Ann Arbor

[dankenein]

Hi! I've always been frugal and since being divorced, that trait has worked well for me! I work a "professional" job but just don't have much money to spare, despite my very modest lifestyle. I started shopping at thrift shops because that's the only clothes I could afford. I also get appliances and other things there. I also love yard sales and have gotten some really nice furniture and accessories for very reasonable prices. I LOVE vintage Christmas decorations and Danish mid-century furniture.

[Good Buddy]

It's interesting to note that different things bring people into thrift shops, but we all love it!
I too could never afford nice new things, but everyone compliments us on our cozy fun comfortable house.

Go Thrifters!

[Other People s Junk]

Hi there and welcome!  I too love vintage Christmas items!     Although they are getting harder to find, or is it just me?

[Scott]

Hey dankenein! I too love the Danish Modern furniture, and would be all ears if you have stories of great finds. I love to hear other people's thrift successes!

[dankenein]

Hi Scott,

I have gotten some nice Danish teak bookshelves and a desk on craigslist, but they are more recent. My best find was a Danish teak dining room table and four chairs, which I think is from the early 70s, but has that mid-century look about it--for $300! Those are still the solid teak pieces.

My mom has this AWESOME teak sofa/couch L-shaped set, with a side table inbetween, that she got ~1961 in northern Germany. If I ever found anything like that thrifting, I'd probably faint! ;-)

[ChrisMiss]

Hey there and welcome to the forum.  I love your avatar!  I too love vintage Christmas ornaments and they are really getting harder to find.  Sounds like you have some really nice furniture.  Looking forward to some pictures of your wonderful finds.

[Scott]

I've noticed that Danish Modern furniture is much easier to find in some areas than in others. I used to live in Minneapolis and everywhere I turned in the thrift shops was another piece of Scandinavian teak, but here in central Illinois I never see anything. It sounds like you've got quite a nice setup for yourself! About five or six years ago I sold off all my Danish Modern and late 50's / early 60's furniture and began buying earlier American modern styles. Most of my furniture now is Conant Ball's "Modernmates" line from the mid-1940's. It's great stuff, made of solid rock maple with exceedingly clean lines. I've found several pieces in thrift shops, though, which gives me a great start ... probably not unlike the feeling you'd get from finding a couch like you described!

Post photos sometime. I'd love to see! I'm always glad to see more modernism fans on the site.

[Cookie]

I agree that vintage Christmas stuff is getting harder to find.  A local thrift store here even had a table of FREE Christmas stuff, but I couldn't find one single thing worth taking.  The best vintage Christmas thing I ever found is this candle holder that my mom used to have.  I remember it growing up and I was so excited to find it.  Above the candles there are these thin metal angels with trumpets that hang down, and when you light the candles, the slight wind from the flame makes them spin around in a circle and and they have a nice chime sound as they go around.  I should start digging those out now if I'm ever going to find them before Christmas.

[dankenein]

Hey there and welcome to the forum.  I love your avatar!  I too love vintage Christmas ornaments and they are really getting harder to find.  Sounds like you have some really nice furniture.  Looking forward to some pictures of your wonderful finds.

I made the avatar myself. I occasionally give talks on gardening, and I'm all about saving money and time in everything I do. I tell the audience early on I'm "cheap" and "lazy" and then get them to reply with the correct word throughout the talk.  I then made "cheap!" and "lazy!" buttons to hand out to a few members, but everyone wanted the "Cheap!" button and no one wanted "Lazy!" I guess gardeners aren't lazy! ;-)

[Big Daddy Audio]

Welcome to the list - it's a treasure trove of antique classics - I'm 43 years old myself.

That is all.

[Thrift Shop Romantic]

Yes indeed, welcome!

Definitely the vintage Christmas stuff is tougher to get here. I keep looking, but the only places I seem to see the older ornaments now are antique malls.

[secondhandnation]

I've noticed vintage Christmas ornaments at my local ARC's Value Village - the good ones are usually set aside in a special display, but they go fast!

I'm not much of a Christmas collector, but I do like the metal Shiny Brite balls.  I have used the Shiny Brite ornaments as decorations all year long - I mean, who doesn't want hot pink metal ball ornaments in their bathroom? 

[Big Daddy Audio]

Being the oddball that I am, I collect vintage Christmas stuff, but not in the usual way.  I collect Christmas music and Archie Christmas comics (I have the whole series of Archie's Holiday Fun , which is the digest).  Some of the stuff that I have is Archie's Christmas stocking and Archie's Christmas Love-in (various issues each).

As for music, I have about 100 CDs and about 25 record albums.

That is all.