Thrifted Sewing Patterns

By the way, it's Valentine's Day tomorrow, and if you need to make a little gift (that's not chocolate or flowers), check out my Cutie pattern!

It's possible I am as excited about new patterns as I am about the fact that they were 10 cents a piece!  I picked them up at an estate sale just down the street from my parents' house, and for that price, I probably should have picked out a few more.  I'm really excited about that one on the front though.  It's a vintage pattern that I guess you had to mail away for.  I waiting until I feel confident enough in my pattern cutting skills before I tackle that pretty vintage one.  I did sew my first dress lately (it's actually that middle McCall's pattern), but I'm still cringing at how horribly ugly it is.  But I will eventually post photos.

Pretty Stitchery

I think these are so pretty. I spotted them at an estate sale, and I just couldn't leave them even though I have no practical use for them.  They're hand made, so I think the slightly crooked stitching is really charming.

I have them hanging over my bed, and they are pretty much the only wall decoration that I have.











I love that each of them has a different basket of vegetables.  It's possible that they might have been a kit to stitch (one of them still has the washable fabric marker on it).

Animal Dishes

I think once you have 3 of anything, you can call it a collection.  This is the start of my animal dish collection, I guess.


This little piggy dish I found at the same estate sale as the pretty plates, and it was half off!  I love the little features and that little tail ^^  I keep it on top of my dresser and put all my hair bands in it.  I have to justify my random thrift purchases :)


I really debated about getting this rabbit...thing (at aforementioned estate sale).  I think the little rabbits are just so cute, but I couldn't figure out what exactly I should do with it (I assumed it was a candle holder or something).  I must have picked it up and put it down at least 5 times while I was walking around that sale.  Fortunately, I had this little white ceramic bowl that I got for free from someone getting rid of things at work.  I didn't even think of these two going together until I brought it home, and the base of the bowl fit into the candle slot.  Perfect as a little catch-all.


This was a different estate sale purchase, but I almost didn't buy it.  I missed it in the first once-over and was just going to pick out my sewing patterns and leave, but I happened to see it when I went back to look at some cooking utensils.  It's just a kitschy little hen on basket jar, but it's really sweet and simple.  It's got a really nice heft to it, and I am using it to hold my pins instead of keeping them in a canning jar lid (which I have knocked over onto the floor before!).

Anyone else have a fun/quirky/unique collection?

Thrifty Plate Score!

Can I just brag about these amazing plates that N and I found at an estate sale?  Ok, so they don't match everything (like the perennial favorites, the everyday whites), but what are a couple of non-fancy college kids to do?  Besides, who are we really trying to impress here?

We had a crazy experience getting these plates.  We were on our way back from Target and Home Depot, when I saw a neon poster tacked up to a telephone pole "ESTATE SALE 12 BLOCKS".  Quite possibly the least descriptive sign ever.  No arrows, no address.  Fortunately, there were more signs as we kept going back towards home, which culminated in us crossing over 3 lanes so we could make a last minute right hand turn to follow the signs.  We found it mostly without incident after that.  There was 30 minutes left in the sale, so we quickly ran through the house looking at random things.  I found some little kitschy things, and by the time we were done looking at everything else, we ended up in the kitchen.  We were on the look out for a few spare plates since we were constantly having to wash the 2 plates we own, but somehow we managed to come home with this whole set.  Mostly because they wouldn't let us break up the set.

These are Mikasa plates from their Galleria collection.  Mikasa plates go for at least $20 each.

We got this set of 6 dinner plates, 6 salad plates, 6 bowls, 6 mugs, and one serving bowl for $20 total.  I was super excited about the new dishware.  Probably more excited than anyone should be about dishware.



We always feel a little fancy when we use these :)



Plus, a silly thing, but those little felt spacer things came with the plates which keeps them from scratching each other.

This is basically my crowning thrifting achievement.  I keep going to various sales hoping to make another amazing find like this :)

Anyone else get crazy excited about thrifting?