Vintage Store Psychic. Wah?!

I saw this on TV last week and just HAD to share it with you all...

Wow! So, a few questions...

1.  WOULD YOU WANT TO KNOW THE HISTORY OF YOUR THRIFTED ITEMS?
2.  HAS YOUR CLOTHING EXPERIENCED TRAUMA? 
3.  DID YOUR FUR CHOOSE YOU?
4.  ARE YOU HAPPY THAT DRESS GOT TO LIVE OUT HER DREAM, FINALLY? 
5.  IS ROXANNE ELIZABETH USSELMAN (CLOTHING PYSCHIC) FULL OF POO?

and finally

6.  WHY DOES THIS MAKE ME THINK OF THE PSYCHIC FROM TEEN WITCH? 

Please help me sort out these serious issues in the comments below.

I've been thrifting the last two weekends and can't wait to show you what I got and where I went. My friend Jenny (thrifting-partner-in-crime) was in town too! I'll be back to chat about that later.

Have a great night! I'll be over here trying to get this out of my head...

TOP THAT!

Flea Markets and a $4 Peacock Tapestry

As briefly mentioned in my last post, I moved again. That's a lot of moving in a short amount of time, which of course means I can now empathize with AC Slater.

Remember how his army dad moved him from school to school and the only constant in his life was his friend, Artie the chameleon? Well, my husband and cat are my constants and I will NOT be leaving them in the care of Zack Morris, because we all know how that turned out...

Since arriving in Los Angeles in October I've been exploring ways to shop with wrinkly dollars. So far that has consisted mostly of garage sales, estate sales and flea markets. Here's how I find them and here are some flea markets we've checked out thus far:

1. SILVER LAKE ART CRAFT & VINTAGE @ MICHELTORENA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Second Saturday of every month May-Dec. Small, but great vendors. FREE! Right near the Silverlake Farmers Market.
2. ROSE BOWL FLEA MARKET
Second Sunday of every month. The mommy of Flea Markets. HUUUUUGE! Bring snacks. $8 entry.
3.  PASADENA CITY COLLEGE FLEA MARKET
First Sunday of every month. Very Large, covers two full floors of a parking structure + more. FREE!

I've had my eye on tapestries for a little while, but the large beautiful ones at flea markets are priced very high. Then, a couple weeks before x-mas I stumbled across this little one folded up in a box at a garage sale. The gentleman holding the sale said "$4" and I said "sold".

 I don't know much about it, but I know I like it... and that may be all I need to know.

Peacocks are cool. I remember a little about their symbology from my Art History days. Apartment Therapy breaks it down pretty well HERE.

Are you peacocking?

Happy hunting y'all!

A Sweater by Any Other Name...

You may call them 'Cosby sweaters'.  You may call them 'Ugly Sweaters'. I call them 'Sweaters My Parents Wore in Family Portraits in the Late 1980's".  

I also call them 'Sweaters Worn by Friendly Middle-Aged Airport Shuttle Drivers', because I totally matched outfits with the shuttle driver on our way back from the airport this Holiday season. Yes sir, you get an extra special tip for your fabulous taste. 

Whatever you call them, these colorful, comfy, patterned sweaters are fun and easy to thrift. 

All sweaters above were purchased at different times. The green and Off-white sweaters came from Value World. The blue is from Goodwill As-Is and the red is from a church rummage sale. The red sweater was just $.50 (see more in an old post here). I know the green one was $1, because I just bought it a couple weeks ago.

What's up with Urban Outfitters selling these things for too many dollars? I love them, but I won't spend that dough.

Look!    Look!    Look!    Look!


They are perfect for SF weather, but I recently moved to LA (surprise)! I need to get some wears in before the warm weather hits.

What do you call these sweaters?

Retro Owl Trivets $1 and $2

I was not familiar with the word 'trivet' before I bought these guys.  I sent my best girl a picture of one and she said, "my grandma had that trivet".  I was like "oh, word".

These owls came from two different sales in two different cities and were purchased 5 months apart.  I was not on the hunt for trivets, but I'm glad they appeared.  They liven up my stovetop and act as perfect teapot hot plates for my evening couch-side tea parties.

If you dig 1970's / 1980's retro trivets, there are a boat load on Etsy.

Here's where I found mine.

1. F.B. ROGERS OWL TRIVET 

The larger of my two owl trivets was purchased at the Piedmont Community Church Treasure Sale for $2.  I found out about this sale from a Google Alert. From what I remember, the name "Treasure Sale" was pretty darn accurate. Multiple large rooms were stuffed with items and they were separated by departments so it was easy to navigate. Prices were fair. I bought a wallet and a belt as well.  This is a photo of the room where I found the trivet. FUN!

2. SMALL CAST IRON OWL TRIVET  

I found this little guy a few blocks from my place. The garage sale was awesome, because I got the impression it was the first time they cleaned out their home in 30 years, in other words, COOL OLD STUFF!  Plus, they were eager to sell so items were priced low. It doesn't get much better than that.  

I saw this box from afar and thought "oh boy, oh boy"! There was no price, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I asked the sweet older gentleman running the sale what he wanted for it and his reply was, "What do you want to pay"?  This situation always makes me nervous, because I don't want to offend by lowballing. I honestly didn't want to pay more than $2 so I blurted out $1 and he accepted. 

Do you own a trivet? What kind? 

5 Easy Ways to Find a Sale Near You!

I love a good garage sale, yard sale, tag sale, rummage sale, estate sale...STOOP sale (that's a new one). 

Whatever you choose to call them, awesome sales are everywhere! Back in the day keeping your eyes peeled and driving a car with good breaks and European handling was your best bet for sale searching. Slap on an "I BREAK FOR GARAGE SALES" bumper sticker and you were golden.

Nowadays finding sales is easy (and less likely to cause whiplash). Here's how.

1. BROWSE CRAIGSLIST
If you're not using craigslist to search for sales, you best get on that! You can use filters to check specific neighborhoods and search keywords to find sales relevant to your taste. In the image below I selected neighborhoods nearest to my home and searched keyword 'vintage'. Two matches! Woo Hoo!



















2. SET GOOGLE ALERTS
Google Alerts changed my life. Why take time to search the web when Google will do it for you? All you have to do is set up search queries (keywords, phrases) and Google will e-mail you when they find web pages, articles, blogs, etc that match your search.  Click here for more detail. If you are looking for specific items, Google Alerts are a great option! For example, let's say you are on the hunt for a mid century modern dresser. Create an alert called 'Mid Century Modern Dresser Sale San Francisco'. You may not get an e-mail every day, but when something matches, Google will tell you via e-mail. Below is an example of some of my alerts.

3.  CHECK SALE SITES
There are a number of websites that make it easy to find sales in your local area. All you have to do is enter your zip code. Most have a keyword option too. Here are a few.

• yard sale treasure map
• yard sale search
• gsalr.com

On some sites, like gsalr.com, you can sign up to receive an e-mail when a sale that matches your search criteria emerges.

I think Yard Sale Treasure Map is really cool.  All of the sales appear on Google Maps. Select a few and the site will suggest the best route to vist them all, based on hours of the sale and location.

FYI, many of these sale sites pull data from Craigslist, so no need to look both places.

4. DOWNLOAD MOBILE APPS
A lot of the sale sites (mentioned above) now have mobile apps. They make it super simple to find sales when you are on the go. They pretty much all function the same way; sale locations appear on Google Maps and you can touch the pinpoint to view a description of the sale. Easy and effective! Here are some to check out.

• garage sale rover
• yard sale treasure map
• Garage Sale Finder

5.  GET ON MAILING LISTS
Estate sales are my fave. Most are organized by estate liquidators or companies hired by the home owner or home owner's family. Try identifying these companies in your area and see if they have a mailing list. I was at an estate sale a few weeks ago and the company who organized the sale had a notebook out to collect e-mail addresses. You can bet I added mine!


How do you find sales? Tell me in the comments below. Happy Hunting!

Have I told you lately that I love estate sales?

And then there was that estate sale that made me want to blog again. 

Have I told you lately that I love estate sales? Have I told you there is no other thrifting experience above them? They fill my heart with gladness. They take away all my sadness. They ease my blogging drought, that's what they do.  [rod]

Estate sales can be sad, because nine times out of ten they follow a death. While some may find it morbid to walk through another person's home and buy their stuff after they are gone, I feel otherwise.  I think of it as a way to honor that person, to learn a little bit about the life they lived and give their cherished belongings new life.

With that said, I dedicate this post to a woman whose home was filled with little treasures. From one of her family members I learned that she never married, never had children. She mastered the crafts of crochet and embroidery. There were seriously stacks and stacks of beautiful handmade goodies. There was a box of beautiful squares crocheted for a blanket, but never joined. I was so tempted to buy them all and finish her project.

If I told you about all of the amazing items I saw (antique jewelry, vintage glassware, etc) this post would go on forever. Instead, check out what I bought - 1. mini embroidered hand mirror, 2. pendant necklace with bird, 3. piece of her intricate embroidery, 4. watch. All items, $5!

Do you love estate sales?

$3 Chie Mihara Boots!

I didn't know anything about Chie Mihara.  I know more after finding these boots at Goodwill As-Is.

Here's the story of my Chie Mihara boots.

I was an hour into shopping at GW As-Is. The shoe bin had just been rolled out. I was digging and fighting off agressors.  All of a sudden I felt soft leather and thought, "hmmm, that feels expensive." I pulled out these gems (the boots).  I saw the brand name, but that meant nothing to me at the time. On the bottom I saw European sizing and also made in Spain. As intriguing as the quality, condition and details seemed I still wasn't 100% positive I wanted to make the purchase. Instead of putting them down I carried them around for a bit.

Even if your interest in an item is vague, your best bet is to hold onto it until you are done shopping. Nine times out of ten it won't be where you left it when you change your mind. Why take the chance?

Also if you have a smart phone, you HAAAVE THE POWEEEER! When it was time to check out I googled the brand and immediately saw shoes and boots priced in the $200-$400 range. That pretty much sealed the deal. Even the dude at the register said, "Looks like you found yourself a great pair of boots!"

These types of finds happen rarely, but oh how exciting when they do!