Town House Homestead Tuesday

We are still going strong here at our new home. We still unpack a box here and there, but until we finish deconstructing the basement, and making it a little more finished, a lot of unpacking will be done a couple months down the road. Being an old 1950's home it needs a lot of work yet to bring it up to where it should be. The basement is keeping us busy. It had a drop ceiling with Styrofoam glued to the walls and Styrofoam used as the ceiling panels. We have torn it all out and this week we are having some one come and pick up the mound of scrap metal and we have almost hauled all of the old floor out for collection. As you can see we are close to a clean room to start washing it down and painting. 

This is only one quarter of the basement that will house my daughter's sewing and craft studio. This week we have been fighting yellow jackets that are coming in and dying, but one stung her on the back of her neck while she was working. We'll pull all the old smelly insulation out and seal holes to prevent this in the future.

We are starting to get back to thrift store shopping and checking out flea markets to find some tools and items we need for the house. I found this vintage tablecloth. I love this pattern. A few years ago my daughter gave me one that was so badly stained that I could only use it as a cutter. I was excited to find this one and although it has a few stains that stubbornly won't come out it is in very usable condition. From the cutter I made place mats, pan handle pot holders, napkins, and hot pads, and still have pieces left that I was saving to make a table cloth that I can use for pot holders and oven mitts. It's been a fun sewing project.

Some other thrift finds were books. I can't wait to have time to read Solar Power Your Home for Dummies. 

We found a few more holiday items. Easter egg plates, made in Japan Christmas choir singers, a glass Valentines day jar, an aqua planter and a set of vintage Ball salt and pepper shakers.

We found some vintage linens. Some are sold already, some will be sold, and some will be used for sewing. All are in great shape and I can't wait to sew more.

The best find ever was this 5 quart Wagner cast iron dutch oven. They have become very expensive at thrift stores and flea markets and are usually in much worse condition. We got this one for $19.99 and I am already starting to clean it and season it. It is looking much better, but has a way to go before I'm comfortable cooking in it. I have wanted one for so long, so I can be patient. The container garden is slowing down. A few more tomatoes to go and maybe a few peppers and beans, but now it will be all farm market vegetables. Thank goodness that option is available and it's always nice to shop local. That's what's be happening this past week at the Town House Homestead. Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful week. 

Thrift finds

It was a whirlwind weekend here. A three day for us. It started Friday morning. A dear friend was in town from the west coast and it was only a few days before she was heading back, but this was a scheduled event and we wanted it to be fun and relaxing for her. We ate out, thrifted, rode around, gabbed and got caught up on everything. 

We filled the townhouse with two days of fun finds. We found this set of casserole bowls for my younger daughter. She likes the green floral and they were actually quite a deal for $2 each. We later saw them selling for $10 and more in some shops. 

The green Pyrex Cinderella bowl completed a set we were building. The orange dot Pyrex was the most exciting find. My daughter will also be adding these to her collection. I use the small Pyrex clear dishes while baking and never seem to have enough. We found two more mushroom canisters. These are small and one has a small fracture, but is very usable. The mushroom and mice glassware are a salt and pepper set and a jelly jar. They are Japanese and so irresistible. Just love them.

We love to pick up the dishes for lazy Susan's. We mix and match them and have fun with them. There was more Pyrex, an enamel skillet, another set of Japanese mice salt and pepper shakers and the owl in a tree stump planter. I believe it may be a Josef Original.

Saturday brought about another day of thrifting. This time with my sister-in-law who we hadn't seen in a while  and she suspected we had fallen off the face of the earth. Umm...nope, but she doesn't use the Internet so we had catching up to do. The vintage finds were all over for us this past weekend. Here we found three strawberry print drinking glasses, another new in package Humpty Dumpty Avon product bank for the store, a music box baby carriage planter, and the Gemco/corning glass juicer. 

We found some odds and ends that include some notebooks, cookie cutters, an ice cream scoop, birthday candles, linen napkins, books, there's a bagel slicer that the plastic spoons are in and the plastic bag in front is full of small bottles for lip gloss. Looks like we want to be busy.

I'll finish this week with this funny fabric panel. My grandchildren have two English bulldogs and we could not pass on this piece of fabric. We couldn't stop laughing when we saw it. I think it will become a giant pillow or center panel for a quilt. This is only about half of what we found. Some still needs some cleaning up and I need to move some on to the store. Being in a small space we have to shuffle things around to work. Sunday was not quite so busy, but we caught back up with our friend from the west coast because on her adventure with us she found some view master discs, but no view master. It turned out my younger daughter found one and she dropped it off so it could take a long plane trip back to California. Then it was back to getting ready for the new week ahead and some sitting back. Thank you for stopping by and I hope everyone has as much fun as we do with friends and family thrift shopping and junking. 

Recent thrifting. Personal use and store inventory.

We've been busy like everyone, but we took some time to thrift shop. Just letting things happen and it's working out better than trying.

On my searches I look for canning jars and last week I found some quarts and pints for 49 cents each. I use these for storage as well as canning. I made bread croutons and vacuum sealed them until I could make stuffing, I store vacuum sealed leftovers in the refrigerator for a longer shelf life and in the back are my pickled eggs, which are almost ready to try. I found more food saver containers and each container had a hose inside. Two were new and one was bad and went in the recycle bin. We found a Danish fish trivet/cutting board and some woven trivets and another statue of Mary. We have a shelf of them and I know they are in just about every sale you go to, but we look for the unique ones or the misfit ones.

This past week I made my Memorial Day/4th of July cookie mixes and yes, I vacuum sealed them until I baked them. They looked so nice as a decoration too. So many uses for those wonderful jars, but I also reuse spaghetti sauce jars and any jar with a rubber ring on the inside. 

We found a Georges Briard canister set. Just love the bright orange. They are not without their bumps and bruises, but enamelware doesn't die easily. These are still in very good condition.

These are a few of the small odds and ends that we picked up. Some for personal use, but a few for inventory. The small cutting board I am going to sand down and refinish for my picnic basket, the mini muffin tin I will add to the others I found, and the chicken roaster and Tupperware strainer will find lots of use in the kitchen. The fishing creel and fisherman planter was made in Japan and the selection of coffee cups include a Strawberry Shortcake Butter Cookie and Jelly Bear mug along with four Scandia Stone mugs. All in all it was fun to get out and look, but it was even more fun not to be looking for anything special and letting them find us. Thanks for stopping by and I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Don't forget to check out my Townhouse Homestead Tuesday posts which may become a weekly feature. 

Findings.

Okay I will admit that I am slowing down with the thrift shopping, garage sales and flea markets. I know, they're just getting started. Not that I wouldn't go out every day, but I've been trying to do too much. I think I'm way too domestic. Baking bread, growing herbs, yard work, (yes even in an apartment/townhouse), keeping up with friends and family and some where in there trying to have a little personal sewing time. We have been finding plenty.

We found a vintage McCoy palm leaf and berry vase/planter. I think this would be lovely with a foliage plant and maybe a pink flamingo pick in it. Just saying. We never pass up composition books. Great for organization. The vintage popcorn bowls always sell as do the danish fish trivets.

This week we chose an old sewing machine drawer. We've done many home decorating crafts with these, but this one we'll leave to someone else. This is my favorite up cycled project using a sewing machine drawer. It is mounted on the wall of our townhouse.

We were fortunate enough to fine two NIP 18 inch pillow forms. The price was too good to be true and there wasn't any way they were staying behind.

Also not left behind was this "yummy" piece of hand printed in Sweden fabric. It has some small rust stains, but it is such a good size piece that it didn't make the choice to take it hard.

Other linens and fabric included a double Noah's Ark sheet, a twin size retro floral sheet and a beautiful piece of lilac print purple and green yard good.

This vintage pastel floral sheet is a keeper. It will go in the collection. The Vera scarf is a good find, but the hem is raveling and will probably be used in a sewing project and the patriotic fabric was purchased for a dear friend who is collecting her own stash. 

So, that's what's new this week. Thank you for stopping by and checking things out. I wish everyone a safe and wonderful week.

Linking to: We Call It Junkin

Wet and chilly day, but we still went thrift shopping.

Here on the southern shore of lake Ontario it's still a bit cool. As a matter of fact we had frost warnings overnight. We are still two to three weeks from outdoor planting, but the urge is there to do it early. I think we'll go shopping while we wait for warmth enough to garden. 

Our search this past weekend found a couple of vintage sheets. My daughter will never pass up any sheet that is aqua and green. Those are her colors. I personally love the bright yellow poppy sheet.

We found some Raggedy Anne and Andy fabric that was reclaimed from curtains. The vintage 1972 linen towel is destined to be a pillow. That was the year my daughter was born and this one was truly seventies. I also found a package of vintage "seconds" clothespins and some strawberry metal trays still in the package that were sold through F.W. Woolworth Co. 

We will never again leave behind wooden pant hangers. The last bunch we listed on the store and they sold within days. If you see them at the right price get them.

A last second find was this bright sun dress. The red on the sides are large pockets. First thought was to alter it into an apron, but we may just sell it as is. It has the elastic bodice and may have had straps, but they can be put back on without a lot of work.

We found a bundle of fabrics for $1 and there are quite a few pieces we will use. The two yellow glass pieces are part of a lazy Susan that were just to bright yellow to leave behind. Set around a cheese board filled with crackers and the party is ready. The tea candles we'll use while sitting out evenings this summer and the bag of candles we got for a project we have been working on. We could have had two bags, but one was marked $1.98 and the other was marked $4.98. Couldn't figure out why the difference in price, but I bet you can guess which one was left behind. 

Just a couple weeks ago I posted about mini muffin tins and how I wanted a couple. Yes I found them then, but this weekend at the flea market I found two more and they were two for 25 cents. Yes that's right and the can opener and Tupperware measuring spoons were also 25 cents. The bread pan was on the list of things I'm looking for. When I downsized I got rid of all my baking pans for sizes that fit in my toaster oven. Now I want to bake more bread and have to replace the pans. One down, one to go. Canning jars will always come home as long as they are less than $1. I use them with my food saver for storage along with my  canning. Not all our finds are for the stores. There are a lot of items we look for to furnish our home and take care of ourselves. It's the way to do it. We call it shopping green.

Linking to: We call it Junkin

This weeks thrift picks.

Yes I said picks. It seems that as I'm growing with the reselling I'm getting picky about what I'm buying. The items are out there, but I have to consider how long I want them to sit on a shelf with storage room getting to be less and less. I'm trying to buy items that may move faster and at the same time I have a personal list of items I would like for myself. So here are the picks for this week.

To start there was an awesome aqua and lime green floral sheet. It is new and in great condition. I will never pass pant hangers. They not only work well for clothing, but add a unique way to hang art. The bright yellow red and orange Vera scarf is in good condition, but needs a good soak and finally a wonderful plant hanger that allows you to hang three items from one spot. I don't think it would hold anything too heavy, but my imagination is running wild right now.

I found a lovely piece of sheer fabric that I will use for a light summer shirt or dress cover. I haven't decided yet. There were three enamel plates that are vintage made in Japan and three very cute glass dishes that I can't tell you what they are used for, but wouldn't they make great tea bag holders.

For my personal use I found two mini muffin tins. I wanted these to make holiday candies and small baked goods for gift giving. These are small, but they fit in my toaster oven and make it easier for me to use. I found two blue and green vintage coffee mugs and some vintage made in Japan porcelain items. One is a ring holder and the other is a small oval box with legs. I think I'm going to keep those also. 

For the rest of the week I spent time just working the stores and sewing. I had work for others and sewing for myself. (Fun time)  Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful week.

Couldn't stay away.

I know we have lots of stuff to get organized and listed on the store already, but this week we were side tracked when we made a trip to the thrift store to make more donations. Down sizing is time consuming but it feels good to know some one else can use the items. Yes we ended up going into the store itself and had some great luck.

The most exciting find was these rare mint condition Mikasa cups and saucers. They are called "Playmates" and are kumquat colored. It is a set of six. Currently listed on etsy. They looked lovely with the hand made Easter egg shaped mug rugs listed on etsy.

We found the brightest Granny apple green vintage made in Japan fondue pot. etsy

For those persons who love vintage bar ware we found this cocktail shaker glass complete with recipes. etsy

The trend toward pink lately has been connected with those lovely ladies who enjoy glamping. Pink is a popular color choice when they decorate their vintage trailers. We found this lovely and unique dish made in Pedro, CA. etsy

We also found a great selection of vintage 1970's cotton and linen calendar towels. Some are signed and some are not, but they sure are fun. etsy  See them all at poetcharms.etsy.com.

One cute find that could not be left behind was this vintage made in Japan cat figurine. The wide eyes on this cat screamed to come home with me. etsy

It was just a short trip in and out, but the lesson is if you're already there take the time to look around. Thanks for stopping by and have fun checking out the stores. From this addicted thrifter, have a great week everyone.

Linking to/We call it Junkin

Thrift finds and the fun continues.

As I said in my prior post we have small shops popping up all over. We got an email from my sister-in-law stating that she found another one while she was driving down a popular street here and couldn't wait to tell us. This past weekend my daughter purchased a new to her vehicle and I envision us doing even more thrifting. With information coming about new pop up shops in the neighborhood it looks like we are going to have a great year thrifting. Here are some of the finds from last week.

Always linens and scarfs. I think we look for these items first. This collection includes a vintage plastic floral Kleenex box and amazingly a vintage sheet with the same colors, a towel, scarfs, and crochet doilies. Some will be used for sewing projects and others will be listed on the store. Towels we seek out for our vintage bathroom. 

Plenty of vintage linen napkins. These are just some of what we found.

There is a vintage vinyl bag which can hold those wonderful vintage thermos bottles, a Mikasa tea pot, a Pyrex double boiler, and my favorite finds are the stainless steel coffee pot and the vintage Christmas items. 

The Mrs. Santa with extended arms hugs a candle and since there was only one we knew she had to come home and be added to our collection. I have to take a minute and share a fun moment about one of the new pop up shops. We saw the sign outside that said 50% off and got excited about a possible hunt. When we got to the door it was locked, but the sign said open. We knocked and got no response. A minute later the partner to the owner came up behind us and apologized. He had run next door to the 7-11 for something to eat. He was left alone to move a counter to the front of the store and empty boxes. I didn't ask why he didn't have help. I just started to rummage. After we found so much we couldn't hold it any more we told him we were ready to cash out, so he proceeds to write up a slip because he didn't know how to use the cash register. The only job I could find after losing my job in 2008 was cashiering. I wasn't thrilled, but I needed income. I told him I would look at it and help him and he got excited. Well it was just a simple adding machine style register and he knew a couple of steps and I rang up a couple of customers for him to show him the final steps. He had it down by the time we left. We got our items rung up and I think we came out of his shop with close to $90 worth of merchandise for $10. We tried to convince him that it was worth more, but he insisted that the sale was final. He was grateful for the help and as we were leaving at least six more customers came through the door. We helped him and he helped us and business picked up for him. Amazing how that works.

Some more finds included Pyrex, vintage paper party napkins and cups, a turquoise teapot, jelly jars, mugs and a toy VW bug.

The wooden recipe boxes are awesome. To see some one's cooking history and think about the meals that were prepared from the recipes in the boxes has been so much fun. This person even added pictures to her cards for excitement. There were Aladdin thermos bottles and an American Flag themed candle holder. I think that may get painted. 

We found baskets, Wilhold pattern boxes, vintage plastic Christmas table clothes, NIP paint by numbers, signs and framed pictures, cook books and vintage pinking sheers still in the original package along with vintage contact paper.

Then the new desk chair. Yes, there is plenty more and this weekend we visited one thrift store and found so much more in the way of linens. It's been a great year so far. Having the time of our lives junkin'.