My Top Ten Favorite Finds of 2013 - #1

Happy New Years Eve everyone!!!  

The countdown is complete!  Holy crap, I've gotten my hands on some pretty awesome stuff this year!  Vintage Christmas ornaments started the list at #10, vintage Halloween decorations came in at #9, Franciscan Star Burst Mugs at  #8, my wonderful retro aluminum chairs landed on #7, some lovely vintage dresses came in at #6, my growing collection of vintage jewelry took spot #5, some fun treasures from my Grandma made it in at #4, my other Grandma's PBN's took #3, and yesterday my fabulous Lamprey anatomy chart stole #2.  My very favorite, most exciting find of 2013 is...

#1 - Pyrex...All of It!!!

I'm sure you aren't surprised!  I couldn't pick just one piece, so here are the highlights of this years Pyrex scores.

  These guys were sitting just like this at the thrifts when I found them in February.  It was my first find of each one, New Dots and Solid Turquoise, and needless to say, it was a pretty dang exciting moment.  I just love this picture too!  Stacked Pyrex is the bees knees.

Wow, May was a really exciting month for me apparently.  These two lovelies were scored at a yard sale that I just happened to glance at while driving down the road.  Something must have caught my eye because I turned around and oh holy crap!  These babies screamed at me from the street!  It was my first ever good Pyrex score at a yard sale and only my second time finding the Friendship pattern.  I took them to the booth and they sold with in a week.  I wish I could have kept them, but they are making someone else happy now, where ever they are...

 Man...what I wouldn't give to find a huge Pyrex haul like that right now!  

 These are my first Pyrex scores from an auction.  Everything went to the booth and has sold...well, except for the Yellow Hostess.  That's a keeper and the only real reason I went to the auction in the first place!  

 Swoon...another keeper.  Isn't she dreamy?

 This is all from the Best Bud.  She stopped by a garage sale in her neighborhood and damn near died.  This was all purchased from one lady!  

 Oh Butterprint...how I love you! 

 I almost knocked an old lady over to get to those Daisy bowls.  I had been driving around Denver all day, half lost with a crying baby and I wasn't about to leave empty handed dammit!  

 More fun finds.  That little red Hostess sold within a few days of being at the booth.  

 More scores by the Best Bud.  She went to the Pyrex famous Adamstown Pennsylvania and brought all this stuff back.  It was better than Christmas when I opened that box up!  

These were estate sale finds from the second day of the sale!  I couldn't believe my luck!  

So that's it!  I've had the best year and I couldn't be more thankful.  Some pretty awesome stuff has come my way this year. My blog has grown and I've made some great friends.   Here's to hoping that 2014 is equally, if not more bountiful and fun! 

Do you have any special items you're hoping to score next year?  I would really love to find a mid century shadow box shelf and a head board I can cover in blue velvet!  That's my 2014 wishlist...so far.  : )

I'm joining the parties at  Sir Thrift A Lot, Remnant, Mod Vintage Life, The Thrifty Groove, A Living Space, Ivy And Elephants, The Cottage Market, We Call It Junkin' and Apron Thrift Girl. Have a great week everyone!

My Top Ten Favorite Finds of 2013 - #2

Man, I'm having a hard time getting the brain to fire right this morning.  Like, it's working, but only at half capacity or something...NEED MORE COFFEE!!!  Anyway, this countdown is almost done which means it will be the year 2014 in a few days.  Where did the time go?!  Ugh...I'm getting old.  : ) Vintage Christmas ornaments started the list at #10, vintage Halloween decorations came in at #9, Franciscan Star Burst Mugs at  #8, my wonderful retro aluminum chairs landed on #7, some lovely vintage dresses came in at #6, my growing collection of vintage jewelry took spot #5, some fun treasures from my Grandma made it in at #4, and yesterday my other Grandma's PBN's took #3.  My next favorite find/acquisition of 2013 is...

#2 - Vintage Lamprey Anatomy Chart

I found this educational poster while we were in Minnesota for Junk Bonanza.  The artwork is amazing and the colors are perfect for my house.  It hangs up in my bedroom and I smile at it every single day. I LOVE my Lamprey!   The Little Dude likes it too.  He looks at it and smiles and says "eeeew fishy, pretty fishy!"  Yes, he is mine after all! : )  

Do you do anything special in preparation for the new year?

I like to go through the house and purge all the miscellaneous junk/trash/"what the hell was that" type stuff and get everything else organized. And of course the whole time I'm rearranging and redecorating.  It's kind of fun for me actually!  Soothes my nagging minor OCD.   Happy New Year's Eve Eve everyone!

My Top Ten Favorite Finds of 2013 - #3

And yet again, I neglected to put any of my Christmas decorations put away...the thrifts were calling my name.   It was a glorious day!!!  Anyway, back to the countdown that is getting close to completion (thanks for playing along guys)!  Vintage Christmas ornaments started the list at #10, vintage Halloween decorations came in at #9, Franciscan Star Burst Mugs at  #8, my wonderful retro aluminum chairs landed on #7, some lovely vintage dresses came in at #6, my growing collection of vintage jewelry took spot #5, and some fun treasures from my Grandma made it in at #4 yesterday.  My next favorite find/acquisition of 2013 is...

#3 - Paint by Numbers Done by The Grandma

 My Grandma reads my blog because she's awesome and so she saw how much I like Paint by Numbers.  Long story short, (long story is here) she gave me these glorious works of art that she had done in the 60's while my Grandpa worked his second job.  Yeah, I'm so dang lucky even I can hardly stand myself!  : )  

Don't they look fabulous in my basement family room?!  One day I'm going to hang all that up and have the most fabulous gallery wall.  Hopefully I can get my crap together next year...

Do you have any big projects planned for the new year?  

My Top Ten Favorite Finds of 2013 - #4

Welp...I didn't get any of the Christmas stuff put away yesterday.  I went thrifting instead!  Ha!  More on that in the new year.  Anyway, back to the countdown!  Vintage Christmas ornaments started the list at #10, vintage Halloween decorations came in at #9, Franciscan Star Burst Mugs at  #8, my wonderful retro aluminum chairs landed on #7, some lovely vintage dresses came in at #6, and my growing collection of vintage jewelry took spot #5.  My next favorite find/acquisition of 2013 is...

#4 - Treasures from my Grandma

The Little Dude and I were lucky enough to be able to go visit my paternal Grandma in Florida in October.  We went shopping and thrifting and to the BEACH and spent time with our family!!!!  Ugh... I wanna go back SO BAD.  We had the best time with her, and that would have been more than enough but then she sent me home with these treasures too.  The ball jar is probably my favorite from the lot.  It belonged to my Great Great Grandma.  That thing has seen some serious use in it's time, that's for sure.   It was so nice to visit with her and get all the stories about this piece and that piece.  She has a lot of history in her house.  Like her quilt that her aunt made from underpants!  How cool is that?!  I'm very very lucky to have her in my life and am hoping to be able to go visit her some time this coming year.

Do you guys have any fun travel planned for 2014?

My Top Ten Favorite Finds of 2013 - #5

Happy Friday everyone!  Today will be a bit of a bummer for me since the Christmas decorations will have to start working their way into storage.  It will be a slow process because I have a lot of new stuff this year and not a lot of new places to store it.  o_0  

Anyway, let the countdown continue!  Vintage Christmas ornaments started the list at #10, vintage Halloween decorations came in at #9, Franciscan Star Burst Mugs at  #8, my wonderful retro aluminum chairs landed on #7, and some lovely vintage dresses hit #6 yesterday.  My next favorite find of 2013 is...Oooo...shiny!  

#5 - Vintage Jewelry 

This belonged to The Husbands grandmother.  My Mother-in-Law generously gave it to me in August and it's one that I wear all the time now.  

A super fun bracelet I bought at Junk Bonanza.  It's a vintage spoon!  Genius!    

 This gorgeous bakelite ring was purchased at the Mid Mod Show in Denver in August.  It's so beefy, I kind of want to punch someone while I'm wearing it.  I know that sounds violent, but mostly I just mean my brother.  : )

These both belonged to my Grandma and for whatever stupid reason never received a proper blog post.   Bad Melissa! The one on the left is an accordion style stretchy bracelet that was made in British Hong Kong.  She let me borrow it and then I liked it so much I kind of begged to keep it and she said yes!  The one on the right was given to The Mom when she was probably still in high school by my Grandma, then The Mom gave it to me this year.  I love them both and wear them all the time.  

These two were bought from Gina at Vintage Junk in my Trunk.  I adore them!  One protects my purse and the other one is on a bracelet.  

This garnet ring is an estate sale find from October.  It's very art deco and just happens to be The Little Dude's birthstone so I wear it all the time too.  

Wow...I'm kind of spoiled.  Look at all that sparkly stuff!  : )  I'm a lucky chick, that's for sure!  

Did you find or receive any vintage jewelry this year?  Do you have a treasured piece that you wear all the time?

My Top Ten Favorite Finds of 2013 - #7 and #6

Merry day after Christmas everyone!  I hope you all had a great day, we sure did here!  The Little Dude went 12 hours straight just running and playing and no napping!  He had such a good day and we all had so much fun watching him.  There is nothing like the joy of a little kid on Christmas.  I'm continuing with my my top ten list.  Vintage Christmas ornaments started the list at #10, vintage Halloween decorations at #9, and Franciscan Star Burst Mugs came in at  #8.  The next fabulous find...

#7 - Pair of Retro Aluminum Chairs

 I ADORE these chairs!  My cousin Tiana found them for me and I scooped them right up.  They started out pretty dang rough, but I had them powder coated and they turned out crazy cool!  These bad boys greet me everyday from my front deck.  Now if I could just get my hands on a glider to match them, I'd be set!

#6 - Vintage Dresses

I found some great vintage clothes this year.  These wonderful vintage dresses are my #6 favorite find.  They belonged to my cousins mother and boy did she have quite the collection.  She kept some really amazing stuff that I was so thankful to have the chance to go through.  These were the ones I took home with me.  So far I've only worn the one in the upper left corner.  That one is so much fun with a petticoat underneath!  I'd love to wear the one in the lower right corner, but it totally doesn't fit.  What a bummer!  Maybe I can refashion it and just have the skirt or something.  Add another project to 2014...it's going to be a busy year!

Linking up with The Colorado Lady for Vintage Thingie Thursday.

My Top Ten Favorite Finds of 2013 - #8

Merry Christmas Eve everyone!  This one will be quick because I haven't wrapped a single gift and it's time to get my crap together!  I'm continuing with my my top ten list.  So far holiday stuff has occupied the countdown, with vintage Christmas ornaments at #10 and vintage Halloween decorations at #9.  Next is...

#8 - Franciscan Star Burst Mugs

These wonderfully atomic Star Burst Franciscan mugs came in and out of my life all to quickly.  I found them back in April and sold them within a few hours of getting them listed online.  I was kind of sad to let them go.  Ok, super sad, they're so cool!  If I had to collect a fancy and expensive hand wash only china pattern, this would totally be it.  

I'm joining the parties at  Sir Thrift A Lot, Remnant, Mod Vintage Life, The Thrifty Groove, A Living Space, Ivy And Elephants, The Cottage Market, We Call It Junkin' and Apron Thrift Girl. Have a great week everyone!

My Top Ten Favorite Finds of 2013 - #9

Yesterday vintage Christmas ornaments came in at #10, and today we have vintage Halloween decorations at #9.  In case you didn't catch what all the numbering is about, I'll be counting down my favorite finds and acquisitions from 2013...because well...I can I guess!   

All of these paper treasures came home with me in October from a little town in Southern Colorado called Rocky Ford.  The nicest gentleman sold them to me even though they weren't technically for sale.  I'll probably put a few of these in the booth next year, but most of them will stay.  Vintage Halloween is so hard to find!

Were you lucky enough to score an elusive vintage Halloween piece?  Any blow molds or candy containers?  Die cuts or honey combs? 

My Top Ten Favorite Finds of 2013 - #10

This year has brought a fantastic amount of wonderful vintage treasures to me and I'm so thankful for that.  With the end of the year in sight, I thought it would be fun (for me at least) to revisit some of my favorite finds and acquisitions (which, judging by the stats seem to be some of yours too).  So here it is, the start of my top ten.  Man, this is going to be tough...it's been a FANFREAKINGTASTIC year!  

#10 - Vintage Ornaments

I found so many wonderful ornaments this year!  Every single one was fabulous and I had a hell of a time letting them go...so I didn't!  Ha!  Some of them did actually go to the booth while others were used in wreaths and other fun craft projects.  But come on, can you blame me for not wanting to let these babies go?  They're just so colorful and SHINY and this chick likes shiny things!  Next year I will probably try to cull the collection down to a select set of favorites for our tree and then sell the rest.  Probably : )  

So far I've only lost one ornament to the Little Dude.  Have you been so lucky with yours, or have the kids/dogs/cats/general holiday chaos and madness gotten hold of them?

Merry Kitschmas!

Saturday was supposed to be non fun chore day.  More Christmas shopping, cleaning, laundry...blah blah blah.  Well thankfully I was distracted from all that nonsense when I drove past a house that had an estate sale a few months ago.  They were doing the second one they had told me about!  SHUT UP!!! Swerve.Park.RUN!!!

These flocked snowmen caught my eye first.  They're huge, like 10 or 12 inches tall!  All of these guys, including the wonderful Made in Japan Santa will be heading to the booth soon.  

 And then I saw the Putz houses and I had to take a moment to settle down.  They are stamped Japan on them and the previous owner wrote 1953 next to the stamp.  These are my first Putz finds in the wild and I love them and I will NEVER EVER let them go!  : )   I mean come on, look at how wonderfully she decorated them! Behind them is a lovely stack of small glass ornaments, perfect for wreaths.  

 It's an army of adorable kitschy snowmen!  Yes!  So much yes! They're all stamped Japan and are probably from the 50's.   I'll probably be keeping these too...

Another little army, this time of spun cotton pine cone skiers.  I'm undecided about these guys.  They would probably sell pretty quick, but I'm kind of in love with them...  Decisions, decisions.  

What do you guys say?  Stay or go?

I found a non Christmas item too.  This awesome little rockets ship coin bank already sold on Etsy! 

That's it.  It was such a good sale guys.  I'm still all dreamy about it.  Believe it or not, all of this stuff was 75% off!  Yup, it's true.  I still can't really believe it myself.  

The company that ran the sale, Tandem Estate Sales, was so great.  They were all respectful of the family and their treasures and super informative and nice.  I'll be keeping an eye on their sales next year!  

Linking up with the Colorado Lady for Vintage Thingie Thursday.

Also, I stole that cute title from the Facebook page, Merry Kitschmas.

Let the Kitschy Times Roll

Well... I think it's safe to say I'm out of my funk.  Is it just me, or does winter make you extra whiny too?  Don't get me wrong, I usually enjoy winter but 10+ days in a row of frigid "can't leave the house because I don't want an ice toddler" weather dang near broke me.  Bad sales and bad weather make Melissa a cranky wench.  : )

Anyway, on to the good stuff!  You guys must have sent me some wicked good thrift vibes(again, THANK YOU for all the kind words) because I found some seriously cool and seriously kitschy stuff.  Also, please excuse some of the bad pictures.  I'm struggling with good lighting right now.  

I took a bunch of this haul to the booth, including this great clown paint by number.  

 A cute little Made in Japan coin bank.  Yeah um, if you're going to one of those schools dude, you're going to need a bigger piggy bank.  

 My only Pyrex score this week.  I like the green honey suckle pattern.  It's even a bit Christmasy so it went to the booth the same day that I found it.  

I've never found a vintage sifter in the wild before.  This one is in pretty good shape too.  The sweet little Minnie Mouse cup is listed on Etsy.  I had a Mickey Mouse cup just like it sit in the booth for months and then I listed it online and it was gone within a week.  It's crazy how that works.

 I bet you can guess which one stayed with me and which one went to the booth.   I have a new found love for Dream Pets!  I think it's the silly smirks.  

This furry little weirdo will be going to the booth here pretty soon, mostly because it's grossing me out.  I'm not a fur person and I have no idea what made me think I needed to buy this.  It's cool and Made in Japan, but still.  GROSS!!!

These are my favorite thrifted items this week.  The knee huggers were in a half off grab bag that was at the bottom of a gnarly pile.  They are in great shape and still have both their Made in Japan stickers.  The honey comb tree was also Made in Japan and is a bit misshapen but I could care less, it's so neat!  I made a little diorama in a vintage ornament box for those two (don't worry, they aren't glued, just resting peacefully and safely inside).

You guys should have seen the cashiers face when I brought that Styrofoam monstrosity up to him!  He was horrified that I would buy such a gross thing, but I just wanted the knee hugger.  I found some more great ornaments for my wreath and some other fun crafty supplies.  I didn't know what was in that cute little pink box marked "danger" until I got it home.  Vintage sequins, I was so excited!  I'll have to figure out something fun to do with it.  And I'm not sure what possessed me to do it, but I attempted to use that glitter.  I was quickly reminded of  a few things.  Glitter is dumb and it gets EVERYWHERE!!!  Sorry to all you glitter lovers, but UGH!  What was I thinking?!

Speaking of wreaths...I made another one!  This one is on an old wooden pool rack that I thrifted a while back.  I know it's a bit different, but I really like it.  I'm dying to know what you guys think!  Cool and unique?  Or weird and wreaths are supposed to be round you crazy person!

I also hit a KILLER estate sale on Saturday that I will post about on Thursday.  It was the second part of the one where I got a bunch of fun little odds and ends in October.  Lets just say that the kitsch keeps on coming!  

Have you guys seen the Facebook page Merry Kitschmas?  You should check it out if you haven't, it's so much fun!  Oh, and speaking of Facebook, the owner of my mall made me an admin on our FB page so now I get to post lots of fun stuff to share with our customers and vendors.  I'm pretty excited about it!

I'm joining the parties at  Sir Thrift A Lot, Remnant, Mod Vintage Life, The Thrifty Groove, A Living Space, Ivy And Elephants, The Cottage Market, We Call It Junkin' and Apron Thrift Girl. Have a great week everyone!

Holy crap, I must have missed you guys!  I'm awfully wordy today!  Sorry!