Beatrice Bear

I used to fear my sewing machine. It caused me to swear like a sailor and throw things. Even the dogs would look at me funny when I would pull a chair up to the Singer. I don't know what made me decide to cut out the pattern pieces for Hillary's Wee Wonderful's Bear but I'm glad I did. Meet Beatrice!



I am just beaming with pride when I look at her. For a non sewer, she's not so bad! Her right ear is a little wonky, but seriously, who's isn't? And I love her little green loafers. All the buttons are from my Grandmother's huge button stash that I inherited. Doesn't she need a green felt bag so she can go on a trip? Hmm . . .



Beatrice's dress is from a thrifted napkin and the yellow flannel is when years ago Dita and I made a New Year's resolution to learn to sew. Um, I think that was in 1999 . . . .

Anyway, I already started making her a buddy, the bunny pattern from the same booklet.



She is home ready to be sewn together and stuffed. Ofcourse now I'll have to go to craft store for more stuffing. OH DARN. ;)

Anyone else try any of Hilary's patterns? I have also made a Wee Bunny which is one of her free patterns:



You can see it here with the "used to be evil" sewing machine. Because of course before it was out to get me. It certainly wasn't operator error, right?? :) The wee bunny also has a tummy made from a thrifted napkin. Note to self: THRIFT MORE LINENS!


xoxo

For the Love of the Thrift

I am seriously considering running out to the thrift after work. My weeknight jaunt last week showed that I needn't be afraid of the LIE. I would really like to find some other thrift stores on Long Island and make the trip more worth while. I tried to track down a Goodwill in Carle Place but it was gone. If anyone knows of any, do tell!

Anyway, I'm still not sure if I'll make the trip. Luis is attending the US Open tonight with work. I suppose I could go there but do I like tennis (and free food and drink) better than thrifting, crafting or precious alone time with the TV? I'm not sure. The idea of not having to cook is tempting.

So, here are the rest of my thrifted items from last week:



basket with handles - $4 - already in use as a paperback book holder

pool rack pillow - $1 - to be washed and sent to Mom for her pool room



vintage velvet purse - $1 - there is a divider for two inside pockets and one is lined in black and the other in red. The beading/sequins are a bit shoddy but I like it anyway. It gives it charm!



powder blue cake plate - $7 - YES, $7 is a bit much but I love cake plates and I thought that I would have paid $7 for it if I found it at say, Marshall's on clearance right?

So, to thrift or not to thrift tonight . . . we shall see. I started a sewing project last night and it's going remarkable well. I am tempted to stay home and finish that. Perhaps tomorrow I'll have pictures.

Oh, I almost forgot! I took the advice of Heidi and made a felt gingerbread man!



I don't love him as much as the mittens but he does have that "home made" charm. He has a bit more of a "I was made my a kindergartner" look when you see him in person.

Heidi, if you want him, he's all yours! :) ha ha . . .

Cheers!
Rebecca

Felt Mittens

Happy Friday! Boy am I glad to see the weekend finally arrive. While it's been a quiet week with my boss on vacation, it's been s-l-o-w in the office making it seem like Friday would never get here.

I was so happy with how my felt mittens turned out that I just had to share them. Call it "Felt Friday" if you will. Now, my photography skills are crap and these pictures are way too bright but I have no patience for that sort of thing. (My sister, a professional photographer would be appalled!) Anyway, I turned my mittens into a garland:






I have four on the ribbon so far and plan to add another two. I made a template out of cardstock and traced it onto a cereal box and cut out the mittens. I then glued the cereal box mittens to the felt and trimmed to shape. The holly leaves, candy, circles and stars are cut with a Sizzix machine but you probably could cut them out yourself. I also added buttons and some glitter glue for extra bling. The green patterned mitten is actually covered in fabric that was thrifted at Savers.



I won't show you the close up of the fourth, the picture is worse than the one above if you can believe that. :) I also made a pink mitten and made it into an ornament for a friend who has an all pink Christmas tree in her kitchen! (Doesn't that just make you want to be her friend, too??)



I wish you could see the detail of the glitter outlining the white holly keaves, it really is adorable.

So needless to say, there will be tons of felt mitten making this year. I still plan to get some clothes pins to make the clips as there were originally intentioned. I think a smaller mitten would be cute tied to packages, too. I should come up with some other shapes. Ideas? I have a gingerbread man Sizzix die so I may give that a shot.

Have a fantastic weekend and more thrifting finds on Monday!

cheers!

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Spur of the Moment Thrift

I usually do not go out to the Savers during the week. The traffic is bad and it's usually takes forever to get there. But I guess it was an attempt to make up for my sadness at the state of the Astoria Goodwill that got me in the car last night. Fortunately the traffic moved well and I had a delightful conversation with dear Nina on the way there. (Feel better, sister!)

So how was it? Okay, not very crowded and I did find a few things. I'm still a little put off by the prices as compared to the Baltimore thrift but I got some okay bargains.



counted cross stitch baby blanket kit - $5 - more than I would normally spend but it was brand new and these kits usually run atleast in the high 20s. (the orginal price tag says $35)

linen napkins - 49 cents each - there were six and I thought they were Christmas. They're not but that is still what I will use them for. I guess I have my Mom to thank for my not being able to pass up nice napkins.

leaf dish - $3 - made in Japan and I just love it.

here is a close up of the napkins and dish:



I guess I thought that was holly around the edges. They are still very Christmas-like and will look nice on the table.

So as not to bore you, I'll post the rest tomorrow. :)

I'm considering starting an EBay store for some things I find at thrift that I know others would love but that I have no use for. I really wish there was another place to post such things. Anyway, I'm worried it will be more work than I'm ready for especially since it seems like such a chore to make it to the post office these days. (Regina, I promise to get your scrapbook goodies in the mail soon! I got some new Sizzix dies and I'm making a pile of die cuts for you. :) )

Tomorrow, more thrifts and the success of the mitten clips! However, they are not clips (wait and see!) and Carrie B. - I took your advise and used the Aleene's Tacky glue (I actually had some hidden in a bottom drawer) and it worked perfectly!

xoxo

Drive By Thrifting

Since I got out of work early yesterday I decided to stop by the Goodwill in Astoria. I've gone on and on about how awful the thrifting is in New York City. Sadly, I still feel that way. I didn't expect to find some great enlightenment at the Astoria GW but I also didn't expect a dirty junk store. Even the Savers in West Hempstead is better. MUCH better actually. And Astoria is supposedly a much better neighborhood. Hmm.

Anyway, I did find a few things:



lamp shade - $3.99 - will go perfectly in my dining room once I find the perfect lamp and paint it black, nice quality fabric, too.

snowman plate - 49 cents - from Target, it will make a nice plate to gift some cookies on this year.

compote bowls - 49 cents each - good for jello and maybe now I won't have to serve jello cocktails . . .



So not bad considering the amount of total crap that place held. I doubt I'll visit more than maybe once every few months.

I also stopped at the craft store for the fixin's to make mini penguins and mitten clips. I started the mittens last night but I really need a different glue. Any suggestions on gluing felt to cardboard? Maybe I will try hot glue . . .

Anyway, I leave you with a picture of the peanut dog peeking around the frame of our new door. I think the fancy brass floor plate is throwing him off. (He also just had his mustache trimmed and was probably afraid of what else I would cut off.)



until next time . . . xoxo

Thrifty Weekend

No, I didn't go to the thrift store. L said we could go and then conveniently forgot. ;) We did go to the mecca of cheap - Ikea. We got some furniture for L's office (believe me, it could have been cinder blocks and plywood and I would have been happy) and a little white desk for my sewing machine. Maybe I'll put that together tonight. I also hit the outlets with Stace and got a few Christmas gifts. Oh yes, I said Christmas. I need to start early to spread out the spending. Plus, when you see Ralph Lauren PJ pants with little skulls and crossbones on them, you grab them for your pirate obsessed future brother-in-law.

Speaking of Christmas, it's time to get crafting for the holidays. I like to make things and find thrifted vintage items as gifts for those people who are into that. I started knitting a wrap for my boss though I'm not sure if I'm loving it. I'll post a picture tomorrow and take a poll. I also want to make ornaments this year and need to start on that as well. I will probably make these mitten clips from Martha:



Very cute and very easy. They would make nice magnets or you can clip them on the tree or gift bags. Plus, there are lots of ways to use thrifted items to create them - fabric, felt, napkins, etc.

I also like these Sculpey penguins:



They are tiny so I will probably make mine a bit bigger. I made polymer clay snowmen 2 years ago and was very pleased with them.

Can you tell I'm ready for fall? I hope to thrift this coming weekend. Anyone get anything good recently?

cheers!
Bex

We're Moving in Together!

I've made the decision and NYCegirlKnits and Thrifty Goodness are going to be living in sin. I took a page from Hillary at Wee Wonderfuls who decided to combine her thrifting blog, Thrift Craft, with her crafting blog to maximize her posting. I will miss NYCeGirlKnits but I do get a lot more visitors here at Thrifty Goodness and who are we kidding, this girl ain't been knitting much these days. So, as the word THRIFTY encompasses all things done with keeping money in mind (like hand crafting all your holiday gifts) and GOODNESS is well, goodness (like guiltless desserts and steamed shrimp), I feel my crafting, cooking and thrifting life adventures can all live happily together in a small one bedroom blog.

Any questions? :)

To get started, let me tell you about my love for all things Martha. (Yes even jailbird Martha)



Mom picked up this Good Things book at the thrift. It's a collection of Martha's good things up through 1997. (My doesn't Miss Martha look young!) There are quite a few things I'd like to try including the ribbon hanger for platters on the cover. Here are a few others:



Mini bundt cake pumpkins - so cute! These are covered in marzipan but I may try a glaze instead. Any ideas for the stem part that isn't marzipan? (note to self - add mini bundt cake pan to shopping list!)



home made mustard with "onion tops" - I've never made mustard but it seems fairly easy and the tops do make them look so cute.

The book is just full of great ideas and there are a few I recognized from Martha's website. Check out the online good things here. Scroll to the bottom and choose Good Things from the different catagories od cooking, crafts, etc. Sorry for the crappy photos, it's a very glossy book. :)

xoxo bex

Beauty Booty

I wasn't sure where to post this but FREE STUFF seemed to be both thrifty and full of goodness to me. One cool thing about living in NYC is that many companies are based out of here. One is L'Oreal. You can sign up with them to be a product tester and they give you a big bag of free goodies and a pass to shop in their employee store which has all their products at 50% off the regular price. This is great for a serial hair colorer like myself.

Speaking of hair coloring (nice segue, huh?), that is what I tested today. I went in on my lunch break, colored my hair in their lab and they asked me a few questions. It was much better than coloring in my tiny bathroom for sure. They base the goody bag size off of the time you commit. Since I had to go in three times (1 patch test, 1 patch test result and the coloring) and I was the one doing the application, it was a good haul! I've gone in and just answered some questions and still received a great bag.

Today's Goodies:



Biotherm Sunfitness Gel-cream for face - retail $18 - SPF 15 Sunscreen
Lancome Tonique Douceur - retail $21 (for 6.8 oz and I have the 13.5 oz) - alcohol-less toner
Lancome Juicy Tube - retail $16.50 - in Berry Bold
Lancome Juicy Vernis nail polish - retail $13.50 - in color 46
Lancome Aroma Tonic shower gel - retail $24 - I got this once before and it's a favorite!
L'Oreal ReFinish Microdermabrasion kit - retail $25 - I've been wanted to try this
L'Oreal Vive Fresh Shine 2 in 1 Shampoo
L'Oreal Color Vive Dry Defense - 3 minute leave in treatment
Maybelline Finish Matte pressed powder - retail $6 - in medium beige (works for me)
Maybelline Intense XXL mascara - retail $7 - in brownish black (I LOVE not too black mascara)
Maybelline Cool Effect Shadow/Liner - in sugar plum ice

Can a get a WOO HOO? If you live in the New York City Area and are interested in siging up with L'Oreal or the Matrix Salon (they do free hair color) e-mail me and I'll give you the 411.

Cheers!

Brief Thrift, Minimal Finds

On my short trip to Baltimore this weekend, Mom and I made a brief stop at the Thrift Store. Not much turned up but I did get a few things that will be handy in the kitchen:



small glass creamer - 45 cents - excellent for serving salad dressing on the side. This is a terrible picture, you can't see the decorative knobby bottom.

hor'devour picks - 80 cents - wooden horse heads, so cute!

silver salad servers - 25 cents each - I love old silver and this is a nice set. I need to polish up all of my random silver pieces and post about them. I like the mis-matched utensil idea but look mostly for serving pieces. The thrift store we frequent has big buckets of utensils to dig through.

Also found a few Christmas items:



stitchable stocking - $2 - I plan to stitch Happy Holidays on this I think or maybe a name and then gift it . . . hmm . . .

mini Christmas pillow - $1.50 - This is now my third Christmas pillow (Mom found one) so I think I'm covered. Or at least my couch will be . . .

More to come from past thrifts . . .

cheers and good luck!

Bex

Thrifting to Support your Crafting Habit

Good morning campers! If you are like me, you can't resist crafting supplies at the thrift. They are always cheaper and usually vintage. I did well in Baltimore the last time:



blue printed fabric - $1
knitting needles - $1.70 for both
brown cross stitch fabric - 80 cents

Plus Mom called from the thrift earlier this week and said she found a $3 bag of a knitting needles and did I want them? Knitting needles run about $4 to $6 a pair. She said there were 11 pairs of needles in the bag. Um, yeah I wanted them! (serial knitters will tell you that you are defined by your needle collection ;) )

My craft room (and whole house for that matter) is getting a bit over crowded. I need to have a garage sale. Not easy in Queens, let me tell you. I was thinking the other day that we need a website that is for swapping/selling your thrifted items to other thrifters around the world. Does anyone know of a website like that?? I'm looking for one run but bloggers and not like an Ebay type site.

cheers
Bex

PS - I added a few new links to fellow thrifters. I plan to add more through out the week! Check them out

More Fabulous Finds

Indian Cotton Table Cloth - $5 - I just loved the pattern and hoped it went with the Waverly pattern in my dining room.

Waverly Pillow - $2 - the Waverly pattern in my dining room in pillow form. I love finding things that match something I already have. Do you think the two pattern blend? Think a curtain of the Waverly pattern near this table cloth . . .



hand embroidered pillowcase - $1 - my mother can't resist these and convinced me to buy it. It is really cute . . . (and another shot of the table cloth)

embossed stationary - $1 - in a bag with some other stationary of dancing pigs. Who could resist that??

More to come!

ciao

The Best Thrift EVER

I was going to save this to post at the end of the week but who am I kidding, I've so rarely had a really good thrift that what's the point in waiting? I hit three thrift stores in Baltimore with Mom (aka JAK). We'll post our finds throughout the week.

First up is the score of the year:



Le Creuset pan for $6.



Yes, LE CREUSET. FOR $6. And it's the made in France kind not the cheap kind. Can you tell I'm thrilled?

and a few more kitchen things found . . .



fall leaves pot holders - 45 cents
lidded pyrex dish - 95 cents
J.A. Henckels strainer ladle - 25 cents
cylindar candy dish - 80 cents
suger pourer - 80 cents

It was a good day for kitchen stuff. More to come!

xoxoxo bex