Show us your Thrift and/or yard sale finds

[Miss Brill]

I did buy knitting supplies awhile back & failed miserably. I checked out a bunch of books from the library & studied websites, and still couldn't form my first stitch.

 

[imoldfashioned]

Another wannabe knitter here--I've tried to teach myself from books and I've failed miserably too. I think I need personal instruction.

I stopped by my local thrift shop on Thursday and for under $10.00 got:

A pair of Doc Martens oxfords (they need laces but I have some)
The Genius of the System, Ian McEwan's Saturday and Enduring Love, Katharine Graham's autobiography, A Year in Provence, American Jezebel (Anne Hutchinson biography), Pack of Two by Caroline Knapp, Bill Bryson's Neither Here Nor There and Possession by A. S. Byatt all in hardcover.

 

[leaette]

WOW! those doilys are great. i love the flower basket one.
i love to crochet (try to do it every night---it's my form of therapy!) and i know how long it takes to make those. it's sad that people are selling them for $1 (good for you though, nice find!). i have some beautiful vintage doilies that i picked up super cheap too.

i wish all you gals lived by me. i'd love to teach you to crochet. i get such great enjoyment out of it.

 

[Feraud]

Found these two in Chinatown yesterday at $3 dollars each.

 

[Miss Brill]

WOW! those doilys are great. i love the flower basket one.
i love to crochet (try to do it every night---it's my form of therapy!) and i know how long it takes to make those. it's sad that people are selling them for $1 (good for you though, nice find!). i have some beautiful vintage doilies that i picked up super cheap too.

i wish all you gals lived by me. i'd love to teach you to crochet. i get such great enjoyment out of it.

Any idea what the basket is for---it is an actual basket with a pocket in the middle. I was thinking maybe it was a wall-pocket.

I wish I lived near you too! Sometimes I see women doing their needlework and I think about asking if they teach me, but I usually see them when I can't afford lessons.

 

[Sweet Leilani]

Any idea what the basket is for---it is an actual basket with a pocket in the middle. I was thinking maybe it was a wall-pocket.

Possibly it was used as a summer handbag?

 

[Miss Neecerie]

Any idea what the basket is for---it is an actual basket with a pocket in the middle. I was thinking maybe it was a wall-pocket.

I wish I lived near you too! Sometimes I see women doing their needlework and I think about asking if they teach me, but I usually see them when I can't afford lessons.

May day Flower Basket? I remember doing this when I was a kid...so maybe a fancier version?





May Day was also celebrated by some early European settlers of the American continent. In some parts of the United States, May Day baskets are made. These baskets are small and usually filled with flowers or treats are left at someone's doorstep. When you ring the bell, you are supposed to run away.

 

[Miss Brill]

Wow, I hadn't thought of it as being a handbag! They would have charged more if they'd thought it might be more than a doily. I never celebrated May Day, or know anyone who did, it sounds like fun.

The antique store booth where I bought these always has a few doilys displayed, so I buy them up, then go back and they have a whole new selection out. It is like Boo Radley is leaving me things.

 

[leaette]

Here are my guesses on what the basket is for....

most likely, it was made to hang on the wall near a vanity or sit on a vantity and hold maybe a hanky or maybe some small flower buds from your garden?
i can tell you about crafters, we come up with things in our head and just make them. so the possibilites are endless.

as for lessons, go to a senior center or assisted living center. i'm sure some lady would teach you for free! i'm sure she'd love the company. buy REGULAR yarn. trust me...those fancy novelty yarns are not for the beginner. buy a plain cotton yarn or plain acrylic. then you can move up to fancier yarns.

i just visited my grandmother-in-law a few weeks ago. the woman across the hall (they live in a nursing home) was 103 years old and is still crocheting (VERY well i might add). and let me tell you...she was full of more energy than me! (well, i do have a baby at home so that's why, but nevertheless....she was one hell of a lady!)

 

[Miss Brill]

Great idea, Leaette! Old people love having folks listen to their stories, and I love listening to them. :eusa_clap

 

[PS]

We have been looking for some new interior doors for our house. I have been looking for glass doors in particular. We FINALLY hit up an Antique Mall that we've been meaning to hit for at least 6 years, with really no intention of buying anything!!! HA! I turned the corner and had to have it! I gasped and then I looked at the tag because well, I had no idea doors even used doors (craigslist) could be so expensive....you could have knocked me over when it was 15 bucks!
I even loved the color but sliding into our SUV made much of paint crumble off. Husband went and had the color matched for me so with new paint it will be Behr Sagey...and I can't wait to get the new hardware...skeleton key!

 

[leaette]

GREAT door! i'm jealous.
we need doors too. our house came with those horrible hollow cheap doors. so i want doors that match the age of our house.

 

[PS]

GREAT door! i'm jealous.
we need doors too. our house came with those horrible hollow cheap doors. so i want doors that match the age of our house.

That must be trait of the 'burgh then. Know of any good antique stores or vintage stores around here that you care to share? I picked up this door in Ravenna Ohio...which used to have amazing antique stores but they've all closed up shop.

 

[Miss Brill]

I went to a "junk" store today & found a painting & it was $8, and had to call the clerk to get it down. She came over & I showed her which one I wanted & she asked how much was on it, and I told her, and she said it wasn't hardly worth getting the ladder for that much. Then after she got it down, she wouldn't let me look at it, or touch it, and she ripped the price tag off & then she took off to the counter with it. I was thinking there it goes, and I assumed she wouldn't let me have it for $8, but finally she yelled & said the painting was at the checkout, and if I wanted it I could buy it, but if I didn't buy it that was fine too. Jeez! What a way to run a business! It isn't my fault she only had $8 on it, when all the others were $20-$100. It was there the last time I was in, so no one had bought it in a month. It was also dusty, so it had probably been there for months. If no one had bought it for $8, what good was raising the price going to do????

She did something similar last time, I bought an ice bucket for $6 and when I got to the checkout she said she'd meant to put more on it. Had the tag not stated "old ice bucket--$6" I'm sure she would have said someone put the wrong price on it. I couldn't stomach buying anything else from her--so I put most I my things back, and only kept a 1940s-1950s baby rattle & the painting. I probably won't shop there again, even though she has some great things.

 

[pennyseranade]

WOW! What a witch. I don't blame you for not shopping there anymore. I wouldn't go back either. She can keep her "treasures" if that is going to be her attitude.

 

[Dr Doran]

I went to a "junk" store today & found a painting & it was $8, and had to call the clerk to get it down. She came over & I showed her which one I wanted & she asked how much was on it, and I told her, and she said it wasn't hardly worth getting the ladder for that much. Then after she got it down, she wouldn't let me look at it, or touch it, and she ripped the price tag off & then she took off to the counter with it. I was thinking there it goes, and I assumed she wouldn't let me have it for $8, but finally she yelled & said the painting was at the checkout, and if I wanted it I could buy it, but if I didn't buy it that was fine too. Jeez! What a way to run a business! It isn't my fault she only had $8 on it, when all the others were $20-$100. It was there the last time I was in, so no one had bought it in a month. It was also dusty, so it had probably been there for months. If no one had bought it for $8, what good was raising the price going to do????

She did something similar last time, I bought an ice bucket for $6 and when I got to the checkout she said she'd meant to put more on it. Had the tag not stated "old ice bucket--$6" I'm sure she would have said someone put the wrong price on it. I couldn't stomach buying anything else from her--so I put most I my things back, and only kept a 1940s-1950s baby rattle & the painting. I probably won't shop there again, even though she has some great things.

A perfectly hideous creature. If she is not the owner, how about a chatty-chat with the owner? If she is the owner, and does not respect you, is it possible to find someone she DOES respect/fear and have that person have a chatty-chat with her? Sometimes this works.

 

[Miss Brill]

Sadly, she is the owner. The only owner, I'm pretty sure. Usually when you find something good at a very low price the people remark about what a great deal it was, not act like you are a thief, or that it kills them to sell it.

 

[Dr Doran]

Sadly, she is the owner. The only owner, I'm pretty sure. Usually when you find something good at a very low price the people remark about what a great deal it was, not act like you are a thief, or that it kills them to sell it.

My wife often complains about these sorts of antique store owners. They act as if they don't want to let go of their precious little treasures ... the most perfect example of anal-retentiveness that you can possibly get. I ran into one like that a few days ago when I was taking Dominika out in her stroller to the antique stores in south Berkeley. Thankfully, the other ones we saw were very nice and happy to talk to us.

 

[Feraud]

My wife often complains about these sorts of antique store owners. They act as if they don't want to let go of their precious little treasures

Yep. There is a junk store in our neighborhood I do not visit. The owner of the place thinks she is hoarding gold in those piles of discarded baby strollers, end tables, and assorted garbage.

 

[Dr Doran]

Yep. There is a junk store in our neighborhood I do not visit. The owner of the place thinks she is hoarding gold in those piles of discarded baby strollers, end tables, and assorted garbage.

Anal retentive. Anal retentive. A tightly-gripped muscle retaining its precious prizes.