Apron Thrift Girl

my oldest thrift find ever

Latin Book from 1544

Thrift weekends and thrift finds tend to blur week after week. I wish I had a stellar memory that engraves each item, the price and where I found it in my mind but it doesn't. In fact, having this blog as an electronic diary of sorts, is the next best thing.

I found this antique book at an estate sale in Santa Rosa. I had to buy it because I've never touched anything so old before. It felt beautiful and wonderful in my hands. I was truly holding a part of the past.

My friend and business partner Kara offered to help me with this amazing find. Kara did most of the work. She researched it, asked fellow book experts about it and wrote up this amazing eBay auction for the book. Kara is owner of Little Sages Books and is going to be writing some posts at ATG in the future about book selling and what it means to be a bookseller in this high tech world.

Kara estimates that the book might be worth between $100 and $200 but you never know with an online auction. She cleverly started the auction at $1 which made me gasp at first. Then I realized that I'm okay with whatever price the book sells at. It's part of the thrift game. I woke up today to see that it's already at $107.

What is your oldest find?

Montgomery Ward - Christmas Wishbook - 1979 & 1981

Montgomery Ward Christmas Catalog 1979

Do any of you remember the Store Christmas Catalogs that children used to pour over for days? I found three of them last weekend at a yard sale. I purchased 2 from Christmas 1979 and another from 1981.

I spent Saturday afternoon visiting the past, taking in every single page. I had both of these catalogs as a child and there are some pages that I so vividly remember. I used to take the scissors to them to create my own "wishbook" of things that I'd dream about owning.

I can't remember the details about why, but there was one year where my parents spent a lot of money at Christmas. We didn't have much money so it was truly a Christmas to remember. They bought me this "jukebox" and a Barbie Dream House. I spent hours in my bedroom with all of the lights off so that I could watch the flashing lights change to the music.

Did anyone catch the Pawn Stars episode where Big Hoss bought the head of the rarest stretch toys?

Fascinating to see the old Lego.

I found a set of these at a rummage sale that I sold for over a hundred dollars. A Wishbook is perfect for not only research but items to keep an eye out for.

Stroller Lane

I played hours and hours with my Barbie Dream House. Of course it was taken over by all the Strawberry Shortcake dolls that Barbie and Ken adopted a few years later. Then it truly was a happy home.

My brother was completely crazy over Star Wars. Actually he still is. And apparently his young daughter of 5 years is following in his footsteps. Keiran and his uncle always seem to be discussing anything related to Star Wars when they are together.

1981 - and with that year came a new doll on to the scene and my life was forever altered.

Welcome to the World of Strawberry Shortcake.

I'm not sure what attracted so many young girls to her sweet pink ways....

I can remember like it was yesterday, walking into Mervys in search of the girl's department. I can still see a Blueberry Muffin shirt hanging on the rack and actually reaching out to grab it. I think it was one of the first things that I really remember spending money on. I was in heaven owning that little shirt.

Sigh.....

1981 prices.

And be still my heart.

I. want. that. bicycle.

Oh Strawberry Shortcake, how I still adore you.

Can you imagine spending $1389.88 on a VCR in 1981? According to this website, that would be around $3,000 in today's money.

I hit my 700th post last week. I thought I'd give away my extra copy of the 1979 catalog. It doesn't have Strawberry Shortcake or the VCR but it's filled to the brim with toys, lamps, clothing, electronics and more. It is a worn copy but should still be interesting to look through.

If you don't win it make sure to visit Christmas Wishbook website to take a peek at hundreds of wishbook pages from the past.

For extra entries you can do any of the following: (make sure to comment once for each item that you do. For regular readers - let me know which ones that you subscribe to)

• Become an ATG Facebook Fan
• Become a Flavorstitch Facebook Fan (if you adore food - I'm trying it out again with my return to the kitchen)
• Follow ATG on Twitter
• Post about the giveaway on your blog (please include a link and share it with me so that I can visit your blog)
• Stumble this post
• Post about the Giveaway on your Facebook page

Winner will be chosen next Friday and announced on Facebook. Good luck!

San Francisco

When I crossed over the Golden Gate Bridge into San Francisco on Friday afternoon an excited ball of energy started to build in my belly. I'm not sure if it's because my grandfather survived the 1906 earthquake in this city or the fact that my father grew up in San Francisco or just the idea that I used to come here often as a child. I adore this city probably more than any other city in the world. It speaks to my heart and soul and to spend three days here left me lightheaded. As I walked around the city over the weekend I kept imagining my father as a young boy jumping onto the back of trolley cars and cable cars. I wondered where my grandfather and his family camped as the city burned around them. He was 8 years old, nearly the same age as my Keiran.  I watched everyone in awe like a typical country girl and everything from the architecture to the Barneys sign to the St. Patrick's Day Parade and it all amazed me. I was like a young child in a big city. Did I still feel like a Mover & Shaker? You bet.

After Blissdom I guess my first reaction to Movers & Shakers was a bit of a let down. I learned so much at Blissdom that it was difficult to find new things to learn. I've tried to reflect on the weekend and I guess some of the key things I learned weren't necessarily about facts and figures but sage advice about how to get places in life without stomping on the people around you.

The definition of a Mover & Shaker according to this conference is someone who affects lives over time, has something important to share and places more emphasis on service than ego. It isn't the person who lies to get forward in their career, puts their business and goals in front of everything including relationships or someone who puts ego before everything else. The phrase "Relationships before Results" is something that I am going to tape to my Mac and think about every day.

I needed to hear this message. Sometimes our childhood sneaks into our adult lives in a way we don't expect. Yet we are all products of our upbringing so how could it not. I felt very ignored as a child in many ways. I turned within and became my own best friend. I turned toward books when the children around me wanted nothing to do with me. I became invisible. Now as an adult, despite my shyness I want to be seen. I want notoriety but I never quite knew why. Now I do and I need to decide how to go forward with this.

A very strong message throughout the weekend was "It's about Who you become not What you become". Isn't that powerful? I still have that childlike need to become something. Don't many of us feel this way? Cheryl said that we might be driven by an unmet need. For me it would be that need to be seen. Her advice was not easy to hear. She suggested the T word: therapy. Half of the audience nodded their heads knowingly while the other half adjusted themselves uncomfortably in their seats. She also went on to say that we must invest in personal growth, emotional growth and spiritual growth to be a Mover & Shaker. Basically we needed to be healthy inside.

My own weakness is self image & shyness. Both of these hold me back. With the amount of ideas and energy my mind and body have, if I wasn't shy and had a positive view of myself, I may have moved mountains by this time. Even at the conference I held back often watching the crowd as they mingled and got to know each other.

 

Toward the end of the conference a woman was picked to share an issue that she needed help with. It was my issue. She asked how to get self-confidence. Here were the answers from the crowd:

• Ask close friends for compliments to help you feel better about yourself
• Remind your body to be confident
• Try out for community theater
• Take an Improv Class
• Look back and ask yourself "where are moments where you felt very confident?"
• Write down your fears
• Say affirmations "I am beauty" "I love my body". (say them daily, hourly if needed)
• Get a voice coach to help with how to speak (I'm extremely soft spoken and could use this)
• Join Toast Masters
• Practice what to say to people/strangers when you are alone

There was a strong theme of giving throughout the conference. We were told to be of service not a star. How you treat people makes all the difference in the world. Here's a good tip which we bloggers can relate to. Don't look for the 100 comments that might be fluff, look at the 10 comments by the people who really care. I don't know about you but I can really get sucked into the numbers game of blogging by looking at my stats, my number of comments and even my Facebook fans. Is anyone else guilty of this?

The biggest surprise at the conference was the section that focused on image. I would expect coming from Hay House that flowing skirts and tie-dye shirts would be welcomed. That wasn't the case. Cheryl said that being polished and well groomed would make or break you. We were taken to a couple of websites that do image consulting including Body Beautiful Online and Image Architect. Take a look at the Before & After photos. A part of me felt strange during this discussion. It seemed so wrong to fake it up. But is that what these women were doing?

Cheryl said that how you dress adds to your credibility. She also said that many times we look in the mirror and approve of our outfit/hair style yet what we don't realize is that it might be the wrong cut, color and style. Should we care how we look? I'm not sure. As I get more local readers I keep running into people while I am out and about. Sometimes I look like I just crawled out of bed and I'm not sure I want to meet people looking like that. During the last couple of months I have dressed nicer every day. And you know what? I feel better about myself. My daughter is watching me do this and is copying me by dressing her best when she used to wear stained clothing out and be perfectly content.

Ironically when I saw the photo of Cheryl and me, I immediately hated it. I personally feel so unphotogenic. The photos that do end up here or on facebook are maybe 1 percent of the ones that I delete. There is something very emotionally raw about smiling to a camera. It's almost as if my weakest side appears rather than my confident one. When I downloaded the photos this morning I immediately saw what Cheryl was saying. Why did I wear this shirt? What was I thinking?

Isn't Cheryl beautiful?

We spent quite a few hours on the subject of public speaking. This is something I don't do well but want to learn to do properly. Five people from the audience were able to practice doing a speech and then the audience could give them positive feedback on how well they did. Cheryl and Reid wanted everyone to weave in a personal story into their speech. Cheryl said that Movers & Shakers need to connect not perform, that we should take the audience on a journey when we speak so that they literally feel what we are saying rather than just hearing it.

My favorite part of blogging isn't necessarily sharing my thrifted finds, but creating a story around it whether it is in my past or in my present. And I must say that when I look into my heart and write, I usually have the most connection with my readers. I really got what she was saying about this and feel that I am much more prepared now to do podcast or teleconferences on the subject of Thrifting. I'm ready to use my voice.

I don't normally include photos with lots of wires but I love the electric bus & trolley wires in SF. And this was taken at a red light while I was driving so I couldn't get too artistic.

I feel over all that I already have many of the tools needed to be a Mover & Shaker. Now I have the advice on how to conquer the things that are holding me back like lack of confidence and self image. I'm going to work on my Movers & Shakers To-Do-List this week and start an action plan. Cheryl did say "It's All About Hard Work". I'm so ready to take that on and be a proper Mover & Shaker.

Everyday Food - Martha Stewart

I was looking through the current issue of Everyday Food on the way to the Farmer's Market on Saturday when I saw that they had published a second cookbook. I nearly jumped out of my seat startling Dave and the children.

I adore everything about this magazine. I use their original cookbook nearly every single week. It is by far my favorite one in my collection. I am crazy about it because the recipes are fairly simple, they do use everyday foods but add a few key ingredients like lemon zest or cilantro to make the dish mouthwatering and fabulous. I must have tried at least 50 if not more of their recipes and have only been disappointed with a few. Some of the recipes like their turkey burgers have become our family regulars showing up at least once a month in our menu plans. 

My day was complete when we found the book at Coscto for $14.99 

I am really looking forward to diving into this book and planning our meals around their recipes. They decided to go with a different format than with the original book. The original was broken up into seasons. I loved opening the Spring section and planning my meals. Now I have to instead look through main course and then go to the side dish section. It is still packed with beautiful photographs and pretty effortless recipes.

My friend Guusje told me a couple weeks ago about an App for Everyday Food. I finally bought it today for .99 cents.

I've barely had a moment to explore this App so I don't have much feedback at this time.

The last Everyday Food bit of news to share is that in this month's issue offers a subscription card that not only gives you Everyday Food Magazine but also Body + Soul for only $12.00. They are also going to send 2 grocery totes as a bonus with my subscription. That equals to .60 cents an issue.  Personally I've yet to see a lower price on these two magazines. I filled out the subscription card in the car and had Dave make a small detour to the post office.

If you like to get inexpensive magazines, keep an eye on Savings With Amy blog or follow her on Twitter. Amy alerted me to an offer subscription for Everyday with Rachel Ray for $3.50 last week. Amy also has the latest on many discounts and coupons. It kind of makes your frugal head spin with excitement.

Do you have a favorite coupon or deal blog or website?

The Sweater Chop Shop - a book review

I recently received a small parcel in the mail from Storey Publishing with a couple books to review. It was my first package from them and I was a little nervous as to what they would send. Would it fit well into ATG? When I laid my eyes on The Sweater Chop Shop by Crispina ffrench I gave a sigh of relief followed by a wide smile. This book was perfect.

I'm not really a detailed instructions type of girl as I've shared with you a few times. My right brained personality starts to feel all fuzzy with them sometimes. The patterns in Crispina's book though are fabulous. They are extremely easy to follow and the idea of taking a thrifted sweater to recycle into something unique and hip left me giddy.

I recently found a beautiful sweater at a rummage sale that someone had partially felted. I paid .50 cents for it and brought it home for a future project. It was ideal to use with patterns from The Sweater Chop Shop.

The book is filled with household item patterns such as pot holders, mufflers, pillows and simply divine, sweater patchwork blankets. She also has a section on making new sweaters from old sweaters. The kind of items that you'd only see at high end boutique stores or cool indie stores.

I want to make each of these both for me and for Cerys. This is from the section on Mix-and-Match Sweater Add-Ons which seriously is my kind of chapter. I adore altering clothing and find it a quick and easy fix to spruce something up that I have thrifted.

Crispina started out recycling sweaters in the late 80's when she made her first "Ragamuffin".

She has been producing and selling these sweet, lovable creatures for more than 20 years. She includes a general lesson in making Ragamuffins but gives you the tools to be able to make countless other animals and beings. She includes a pattern for a Dinosaur, a Potbelly Ragamuffin Body and a Stand-Up Ragamuffin Body. I personally heart the Dinosaur and plan to make one as soon as I can replenish my sweater supply. Crispina suggest having 3-6 felted wool sweaters in assorted colors, patterns, textures and weights before you begin a Ragamuffin.

Her last section is my personal favorite. It's based on making festive projects using scraps. I had to make this:

What I loved about the sweater that I worked with were the metal clasps that it came with. I simply took off two of these and used them instead of buttons.

This probably took me 20 minutes and I love the finished product. Cerys gave me a metal business card case with pink flowers on it but it only holds a handful of cards. The Recycled Sweater business card holder can be packed full of cards without worry. I worked on this project  yesterday at the craft party and so many people had to take to look at The Sweater Chop Shop book. A few moms were adding it to their wish list. Visually the book is eye candy, full of fabulous photography, funky illustrations and easy to follow patterns.

I also made a couple Pot Holders having grown frustrated with our awkward and dangerously slippy silicon pair.

Having been spoiled with going to two craft groups this week, I easily finished both of these projects at the gatherings.

The Sweater Chop Shop speaks straight to my thrifted heart because it is a book focusing entirely on Re-Using or Recyeling thrifted sweaters. Because many of the projects deal with small squares or pieces of wool, it makes it even easier to pick up sweaters with a few moth holes in them. And definitely pick up sweaters that the previously owner has already felted for you. I'll admit it was easier to find sweaters in cool Washington than it is in sunny California so I plan to stock up this summer when we travel north for our summer vacation. 

Crispina also gives you tips on what kind of sweaters to thrift. As I have discovered a few too many times, not all wool sweaters will shrink and felt. Her "Assembling Your Materials and Chop Shop Toolbox" is priceless with her advice on how to buy and prepare wool sweaters. This is a book that will save you a lot of money because your supplies will be so cheap to start with. A must have book for your Frugal Resource library.

frugal influences

Why don't I buy my clothing new at the mall? Why don't I accrue credit card debt and pay monthly interest? Why don't I go grocery shopping every other day in a typical grocery store like everyone else? Why don't I just buy new furniture from Macy's like this?

These are questions I often ask myself. Each financial decision I make is truly not the norm. Some people have asked me why do I thrift and why am I frugal? I've been thinking about this during the last couple of weeks only to have the answer given to me on Saturday.  Ironically I was thrifting when I picked up this book collection at a yard sale.

My parents were very much into self-sufficiency as I have talked about before. They wanted to live off the land as much as possible. Growing up in their home I didn't really know how different they were from other families. I know I was a little proud to live in the only log cabin in our small town. My father bought a kit from a magazine and built a small four bedroom log cabin. I can still hear the kids in awe when the school bus pulled up in front of our property and they had set their eyes on a partially built log home. Maybe they were thinking fondly of their own Lincoln Logs waiting for them when they get home. It did just look exactly like Lincoln Logs except the real logs were lighter in color.

My parents had the Foxfire Set of books on our book shelves next to their large collection of Mother Earth News.

I read through most of my childhood but never did happen to pick either of these up to browse through. Instead I lived through it as my parents tried projects from both Mother Earth News and Foxfire. There was the root cellar project where my parents bartered a back hoe to come out and attempt to dig a hole in our horrible orange clay soil. I only remember tidbits of it but I do know that it never worked for some reason and eventually it caved in. It used to scare me to think about being trapped in it. My dad filled it in and moved on to another project such as drip irrigation for our olive orchard.

There were also the solar panels that heated our hot water heater. And during the winter when the sun's rays weren't as strong my father set up our wood stove to heat our hot water heater. We also had a huge walk in pantry that held jars and jars of dried food. My parents were extremely frugal. I think my father earned about $10,000 a year as a teacher and then less when he became an EMT. Sometimes I found myself resenting our frugality as we had to shop at a smelly, sweltering Goodwill in Chico, California, a half hour away from where we lived. We would drive past the mall and I could only look longingly at it wishing for new clothing. Obviously I got over the need to buy new.

Each of these small unspoken messages from my parents and the books and economic times of the 70's that influenced their life, definitely had an affect on my future. While I don't necessarily live off the land as much as they did, I wish to. We won't mention the fact that I'm about to move to a city. I will still try to live a self sufficient lifestyle when we are down in Santa Monica. Even in a rental. I may not need to know how to do hog dressing as Foxfire book number 1 has instructions for, but I will take these influences and do the best I can.

During these economical times, this lifestyle really focuses in on the power of the frugal dollar. I'm hearing stories from friends about family members asking them for money. But giving someone money who has financial troubles can be like sticking a band-aid on a leak in a large dam. What some people need is not necessarily money but the skills and knowledge to stop spending and shift to a frugal lifestyle. We like to think we deserve a big house and a fancy car but if we can't afford it, do we really deserve it? We live in a fixer upper in a neighborhood full of fancy, beautiful houses. And while I sometime do wish I had a perfect house that didn't need every-last-thing-repaired-or-painted, I'm grateful that we are living within our means.

Educating ourselves on frugality is probably one of the most financially smart decisions we can make at this time. Crack open the Tightwad Gazette books and newsletters, subscribe to Mother Earth News (only $10 at the moment) or read it at the library. Start a food pantry, cut out the lattes and start sharing your frugal stories with your friends. This is our time to shine in our frugality and it is our job to share this important message with anyone we can.

My favorite books that center around Frugality:
Foxfire Books
The Simple Living Guide by Janet Lurhs.
The Tightwad Gazette (book 2 is my fav)
Carrots Love Tomatoes (companion planting in the garden)
Stocking Up (book on canning)
Clean House Clean Planet by Karen Logan (make your own cleaners)
Naturally Healthy Babies and Children  (great for those doing natural parenting. Make your own remedies for children including how to make a super simple electrolyte recipe)
Make Your Own Groceries (a bit pricey so hopefully you own a copy or can borrow one)
Practically any book from Storey Publishers

Frugality isn't about being poor and limiting your spending. It's about making financially smart choices on where you spend your money. We chose to send our children to a Waldorf school which isn't free for us nor cheap. But it is an investment in our children that to us is priceless. By making the choice to send them to Waldorf means we have to sacrifice that money elsewhere. This is why I buy nearly all of our clothing 2nd hand. We also choose to eat an organic diet and instead we eat out far less than your typical family. Once I clear up my addiction for curry food or can somehow replicate the recipe for Chicken Korma that our local curry magically creates, we will eat out even less.

I remember reading Amy's books and thinking that she sometimes went too far. There's no way I would buy an unmarked can for a surprise meal at the dinner table. I like to know what I am eating and that includes cans with proper labels. She also didn't travel. When I read her books in my early 20's I couldn't fathom not traveling as that was a huge goal of mine. When I deposited my paychecks I would actually put half of it into a travel savings account.

What I later realized is that we can each be frugal in our own way and still make smart choices. Some might disagree with me that I pay for the children's education when free education is available. Or that other might want to eat a non-organic diet because they can save so much more money on their food. All of these decisions can be good when it's a thoughtful choice. I even choose to have a cable bill and tivo fee because I save so much time and stress from the machine recording my favorite shows. What is not to love about a Season Pass? I used to sometimes want to take a bat to the VCR because it failed to tape a show or it missed the last five minutes or I taped the day before but not the day it should have. To me the value is truly there even if it seems like a luxury item to others. I guess tivo would be one of my vices. What are yours?

Finding these Foxfire books on Saturday were a sweet, gentle reminder to be grateful for my roots. As we move into Thanksgiving week in the US, I will send some grateful thanks to my parents who taught me how to live richly in a frugal lifestyle. What are you thankful for in regards to your frugality?

a different kind of yearbook

Out with the old and in with the new...or so they say. I think you girls are incredible. Thank you for all your wise advice concerning yesterday's post. I'm happy to share that these books are going to the hands of this instrument and what will come out at the other end will only be the good memories.

Today I wanted to share a sweet kind of yearbook that has delicious, warm memories attached to it. My husband Dave is pretty much "prince material" although not this one . He's giving, kind, compliments me, does the dishes, cleans the toilets, at the time he changed diapers and he laughs with me not at me and truly loves me for who I am. After reading about my past boyfriends from two days ago you can probably understand why I was so taken by him when we met.

Christmas 2006 I found this waiting for me under the Christmas tree from Dave.

Dave had spent hours taking my first 100 posts and turning them into a book. I think it was the most romantic gift that I had ever received. Not only that but he bought me both a soft cover and hard cover copy.

He copied all the photos, text and titles into a book and turned months into chapters. I really treasure this small window of my life that was turned into book form.

It also makes me grateful as an adult that I can choose my friends, my blogging community and who I want to spend time with. Many of us that are at Waldorf schools are there almost in a healing way. We want to repair the hurt that some of us felt in school. Many of us wished we had gone to Waldorf schools. I can only imagine what a different person I would have been. Well different but the same as well. It would have been lovely to have had my spirited side nurtured.

And now for a tag:
Emma tagged me. I'm terrible about posting tags, meme's and awards and yet I'm grateful for anyone that honors me with a mention. But this one stuck in my memory because it is about being weird. My fav kind.

Rules:

1. link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
2. share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.
3. tag 7 people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
4. let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

7 weird facts about me that you might not know

1)  Except in the hottest of weather I wear socks 24/7....I just don't do cold toes.

2)  I have to have an intimate relationship with my coffee mug otherwise the entire cup of coffee will be tainted by dark thoughts toward my unsatisfactory mug. Lately I'm into vintage diner mugs. They are simply the best.

3) I sing songs to my animals featuring them. For Elffin it is "Elfabian Elfoo, Elfabian, Ellie-roolie-foo, Elfabian El Foo, El-fee-fye, oh fally, feely foo." And for Sydney the cat "Sydney Roo, Sydney Roo, oh I love my Sydney Ro-who-who." and now the children join me in singing too. Hopefully Liz sings to Mabel too.

4) I just adore the idea of vampires and cannot wait to see Twilight this weekend. I used to have very dishy dreams about spike during the Buffy years even when I didn't think he was too hot. Of course he can move over now that Edward is on the scene. 

5) 8 is my favorite number and I've been known to recycle perfectly good card decks that I thrift just to add to my stash of 8's. This one might require therapy.

6) Even though I used to cremate people, I never once had a dream about it. Thankfully. Gratefully.

7) I once decided that I was going to write a musical about Joan of Arc. I started writing the first song while I worked at the cemetery, mowing between headstones. I remember noticing a headstone of a young girl and came up with the idea. I ran across the words scribbled on a scrap piece of paper recently. The musical was starting with her death scene as some musicals do. Warning...it is a bit rough around the edges.

Angels, angels take my hand and lead me gently
Angels, angels I can feel the light so brightly
Take me now for I am ready
Take me up to heaven’s door
Let me meet my master who
Is waiting for my wings to soar
I'm not scared, we'll maybe slightly
Yet I have been chosen here.
Take me briskly let us go now
Banish quickly all my fears
My last few steps upon this earth
19 years since my birth
Into the fire I shall be
to begin my journey in eternity

That's seven more quirky things about Apron Thrift Girl that you might not have known before. Maybe some things that you wished you hadn't learned.

I am tagging Tammie, Christine, Chelsea, Tonya, Cassandra, Betts and Amy Z who doesn't have a blog but I would love to learn 7 more things about her any way.

A couple more books

There are two times of the year when I find I am weakest toward shopping in the retail world: January and July. Both of these months are times when I fall off the thrift wagon and find myself allured by shopping for new stuff. I'd like to say it is accidental as if it really isn't my fault but I'm sure I am partly to blame. I shop in January because after a month of buying gifts for Christmas I just can't stop cold turkey. My weakness for shopping retail has always been things on sale. As if this is my excuse, "well it was on sale so it is okay". I realize this and yet I am still not immune from the need-to-buy-more syndrome. Shopping can be like a drug whether it is a secondhand or new item. It can feel so good to buy something and create even the smallest change in your life. Of course there is the other side that includes something we are all familiar with: buyer's remorse.

July is the other month because it is always the time we go on our vacation. We tend to do our school shopping at this store and this store when we are in California. We do just a tiny bit because a majority of their school clothes do come from yard sales or thrift stores. I must admit that I enjoy the colors, patterns and excitement from shopping with the children in a new store.

When Dave was gone last week and the children and I were in our little downtown (one street) I popped into the fabric store. I noticed last time I was there that they had a lovely selection of Japanese fabric. I probably shouldn't have gone in since I was still in my retail shopping phase and with Dave out of town. Not a good combination. It wasn't long before I had this in my hands.

I saw the handbag on the front and thought that it would make a lovely gift for my friend's birthday on the 18th. Especially when I found this.

But then I stumbled upon this book and couldn't decide which one to buy.

Time was pushing on and it was nearly closing time. The children were starting to climb on fabric bolts to play king of the mountain so under pressure, I grabbed both books. Of course the guilt of it all hit me pretty hard when we arrived home despite the fact that there was a little bit of excitement hanging around too. Two new books? It's unheard of. And I can't even say that they were reduced like the Ice-Cream book. So I made a challenge right then and there to my dining room table. I was going to make a large percentage of my holiday gifts this year from these two books. Sigh...can i do it? I don't know but it made the impact of spending so much on two books a little easier.

Christmas hasn't been very pleasurable for me the last couple of years. I know that is an awful thing to admit, especially here in blog land where we thrive on seasons and holidays. But something is lacking and I think it comes down to gift giving. Our presents within our family have boiled down to coldish-feeling wish lists from Amazon. We don't even get the warm email more, just the link to the wish list. Luckily there are a few choices so it is kind of a surprise but not really. There isn't much warmth from the gift giving in my opinion. At least not like I remember from even 10 years ago. Or maybe what has changes is that I finally gave into the list and stopped trying to make gifts or thrift gifts. Maybe this year I can change the feeling I have and make it special once again for our family. Do you know this feeling that I am talking about? The feeling like "same old same old" but in a stale sort of way. I'm ready for a holiday change and maybe these books will be the start of it.

How cheerful is this?

I wish my craft room looked like this.

 

This is the back of Simple Sewing with a French Twist. It's a teaser for all of the delicious patterns inside.

And just to share that I actually did buy some sugar there is this photo.

 

It's in a funky dish because I took it to Jacki's for desert and it just came out of the freezer. It was unbelievably easy and I don't understand why it took me 36 years to make my first sorbet. How silly is that? It was delicious although the pomegranate was very tart mixed in with the grapefruit juice. And I really did follow the recipe. Sometimes if felt like our lips were glued to our gums and when we spoke it came out funny as if we had a few shots of tequila. Dave pointed out later that our lips issue was part of the fun and that I shouldn't worry about it. We did laugh quite a bit as we tried to get our words out.

A Gift

I had been selling vintage children's books since October of 2005 when I joined an eBay email list called eBay Establishings. This is an amazing eBay support group full of incredibly knowledgeable sellers. I have learned so much from this list on what to sell and definitely what not to sell. I was heavily influenced by the moderator of the group, Julie Anna with her children's book selling experiences. She would find a book from the 70's at a Friends of the Library book sale for .50 cents and turn around and sell it anywhere from $30-$300.00. I decided that I wanted to do this as well. I then bought a monthly subscription to receive 50 valuable children's book titles in my in-box once a month. I also bought an ebook from her ebay store about how to sell children's books. Within two weeks I was out thrifting and I found a valuable title that I turned around and sold for $35.00. This was huge to me at the time.

I was a bookworm from an early age. My childhood memories consisted me sitting in our willow tree, reading books from dawn until dusk. I had over 1000 books when I was a teenager and bookshelves lined one wall of my bedroom. When I couldn't get to sleep, I would count my books to see how many I had. Some people count sheep, I count books. I even had them in alphabetic order by publisher. I wasted quite a few years in my early 20's trying to figure out what I "wanted to be". I should have just looked back and realized I had the makings of a bookseller all along. After my first valuable book sold, my shift toward selling valuable children's books began.

A year ago I was invited into a very small and close-knit book sellers email list by my friend Patty who I met on the eBay list mentioned above. Some of the booksellers were like me, just starting out as a bookseller. Together many of us went on this path together with buying gadgets to help our book scouting become more profitable. We bought fun things like a shipping label printer which saves me hours of work a month. But the most important thing is that we have become close friends. Someone said to me the other day that working from home must be very lonely. I had to stop and think for a moment because I never felt that I worked alone. Anytime of the day (especially since many are from the East Coast as well) I can email a question about books or even an off topic subject and get replies from my bookselling friends. I've met two of them and hope to meet more. It is touching to think how close online friends can be.

Two days ago I received a surprise from one of them. Her name is Karin and she sent some pieces from my favorite dish set in the world.  MIKASA!

She was sweet enough to send me a sugar lid in case I ever come across a sugar bowl that is missing one. These match my recently acquired set from eBay perfectly, even the color is exact. Karin was concerned about the dreaded avocado color but avocado green and I have a comfortable relationship. I actually like the color.  Karin came across them in a thrift store and couldn't pass them up knowing I was an obsessive Mikasa collector. Thank you so much Karin.

Although leaving the home organizing business and all my other small businesses I started was hard to do, it was the right choice for me. I am a person with many passions and I usually follow that passion where it takes me. This summer my passions were outdoor furniture and suitcases. Dh laughed each time I brought another suitcase through the front door. I had the song running through my mind "My bags are packed, I'm ready to go. I'm waiting here outside your door." (from Leaving on a Jet Plane) Or he cringed when I brought another gliding patio furniture through the gate. Having so much passion and interest in everything makes it really hard to focus. I envy all of you with a tidy craft room/studio where you create amazing handbags, art, jewelry and clothing. My craft room is cluttered and full of every imaginable craft on the planet. But because I want to do them all, I have not perfected any of them and at the moment they sit unused. When I look at my daughter, I see so much of myself in her. She thrives on "feeling" rather than necessarily doing, if that makes any sense. She does what gives her feelings of happiness. She always wants more and flutters from one interest to the next. Right now she is very much into American Girl dolls. I found her two this summer at yard sales. It isn't good enough for her, she wants another one. Maybe this is common for children in general but I feel that she and I are very alike. Selling books keeps me grounded I think. Although I still get ideas of starting another business from time to time. My recent idea was helping people find their passions and make them their reality. I think so many people want to do things in their life but are stuck behind the thought that they can't do them. But I think I should just stick to books. Books are good, dependable and people always will want them. I love being a bookseller. I love just having a title to go with my name. It was really hard in my 20's wandering around aimlessly not knowing what I wanted to do while watching friends and acquaintances earn degrees and know in their hearts what they wanted to achieve. I wanted to be like them but you can't force yourself to be when you don't know what you want to do. I worked three years at the cemetery wishing every day I could be a housewife. How's that for a goal? Well, my wish did come true and being a housewife gave me the option to really find my hearts desire even if it was a bumpy road of businesses like Pampered Chef, Creative Memories, Small Business Consultant, Jewelry making, Home Organizer and finally a Book Seller. For now, the passion to sell books is still very strong and I have goals to sell rarer books and hopefully dive into valuable 1st editions. I would love to hold a copy of a first edition Steinbeck in my hands. That would make my year. And who knows, I may just find one in the bottom of a junk box at a yard sale for .25 cents.

Craftivity Anyone?

  I don't always connect with craft books. Some are too complicated and have far too much written word. Others have crafts that are too alternative for the eco chic in me, are too fancy or are just too plain ugly. This book on the other hand fits into my middle-of-the-road craft needs perfectly. When I arrived home from the Farm Chicks Show, I found this book Felicia from Collins sent to me sitting in my mail box. Since I came home sick and with little energy I started reading it right away. I didn't need much more of an excuse to cozy up in my duvets with a cup of Gypsy Cold tea and a little Craftivity.

I had stumbled upon Tsia Carson's site Supernatural.com a month ago and loved her site.  I felt a connection to her book immediately as she continuously mentioned thrift stores and recycling within the first few pages. There's nothing like throwing out the word "thrift" to get my attention quicker.  As an avid thrifter, I prefer using existing craft supplies rather than buying new ones.  Tsia's attitude throughout the book is so laid back and easy going. I didn't feel an air of superiority of "I'm craftier than thou" in any part of this book. In fact I felt that the contributors to Craftivity were real people doing something they love and are passionate about. This includes our favorite Jenny Hart from Sublime Stitching who many bloggers know and love.

The sentence that stood out to me was "Don't wear your craft on your sleeve". Tsia goes on to say that we don't have to make everything around us. "Thoughtfully choose the things you are going to make" she says. And she makes me proud to read that she suggest first going to a Thrift Store and says so eloquently " Before you make anything stop, drop and thrift; maybe you can get it second hand." If only we heard those words more often.  When I need something I write it down in my notebook that I keep in my handbag and I comb through the thrift stores until I find it. It may take me a couple months or even a year in some cases but inevitably I find it. Tsia suggest making only things that "come out in sudden spasms of inspiration. Leave the rest alone." By this time on page 2, I had fallen in love with this book and the principles behind it. It is complete with 40 projects with many of them offering different ways to get supplies, especially 2nd hand or using what you already have.

My favorite craft came from page 46 and is a Flower Brooch.  I never used to be a flower-brooch-wearing-girl until I popped into Jackie's etsy store and found this for sale. I wear it on my Autumn coat (I only have a few Coats despite living in the pacific northwest so I'm not taking part in the coat fashion show until I have a few more) and I love it. I now want more. Or should I say, I need more. I need to be covered in flowers to sling shot me through our bleak winter over to spring. The unique things about the flower brooch are its mix of crocheting and felting. You crochet a flower,  and throw it in your washer to felt it.  Most of my wool yarn is thrifted which fits in with most of Tsia's suggestions on the 2nd hand front.

Other crafts include a pom-pom rug, crocheted skull (which a certain 4 year old of mine would love me to make), undies from t-shirts (Now I can take my favorite David Boreanaz shirt from the tv show Angel and make a pair of knicks from it) and even Jenny Hart's embroidered screen door. Now I just need to get a screen door. I'll add it to my thrift list

Who wouldn't want to lie on this in front of a warm fire this winter. Anyone for a pom-pom making party?

Not all of the crafts had me running for the basement in search of supplies. Some of them are still outside of my comfort zone. I love the idea of making a ceramic mold but I doubt I would ever venture down that crafty avenue. But I'll say I would try enough of these crafts to make the book worth while. The tips on felting, recycling yarn from an old sweater and making a bag from used plastic grocery store bags has certainly inspired me to get into the craft room, cold or no cold. Now where did I leave my crochet hook?