Thrift Haul: Japanese Books and Plates, Plant, Pop Culture and Ninja Turtles

My massive flea market scored pothos was $6! A steal for his size, seeing him makes me happy.

I've let myself back into the thrifts over the past few weeks, picking up a few clothes from the Goodwill pound store, bits and pieces from the flea market and other things at little shops along the way. I've gotten my home pretty damn decluttered and organized so it's nice to let a little more in. But not too much. AJ and I are always chatting about our dream of owning a micro house one day...I can't fit much into a microhouse, so I try to keep acquiring to a minimum. Either way, here's the fun stuff I've uncovered lately.

First things first, behold, the first look at my upcycled clothing ideas. I like tank tops better than t-shirts. Especially as a busty person, because it extends the line of your bust up and makes it look like you have a watermelon stuffed in your shirt. Lower cut tops are actually more universally flattering. The first shirts are: Batman /// Super Mario Brothers /// Rocko's Modern Life /// Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles /// Optimus Prime /// Dr. Suess and Soundwave.

The Ninja Turtles and Transformers shirts are men's shirts and could easily be worn by men or women.  Any requests or feedback on the shirts? Let me know!

I bought this beautiful book from Eco Relics and paid way more than I've ever paid for a thrifted book for it. At least it went to support a small biz, but I could have gotten it for less online. I love it either way and can hopefully sell it for at least $25.00. Anyone game?

The character art is beautiful and lively. It's drawn by an artist who moved to Japan with her family for her husband's business. The titular family, The Wests (ha) encounter and work through culture shock along the way.

Most of the gags produce real chuckles, and for the most part, it's pretty honest and not squiggy like a book about Japan written in the early 1960s could be. I enjoy every page.

I bought this little "treat" for myself after doing my first lawn with AJ, it's from an asian food store at the beaches (AJ's "old" side of town). I can't resist anything ceramic with cats. My collection is growing! I use this one as a catch-all on my desk for now.

Another treat from eco-relics are these gorgeous ceramic garden signs for 75 cents each! I'm working on a couple of artsy gardens and these really fit the bill.

This jar (comes with a sealed top) was initially bought to hold dried herbs but I've been using it to drink water. It's hard for me to resist anything kitschy-Halloweenie.

This shelf was a steal for $3.00. I love sturdy metal vintage shelving like this. They sell well, so it'll be soon added to Etsy, but it's also a fun piece to hold my collections/craft stuff until it sells.

The following would be gifts from Zombie Dad on Twitter! I love this Ninja Turtles trading card set, still in the packaging! The back of it is hilarious.

Then we got some of the fun late 80s early 90s Turtles Comics with Epic-style covers and crayon-scribbles inside by comparison. They always fooled ya, those covers.

I've got some comic reading days ahead of me. I have to actually read all of my 1990s Transformers comics while I'm at it.

A fun surprise at the bottom of the bag was this monster alien, I'm assuming, from Aliens, right? I juxtaposed him with cuteness for best effect.

And this modern ninja turtles swimming gear is going to my nephews. The vintage stuff, those are my turtles, the new stuff, I can't really stand it. The nostalgia goggles are strong with me.

For a re-discovered thrift find (those're fun) I've had a tray in the wrong packaging for a while and never took the tray out. I finally did and it's bad-add. I like it as a catch-all, but it's fun for staging my mugs and tumblers at markets, too.

And another great "re-discovery" was this shelf. It had lattice on it and looked too "country" or "shabby chic" for my tastes. It was from my childhood bedroom and found in my mom's garage. She took the lattice off so we could use it for our soap-biz and I'm enjoying it hanging in my "whole living experimentation" corner. It'll look lovely filled with soap. The empty bottles are going to be filled with vegan protein powder and spice mixes that I'll be selling in my Green Lotus Studios classes.

And then, plants! I'm enjoying my $5.00 flea market orchid. They're addictive, I've been holding back for the moment but I can't wait to fill the house with some more living pretties.

I'm excited to get back to the hunt for objects to alter, pieces for my assemblage and furniture making ideas and anything crazy unique that has to come home with me. It's fun to hunt in this more restrained way.

Been finding anything fun at the thrifts? What are you on the hunt for? I may need to share a new thrift wish list...