Category: thrifting

Thrifting treasures

~ Maggie ~ 4 Comments

I needed a little break from my thoughts, my grocery shopping and my todo list, so on my way from one supermarket to the other, I decided to stop at the thrift store. You know, just to look around and maybe pick up a book or something small.

Ahem. Six books? Yeah… Couldn’t help myself. I already picked up Gulliver’s Travels at the supermarket (they have a free library), but I couldn’t resist a novel by Nora Roberts that I haven’t read yet (Sanctuary in English). And I discovered Corina Bomann last year. I love all her books and I’ve been binge reading every one included in my ebook subscription, so finding two I haven’t read yet was a treat. The other three books are non-fiction, about hunger, food and changing habits. Because that is what I need to work on. If I could only get myself to actually read books like that… I have a few more in my TBR piles.

Anyway, here’s the rest of the stuff I found. Those wooden leaves… I don’t know. They look like the broke off something, but I just like them very much. I’m sure I will find somewhere to put them. The orange/red bowl is from Pyrex and it’s dirty (still soaking at this point), but in good condition. I usually don’t pick up colors like that, but… I don’t know… I just wanted it.

The little basket had a broken handle, so I took the other one off too. Which was harder than I thought it would be, but I got it done. This will be perfect for drying herbs, or just for decoration. Isn’t that spiral lovely?

When we moved here, I discovered baskets are hard to find here, especially thrifted. I never expected that, given the mountains of baskets I was used to see in thriftstores in The Netherlands, but I tried to accept it as part of living in the tropics. But the past year, I’ve gotten lucky and I have a nice collection now. They are all meant to be used, but they also look great as decoration, I think.

Out of all the linens they had I picked up this cotton tea towel. I don’t know what I’ll use this for, but I really like the sunflowers.

My favorite find is this little glass pitcher (the right one is the one I bought this time)… I try to stay away from collecting things, but I have to be careful with these. I know, two isn’t a collection yet, but I looked at another one in the shop and I would have bought it if it hadn’t been chipped…
To be honest, I don’t know what I could use them for, but gosh, they’re so cute. I do wonder what they are meant to be used for though. Oil and vinegar (which means the corks are missing)? Sauce? Milk?

Oh well, I like them. And since I paid 13 guilders (about 7 dollar) for the whole lot, I’ll just consider it cheap therapy.

A little thrift haul

~ Maggie ~ 2 Comments

Nope, not a knitting update. I don’t want to be whining about that constantly, so let’s pretend I never promised. I do have a little thrift haul to show you.

Let’s get this one out of the way first My husband is a smoker, and yes, I know, and he knows too. And that’s all I’m gonna say about it. I just wanted to explain that we need ashtrays. I was really pleased with myself about this one. Not only is it really beautiful (the colors), it’s quite heavy. So it won’t blow off the table when it gets windy (we have a lot of wind here – if we’re lucky, because that cools things down a bit). It took me a while to realize that people don’t use ash trays like this one around here, because the ashes and butts will blow out. Oops. Fail. I think this one needs to go back to the thrift store, unless I can find some other use for it. I do wish I could find plates, bowls or cups in those colors…

This one is silly, but there’s a reason for it. When this slogan was all the rage, I really liked it, but I couldn’t afford any of the merchandise. I eventually bought a post card, but that was it and it didn’t survive the move here. So yeah, this one needed to come home with me. But now I don’t really know what to do with it. Oh well, I’ll find a place for it.

Isn’t this little egg tray fun? My usual breakfast is two boiled eggs, so I imagine using this instead of the little glass bowl I’ve been using for years now.

Of course I didn’t leave without some fun glass. I really love this little apple. It even has a little leave engraved. I don’t know what to use it for. I think it’s meant for apple sauce or apple compote, but we don’t eat that. And fall decor isn’t a thing here (we don’t have fall). But I do like it.

This book is called: “Why we are always short in time and other irrational behavior”. I like reading books that teach me how the human mind (and more specifically my own mind) works.

This sign says “Nobody gets a program of the concert of life”. My grandparents had one like this and a little while ago I was thinking I needed to look for one when we are in the Netherlands, because I could need a reminder of that. Not of my grandparents, though that’s a nice bonus, but of the truth in these words. No one can predict what will happen, that’s just not how it works, but I struggle with that a lot.

I have to admit I was a bit influenced with this one. I have been watching way too many thrift hauls videos and the girls that find the kind of stuff I’m into are always really excited about boxes. Because these are the witchy girls that have crystals and candles and tarotcards to put in those boxes. I don’t have any (or many – in the case of crystals) of those, but when I saw this at the checkout my mind told me: “A box! A beautiful box! We need that!” So I snatched it up. And now I don’t know what to put in it. Sewing stuff, pens, tea…? We’ll see. I do really like it.

I actually went to the store because I saw they had this on their facebook page. It’s a stool, that turns into a little step ladder when you fold out the steps. It’s missing a step and it needs some work, but it’s sturdy. As soon as the temperatures go down a bit I’m going to paint it, replace the seat and the steps with something nice and it will be beautiful. I’ve always wanted one of these (I think my grandmother had one), so I’m very happy with it.

I know, it’s a weird little collection. But that’s what I got. What’s your favorite?

Thrifted treasures

~ Maggie ~ 5 Comments

Some of the youtubers I follow post grocery hauls and I’m always amazed how well those videos are received. I do watch them every once in a while myself, but honestly, what fun is there in seeing that someone bought green beans, avocados and grapes? It’s a mystery to me. I have been trying to picture myself filming what I bring home from the supermarket, but no… Not going to happen.

Thrift store hauls though… yes please! Love those! It’s always fun to see what treasures people find and I love sharing the things I dig up on the shelves of our not-so-fancy thrift store.

I popped into the thrift store when I was out for grocery shopping last Tuesday. I almost didn’t, but then I decided I really wanted to, so I took 30 minutes out of that busy morning to have a bit of fun. And here’s what I found, straight from the shop (I did clean them after I took pictures):

How cute is that cat? It’s a tiny teapot and I love it so much! The lady at the thrift store loved it too. She actually started talking to it: “O cutie, someone is taking you away!” And then she had a hard time taking the head off to pack it seperately. But well, I really wanted it to stay safe. I was amazed that it was in such a good condition to start with and I would have hated to have it broken on the way home.

A tiny glass duck… Such a cute find. And I’m so happy the little beak and tail are still whole – they had some other cute little animals, but those were all damaged badly.

And a perfume bottle. Also in very good condition.

Of course I didn’t walk away without books. I never do. I actually had a good book day.

The stack on the left is from the free libraries in two supermarkets (I had to visit four to find our weekly supply of rice cakes). The stack on the right is from the thrift store. I paid 15 guilders (about 8,50 in dollars) for everything. The cat tea pot was priced at 10 guilders, so the rest was very cheap.

Thrift store treasures

~ Maggie ~ 5 Comments

The most fun about going thrift store shopping is that you never never know what you’ll find. I do have a list of things I’m looking for in the back of my head, but I learned to keep an open mind for anything else. If I just look for the things on my list, it will be frustrating if I can’t find them and that takes all the fun away.

So, while I went searching for a butcher’s block or a side table or something else at counter height that I can use as a cutting table for sewing and a work table for herbal crafting, I was acutally quite pleased to come home with some completely different things.

I’ve always loved copper and iron things for decorating in the kitchen, but in our former houses we didn’t really have the wall space for that. Here, we do, but these objects are really hard to find. So yay for both an iron plate that I love and a beautiful copper bowl. I bought them in a shop that has the better stuff, but they are rather expensive, so they were quite pricy (42 guilders, about 27 dollars). I decided it was worth it.

The other thrift store I went to is the one where you really have to dig deep to find treasures hidden under all the rubbish they sell there. Yet, when the lady said; “I’m happy to see you found something”, I could sincerely answer that I always do.

How fun is that fabric? I don’t have a clue what to do with it, but I love it. The white napkin on top is linen, the other one cotton (I think – I’m not an expert in determining these things). The little spoon has some really nice decoration (but you can’t reall see that in this picture) and the vase is pretty too. I paid 5 guilders (about 3 dollars) for that little haul.

You know what’s the best thing about not being able to find what I was looking for? I get to go again soon!

Thrift store therapy

~ Maggie ~ 5 Comments

Today I decided that I needed a little bit of help with my not-so-severe, but lingering depression/burn-out/stress, so I drove to town to find myself some rhodiola, because what I read about it is giving me high hopes that this will work for me (disclaimer: don’t take my advice on these things, do your own research and ask a doctor).

On the way home I had to stop at the thrift store, because, you know, that’s what I do. It makes me happy.

Here’s what I found:

  • A book about first aid (because every home needs one, in my opinion and also because I like to read books like that every once in a while to feel prepared for when something happens)
  • A little pouch. I thought I wanted it to organize stuff in my purse, but now I think I might use it for my growing stash of knitting notions (I left the pink pouch Elizabeth made me many years ago at home)
  • Some yarn. I’m thinking about starting a scrap blanket. It will be fun to pick up yarn for that every time I’m at a thrift store and it will provide some mindless knitting. I need that.
  • A giant stack of magazines. The title literally translated is “Country living”, but that’s actually another magazine. Love that one too, but this one is more about the actual living (keeping live stock, gardening, recipes) thought it does have articles about beautiful country houses too. I was tempted to buy the newest one in the supermarket, but it’s expensive, so I put it back. Now I have 13 for not even half the price! I don’t care that they’re older. Ducks will be ducks 😉
  • Two glass jars. I have some herbal teas that need jars, or maybe I’ll use them for sugar and powdered milk. Endless possibilities.
  • Not pictured: a little kitchen shelve for herbs and spices. I’ll show that when I’ve hung it.
  • Also not pictured: cooler clothes. Four dresses/tunics and a skirt. I’m finally warm enough to ditch the woolen sweaters.

I paid 30 Euro and 5 cents for the whole lot. That’s more than I usually spend at a thrift store (most of it was for the clothes), but it’s still much cheaper than therapy…