Thrifty Magic

If you haven't discovered the magic of thrift-ing, I think you should start.

It requires digging into 40% uninteresting things all of which are 100% not clean to questionable levels, but there are some amazing things in the heaps of stuff that only look  like trash. (just think of your attic at home)

On my way home from work I stopped by the Lamma animal shelter which doubles as a thrift store and took a look. I was kinda tired, and not really in the mood to dig and was on my out, when a dark frame caught my eye. So I stopped and took a second look. Two detailed old style lithograph prints (I mean prints of the original print) in heavy wood and glass frames. Dusty to be sure, so I asked how much there were. Friends, a mere 20 HKD (a little under 3 USD) per frame in it's entirety, art included!

You be the judge, was it worth it?

Personally I think the glass is worth more than that alone. The best part of thrifting is that most of things you find are older, which might mean more repairs, or stains, probably a small chip, something you'll definately have to clean and air out.

Or it could mean things they no longer make that you've been searching for, something the previous owner couldn't appreciate like you can, maybe a more unique piece to hang on your wall than the mass production at Pier One. Or something out of your price range at anthro (p.s. they thrift to get some things in their store too).

Give thrifting a try! Books, art, belts, cameras, furniture at architectural salvage shops, dishes, that can stand the test of years, sometimes decades, can make your home beautiful and unique at a sweet price, while recycling on top of it all.

Walter & Tim's Maiden Voyage.

The last week an a half have slipped by, I meant to put up flower production pictures before I posted them on Etsy but... of course I procrastinated for a whole week. :/ The good news is that I made a new resolution to not watch tv without needle in hand, and that has led to the creation of 56 lovely flower clips. So here's to a flower filled week. (Here's the self promtion) These are post production and the most sucessful pictures, they come in 7 colors and you should totally check my etsy for them :D

Somehow during the week, getting the newspaper at 4 became part of my daily routine, and on thursday while rooting through the comics and marketplace ads I noticed a post for antique bonanza in the small town of Walnut, Iowa (self proclaimed antique town) So I phone up master crafter Breanne (aka. minihorse) in Lincoln and suddenly I had Saturday adventure plans!


Now, as most of you probably don't know, I have a spring-suction-cup-attached-to-my-winshield whale which I have dubbed Walter. To go along with walter the whale, I christened my car tim. (doesn't the adventures of walter and tim just roooooll of the tongue?) Anyways, I soujourned to lincoln friday afternoon and purchased a ton skeleton keys for my necklaces (38 if you wanna get particular) which I just purchased finishing clasps for them so they should be up on monday? or later today.maybe.

After key shopping I went to first fridays (photo based!! *swoon*) It was fairly disappointing, I expected more but maybe i got over excited. Taura Horn was there again and she had cute new pictures (interweb link) of native nebraska twas lovely. and there were baby pastries at a corner exhibit so that was nice. Then we went to walmart and got supplies for cakeball making. Breanne, Blair and I made red velvet cakeballs with almond bark on the outside, then watched Ponyo on the cliff by the sea by anime gods, studio ghibili, for a bit and hit the hay.

8 far-to-short hours later, bleary eyed me was awake and preparing for the maiden voyage of tim&walter. We decided to be hipsters and breeze played melodica while I sang while we drove 2 hours to quaint walnut (pop. 837). Up to expectations the town was choc-o-block full of antique shops (11 out of 18 ) And I was nothing short of a tourist as a oo'd and aa'd my way down the brick road. The first three shops were far too expensive, and we soon discovered the basements are way frigid. So we park ourselves at Aunt B's for a lovely meatloaf lunch before continuing the rummage. We searched through 7 more stores and found a mirad of wonderful things. I ended up buying a knit blanket, a three tiered cake plate, a large suitcase, 3 old cameras and all under 50 bucks :D!

*Swoon* A tiny working baby piano just like the ones
Margot & the Nuclear So and So's had in concert :D!

A delicious meatloaf meal for me, and a chicken pita for Breanne.

MM. Action shot. omnomnom.

A baby cast iron oven complete with leaf attachments!

Charming owl teapots

*sigh* A panoramic photo I really wanted,
but alas i'm cheap and twas 75 bucks.

Behold, the queen reigns from her wicker throne.

Jigglypuff gold plated pokemon card? yes, amazing.

Reflection portrait, note how empty the street is.

A cute, overfilled shop with gorgeous light,
sadly it was closed. I'll go back just for the pictures one day.

This shop had cute bells!

A chic french beret. I will attempt making knockoffs of this shortly.

Quilt Central!

A 3 story barn of antique-ish goodness.mmm.

All in all a wonderful day. I would recomend the sojourn to walnut, so worth it.

Look for necklaces, keychains, laptop bags, and potentially berets in the coming week :D.