still crazy after all these years...

Glad to see that folks are still finding the $20 Blueprint deal through this blog. While I haven't been a terribly good blogger, you'll be happy to know I'm still a very good thrifter. :)

Above, various ephemera, photos and New Year's noisemakers from the 26th Street flea market in NYC.

Carousel and a Townwide Garage Sale

So I have the day off, and I had big plans to do a big etsy update by taking awesome photos in my boyfriend's apartment. Well, the day is gloomy and sunlight is nowhere to be founds. Great. So now I'm playing the Carousel soundtrack on lp (newly purchased at the Metuchen Townwide Garage Sale) and trying to once again clean my room.

Feast your eyes on this:
I've also started a Flickr group for such photos called Thrift Hauls. It's just up a junker's alley to want to look at the scores of other people, so it's been fun inviting other members and watching the pool grow. Not fun, however, to see those hauls just pile up in my room. Help.

Do you see what I see? Estate sale goodies...

I am so annoyed my camera decided to run out of juice when I was still high on thrifting adrenaline...

I got so many bits and bobbins, trim, and vintage rick rack! And an embroidery plaque (still to be photographed...), a very cool plastic tray, and Christmas goodies...all for $4. Doesn't get better than that!

Still sick, but I've got thrifting to cure me.

Is it bad when I call out sick from work (because I am) and instead of sleeping I Google Maps all of the Goodwills in Queens?

Meanwhile, I really shouldn't leave my bed but the only view is my cluttered room and the junk I already have in it:
I spy with my little thrifty eye: 3 metal floral frogs, folding ruler, air mail envelopes, building blocks, vintage children's books, a Love is...1970s glass, Fiesta flatware (in the flower pot that looks like a giant white pencil cup), some old stamp books...this is just the 1.5'x1.5' table directly in my line of sight. Help.

Some finds at an Upper West Side estate sale below. I haven't been to too many estate sales (I think mostly because the city is filled with so many new people, and the Rockefellers and whatnot don't advertise their estate sales on Craigslist), but I feel a little weird digging around through a family estate, especially when it's not a company running the sale.

This one was ran by I think the son of the woman who owned the apartment. He seemed younger than me, and I'm 25. I thought it was an incredibly sad situation and felt uncomfortable until he told his friend who was helping him that "the dog paintings in the hallway were appraised for 3 thou each." Then...I stopped feeling bad. I don't know. How do you feel about such scenarios? Onto the finds:

First Estate Sale Adventure of 09

The holidays and the cold had been preventing me from going on my usual Sunday thrift shopping. NYCers: Housing Works' 50% off sale this week.

Yesterday was a question of either cleaning up my apartment or taking 2 trains and a bus to an estate sale in Rosedale, Queens. Guess which one I picked...lalala.

Turns out the F was running local, so I got to take that to Parsons Blvd (um, I didn't realize quite how far away that was) to catch the Q43. The long-ish rides, for me, are a way to catch up on reading or NPR, or Rachel Maddow podcasts. I listened to her '2008 Awards for Excellence in Areas TBD', which included "News Event Most Suited to be a Musical" (the Spitzer situation won).

I finally reach the stop for the estate sale, and the thrifting adrenaline starts pumping. I walk in and am immediately scared - some glass vases, picture frames and ugly dolls are in the front living room. However! Turns out there is "something in every room, including the basement." SCORE.

The house was really lovely and made me yearn for a house with space (read: not an apartment in Astoria.) There was some beautiful furniture - sewing cabinet, chest of drawers, scrolly desk - and I wish I had the means (car, storage space) to take, restore, and resell that kind of stuff, but not right now. I did a lot of looking, but in the end, not too much buying.

$7.00 for everything in the photo, including unused Japanese salad servers and S&P shakers, some Shiny Brites, an old nut chopper (teehee), and an atlas from 1940 with some great colored maps.

A decent start to my 2009 thrift shopping, and I'm already checking ads on Craigslist for next weekend.

Balance of the Universe Returning....

Ok, I've slowly gotten over the whole Pyrex fiasco, mostly due to all the booze consumed over the New Years break. (I had friends in town, so New Years festivities stretched through last night.) The Thrift Gods took some pity on me, and gave me a little gem, in the form of this Snoopy Fire King mug:

Found this guy in a Goodwill for a buck. Another one on ebay is going for about $80, and the orange version is going for over $180. This is my first sale on ebay, so I had a big dilemma about when to post (is the other auction going to affect my sale, am I affecting theirs, etc) but since I've heard that Sunday night auctions do the best, I went ahead and did it. I'm hoping I make more than a buck. Cross your fingers!

Update: I made a 12,000% profit on this mug. That is a pretty awesome start to the 2009 Thrifting Season. (The money is mostly going to my mom, who's going on a trip to the Philippines to see family...thanks Snoopy!)

Cursed! Foiled!

I'm a little/lot embarrassed to realize how nutty I've gotten over thrift shopping. I went out thrifting this morning, figuring since a ton of people donated to Goodwill/Salvation Army before the year end for tax purposes, a bunch of new things would be put out in the stores. I get in, look around, and my beady little eyes focus on a girl's shopping cart: PYREX. Not only Pyrex, but a complete set of Cinderella Butterprint bowls. (Near) murderous rage courses through my veins at a near instantaneous speed. My eyes narrow. My cheeks redden. My fists ball. I go to this store all the time. The employees know me (scarily enough). HOW COULD THIS GIRL HAVE GOTTEN THE SCORE OF THE YEAR?!?! I followed her around, trying to see if she'd ditch them. She didn't. I ended up leaving with an Escada Couture party dress for $15, and a whole lotta jealousy. Am I bitter? Yes, yes I am. It's the One That Got Away.