Thrifting Finds: Does This Even Count? Edition

Good morning, kids!

Well, once again your ol' Uncle Veg ventured out to the thrifts and did not come home empty-handed.  I do believe this is the longest streak I've ever had.

Not that what I found was amazing, mind you.  In fact, I'm not even sure what I got is really good enough to even mention.

Like I'd let something like that stop me.

Anyway, it was a pretty busy weekend Chez Fondue, what with getting ready for Thanksgiving and everything.  I think I have a handle on things, but you know as well as I do that the wheels could all fall off at the last minute.

It looks like there will be about 14 of us this year.  I say "about" because there are always those who decide/change their mind at the last minute.  I hope it's not much more than that because if it is, someone's going to end up sitting on the floor, and I suspect it will be me.

But on to the finds!

I didn't even bother taking a picture of this because I thought it was so boring:

Not even my picture

CD Player!   I'd been looking for one of these since I got my console stereo a few weeks back, as most of my Christmas music is on CD.  These of course used to be all over the place, but since the advent of MP3 players, they're old hat.  I actually bought two players because they were only 2 bucks each and I didn't know if either worked.  That was a good move, as one of them didn't want to play both channels.  So that one will get tossed.  We listened to some Brazilian jazz last night, and it sounded great coming from the console.  Goodwill, $2.00
P.S. One of them came with a bonus CD inside:  The Cheetah Girls Cheetah-licious Christmas.  Needless to say, I tossed it without listening to it.
UPDATE:  Okay, I just previewed it on Amazon.  My original decision was wise.

Cheese Dome!  We serve Party Cheese Ball often enough (basically every single time The Girl Child comes by) that I thought it deserved a fitting display.  This was in its original box and looked to be either very lightly used or completely unused.  There was an inadvertently hilarious insert in the box about how the teak comes from some magical forests in Thailand and how the texture of real wood can never be equaled by synthetics, yadda yadda.  Goodwill, $5.00

Does This Even Count?  I ask because it wasn't a thrift find but a Craigslist purchase.  It does count?  Because I can do whatever I want with my own blog?  Then

Trash Compactor!  Here at Fondue HQ we only have trash pickup once a week.  And not by a company, either.  It's a 70-something-year-old guy named Lloyd.  Somehow, Hubs and I seem to produce a prodigious amount of trash, so I thought a compactor would be a good idea.  The development next to us (built in the mid '70s) put them in every kitchen.  Have you priced these lately?  They're close to 600 bucks, and go up. Way up.  I found this on CL, as I say, for 99 bucks.  Bought it from a lovely couple who only used it a couple of times and weren't impressed.  I'm liking it so far, particularly when we use the "Extra Pac" cycle, which really squashes the stuff down.  Craigslist, $99.00

And that's it for the finds, but I do have one more thing I want to report on:  I did a craft.

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I mentioned Sparkle Balls and how I thought I would make one?  Wellsir, I did:

This was my first--and likely last--attempt.  It was truly a pain to make.  I didn't buy the fancy stapler you need and my stapler didn't work, so I had to melt the cups together with a soldering iron.  I also used the soldering iron to make the hole in the bottom of each cup, which I had to do twice because I didn't make them big enough the first time around,.  As you can see, this is not perfectly spherical, but I'm hoping that won't be blatantly obvious when I get it hung up by the front door.  I'm guessing that if I ever stumble across the proper stapler at a thrift store, I might buy it and give this another go, but this one is going to have to do for now.

Hopefully we'll run into each other again next week, but until then, Hubs and I wish all of you a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Linking up, as usual, with Thriftasaurus.

Thrifting Finds #85: And He Goes for the Hat Trick!

Three in a row!  Can you believe it?  I certainly can't!

So I noticed that the last couple of weeks, all the thrifts seem to have a lot more stuff in stock than usual.  I mean chock-full.  Not a whole lot I want, mind you, but the shelves are packed.

Again, all the Christmas stuff seems to be from Walmart or the Dollar Store.  Not that I need any.  When we were moving the HQ, I discovered that we own a crap ton more Christmas stuff than I ever realized.  If I decide to really get into it this year, Christmas could be quite the extravaganza.

It's going to be garish at the very least, and here's why.  I don't know if anyone remembers when I made my ornament wreath:

Wellsir, it was a casualty of the move. I loved it, but it was made with almost all new ornaments, so there wasn't a whole lot of emotional attachment.  Anyway, it's gone and I'm not sure I'm up to making another one, but I think I'm going to try my hand at making a Sparkle Ball:

This will be hanging by the Fondue HQ front door, and it will be the only one in the neighborhood, I can guarantee.

But I digress.  What a shock.

Anyway, I managed to pick up two things this weekend, though only one is pictured.  The other item is a plastic milk-crate type thing for holding record albums which, like Christmas decor, we own a whole lot more of than I realized.

Please forgive the grammar and syntax of that sentence.

This is what I want:

I have just the right place for it, between two chairs in the living room--It's about 24" in diameter.  I am, however, unwilling to pay the 800 clams this table costs.  Then I saw this little table at the Goodwill and thought it would be a good candidate for a makeover:

It's not identical, of course, but it's similar, and for seven bucks, I could hardly say no.  It's pictured with the first coat of white paint on it--it's "walnut" Formica underneath.  It'll certainly do until I can find what I'm looking for at a price I'm willing to pay.

This reminds me of a series of articles that used to appear in Metropolitan Home, I think, back in the '70s.  They'd do one room with all chic, luxurious stuff and then do another one that looked similar, but on a budget.

Again, I digress.  

And that's it for this week.  Next week may involve picking up a trash compactor, which will certainly be exciting.   Oh, and Wednesday, we're getting our new furnace and AC unit here at Fondue HQ, and let me tell you, I am WAY more excited about that than I need to be.  Especially since it's costing as much as a car.

Other big news:  we're getting new rollers on the patio doors.  Again, way more excited than I should be!

Tune in again next week and I'll tell you all about it.  In the meantime, I think I'll link up with Thriftasaurus.

Thrifting Finds #77:Purely Practical--Plus Pyrex!

Annnnnd...it's over.  All the decorations are put away, so it's like Christmas never happened.  Normally, I don't take things down until January 6 (Twelfth Night), but it was just easier to do it this past Saturday.  And I didn't want to do it on Sunday, as that was the last day of Hubs's and my 2-week vacation, and the day was depressing enough!

In good news, the thrifts were a little kinder to me this past week than usual, so I have a couple of things to report on, but first, indulge me a bit as I wax philosophical for a moment.  Or you can skip down a few paragraphs and save yourself from hearing me complain.

It's probably obvious that I love shopping.  I'm sure some of you can identify with that.  In particular, I love Christmas shopping.  "Loved" is probably a better word since

Christmas shopping isn't fun any more.

Oh, that's not to say it isn't convenient, because it undeniably is.  I did  the lion's share of my Christmas shopping online this year, and you just can't beat free shipping (the only kind I get.)

Still (and yes, I realize how stupid this is going to sound), it's not as much fun as when I was young.

Growing up in New England, you could pretty much count on there being snow on the ground starting around Thanksgiving.  We'd go downtown to Parke-Snow and R. H. White (our local department stores) and look at the elaborate display windows.  The sales floors were decorated to within an inch of their lives and to a little kid, the sparkle was nothing short of magical.

Then a quick stop at the lunch counter at Woolworth's or Grant's for some hot chocolate, and maybe a little 8-year-old shopping for Mom & Dad (wow, look at the size of that bottle of perfume!  And it's only 98 cents!)

As a rule, we'd make at least one trip to Boston and go to Jordan Marsh to get our pictures taken with Santa.  I don't remember going to Filene's--we were definitely a Jordan Marsh family.

Even when they built the new mall (Searstown), they did a wonderful job of decorating (well, except for that one unfortunate year they tried to change the Christmas colors from red and green to pink and chartreuse.  This was the late '60s, so...)

Now when you go to a mall, there's a Santa in the center court and that's about it.  Sears will throw up a faded red tinsel tree and call it good.  Department stores (meaning Macy's, because that's all that's left) will hang a few signs and that's all the effort they put into decorating.

Am I the only one who misses the Toyland that sprang up in every single store, no matter how improbable?  I'm thinking about the hardware store and the auto supply place.

It all came to a crashing halt, I think, when Woolworth's went out of business.  Once they were gone, the whole season seemed a little less Christmassy.

(And yes, I realize that the whole point of Christmas is a spiritual one, but I'm not addressing that here.  I'm only talking about shopping.  Even I'm not that insensitive!)

There was just something about Woolworth's.  All the cheap & cheerful decorations for sale, the ugly artificial trees, the lunch counter, the smell of the store...  And always, there was at least one canary flying around, an escapee from the cages in the pet department.

How I miss Woolworth's.

So that's my little Diatribe du Jour.  Thanks for sticking it out this far.  Sorry it's not very well written, but I'm trying to do this quickly at work and it's noisy in here with a lot of distractions.

On to the thrift finds!

1.  Little Golden Books!  I haven't looked too closely, but I'm pretty sure these are reprints, not the originals.  That's fine with me.  I only have two, so not a collection yet.  But I'm expecting to get more!  I got the idea to collect them from reading this book.  Goodwill, $1.62 each.

2.  Covered Vegetable Dish!  I really needed this a few days before I got it, but at least I'm set for the next time we have company.  This is completely generic--there's no mark whatsoever on it.  I think it's pretty, though, and plain enough that it will go with whatever china I'm using at the time.  Rescue Mission Thrift, $3.00

3.  Pyrex!  As promised!  This is the shape I love, and the first time I've seen it in the wild.  Does anyone know the pattern name?  The design is in perfect shape, even after pulling off the tape holding the lid on.  Pretty sure it's an 033, 1.5 quart.  Unfortunately, there's some weird stain on the handle:

Click to embiggen

Anyone know what to do about this?  I tried steel wool figuring that would work, but it had no effect whatsoever.  Then I tried Bar Keepers' Friend, but that did nothing either.  I was afraid to try anything else before asking for help.  Help!  Goodwill, $3.00

4.  Microwave!  Well, the one I was considering last week got sold, naturally, but I found this one that was reasonably clean and the right size.  One Salvation Army we went to wanted 40 bucks for a similar Sunbeam model that was missing the turntable.  I guess people don't know that without that little glass plate, the microwave is useless.  Anyway, I tried this out in the store by running out to the car and getting Hubs' water bottle, and pouring some into a glass from the shelf.  It cleaned up nicely without too much work, so I'm pleased.  Goodwill, $20.00.

I also bought a battery-operated pencil sharpener, but it turned out not to work, so I'm not posting a pic.  It was only a buck, so no biggie.

In Other News Department:  I got tired of waiting for the caster to arrive for the gift wrap cart I got last week, so I picked one up at Home Depot.  I haven't had the opportunity to use it yet, since I got it after Christmas, but I can tell you that it holds a crap ton of stuff!  That corner of the closet looks so much better now.  I consider it money well spent.

And that's it for this week, kiddies.  Sorry this is so disjointed--I'm trying to do too many things at once and I'm really not good at multitasking.

Linking up this week with  Sir Thrift A Lot, Hey What's For Dinner Mom?, and Vintage Bliss Tuesdays

Thrifting Finds #76: Happy New Year!

Well.  Did you all have a wonderful Christmas?  We sure did here at Fondue Headquarters.  There were a lot of presents, a lot of food, and a lot of family, which is just the way it's supposed to be, no?

And frankly, your ol' Uncle Veg is pooped.  I'm not going to go on about how Christmas seems to approach with the speed of a freight train, as opposed to when I was young and I thought it would never get here.  I believe that's been covered before.  But let me tell you this--Christmas comes a lot faster than it used to!

Anyway, I have a bit of a Thrift Find to report. Only one, but since Hubs and I are both off this week, we may make a few more stops.

Book!  Not a cookbook this time, but still kind of about food.  It's all about the history behind different candies, mostly regional.  It's a funny and insightful book, and if you don't have a sweet tooth, you will after reading this,  Savers, $3.00

And that's it for the thrifted finds.  We did get a couple of new things at retail, but first let me explain:

After realizing that we only have white trees in the house, Hubs and I had a discussion:  Should we alternate between white and green trees?  Or should white trees be our "thing"?  We decided that white trees would, indeed, be our thing.  So to add to the collection, I got these:

Yeah, they're super garish, but I still love them.  Love them so much, as a matter of fact, that I was willing to pay full price for them on Christmas Eve (they were the last ones left.)  At Walmart, no less.  I mean, come on Walmart--can't you start discounting on the last day of the shopping season?  Geez.

This is one of those pop-up trees that looks very "all the Whos down in Whoville..."  I like that it stores in a minimum of space, since that comes at a premium around here.  Like the trees above, this was the last one in the store (Target), but at least I got it half price.

I want to share one more thing I got.  It wasn't a gift, since I bought it myself, but I have high hopes for it.  Again, let me explain first:  I have a high tolerance for mess.  Unnaturally high, some would say.  But there are two things that send me right over the edge:  dishes in the sink, and Christmas wrapping stuff.

We keep the wrapping stuff in a big Rubbermaid container, but not all of it fits, and there are certain people who have to have every roll of paper, every bow, every roll of ribbon, every box, and every gift bag out.  I looked into getting a gift wrap cart, but they were like over $180!  But then I stumbled across this one at Bed Bath and Beyond:

It was only $120, and by signing up for emails or something, I got their usual 20% off, bringing it down to $95, and free shipping.  As I say, I have high hopes for it.  But.  And that's a big "but".  Couple of things make is not so great:  Not all the parts fit well.  I had to do a little "persuading" to get the thing together (which took forever, by the way, and I'm good at assembling things.)  One of the pieces had 4 dowels missing, so I had to wait until the next day when I could go get some replacements.  When I finally had it mostly together, I discovered that one of the casters was missing.  Geez.  On a positive note, the gal I spoke to at BB&B was very friendly and helpful and she promised to get my caster out in 7-10 days.  We'll see if that happens.  Also, I ordered this on Christmas day (Thursday) and it got here on Saturday!  

In Other News Department:  Last week's question about whether to buy a used microwave is moot:  it was gone when I went back.  So it looks like I'll get some soulless made-in-China piece of crap at Walmart.

I also decided to mount the new TV on the wall.  It was a pain to do, but I like it much better than just sitting on top of the old set:

Huh.  It looks kind of wonky in the picture, but not in person.  Tribute to my mad skillz as a photographer, I guess.

We're having The Girl Child and The Boyfriend for dinner tonight, and frankly, I'm nervous about cooking this $50.00 piece of meat.  I got a small beef tenderloin, and it intimidates me;  I have the tendency to turn meat into shoe leather.  Keep your fingers crossed for me, won't you?  Alongside, we're having roasted potatoes, broccoli, and creamed onions.

And so, before I start straightening up for company, let me take this opportunity to wish you health, wealth, and happiness in the New Year!

Linking up this week with  Sir Thrift A Lot, Hey What's For Dinner Mom?, and Vintage Bliss Tuesdays

Thrifting Finds #75: ...and to all a good night.

Whew.  Your ol' Uncle Veg has been a busy boy these last couple of weeks getting ready for Christmas.  There's been a lot of cooking and baking lately, which I'll get to in a minute but first, I have an actual Thrift Find to share with you!

Christmas Napkins!  Yes, I actually found some Christmas linens at the Goodwill.  I'm not sure how vintage they are--probably not very, but I couldn't refuse them at only 0.50 each!  I bought 8 of them.  There were 12, I think, but some of them were discolored.  There was a matching tablecloth too, but I didn't care for it.
Now here's the problem--I can't use them this year!  I'm using the Christmas tablecloth I found last Spring and my Christmas china.  I realized that if I added these napkins to the mix, it would go from "My, isn't that festive!" to "Wow, it looks like Christmas threw up all over your table!"  So maybe next year I'll use a plain white tablecloth and these napkins.

Speaking of that tablecloth, take a look:

It almost fits my table!  In fact, I think it looks pretty darn good, especially considering that my table is an odd size and no tablecloth actually fits it.  P.S.  I took the picture after I ironed it, all evidence to the contrary notwithstanding.  And please pardon the mess--Christmas is still a work-in-progress Chez Fondue.

We're going to my brother's for Christmas dinner, so I don't have to cook a big meal.  The Girl Child and The Boyfriend are coming for a belated dinner next Monday, so at least I get to use my Christmas china again, and I'll get to cook a little, at least.

Which is a strange thing to say, considering what I've been up to lately in the kitchen.

What I Made Department:

1.  An insane number, of cookies!  So far, I've made 2 batches of Cherry Jumbles, 2 batches of Platinum Blondes, two batches of Holy Crap, It's a Brownie!, and four batches of M&M cookies, with two more batches on the schedule for today. When you consider each batch is like 3 dozen cookies, that comes to...well, a lot!  I took some to work, and some went to the vet's office.  Many are for bro and his girlfriend, but there are still plenty for Hubs and me (good thing we've been going for walks lately!)

2.  Candy candy candy!  I've made two batches of peanut butter fudge (which might as well be called peanut butter crack, it's that good), a batch of chocolate fudge for Hubs, and a batch of Sponge candy for bro.  Tomorrow, I'll be making pink popcorn (AKA Mother Goose popcorn), also for bro.

I stopped counting how much sugar I've used this month.

And that's it, really, though I have a question:  I need a small microwave for work (there's only one for like 40 people and it doesn't get cleaned...)  So I was looking in the GW yesterday, and they had one for 15 bucks.  It was cleanish, but not immaculate.  Assuming it works, would you be squeamish about a used microwave?  I wasn't sure so I left it.  A new one would cost about 50 bucks.

Oh, before I go, I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas from all of us here at Fondue Headquarters!

Linking up this week with  Sir Thrift A Lot, Hey What's For Dinner Mom?, and Vintage Bliss Tuesdays

Thrifting Finds #74: It's beginning to look a lot like

Christmas!  Yay!

Please bear with me--I have a feeling there's going to be a whole lot of rambling today.  More than usual, I mean.

Okay, to get right to the heart of the artichoke, so to speak, my thrift finds this week were nothing.  Again.  I could tell you how sick I am of looking at crappy Christmas stuff, but I believe we've already covered that in depth.

So this week I'm going to talk about other stuff, mostly Christmassy!  Your ol' Uncle Veg loves Christmas, dontcha know?

In keeping with the season, I've been perusing (again) my collection of Christmas catalogs, mostly from the 60's.  We're talking the major players here--Sears, Montgomery Ward, and Penneys--as well as some Minor League names--Gamble/Aldens, Spiegel, National Bellas Hess.

There are two themes in these catalogs that just kind of surprise me.  And it's not just one company--it's all of them:

1.  His 'n Her's matching outfits.  These catalogs have tons of these outfits--matching shirts, pants, sweaters, jackets, and on and on.  Did anyone actually wear these?  I don't ever remember seeing any couples in matching clothes.  My parents never did this, nor did the parents of any of my friends.  You find this thing throughout the 60's.  Weird.

2.  Slippers.  OMG, each catalog has a section of just pages and pages of slippers--for Mom!  For Dad!  For the kids!  Dozens of selections for each member of the family.  Were cold feet a problem back then?  Were winters particularly harsh?  Was one expected to have a wardrobe of slippers?

See?  Rambling.

In other news, Hubs and I joined the 21st Century!  Those who know us know that we don't watch much TV.  Remember when I dropped FIOS TV?  Generally, we'll get a season of some old show from the library and watch a couple of episodes a night, on my vintage Zenith Avanti:

I love the set and it looks great in the den, but it's finally starting to go.  I could try to repair it myself (I've repaired TVs before, with varying success), but it seemed time to maybe upgrade a bit.  So I went out and bought ourselves a Smart TV:

It's a Samsung

Normally, I hate when my appliances are smarter than I am, but we're loving this.  There is a ton of stuff you can do with this, but so far, we've just watched DVDs and stuff on Youtube (did you know you can get the Christmas 1968 episode of Hollywood Palace on Youtube?  We'll be watching that, for sure!)  I just need to figure out what to do with it.  For now, it's on top of the Avanti, which is a look I hate.  I could mount it on the wall, or I could get a stand for it and trash the Avanti.  What do you think I should do?  Help!

What I Made Dept:

The Annual Cookie Extravaganza has officially begun!  So far, I've made three different kinds.

Cherry Jumbles!  I actually made these before Thanksgiving and stuck 'em in the freezer.

Platinum Blondes!  This picture is a retread from last year, but they look the same.  Also sitting in the freezer.

M&M Cookies!  My brother's favorite, and my Yearly Sacrifice (I hate making cookies.)  So far I've made 6 dozen, and have another 6 dozen to go.  But at least I'm halfway through, right?

By the way, I found the best cookie scoop ever.  I went to Bed Bath & Beyond looking for an Oxo scoop, but I wasn't impressed by it.  The I found this one:

It's super comfortable.  It was 10 bucks.



The House is Decorated!  Anyone who's read this blog for a while will not be surprised by the following pictures.  I have no imagination so I end up doing the same thing every year.  Hubs and I realized just yesterday that we only have white trees this year.  Not quite sure how that happened.

The Big Tree!  I don't know why it always looks pink in pictures, because it doesn't look that way in Real Life.

The Hubster's Tree!  The string of lights gave up this year and we had to replace it with LEDs, which I'm not crazy about.  They're too bright for one thing, and the colors seem a little "off" to me.  Here's a closeup of the 

Toys Under the Tree!  My goal is to turn this into a vintage toy tree, but until I have enough miniatures, they'll just go under the tree.  Most are Hallmark ornaments, with a few others thrown in.  The Chatty Cathy talks--even makes the "string pulling" noise!  The record player plays "Rudolph".  Loud.

You've Seen This Before!  Shiny Brites in the urn, my Dollar Store candle shade, and the talking Santa pillow I fixed.  If you look closely, you can see the decoration Hubs made when he was just a little tad.  Cute?  I'll say!

Hohman, IN!  This year, I got to put up my Christmas Story houses 'n things.  These are already a few years old, and far superior the the ones they're selling now.  I'm really glad I got them when I did.  Sorry for the crappy picture--I was using the zoom feature on my phone.

Basho and Tinkles!  They wish you the Merriest of Christmases!!

My Cubicle!  Not many people seem to decorate around here, but I thought I'd bring a little cheer to the office, so I made this.  I don't know if you can tell, but there are lights in it.  Other than the wreath itself (4 bucks on sale at Michael's), everything came from the Dollar Store.  I used a lot of hot glue...

And that's about all I can think of for this week.  I think I used more pictures in this post than in any previous one, even though there are no actual thrift purchases.  I guess that says something, but darned if I know what!

Linking up this week with  Sir Thrift A Lot, Hey What's For Dinner Mom?, and Vintage Bliss Tuesdays

Thrifting Finds #73: Just like Yvonne De Carlo

I'm still here.

Because Yvonne De Carlo sang I'm Still Here?  In Follies?  Remember?

Anyone?

Bueller?

How was your Thanksgiving?  Ours was lovely--there were eight of us, which is a nice, manageable number.  Unfortunately, I offered the leftovers to our guests and everyone took me up on the offer!  There was hardly anything left but two drumsticks (nobody likes 'em.)  I mean, the whole point of doing Thanksgiving is to have leftovers.  That's the last time I make that offer, I tell ya.

The menu was simple:  Turkey:

Beautiful, no?  I rub mayonnaise on it before roasting.

Mashies, gravy, dressing, sweet potatoes. broccoli & cheese casserole, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce (with ridges) and rolls.  Just the basic stuff, heavy on the carbs.

And I got to use the new Corningware roaster I got a while back.  Worked great, and it was incredibly easy to wash, too.

So I had no idea I had been gone for so long; almost a month.  And the reason is that the thrifts have yielded absolutely nothing.  Zilch.  Nada.  They all seem to have a ton of stuff, but nothing worth actually buying.

Naturally, I've been looking for Christmas stuff, but it's all Walmart and Dollar Tree crap.  I am so sick of that stuff, aren't you?  Where are the Shiny Brites that other people are finding?  Where are all the cool Napco pixies?  Where are the knee-huggers? Huh?  Where?

Not here, that's for dang sure.

And another thing (can you tell there's a rant coming?)  I think whoever's doing the pricing at the Westminster Goodwill is certifiably insane.  Not only are the prices outrageous, but get this:  they put these bigass price stickers on each individual Christmas ornament.  Can you imagine?  You can barely get them off something that can go in the dishwasher; if you try to peel one off an ornament, it's completely ruined.  Be interesting to see how many they sell.

Saturday, there was a little basket of seashells that someone had collected on the beach.  Not big, exotic shells, just common, ordinary ones. Each one had a price sticker on it.

As I said, insane.

But it's not all bad news and grumping!  Nosiree.  'Tis the season and all that, so I'm trying to be my jolly best.

So though I have no official Thrifting Finds to report this week, I do have this, which is actually an ebay purchase:

Mattel Santa Claus Patter Pillow!  I've wanted one of these for quite some time, but they generally go for more money than I'm prepared to pay, especially if it's working. This one was fairly cheap, though he didn't talk.  So I opened him up, un-stuffed him, washed him, fixed his voice box, and then re-stuffed him and sewed him back up and made a new pompom for his hat (it's not actually sewed on in the picture, but you can't tell.  Special Effects!!)  If anyone wants, I'll make a little video of him talking.  I really love this lil' fella.

What I Made Dept:

Gallons and Gallons of Turkey Soup!  It doesn't look like much here, but there was another big container of it cooling on the balcony.  This is what I used the drumsticks for.  Delish.

Homemade Vanilla Extract!  Sharp-eyed readers will remember when I started this about a month ago.  Wellsir, it was finally ready so I decanted it into the original vodka bottle.  Smells good, though I'm not sure how it tastes.  We'll find out soon enough, when I start my Cookie Extravaganza.

And that's all for this week.  Since it's been a while, I'm going to go ahead and link up with the Usual Suspects.  I think that'll be okay, don't you?  Sir Thrift A Lot, Hey What's For Dinner Mom?, and Vintage Bliss Tuesdays

Thrifting Finds #71: Purely Practical

Well kids, once again Hubs and I were unable to make our usual weekend rounds.  Saturday was spent doing outreach for Hubby's office, which meant all of our Saturday chores had to be pushed forward.  That left precious little time for thrifting.  Still, we managed to get to one Goodwill, and I made multiple purchases.

Not that they were exciting purchases, you understand.  Sometimes, all the thrifts yield are practical items, and I'm okay with that.  It's not like we have a huge house, and I have those unfortunate hoarder tendencies to begin with, so I need to be careful.

Enough blathering.  Here's what I got:

1.  Rubbermaid Jar!  Got this for the purpose of hauling my Half & Half to work.  I bought a newer one but the lid doesn't snap on as tight and it leaks a little bit.  Can't beat the vintage stuff!  Well, it's probably from the '90s, but I think that's considered vintage now.  Goodwill, $.50

2.  Cocktail Shaker! I don't know anything about this, but something tells me it was originally filled with some brand of premixed cocktail.  Not sure why I get that feeling, though.  The top has a crown symbol on it, but I don't recognize it as being the logo for any brand of booze.  Not that I'm an expert, you understand :)  Anyway, I bought this not to make cocktails, but for a different project.  One that I'll report on as soon as I have all the pieces.  Stay tuned--it'll be exciting!*  Goodwill, $1.48.

*Totally won't be exciting.

Discovery Department:

So, does anyone remember the Christmas tablecloth I got a few months back?  No?  Well, why would you?  So here's a picture to jog your memory:

Fast-forward to yesterday when I was looking through the Sears Christmas Wish Book for 1966 and spotted this:

That's the same one, right?  So apparently, my tablecloth was a Sears purchase.  There was no tag, so now I know it's rayon and cotton (that'll be helpful if I ever when I iron it.)  I don't know why, but I always enjoy it when I learn the provenance of things.  Maybe that's why I like it when I get something with the original price sticker on it.

And that's about it for this week, kiddos.  As far as I know, we should be able to cover more thrift ground next week, so hopefully I'll have something fascinating to report--maybe some Christmas Pyrex!  Yeah, like that  will ever happen!

P.S.  The instant coffee I mentioned last week?  Nope, still nasty.

Linking up this week with Sir Thrift A Lot, Hey What's For Dinner Mom?, We Call It Junkin  and Vintage Bliss Tuesdays

Thrifting Finds #56: Same old, same old...

So this happened:

Yep, I can legally and officially call him The Hubster now!  We got married on 5/9, and other than a slight flower SNAFU (I ordered two boutonnieres with red roses but was handed one with a white rose), the whole procedure went swimmingly.  We were apparently the 8th couple to get married that morning, and it was lovely to have total strangers stop by and congratulate us as we sat and waited (we got married at the courthouse, btw.)  After exchanging our "I do's", the officiant asked us if we had any big plans, to which we answered at the same time:

Hubster:  I'm going to take these shoes off

Me:  I'm going to put on my slouchy clothes

What can I say?  When we got home, Hubs cleaned the windows in his car and I took a nap.  Yes, it's a glamorous life, indeed!

I kid, but truthfully, I couldn't be happier.  The honest truth is though, that this was the most anti-climactic wedding ever.  We have pretty much considered ourselves married right from the day we met.  Now we have rings and a piece of paper.  I'm reminded of a Sondheim lyric:  Everything's different; nothing's changed.

An interesting thing happened as we left the courthouse and walked back to the car.  We ran into the assistant director of my library system while crossing the street.  We looked at each other, I smiled and said Hi! and got the blankest look ever in return.  It only took me a nanosecond to realize that I was wearing a suit and she had never seen me cleaned up before.  I LOL'ed.

But you're not here to hear about our wedding, you want to see the good stuff I found, right?  Well, I actually have a few things to share this week (surprise, surprise!)  So on with the show:

1.  Divided tray!  We were talking about these at work the other day and my department head (who is a fully grown adult, by the way) wished she had one, as she does not like her food to touch.  When I saw it at the Goodwill, well, I didn't even have to stop and think.  Goodwill, $1.00

1.  RF Modulator!  The new DVD recorder doesn't show a great picture on my ancient TV and the manual said that if the signal goes through an RF modulator (which is has to), the quality will suffer.  I thought I'd try getting a new one to see if that helped and this one was brand-new, sealed, and only three bucks, plus it has an S-Video out port.  When I went to install it, I noticed that my current one has the S Video jack as well, so I didn't really need this.  I also noticed a switch to go from 75 ohms to 1000 and I set it to 75 and it seems the picture improved.  Well, it doesn't hurt to have a spare, right?  Plus, it was certainly cheap.  Goodwill, $3.00

3.  Christmas Tin!  I have been avoiding buying tins because it's a slippery slope, you know?  But this was the first one I've found that was vintage and a picture I like.  We can either use it to store something, or to distribute cookies at Christmastime.  Savers, $1.99

4.  Cool Alarm Clock!  I've never seen anything like this before,  It's an electric alarm clock, but the alarm is a music box!  It has a great mid-century vibe, with the gold flecks in the ivory case and I think it's headed for ebay.  I can't figure out what the tune is, maybe someone can tell me:

Sound familiar?  Anyone?

RingPlus update: So I wasn't going to switch cellphone carriers until the end of the month, but my Virgin Mobile phone died for the second time in one week so I bit the bullet and went ahead and signed on with  RingPlus.  Here's a breakdown of the charges and plans:

Virgin Mobile:  300 talk minutes, unlimited texting, and unlimited data:  $37.00/month with taxes.

RingPlus:  400 talk minutes, 400 texts, 300mb data:  $12.00/month with taxes.

So the two plans aren't really comparable, but I don't think I've ever used more than about 15 minutes of talk in a month and even with the unlimited data plan, I never hit 200mb.  So while the Virgin Mobile plan is definitely cheap, it's still way more than I need.   The RingPlus plan fits me much better, not to mention the fact that it's $25.00 a month cheaper.

The reason RingPlus is so cheap is that when you call someone, instead of listening to the phone ringing, you hear an ad.  As soon as the person answers, the ad stops.  It was a little strange at first, but for $12.00 a month, I'll get used to it fast!

Like Virgin Mobile, there's no contract and you have to buy your own (Sprint) phone.  I got a Samsung Galaxy S3 from Mobile Karma.  It's a refurbished model and cost $170.00.  I ordered it on a Monday and got it on Wednesday.  The thing looks brand-new, too.  So far, I'm loving it.

And that's it for this week, kids.  Sorry I had so little to report ;)  

This week, I'm proud to link up with  Sir Thrift A Lot, Thrifter/Maker/Fixer/Farm, and We Call It Junkin.