Zazazu

For those of you participating in the Thrift Shop * Thrift Swap, swap partners have been assigned and sent out.   I did it old school.  I put all of your names onto little slips of paper and into this pretty jar and drew them out and paired you all up randomly.

If you thought you signed up and didn’t receive a partner, let me know.  If you have any questions about the particulars of the swap, just send me a message through the contact link above.

Since putting this swap together, all things thrift have been on my mind.  Okay, I should clarify that statement… all things thrift are on my mind MOST of the time, period.

So, I thought I would FINALLY do what I’ve long meant to do here on my blog… list some of my neato thrift finds.  I hope you all enjoy my finds as much as I have.

Amazing vintage French canning jar… complete with wire clasp top and French writing all over it.  It is GI-normous too!  A steal at $1.

Retro-fun floral pillowcases – a pristine pair for $1.98!  My favorite color is chartreuse so these were perfect.  The front red-ish pillow is very old and quilted on the front with all sorts of pretty ruffles.  Amazing condition and for… wait for it… only 45-cents!

Looks like someone tromped through a field in these but they are still stunning.  Custom-made Palizzio peeptoe platform slingbacks.  LOVE.  THEM.  Love that I only paid $2 for them too!

Sometime back I got this pretty green glass dish (45-cents) with the express intent of putting a wee cacti garden in it.  Well, I finally got around to fulfilling its purpose over the weekend.  I’m so happy with how it looks.  THIS is how my garden grows!

Other of my amazing recent finds can be found in my Etsy store.   Tons of neato stuff there!  Also, I started a fun new blog featuring cool things I discover on Etsy.  It is called EtsyFinds.  Check it out and feel free to comment!

Do tell… what cool thrift / vintage things have you found lately?

1. Karen village, Thailand, 2. Flickr Loves Sushi. Mmm., 3. Kossuth’s tombHDR, 4. concerto in chartreuse, 5. Colin Firth revisited, 6. soy latte I made., 7. Village of Gorbio, Maritime Alps, Provence, 8. szechwan peppercorn creme brulee, 9. I Love New York, 10. I love my mom, 11. The chase, 12. what Carrie Bradshaw wants,

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Leonie recently did this fun meme and I thought I’d play along. I don’t do many memes anymore but a Flickr mosaic? I’m in. What a neat idea!

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

The Questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you.
12. Your Flickr name

My Answers (the words I searched in Flickr):

1. Karen
2. Sushi
3. Kossuth
4. Chartreuse
5. Mr. Darcy
6. Soy Latte
7. Provence
8. Creme Brulee
9. Happy
10. Mom
11. Lost
12. Zazazu

Leave me a comment if you decide to play along! This one was FUN!

In all the swaps I’ve hosted, I’ve NEVER had a cool logo button for one… until NOW!  The super-talented and super-sweet Monica took it upon herself to create one for us.  I, for one, think that is uber-cool!

As I was telling Monica, I am technologically illiterate so I don’t know how to make this neat button “link” back to the post.  However, if you know how to do it and want to link it back to the original post, please feel free to do that.

Here is the button (THANK YOU, MONICA!!!)

[If you are interested in participating, please leave a comment on the original post as that is where I will be taking sign-ups from.  Thank you!]

I would be remiss if I didn’t take this opportunity to announce that I’m running a sale at my Etsy store.  I’ve just put a TON of things from my store into my SALE section… Craft supplies, destash stuff, vintage fabric, vintage linens, vintage jewelry, books, something for EVERYONE!

Also, I’m running BOGO in my $6 Vintage Jewelry Section! Buy one $6 piece and get the second for half-price! That’s $9 (pre-shipping) for two pieces of great vintage jewelry!

This will run through the weekend at least… Don’t miss out!

Happy weekend!

I’m feeling rather sparky today so I thought I would do a couple of fun things here on my blog.

Firstly, the lovely Miss StilettoHeights has inspired me to write up a list of things that provide inspiration to me lately. What a fun exercise, no?

What inspires you lately? For me, it includes…

• Vintage shoes – I have found so many wonderful ones lately! I get the extra-fab ones to list in my store as I love to have a good vintage shoe selection there. So many fabulous and unique vintage shoes out there… great quality too.

• Colored tights / leggings – Crazy, yes, but they go with so many things and really give an added flair! Besides, they fashionably cover my stark white legs.
• Lame – A fabulous gold lame tank literally jumped off the rack at me the other day and I’ve been smitten since. Everyone needs to sparkle.
• Belts, belts, BELTS! Need I say more?
• My new store banner… so pretty and so wonderfully done! Thanks, PixelCafe!

• Vintage artwork, especially crewel-work.
• Homemade iced coffee.
• Ruffles and Scarlett O’Hara.

• Sex and the City re-runs… until I get finally get out to see the new movie!
• Russian architecture

• Anything at all to do with Paris… specifically living there someday.
• Tomatoes… fresh with a bit of pepper. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm…
• Vintage bedding… LOTS of it!
• A gorgeous white gauze babydoll top that I bought when I was sixteen. I found it again the other day and have been wearing it with skinnies and my flats. Scavenging in my own closet is very fun!
• Yard sales… ’tis the season. It makes Saturday mornings SUCH fun! I look forward to them all week!

Speaking of yard sales…

How about a swap? As all of you know and can tell from my list above, I’m terribly inspired by things that I find at thrift stores and yard sales. I love things that others cast-off that I can make good use of. It is the ultimate recycling and such fun too!

I also know that many of my readers here are thrift store / yard sale mavens, also loving the hunt for what they can re-use and give another life to.

So, since it is the prime thrifting / yard sale season… how about a “Thrift Shop Thrift Swap“? Here is how I propose for it to work:

1. Leave a comment on this post that you want to participate. Right after you leave your comment, please contact me at msred5@yahoo.com with your contact information, i.e. name, address, blog and email address. Sign-up will close on June 15.
2. On June 16, I will pair those who have signed up with a partner and send each of you their information. In order to get to know new people better – as that, I believe, is part of the fun of a swap – this will be a one-on-one swap.
3. After being in touch with your swap partner, compile a package of things you think they would like. Here is the catch… ALL items that you send MUST be from a thrift store / garage sale / yard sale / porch sale / estate sale / tag sale / etc… you get the idea. Of course, make sure they are nice items and not junk but I think we all know how to do this… how to find the treasures out there! Bonus points if your packaging comes from thrifting too. (Not that there will be a winner or anything but.. that would be cool, huh?) Spend between $10 – 15 on your package, not including shipping.
4. Send your packages out by July 1. If you can’t make it by then, let me AND your partner know of the delay.

(International participants welcome. Please be willing to ship Internationally if you decide to participate. If you leave comment on this post, I will assume that you wish to participate. Please realize when signing up that sometimes there are bum swappers.  I can’t control this.)

Sound fun?

Join us!

Tell your friends!

Any questions?  Feel free to contact me!

::::::::::::::::::::::: Happy scavenging! ::::::::::::::::::::::

Psst… Want to join my Etsy store mailing list? Email me at msred5@yahoo.com to join. Repeat customers who are on my mailing list get 10% off every purchase (the subtotal).

Today’s list – Ten Favorite Time Wasters

1. Reading random fashion or design blogs… SO many pretty ones out there!
2. Searching through the vintage category on Etsy.
3. Watching re-runs of Law & Order or CSI… Yes, I thought I had broken myself of that habit but alas…
4. Napping.
5. Organizing my favorites on Etsy.
6. Walking around outside, looking at the flowers and such.
7. Thinking up blog posts that never actually get written.
8. Looking around Craigslist.
9. Searching for my child (aka. my cat) who won’t come when she is called.
10. Shopping… of any kind, really.

These were harder to think of than I thought they’d be!  Shocking, really.