Monday, January 24, 2011

Thrifting while it rains

Well today was grey, rainy and rather gloomy. So I asked my dear Mother if she would like to go check out a few thrift stores with me. We went to 3 I didn't come up with a whole lot, but the things I found I just love!! So here is my findings.


Two pairs of earrings.. I just liked the colors and styles of them.

This pewter pendant caught my eye. It was .99 cents and I cannot wait to put it on a chain and wear it all around town. *haha*


Little bee pin



Set of 6 knives marked Burns stainless with bakelite handles.


Rabbit with bow tie bottle opener. I would really like to know how old this guy is.. He has no markings whatsoever and is slightly rusty. He reminds me of something but I cannot put my finger on it. For some reason I keep thinking I saw a rabbit that looked like this on some German chocolates.. but heck I came up with nothing when I did a search on google.






As soon as I seen this amongst all the other swim suits I grabbed it. It was sitting there sticking out like a sore thumb. Thank God or I might have missed it. It will be swimming season soon and I wanna wear this with a floppy straw hat! Note to self: Start working out & stop eating fast food.. even if it is a chicken burger. The price was $5.00 and when I went to pay the lady at the till said "All bathing suits are 5.00 are you sure you want it??" YEESSSS I do I replied. The store I got it from has recently raised the pricing on all clothing I would not have paid 5 for any other suits there.. but I could not leave this one.

Lastly for the shopping part.. you are not going to believe.. *cues dramatic music*
DUN DUN DAAAA!!!!


Another ELNA!! Now I still do not know if she runs.. and if she does I don't know if she does it well. But she was $5.00 and HECK I cannot pass up a green sewing machine. The first one I got was the Supermatic.. this one is the transforma.


I still do not know the whole difference between the two but I have read a little about it. Now this new one I got did not come with much. It had the knee bar and the cord to plug it in. No accessories or anything just bare bones. In the next few days I will plug her in and see what does or does not happen. If she runs.. you can bet your butt I will buy another if I come across it. Especially if it comes with accessories. My man found her for me.. he should have known not to show me.. so I blame it on him. I bet he's thinking I better become a darn good sewer with all these machines!

And Last but not least. My Mom has a friend who knows I love vintage. She has given me some lovely pyrex bowls and I found out she liked Scottie dogs so a few weeks back I came across a cute vintage scottie pin with a rhinestone eye and purchased it for her as a thank you for the bowls. Well I guess she wanted to return the favor because she told my Mom she had something else for me. I was just given it a few days back.



I just adore the sweet little purse. She told my Mom it was either her Great Grandmas or her Great Great Grandmas. I really don't know why she didn't want it. Maybe because she only had Sons and no Daughters. Regardless I love it and I will cherish it forever or until I have a daughter I can pass it down too.

After shopping the rain stopped and I had spaghetti for dinner. Spaghetti is one of my favorites. Once I finish typing the last words to this post, I am going to finish watching the Stepford wives 1975 version.

Have you got anything that you adore recently? I would love to hear about it.



12 comments:

  1. Oh wow, I love it all! Especially the 2nd Elna- how does one get so lucky?!
    And the beaded purse is definitely something to be cherished- so sweet!

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  2. @Alyssa Bee
    I have a feeling the Elnas were told about this crazy woman obsessed with them.. and now I will probably come across them left and right. haha
    I agree on the beaded purse I will surely have to use it for at least one fancy occasion.

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  3. The buttons, bee pin, and bag are so lovely! I cannot believe that you got the suit for just 5 dollars! Great find! I have never heard of Elna machines until I read your blog a while back. I have a Singer but it's modern. I just started sewing last year and I am still a newbie, big time! How do vintage machines compare to their contemporary counterparts?

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  4. WOW! That's what I call cool finds!
    Big congrats lady!
    Hope you don't mind if I put you on my favorite blog list.

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  5. @Tara
    @Tara
    Hi there Tara
    Truthfully I am also a sewing newbie. I have so many ideas of things I want to sew. But in the beggining it's all about the easy things and practice practice. About the machines: They say vintage machines were built to last and I do think that is true. My Mother had a 90's singer that she constantly was taking to the repair shop. Whenever I wanted to use it something else went wrong. So I started doing my research on vintage machines, And found out that if they run they usually are not that hard to get fixed. Or if something goes wrong there are only so many things causing the problem. They are surely alot more simple that the modern ones they sell nowadays. With the first Elna I purchased I thought the thing was on it's death bed. But with a cleaning and oiling.. it runs amazingly. I would say the drawback is with the older ones you are limited to fancy schmancy stitches. But there is some who come with kitchy little designs. I have noticed alot of sales on craigslist for vintage machines.. They sell for BIG BUCKS!! There is surely starting to be a market for them. If you think you would like one. I would visit your local thrifts and pick one up from there. They will usually let you plug it in and see if it runs first off. Then give it a cleaning and some oil and you will have saved yourself a ton. I know I would not have had the cash to pay 100.00 - 300.00 for a vintage machine. I have 2 for $25.00
    I wish I could give you more info but I am still new to them myself. The best thing you can do is just read a few sites and gather some info from there. Then you can make a decision if you would also like to use one.
    I plan to make a Rag doll next out of vintage fabrics. I have never done this before so I hope she turns out alright. I will do a blog post when I start on it.

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  6. @Little Rascal
    Tommorow I go to one of my favorite thrifts, I don't even know if I will be able to sleep properly tonight.. Ohh the anticipation. haha
    Now because I am so excited I might not even come across anything amazing. haha

    I would mind at all if you put me on your blog list.
    Thanks =)

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  7. Vintage Coconut,

    Thanks for such a wonderful wealth of information! My mom still has her machine from the 60s/70s and it works great. However, my sister's machine from the late 90s is constantly giving her a hard time! It likes to run slow/odd and break needles. My machine is from the 2000s and so far it is okay but it has a tendency to break thread all the time! I will be humming along, making a pillow cover and wham, the darmn thread breaks and I have to re-thread it, again! Arg! Maybe I should search the local thrift stores for a vintage machine. Or maybe I can borrow my mother's if she will let me! lol!

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  8. @Tara If your Mom owns one your in luck. Now my own Mother is thinking of getting one. She didn't think to much of my first Elna but when she saw it in action.. I could tell she was jelous it was working and hers wasn't. (Hehaha) Now when I found the second one.. she stifled a "I bet that would work way better than mine *hint hint*" HAHAH I will help her find one.. as long as it isn't green. Green ones are mine. *lol* If you ever do come across one while thrifting be sure to give it a look. Some of the vintage beauties come in great colors. I have even seen a very lovely Magenta one.

    Goodluck let us know if you come across one.

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  9. Well done again I will enjoy reading what treasures you have found,Love it all and that bag is beautiful Just a thought tho why not write a bit of the history down of the previous owners like names and bdates etc?I do that when I can and they are the otems I will never let go.That way they still are known and not forgotten.Yes I am a huge sentamentalist with lots of mental on the side (ask my kids ) lol.

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  10. @Nelly writing down some history is a very good idea. I buy most of my stuff from local thrifts. But the stuff given to me I should surely be able to get some information on. Maybe not too much or I might just seem like a weirdo. hahaha
    =)
    Do you Blog??

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  11. I don't think I have ever seen a sweeter sewing machine! Now tell me, does it work?

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  12. I have recently acquired an Elna Transforma machine. I would be willing to sell it if you are interested. You may contact me at stillfantastic@hotmail.com.

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