School freebies that were not stolen

I'm aware that I've been neglecting my blog, Because holidays. Which is also why I'm on vacation and finally picking up where I last left off.
Items that are free! Specifically, school items! They were not stolen from my place of employment!

I picked up these sequence cards back in September. A preschool teacher was switching rooms, and paring down her stash. When teachers do this, they often leave things in a box in case someone needs outdated materials. It was in this box that I found that picture-hole-lotto game from my last post.

Ooh nature! Stages of plant growth. On a sad note, the teacher who left these behind broke her leg a couple months ago. Can't teach preschool in a full leg cast. I used one of these plant cards to make her a card.

Look at that nice 70s couple sharing household chores, being all progressive and such.

These items are less exciting to me. Block things, just not nearly as aesthetically pleasing as the books!

Old timey library books for children! Books like these are like works of art with their retro illustrations. I got these in the hallway of the school where I worked a summer program. So, since it's almost New Years...look at these!

Find Out by Touching is  from the "Lets read and find out" series of which I collected a few.

Look at those beautiful colors! That little pine tree branch with the bird...freakin' adorable.

I love the font, but the Tattooed Man wasn't as good a read as I had hoped.
Over the weekend, I found some other things of interest. So, stay tuned I guess.

Hell yeah, freebies: fashion mags

I can't explain why, but I've been busy..I think? I haven't had time to do any blogging or much sewing, so I must have been doing something else.
Let's keep it simple. Rather than lay out the treasures of my recent thrift store trips, I will instead show you some things that I recently acquired without the exchange of money.
Le Magazines!

Family friend, Diane (who often gifts me with awesome stuff, as she is a career seamstress and clothing DIYer) gave me these awesome old timey magazines. Those three are from 1958-59 and are en Francais. Pardon moi, I took Spanish in school and don't know how to spell French words.

These 13 slim volumes come from 1965-1970...

Guess what specific wearable item is the subject for all these mags.

A magazine all about hats in fashion and how to make fashionable hats (that's called "millinery" btw, I say with a know-it-all smugness). Look at the cool cover on that one up there.
The last magazine, I actually thought was 100 magazines crammed together.

There are some English words in here. It's actually a catalog for ordering patterns and fabric from 1973/74. OMFG

Little fabric swatches! Those explain the catalogs bulkiness.

They keep calling those actual pieces of cloth "photos." I don't thing that word means what they think it means. The colors, prints, and styles of these looks from the early 70s are incredible. I'm going to share more.
My first thought was to use these magazines for "art", but that would certainly mean cutting them up with scissors. I will probably see what they go for on the interwebs.
I was going to continue this post and show pictures of books and learning materials, but zzz...
Linking up at Sir Thrift A Lot.

Thridt Hoard: more big-ass art

Last week, there was a a 50% off all clothes, accessories, shoes, bedding, etc. at Savers. Despite using my day off to check out two Savers locations, it was not a successful haul. A few dresses (not yet photographed), a nice looking afghan (left on my parents' washer) and this awesome bag:

It's a red vinyl bag with a card from a Mexican game called Loteria! El Diablito! You know I listed that thing right away: El Diablito bag Stuff like that is totally my bag.
I managed to find something worth paying full Savers price on

 I love these vintage sewing baskets by Wilson Wil-hold or whatever. (By the way, pardon my lame pics, I lose sunlight insanely early.) That one looks like an actual basket. And it's got the trays in it!

I just tossed a few buttons in, I'm going to destash and fill this thing. It's just really hard parting with buttons that I totally might need someday!
Hey, you ever regretted a cheap thrift purchase because now you're burdened with something you don't know what to do with? I was doing a quick Goodwill run after dropping off some clothes for donation and I spotted this old timey clock radio:

I added a vintage photo filter to make it look cool. It's got those rolling numbers, wood grain, and I like it. Also, it was $2. It was right next to this one:

This one set me back another $2. I didn't feel like plugging them in and fooling around with them, as I was low on time. So, I gambled $4. Here's what I got; the Zenith bedside alarm clock/radio can definitely tell time! But, the "circle of sound" mentioned on it has gone silent. No radio. The cute, little box thing by Juliette has a working FM radio; aaand no clock.
Maybe I can sell them for for $4 each. I will double my investment!
Last Thursday, having not made any big money scores, I made a stop at Outfitters on my way home from work. 50% off housewares, hell yeah. Here's where I hit gold.

Look at that sweet little bathroom cabinet. White metal, with the punched detail, and two little plastic doors... I think it cost me $2.50 because of the sale! I listed it on Friday night, then sobbed myself to sleep after spending a Friday night describing an old bathroom fixture. I sold it Saturday for $50. Pardon me, whilst I roll around in dolla bills.
Also at Outfitters...it didn't take me long to spot this big-ass wall hanging. How could I miss it?

Oh. My. God. It's awesome. It's a large, 70s, orange-and-brown, mod, swirl design on canvas. How big is it? 4' 8" long and 2' 10" tall.
It's in great shape and it's signed. Sadly, the "signature" is just an unintelligible scribble and the year '77. So, I can't exactly look up the artiste. I've see some of these mod looking things listed for a proverbial shit-ton, but I have no idea if mine is valuable or not. For all I know, it's crap. I'm sure I can sell it on "cool factor," but damn it, how much?
I appreciate any tips.
Linking up with Sir Thrift A Lot.

It's a Camera Lamp! DIY that's e-a-s-y

Perhaps you've seen them on Pinterest, or for sale on Etsy. The camera lamp is an aawesome DIY in which a beautiful old camera is somehow reworked into a a beautiful light fixture. It usually involves drilling, and wiring, and electricity fucking with.

find sources on my Pinterest

Those I cannot make. Nope, no time, might burn the building down. Here's what I can make:

I started with this:

I got that sweet vintage camera at a church yard sale In June for either $1 or $2, I can't recall. It's a Kodak Duaflex II. Wasn't sure what to do with it. I bought it to sell on Etsy, but rethought it; these old cameras are all over and I don't even know if that one works. Apparently people are using these to take pics! I use mine as dust collectors. Anyway, I found this:

I saw it on the shelf at Goddwill for $1.99. A lamp base, where something was broken off at some point. Endless possibilities for what could be placed on top of that red platform! Like an old camera? Here's your $2!

I spray painted it. It was kind of beat up before. Now it looks much fresher! I accidentally spray painted a little of the wire, too. My bad.
At this point, I noticed the width of the lamp base and shape of the camera which I was planning on combining. It didn't seem like a great "fit." Putting it in the middle would have left me with weird empty sides and a visible hole on the right. Putting the camera on one side would be just wrong. I would need something else. Like an old roll of film in an old timey box. I figured I would find one soon enough.
I did not. Impatiently, I considered other options. Sitting in my living room and doing absolutely nothing was this:

 It's an old flash thing. I remember being at the flea market with my sister last year and coming across a big pile of stuff and a "free" sign. I just started grabbing and this was amongst my haul. Could that work? Let's see...

Well, that couldn't possibly work out any better. That "Flasholder" (that's what it says) is for a Kodak Duaflex! And it's just been sitting there purposeless. I'll repurpose the hell out of it!

Look how cute they are, side by side. Now that I was ready to attach, I used a strong adhesive that claimed it would pretty much bond anything to anything. Of course, there's always an issue. The bottoms of both objects weren't just flat across.

See what I mean? I covered both surfaces in glue, but it just didn't seem like I had enough coverage. I had to do some last minute improvising with felt. Then, I had to let it cure for 24 hours. So loooong...
Here's how it looks!

Nothing fancy here. Unlike the more excellent camera lamps, light doesn't come from the actual camera or a flashbulb; but this was way easy! It was made just like I make most of my DIY stuff. Glue things to other things. I even added an old lampshade that I picked up for $.99.

I am now second guessing said lampshade for not being wide enough. Anyway, if you're keeping track of the cost here, let's break it down:
Camera: $2
Lamp base: $1.99
Flash thing: free
Shade: $.99
Total: $4.98! (One could also attempt to factor in the price of the adhesive. I don't know, $0.40 of it?)
Completing a DIY project using all second hand stuff and having it come out the way you intended? Priceless.
Just kidding! I put a price on that sucker, once the glue was dry. Vintage Camera Lamp by Sweet Scores Vintage on Etsy
I priced it at $40. Now, I wait.

Thrift Hoard: Bigs and smalls

Mostly big. Remember bread boxes? Do people still have those? They should. Look at this one I picked up ;ast week at the yard sales:

Guess what? Photographing super reflective objects like that is very difficult. Remember that time a guy got naked and then shot a few pictures of a shiny teapot or something and then listed said teapot on ebay, thus sharing a reflection of his junk with all the bidders? Then, that was a trend called reflecto-porn? (I just Googled it. The internets remember.)
Sorry, I don't have any of that here. Just some bad pics of this awesome breadbox.

 There it from the front! Blending right into its background! Can you see the cute little details? Nope, me neither! Of course, I'm pretty pleased with how nice this looks in real life. It had quite a bit of rust, which I managed to remove with baking soda and steel wool. I'm going to list it, when I can build a big ass light box, I guess. 

One of the first sales I hit up that morning was probably really full of good stuff. Had I shown up before 10 AM, I probably could've seen it. Eh, I'm not a very competitive yard saler. I like to show up late when the people are giving stuff away. This guy still had plenty of cool things, and almost everything was $1.

This adorable deer planter is from Lane and Co., those folks who made TV lamps. This one's from 1959. I don't haggle over a buck...
I'm sorry, that joke has no business even trying. That's clearly a doe. I got him listed here: deer planter on Etsy Hey, look at this one I got at that sale!

I love how it's shaped like a log, but it's neon green. It's by Gilner; know what that means? It means that it probably once had an elf or something adorable attached to it. See that spot where a fake little plant stands? It was just a glue spot when I brought it home. I don't have any sweet little elves laying about, so the little tree will have to do.

Beautiful ceramic aqua ash tray! Isn't it glorious? Thing still had ashes in it, when I found it. (That panther is just prowling around, he's not for sale.) The ash tray isn't either. Someone bought it the same night I listed it. Nice knowing you, ashy.
Hey, how about these coffee mugs?

They're from an old local hardware store, which is apparently still operating in my city. Who know? I freakin' love old milk glass advertising mugs. Ya like how I posed them next to my rusty tool box? If you like that matching set of mugs, wait there's more!

I'll also throw in this old-timey mug! Also from a local-ish business. Here...my mugs on Etsy
I saved the best for last.

This is probably my favorite find of the week. I priced it as such, too. I have this little lamp...mid mod, tan, bowling pin shape...it's cute as hell, just needs a shade. I walked into a thrift, closing my eyes until I got to the lampshade area. "Just look at the shades, dummy, you don't need any more stuff," I thought, in a self-berating tone. Then I saw this thing. It was a large, ceramic lamp, high up on a shelf. From a distance, I thought it was priced much higher, so I got double thrift euphoria when I saw it's actual price (my secret.) I ran and grabbed a carriage to gently place it in, lest my bumbling hands lose their grip on my way to the register. At this time, I bumped into another thrifter/reseller. We once worked retail together. years back.
"Nice mod lamp," she said.
"Why thank you!" I replied all thankful that I got there when I did. "Yeah, and you wish you had it!" I thought to myself, whilst flashing my most villainous smile. I get a little possessive with my precious scores. For all I know, it's a hideous lamp and I have terrible taste. Let's take a close look:

I love lamp! It's got a fancy-ass shade by Stiffel, too. Read about that, here: Mid century lamp on Etsy.

This is another thing that I'm in love with. Yes, it's sad that I love an inanimate object. Fine, I will marry it. It's an original batik, made and signed by a local artist in 1981. Lily of the valley batik, in a sweet professional frame with an artist's signature. The color combo makes me swoon. WTF is a batik? I cut and pasted a paragraph from Wikipedia on my listing: Lily of the Valley batik on Etsy.
One last thing. You know when you're in a thrift store, browsing a bit through the toys for some reason, and you spot a little bag of something? Look closer...

Ooh, it's a $0.99 bag of something! What are these? Little houses? Oh...my...god...

It's a little wooden wonderland! And it's fracking adorable! That's just a preview, here's more:

12 little houses! They're like an inch and a half tall. So damned cute, I could slap someone.

Ooh, made in Germany. More pictures!

One more?

I've got them all photographed and counted, I'm just not entirely sure what to do with them yet.
Here's my "big announcement" lol. I need a different shop for which to sell clothing. I scored some really good shit in the dresses and whatnot department, but I've suspended listings until I figure out how to push those wares.
For months, I've been saying that I'll start listing on ebay. I guess now's the time. Should I try and sell my vintage clothing by opening a second, more femme branded Etsy shop? Or try and sell everything on ebay? I have to start work at summer school tomorrow. Goodnight.
Linking up at Sir Thrift A Lot and a living space.