Category: vintage

June 29, 2012

A Thrifting Guide for Mommas on a Budget (Part One)

Thrift shopping is a great way to find cheap vintage clothing, housewares and other secondhand treasures.

My thrifting romance was nurtured from a very young age. Tagging along to the thrift store with my grandma was better than taking fistfuls of cash into the toy store. I never knew what sort of secondhand treasures I might find on any given day. My thrift shopping adventures have given me a keen eye for adorable vintage apparel and home goods on the cheap. I have also always felt like I was doing something humanitarian and eco-friendly by supporting thrift stores. I would say a good 75% of my wardrobe is of the secondhand nature, but you’d never guess. The best part is—I get to enjoy things that no one else has!

In this thrift shopping series, I will share my best tips for shopping secondhand on a budget:

1. Shop alone. Unless you can find someone who is just as content as you are with spending several hours rifling, examining, digging and scouring in a secondhand store, I suggest going it alone. I would also recommend leaving the kids at home unless they love it too. Forcing them is not good for anyone involved. However, in the unlikely event that you bring a toddler (because they’re screaming, holding your ankles, insisting on coming along), make the experience a fun, interactive (and short!) one, and make sure they’re well-fed and well-rested beforehand.

I recently had the best time with my Peanut lately at the local thrift store. Every time I tried on a leather jacket, he tried it on too, looking like a goofy mini Sherlock Holmes. I pointed out all sorts of things throughout the store and let him touch and hold some non-breakable items. Then, as a reward for being an angel child, we explored the toy section and even went home with a new little doctor kit. I’ve had my blood pressure checked a million times since then.

2. Clear your schedule. If I’m going to scavenge the thrift store, I know that I’ll need to block off a good hour or two—and I better have a meal beforehand! There’s just no easy way to comb the clothing racks without enough time set aside. I know it will never work if I just decide to drop in for a quick 15 minutes. Do you know how unnerving it feels to think you might be missing something in all the aisles you didn’t have time to check? On the same vein, you need to be patient. You need the extra time to comb through racks and racks of distasteful nick-nacks to find those hidden gems. It really takes patience–and it’s not for everyone. It is not uncommon to only find one or two notable items for each 1-hour trip.

3. Start a list. The back page of my agenda book contains a constantly-changing list of things I’m looking for at the moment. If they happen to be items I can pick up secondhand for pennies, I’m always grateful. At the secondhand shop, in particular, I’m always on the lookout for craft supplies, vintage dresses, beautifully-illustrated children’s books, and pretty printed sheets to repurpose. But I might set out for a silky scarf for a project or dainty plates and mugs to turn into a tiered display. It’s helpful to have ideas of what you need for your home, so your attention stays focused. By bits and pieces, you’ll eventually craft some well-curated spaces in your home.

4. Expect the unexpected. You probably won’t find anything on the list above on your first try. Always keep the list in the back of your mind, but keep your mind open. Most of the things I take away from the thrift store are things I never had on my mind. This is especially true for clothes. You cannot approach the racks hoping to find one specific item, but you might find three new things you would just die to have. And you probably won’t have to die for them at $1.00 each!

5. Give and take. Every time I plan on visiting the thrift store, I take along a box of donations. I try to donate more than I buy to avoid the packrat trap and to keep the supply steady and flowing for others. Our needs and tastes are always changing, and this ebb and flow allows us to change things out of rotation every once in awhile without breaking the bank.

I hope this article is sparking some great ideas for you or just giving you that itch. I know that itch all to well. Even writing this article is making me itch for a trip to Vinnies.

Check back next week for Part Two of this thrift shopping guide for even more tips on browsing and unearthing some real treasures.

May 18, 2012

Book Pages: Natural Beauty Recipes

Some things never change, like my love of natural remedies and health aids. I was one of those kids with oatmeal and honey pore masks on my face. Uh-huh.

I picked up this vintage copy of The Complete Book of Natural Cosmetics when I was not even old enough to drive to the grocery store to buy the ingredients. And it still has a place on my bookshelf all these years later.

I knew what tinctures, concoctions, tonics and infusions were, just like a good little apothecary. However, I didn’t practice my medicine because of course my parents weren’t too keen on buying me bottle of vodka for medicinal purposes. Haha!

Here’s a little recipe we can all try:

And here are some charming vintage ink pen drawing we can all admire:

This recipe just kills me. Strain your tapioca and herb mixture through an old nylon stocking foot. What is it with vintage books and nylon stockings lately? Ha! I’m okay with recycling them for alternate uses since it’s not exactly trendy to cover your legs with them anymore. However, using old ones for tapioca straining gives me the chills a little.

What natural recipes have you used before? Beer hair rinses, anyone? I think I’m going to whip me up a batch of that apple lotion this weekend and put it in a really pretty glass apothecary jar.

October 1, 2011

Some Soule Mama Inspiration

If you don’t already know about her, you have to check out this awesome mama/writer/pioneer/artist… I just got done going through her Handmade Home book. I am completely smitten with the concept of handcrafting things for your home that nurture your family, entertain your children, mother your sick, and personalize your space. I swoon a little bit every time I read through the pages and gaze longingly at the pictures. I am reminded again and again what the purpose of my life is at this very moment, for my three-year-old and husband–to nurture my family and carve a loving home.

I did, however, actually complete one of the projects in the book. Yay me!!! Mind you, my sewing machine had tragically been sitting unused for at least five years before this. I suddenly had a strong desire to make something that had a certain purpose in my home that I couldn’t find any other remedy to.

My husband has this annoying habit of grabbing a second towel to put on the floor for his feet. It’s sloppy, but I didn’t have any better solutions. We had tried a carpet square, but the second that that started, um, smelling, I had to throw it away. It was unwashable.

Enter the washable bath mat. Hooray! This was also the least intimidating sewing option for my rusty skill. I found a microfiber cloth at the dollar store and a pillowcase at the thrift store. I cut a piece of the pillowcase fabric the same size as the towel, sewed ’em both together, and voila! I got a tiny bit lazy and skipped the part about layering towel pieces over the top, so it doesn’t look quite as cute as Amanda’s. But it works!

In putting together one’s sewing toolkit, Amanda also suggests finding a sewer’s user manual. She says new or old, the basic sewing principles have not changed much. Guess who was a little giddy when she snagged a vintage copy of the Better Homes and Gardens Sewing Book in mint condition? Oh yeah. And that $2 price tag tasted oh-so-sweet.

Look how sweet the old-time pictures are.

To top off all the great feelings and motivation that came from making something practical with my own two hands, I even thrifted a new sewing machine cover. Ok, I think it was intended to be a toaster cover, but it fits over the guts of the machine perfectly. And the sunflower print was much too perfect to pass up.

September 30, 2011

My Vintage Romance

I am currently taking Rachel Denbow’s Style Your Space e-course. Those girls over at Red Velvet are the coolest, and it was hard to choose which e-course to start with. But I am pretty inept when it comes to interior design, so it made the most sense to start there. I’m only about a quarter of the way into the online class, but I have to say, I am looking at my home in a whole different light.

I enjoyed Rachel’s story about her vintage romance and her bff Elsie’s recent story and tips for thrift-shopping, which made me want to explore my own second-hand story.

It all began when I was a tiny little girl spending the night at my grandma’s house. Grandma volunteered at a local thrift store and the staff there appreciated our voluntary afternoon help so much that we often left with fistfuls of items that never had a chance to make it to the racks. Many of the treasures I don’t remember, but I do still wear the vintage nightgown I once found. But the thrifty legacy my grandma afforded me has shaped my entire existence.

Grandma would admonish us for buying her anything new for Christmas or her birthday, because she’d always say “I can get that at the store.” And indeed she could find anything there. Her closet was lined with the cutest “dancing outfits” she’d go out with her boyfriend in and the most darling matching clutch purses. Her reading material, including the latest issues of her favorite magazines, were stacked neatly in thrifted baskets. Even her well-kept furniture looked like it came straight from a modish 1950s department store. She may have even laid the foundation for my active lifestyle, because we never visited grandma without the requisite stop at her local YMCA.

I spent my school years begging my mom to take me to Goodwill. After making sure no one saw me enter (someone did once and I never heard the end of it), I entered my zone. I abhorred anything mainstream, so this was the place to get a completely personalized look.

In college, 100s of miles from home, I scouted out the thrift stores before anything else, scooping up some mismatched vintage plates and ephemera for my dorm room. A friend took me to a thrift store in her hometown where I found the requisite college shot glasses (despite drinking very rarely). Another friend and I snooped around for cool T-shirts we could re-size. My all-time favorite is an “I Have Kaleidoscope Eyes” from the Beatle’s song. When I first starting working out, after transferring back to my hometown, I scoured the thrift store for workout clothes and came away with a nice starter athletic wardrobe. And I squirreled things away for my own home one day.

Some of my most interesting memories come from the thrift store. My sister and I watched two guys get arrested in one. They were just browsing, making hilarious comments, so I’m not sure what they got called for.

Before I even knew what “vintage” was, I would raid my mom and dad’s old collections of 1970s clothes. I wish I remembered what we did with them. I just knew I loved the look and I knew I didn’t want to wear the standard-issue Abercrombie look everyone else was wearing.

Now I love to search out nightgowns, sheets and curtains to re-purpose into other things. Craft supplies. The racks I turn to again and again are the dresses, skirts, crafts, books and scarves. I peek in the toys for my son and only grab things if they’re in mint condition and include the play pieces.

I am also highly likely to donate a bag on the same day that I shop. It’s too easy to accumulate too much, so I make it a point to go through some things and pitch a few things that don’t suit us anymore before I go in and buy more.

I’ll have to show you some Rachel-inspired changes around my home as they come. In the meantime, I’d love to hear your romance story!

September 22, 2011

Vintage Running Clothes

I love this little article over at The Sew Weekly about vintage running clothes. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately too. All the new moisture wicking running clothes, which really is an emerging field of apparel, looks very contemporary. A few coworkers and I were discussing the amount of “pink” we all have in our running wardrobes, because that color seems to be pretty prevalent in the workout clothes department. Along with pink, gray, black and aqua blue seem to hold the highest rank. The cuts and styles are all very similar as well. Curating a personal athletic style is almost impossible because the apparel choices for the everyday female runner are slim.

And vintage running clothes? Forget about it! Not that we’d want to wear vintage running clothes, because of their outdated/non-existent athletic technology. The shoes especially were quite inept by today’s standards. But I’d sure love for someone–or even myself–to design some cute vintage-inspired, moisture-wicking, sun-blocking, anti-static garments with cute little flower prints on them. Is that asking too much? Maybe for now it is. But I can see it coming. Tell them you saw it here first.

Ok, maybe Nike already thought of it. Of course they did! This little pamphlet is a hoot. Check it out.

Well, at least we’re not required by a phallocentric bureaucracy to wear dresses! Am I right?

September 12, 2011

Vintage Flower Theme Around My House

I’ve noticed that I have a vintage flower theme going on in my house. I just love the petite fragile flowers in hearty shades of pink and red. Here is a little peek:

This is a set of three antique postcards standing along the ridge of my cupboard.

I found this giant flower at the local pharmacy of all places. It was on clearance for like $2.50. I have it hanging between two art pictures on my dining room wall.

This is a pretty vintage flower print on a closet door in our room. I’m not usually a fan of wallpaper, but just this tiny little snippet of it on a tiny little door was just enough. The door needed some TLC and this was an easy and charming fix.

Here’s a little trivet I picked up at a flea market that I keep on the dining room table:

My mom bought me this set of adorable jars at an antique stores. I still don’t have anything inside of them. I just like to look at the little pretties:

And finally, a thrifted botanical print that hangs over the stove:

Of course, there’s a lot more where that came from. Perhaps I’ll do another post with even more flora.

April 16, 2010

Vintage Stealers

Does anyone else feel a little bit ripped off when people sell “handpicked vintage” items? I guess in a way, it makes a little bit of sense. The “pickers” find labels and styles that are highly saleable and buyers don’t have to do the dirty picking work. However, for people like me, with little cash to spare and a love of all things thrift, it seems like stealing to buy a $1.00 dress at the thrift store and turn around and sell it for $30.00 in a boutique. My potential to buy and recycle an old piece of clothing is now gone and I’m looking at price tags that rival brand new clothes with vintage-inspired designs.

I see this quite often now on ebay, Etsy, and those little vintage boutiques that are popping up everywhere. A vintage designer label or valuable antique is a whole different story–they deserve a little more respect and reverence. But cute handmade skirts, children’s storybooks and quirky glass cups, please don’t take them out of the reach of the rest of the recession-strapped population. We would love them!