Greetings from California

[Mattie]

Hi!  I''ve been thrifting in the Sacramento area for about 15 years.  Cookie said to list five things, so here goes...

1.  I collect all sorts of photographic things - antique postcards, photographs, View-Master reels, stereocards, etc. 

2.  I also collect dog items - dog license tags, rabies tags, nametags, dog care booklets, and antique photos of people with dogs.

3.  And I collect cemetery ephemera - cemetery postcards, books about cemeteries, etc.

4.  Plus I collect random ephemeral stuff - small packaging (boxes, bottles, cans), instruction manuals, booklets, brochures, catalogues, and on and on and on.

5.  Most of my furniture, clothes, dishes, housewares and books are thrifted.

6.  (Bonus!)  I''m an artist and I buy nearly all my materials at thrifts - fabric, old paper, beads, photos, weird junk, etc.

[alexandra]

You sound like a very industrious thrifter!  So many members here do a lot of creative stuff with what they thrift. By checking out different members blogs, and then visiting the blogs listed there, I''ve assembled quite a lot of favorites -- so I always have something to look at when I''m in the mood for new ideas.

I hope you will be posting pictures of what you create!

Thriftily,
Alexandra
www.livingwithoutmoney.blogspot.com

[Good Buddy]

That''s the term I''ve been looking for, "Weird Junk"
Our house is full of weird junk, I''m glad we''re not alone...

Welcome!

[Cookie]

I bought a couple of old packages of cupcake liners at a church thrift store because the packaging was identical to the cupcake liners my mom had in our house when I was around 6 or 7.  Even if they hadn''t had liners in them, I would have bought them anyway just for the packaging.  I just stored them in the kitchen cabinet with my other baking stuff so now every time I open that cabinet I think of my mom.  I also bought an old package of Gulf Wax because of the great artwork on it.  Glad to know I''m not alone in buying that stuff when see it!  Good Buddy also loves little jars and tins.  He''s got quite a collection of little mustard jars and tea tins, and he likes miniature ketchup and mustard bottles like you get with room service.  I also like fake food.  I have a bunch of fake Dairy Queen ice cream bars, banana splits, and sundaes that I need to find an art project for.  I should build a little ice cream parlor for our cats or something.  I''m sure they''d love it, right?  We also have a lot of brochures and booklets from kitchen appliance companies and food companies dating back to the 50''s, 60''s, and 70''s, like How to Cook with Knox Gelatin or recipes for your pressure cooker or blender.  I love the artwork in those, too.  Do you have any pictures of your art that you could post, Mattie?  We have a section called, "I made this with something I thrifted," in the forum, and you could post some photos there if you''d like.  I''d love to see them.  I''m sure we all would!

[Mattie]

Cookie, are they Betty Brite Bake Cups, by any chance?  I have a 1950s box of those!  Fun graphics on that box.

I''d love to post photos, but I didn''t see any images in the "I made this.." section.  Can we post photos directly in threads or is there a separate photo section I haven''t found yet?

[Mattie]

Oops, duh!  I just found the gallery.  I''ll post a couple photos right now...

[Cookie]

Yes, one is Betty Brite!  The other is Paper Maid, and they both have pictures of  cupcakes on them.  It''s hard to look at those and not want a cupcake.

[alexandra]

I have this wierd rationalization process when I need to "justify" my habit of buying old stuff.  This week, I bought an old angel food/bundt pan and also a large aluminum pie plate (it was a 12 incher!) -- with handles (oooh, I was ready to dissolve into a puddle on the floor when I found it).  My rational on the cake pan -- it was just like the one we had growing up.  And, it was only 1.49.  You see, I figure I could have saved that pan and stored it and schelpped it around with me over the last twenty five years.  That would have taken up a lot of emotional and phsysical time and effort.  So instead, now when I am ready for the responsibility, the pan is back -- it''s sorta as if I had the same pan all this time, only it was in "storage" -- for 1.49.

Wierd I know, but it''s always good to be prepared when The Big Guy asks "why''d you buy this?"  He was very happy about the cake pan, because as soon as I got it home, I baked a bundt... one of the most nostalgic kinds of cakes a middle aged woman can bake!

Have I mentioned that I also looooooove old jello molds?  Can''t get enough of them!

Thriftily,
Alexandra
www.livingwithoutmoney.blogspot.com

[Cookie]

I love the storage rationalization.  I''ll have to remember that one.  We have saved so much money in storage by doing a purge every few years, so now I''m free to buy more stuff, right?  I have a pretty big cake pan collection going.  I buy the Wilton pans that come in all the different shapes and the regular sized ones, too.  Wilton is a great brand to look for when you''re thrifting for cake pans or spatulas.  I''ve got a bunch of the shaped pans that I''ve thrifted, like the football, the carousel horse, etc.  I could never have too much cake stuff!

[Monimania]

its like me with pyrex bowls, i lost count but I think I have over 50 of them, i love them, you can never have too many of them either, plus they are good to use in preparing for baking!