May Thrift Haul

This month was another extra fun thrifting adventure, as it includes scores from our trip to Naples, Florida.

As I mentioned, my husband found so many amazing treasures that we had to zip open our carry-ons wider so that he could fit them all in! I think there was around 6 pairs of golf/fitness shorts, 2 polos, 2 t-shirts and 2 hats. He’s been wearing everything since he came home and it tickles me to no end that when I compliment him, he responds enthusiastically with “THANKS, I THRIFTED THESE SHORTS FOR $5!”

I was very, very picky with my thrifting treasures, but I came home with a few winners:

Lou & Grey joggers, $6.99

I’m pretty sure these are the Lou & Grey Signaturesoft sweatpants that retail for $69.50. They are incredibly soft and fit like a pair of leggings and a pair of joggers had a baby. I absolutely love them and have already worn them a bunch of times. Love, love, love these and after seeing how they wear for a while, I might even purchase another pair at retail prices. On sale, of course.

Jofit skort, $6.99

I love a good skort for running or even for our afternoon/evening neighborhood walks. There were skorts a plenty in the Naples thrift stores (thanks to all the local golf courses and tennis clubs), but this one was a winner for me. I loved the bright orange accents and the pleats make for some sassy twirls. Similar skorts retail on the Jofit website for $98.

Madewell Walker Chelsea suede ankle boots, $5.99

These Madewell booties were my best score in Naples! They are in fantastic condition, fit me perfectly and retailed for $178 on the Madewell website. If I were shopping retail, I’d be hesitant to purchase suede shoes since they can get ruined by rain, however at $6 there’s not much to lose and these will look fantastic with some dresses and jeans in the fall.

Athleta v-neck lightweight sweatshirt, $9

This is a score from home, but I love the v-neck Athleta sweatshirts (I own two, one in navy and one in green). So when I saw this black one for $9, I figured I might as well add it to my closet. I love them as a layer for hiking and I also wear them regularly on chilly days in my house.

Pyrex “Zodiac” casserole dish, $8.50

I’ve never seen this pattern in Pyrex before, so I was intrigued. It was in TERRIBLE condition though, so I thought it would be a fun gamble to see if Bar Keepers Friend could really magically restore it. Spoiler alert, it did NOT save it. However, olive oil helped a lot:

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Girl’s Weekend Antiquing & Secondhand Shopping Adventure

At the end of January, I had a much-needed girl’s weekend with my friend Lindsey where we wandered around to a bunch of shops touching everything. There were consignment shops and antique stores and more consignment shops. And yummy food. And girlie movies. And face masks. And coffee. It was basically everything I needed for a mental reset.

And OF COURSE I found some awesome stuff on our travels, so let’s check it all out!

Let’s start with Clothing:

Tahari dolman sleeve top, $18

This t-shirt is soft, comfortable and flattering. This is one of those easy flowy tops that I like to pair with leggings on my telework days or throw on with a pair of jean shorts in the summer.

Lou & Grey Cardigan, $20 and Chicos Cardigan, $18

I wear cardigans pretty much year-round, and most of the time I’m able to keep them looking nice with a little sweater shaving every so often. Over the past few months though, I’ve donated a few of my casual cardigans so when I saw these two in new condition, I figured it was a no brainer to add them to my closet. Both brands are typically nicely made, so these should last through a few dozen loads of laundry.

Athleta ‘With Ease’ Top, $6

I have no idea why this top had a clearance tag on it at the consignment shop, because it’s pretty much a brand new Athleta top that is still being sold in stores for $59 (the inside tag shows it was released in stores in 7/23). I hadn’t tried the style before, but I had no idea what I was missing because it is soooo soft and super flowy and flattering. I was originally planning to wear this to bed, but now that I’ve washed it and tried it on, it’s going into heavy rotation for my telework days paired with joggers.

Smartwool Intraknit Merino 200 Crew Base Layer, $15

While I wasn’t specifically looking for a fitted base layer, Smartwool is a great brand and this was cute and my size. Smartwool’s Intraknit pieces run around $130 each, so for $15 it made sense to pick this up and keep it for when I need it. While I don’t have any skiing plans right now, it will be great to have the next time I need to snowsuit up!

Clothing total: I feel like I went a little crazy on clothing with purchasing 5 pieces. However, my clothing total was $77… which worked out to just over $15 per item.

Moving on to the antiques!

Jadeite hand, $18

There was a jadeite grouping on an antique store’s bookshelf and I immediately grabbed this fabulous ring holder. It has the mid-century vibes that I love and was in perfect condition – and it looks super adorable holding my rings. Fun fact: my kid now refers to it as the alien hand.

Vintage Pink Homespun Depression Glass Tumblers, $8 for 3

Google images is telling me that these are vintage Jeanette Depression Glass tumblers, but I don’t see the ‘J’ mark, so I’m not sure. I love the pretty pink tint though and the price was great. I only wanted 2 of them, so I gave the third to my friend to enjoy.

Pottery mug, $7.50

 I love handmade pottery and this cute cup fit perfectly in my hand. It has been added to my coffee cup rotation.

Sargent & Co Carpenters Level, $18

There were two of these antique levels and I ended up with one and Lindsey bought the other. This one is from Sargent & Company, which was formed in 1858 when three Sargent brothers combined their businesses. It looks like they stopped making hand tools in the 1960’s, when they focused more on locks and builder’s hardware. This level is just really cool and I love the look of it on my bookshelf. Also, I know my dad is going to love it and I’ll have to keep an eye on him the next time he’s over my house!

Fulton Woodworkers Marking Gauge, $9

I just thought this vintage woodworking tool was really cool. I already had the level in my hands, so this naturally needed to come home with me too.

Blue Jay by Elizabeth Paxton Oliver, $80

Out of all the treasures we found, this is my absolute favorite! It was hanging on the wall at a consignment/antique store that we love and I couldn’t take my eyes off it. I left it to look around some more and just had to return to it again. I did a quick Google Image search while I was in the store to make sure it wasn’t overpriced, but found the same print had sold online for $300.

After doing a little more research at home, I found that the artist, Elizabeth Paxton Oliver, lived from 1891-1977 and was an absolute pioneer of the time. Due to the bias against women artists, she used her initials to conceal her gender (it is signed E. Paxton Oliver). I love it so much and I’m thinking I’m going to hang it on an empty wall in our bedroom. I need to live with it a bit first and walk around different rooms of my house to make sure that’s the best place before I commit.

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DIY: A Festive Christmas Cactus

I recently came across some adorable Christmas cactus pottery on Instagram and I loved them so much!

Source: Brushstrokes Pottery (click through for listing)

Unfortunately, they were a bit out of my current price range. And this certainly wasn’t a new idea – I’ve seen lots of variations of it everywhere and I wanted one for myself! So, when I remembered that I had thrifted a wooden pallet that I had been meaning to redo when inspiration struck… it worked out perfectly!

I thrifted the “Always Stay Humble” pallet for $4.99 with the intention to repurpose it at some point. I also purchased the paint set and brushes when I was in a painting mood and stuck them in a corner.

It took about 3 coats to cover the old text and then I used chalk to draw on the outline of my cactus. I mixed my own shade for the main body of the cactus, so that I could use the darker green for the lines.

The green took about 2 coats and the magenta was about 3 coats. Then, once it was dry, I added the darker green stripes. At this point, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to paint on the Christmas lights or use brightly colored felt I had sitting around. I decided to go for the felt, so that the colors would be more saturated and also I liked the slight fuzziness of the felt on the painting.

And this is how it turned out! I felt like the base needed a little something extra, so I added some purple plaid to it. I cut out the little gumdrop shaped felt for the lights and also a pretty star for the top. And it just happened to look extra cute with a pompom garland draped on top.

Sure, I still want one of those adorable pink Christmas cactus pottery sculptures. But, my version is pretty darn cute too!

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