged in kawaii maneki neko Japanese bobtail lucky cat goodness. These are really expensive in some stores, these were fifty cents each. The one above is a tiny bank.

The one on my desk came with double sided tape on the bottom to keep it in place, I like it with me to make me smile while I work. I have another one That will love in my car on the dash board. Tulips from AJ.

I indulged in this Ghost World comic book, a classic I've never read the whole way through. When I'm done I'll sell it to the used book store. I'm taking nutrition classes at the moment so the Spirulina book was an exciting find, that nasty-ass tasting sea junk is amazingly good for you.

The hardcover, retro lettering and look remind me of the "Handbook for The Recently Deceased" from Beetlejuice (my fav movie) so much! It reads in the same joked-about dry, wordy manner. Damn, now I have a hankering to stop writing and indulge in some Beetlejuice...

I've been slowly adding more 2nd hand thrifted goods to my wardrobe, which I may post about in full later. Here's a few flattering recent favorites. I'm forever attracted to a blue-white combo with clothes so the feather print Charlotte Russe top fit the bill. The Xhilaration sweater was a lucky find later on from the same store.

Another freebie is this adorable dragon my mom found thrifting. Everyone know's my style so well, he's perfect for me. I love him hanging out in my reading area. I shall call him "Mushu".

He is especially Mushu-like when flipped on his red side. Yep, this is ONE dragon plushie with two sides. But I keep on the bright side for a pop of optimistic sunshine yellow.

And to complete the asian theme, we have a beautiful blue umbrella. It's vinyl instead of plastic so I thought I'd use it as an umbrella. I gave it to my niece this weekend so I'll have to see if there's another one left at the junk shop for me.

I found this odd little mod credenza on the roadside. I quickly turned it around for a little bit of cash. I love it when pieces move fast and don't stick around.

Now, let the Roadside Gods bring me unnaturally tall bar stools for my too-tall counters!

These adorable little pencils were 25 cents each. I bought them for my friends for valentines day, we had a dinner at Kickbacks the day before and I let everyone select their color of choice.

And a Yuko, for you! She's staring into your soul!

BTW: I'm interviewing indie biz owners and professionals for tips on earning more and effectively running your own biz, pleas leave any questions you'd like answered in the comments here or e-mail me.

Hunting for anything in particular second hand? I'm still forever on the prowl for good storage jars for my, comfy boho and/or vintage duds, kawaii stuff, any holistic lifestyle goodness, pretty apartment muses...

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