Vintage linens & lots of goodies!

[valleythriftshopper]

I guess the warmer weather (not really "warm" yet but getting better) has brought ou tmore donations.  After a long boring thrift winter, I have been finding lots of vintage goodies on the cheap.  Some highlights of the week include a set of mod Vera placemats, Westmoreland painted creamer & sugar, cute vintage embroidered dish towel & runner.  The item I was most excited about was a large piece of wonderful vintage fabric I found for 50 cents.  I love vintage fabric & hardly ever find it anymore at the thrifts, so it was a real treat.

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj292/thriftshopper/lilac.jpg

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj292/thriftshopper/lilac2.jpg

Anyone else finding that Spring is bringing in more good stuff at your local thrifts?

[Thrift Shop Romantic]

Wow, you really scored.

Our thrifting has been sort of uneven lately. Not a lot of stuff on the shelves, and the Goodwill seemed to have a lot of actual junky-junk, which is unusual for our area.

We'll see what happens in the next couple of weeks.

[Jay2TheRescue]

I guess the warmer weather (not really "warm" yet but getting better) has brought out more donations.  After a long boring thrift winter, I have been finding lots of vintage goodies on the cheap.  Some highlights of the week include a set of mod Vera placemats, Westmoreland painted creamer & sugar, cute vintage embroidered dish towel & runner.  The item I was most excited about was a large piece of wonderful vintage fabric I found for 50 cents.  I love vintage fabric & hardly ever find it anymore at the thrifts, so it was a real treat.

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj292/thriftshopper/lilac.jpg

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj292/thriftshopper/lilac2.jpg

Anyone else finding that Spring is bringing in more good stuff at your local thrifts?

I'm still finding the same overpriced junk here in Virginia.  I've been looking to buy a Crock Pot lately.  I want one with a removeable crock, for ease of cleaning.  Most I've been seeing lately are dirty, greasy, rusty, and have non removeable crocks.  Goodwill has been asking $12 - $20 for these lately.  Come on!  I can go to Aldi and get a new 3.5 Qt stainless steel "generic" brand slow cooker for $15, and Big Lots carries real Rival brand Crock Pots with removeable crocks brand new for $20 - $30.  Am I wrong in thinking I should be able to find a 3.5 Qt crock pot with a removeable crock for $5 or less?

-Jay

[Cookie]

Nice fabric!  Have you planned what you're going to do with it yet?

Jay, I looked for a Crockpot with a removable interior forever in thrift stores and couldn't find one.  I did get a vintage one in perfect condition, though, as if it had never been used with the little booklet from the 70's still inside in pristine condition.  So now I buy those Crockpot liners at the grocery store.  I'm pretty sure they're in the aluminum foil/plastic wrap aisle.  You put the liner in the Crockpot and put your food in and cook away and you just throw the liner away when you're done.  The Crockpot only needs a quick rinsing out instead of a scrubbing when you're done.  Check it out!

[valleythriftshopper]

I'm still finding the same overpriced junk here in Virginia.  I've been looking to buy a Crock Pot lately.  I want one with a removeable crock, for ease of cleaning.  Most I've been seeing lately are dirty, greasy, rusty, and have non removeable crocks.  Goodwill has been asking $12 - $20 for these lately.  Come on!  I can go to Aldi and get a new 3.5 Qt stainless steel "generic" brand slow cooker for $15, and Big Lots carries real Rival brand Crock Pots with removeable crocks brand new for $20 - $30.  Am I wrong in thinking I should be able to find a 3.5 Qt crock pot with a removeable crock for $5 or less?

-Jay

You might want to post something on freecycle or check the offerings.  I bet a lot of people have one of these hanging around (like my sister) that they would gladly give away if they knew someone wanted it. 

My sister offered me hers, but since we are vegetarian & I do pretty simple meals it would just collect dust here.

[valleythriftshopper]

Nice fabric!  Have you planned what you're going to do with it yet?

I'd like to make some market bags, which I have a pattern for somewhere (have been driving myself crazy looking for it).  Of course if I go out & buy another pattern, I'll find the old one immediately.  Maybe also some placemats.  I will definitely post a pic if something good comes out of the fabric.

[Thrift Shop Romantic]

I ended up buying my Rival crockpot with the removable pot new. And the price was pretty low. It might be something worth just getting new on sale. Not that I don't believe in the Power of the Thrift, but I think this is one time that's probably going to be hard to get cheaper than new in the stores, and still get one in good condition.

Prior to this I had my mother's old 70s orange Rival crockpot, which lasted 30 years before it died. I was never fond of the color, but BOY did that thing put in its time with great roasts, pots of chili, etc. I was sad when it went.

[alexandra]

It's been slim pickings here.  But I did score a good number of Keds this winter -- no one thinks to buy them in the cold weather.  So I am set for spring!  With the snow gone and some warm weather yesterday, I wore my Chucks for the first time this year.  Wooo Hooo!

Gosh, but I would love to find some bark cloth at a thrift -- no luck so far!

Thriftily,
Alexandra
www.livingwithoutmoney.blogspot.com

[oceangurl]

Jay! No you are not wrong for wanting a crockpot for around $5.00! I think thats a fair price seeings as you said you can get one for $15.00-$20.00 new! My crockpot is a Rival and with a removable liner, I have had it for 18 yrs now and back then I paid $25.00 for it brand new, and it has been the best money I have ever spent, can you tell I am a crockpot lover? They are the best convieant way to cook, you go to work all day and come home to a delicious hot meal! We have enjoyed many many a good meal from this crockpot and I just used it 3 days ago for chicken and dumplings! VTS I agree with you about great stuff coming in because the weather is warming up, it seems people like to "spring clean" when this happens, you know the old addage "out with the old and in with the new". I just stopped at my Catholic Thrift today and spent $10.50 on some things, I got a beautiful white stone bowl (looks like a mixing bowl) with fruits and vegtables embossed on it for $1.50 and 2 shirts, one nightgown and a few other things, the only thing I dont like is my Catholic Thrift has gone up in price because it is under new management, 2 young fellows who are computer savy and everything that comes in they look up on ebay and over price it! Even the clothes went up, what I would have paid 50 cents for a shirt now the 2 shirts I bought were $2.00 apiece. That adds up, I mean you figure to shirts, just regular decorated ones are $4.00? I have been going to this thrift shop for at least 13 yrs now and have seen it go through many changes, but this is the worst it has been and other people whom I know that goes there have said the same thing, sad part is I know the 2 fellows who run it now and I wish I had the guts to tell them that people love a bargain and they are going to overprice themselves right out the door, I mean people , some I know even have already been telling me that they want to go to the competition across town, the Methodist Thrift where the prices are lower, I hope these gents get their heads on straight 

[Jay2TheRescue]

Nice fabric!  Have you planned what you're going to do with it yet?

Jay, I looked for a Crockpot with a removable interior forever in thrift stores and couldn't find one.  I did get a vintage one in perfect condition, though, as if it had never been used with the little booklet from the 70's still inside in pristine condition.  So now I buy those Crockpot liners at the grocery store.  I'm pretty sure they're in the aluminum foil/plastic wrap aisle.  You put the liner in the Crockpot and put your food in and cook away and you just throw the liner away when you're done.  The Crockpot only needs a quick rinsing out instead of a scrubbing when you're done.  Check it out!

I know of the liners you are speaking of, but an additional reason to have to removeable liner is for storage of food.  Since I often use slow cookers to make big meals for myself & my other single friends there are always lots of leftovers.  Removeable crocks can just be thrown in the fridge.  I'm not budging on this one.  A removeable crock is a must.  I used to have one - I can't remember if it was harvest gold or avocado green.  Anyway it got lost in a move somewhere, and I never did find it again.  A friend of mine has a West Bend slow cooker from the 70's (Coppertone in color), but I'm not fond of it because its pretty much an enameled steel pot on a hotplate.  You have to keep stirring every hour or so, otherwise you get some product burned onto the bottom.  Real crock pots don't have this problem as the heat is distributed more evenly because the sides heat up as well.  I have been considering new, but I am sure as soon as I buy a new one I will find exactly what I was looking for...  and at a ridiculously low price like $2.

-Jay

[Jay2TheRescue]

I'm still finding the same overpriced junk here in Virginia.  I've been looking to buy a Crock Pot lately.  I want one with a removeable crock, for ease of cleaning.  Most I've been seeing lately are dirty, greasy, rusty, and have non removeable crocks.  Goodwill has been asking $12 - $20 for these lately.  Come on!  I can go to Aldi and get a new 3.5 Qt stainless steel "generic" brand slow cooker for $15, and Big Lots carries real Rival brand Crock Pots with removeable crocks brand new for $20 - $30.  Am I wrong in thinking I should be able to find a 3.5 Qt crock pot with a removeable crock for $5 or less?

-Jay

You might want to post something on freecycle or check the offerings.  I bet a lot of people have one of these hanging around (like my sister) that they would gladly give away if they knew someone wanted it. 

My sister offered me hers, but since we are vegetarian & I do pretty simple meals it would just collect dust here.

I was a member of freecycle for a while, and it seemed to be more trouble than it was worth.  I don't know if it was true for all Freecycles, but the local Freecycle group required you to have email enabled, or else you were ejected from the group.  As I live in an urban area there is a lot of activity on the local freecycle group.  I was tired of coming home to 100 - 200 freecycle emails, reading through them, and if I replied to one, the stuff was already gone anyway.  I ended up leaving the group.  It wasn't worth the time required, and the constantly full inbox.  If they had it so I could disable emails, and just go to the website and read the posts when I had time it would be different.

-Jay

[valleythriftshopper]

On my local freecycle you can have all the new posts sent to you in one daily email.  That way if you don't feel like looking through them you can just delete the one email & it doesn't fill up your box. 

[valleythriftshopper]

the only thing I dont like is my Catholic Thrift has gone up in price because it is under new management, 2 young fellows who are computer savy and everything that comes in they look up on ebay and over price it! Even the clothes went up, what I would have paid 50 cents for a shirt now the 2 shirts I bought were $2.00 apiece. That adds up, I mean you figure to shirts, just regular decorated ones are $4.00? I have been going to this thrift shop for at least 13 yrs now and have seen it go through many changes, but this is the worst it has been and other people whom I know that goes there have said the same thing, sad part is I know the 2 fellows who run it now and I wish I had the guts to tell them that people love a bargain and they are going to overprice themselves right out the door, I mean people , some I know even have already been telling me that they want to go to the competition across town, the Methodist Thrift where the prices are lower, I hope these gents get their heads on straight 

When they first got a computer at the SA around the corner they were looking stuff up & overpricing everything.  This was under the direction of the regional manager also I think.  The sales were terrible though and the SA in the next town has good prices so they seem to have stopped overpricing stuff, for the most part.  If there is good competition & sales go down, your Catholic thrift will probably come to their senses.  I have been finding lots of brand new clothes with tags lately, like a pair of capris today for $2.00.  I don't mind paying 2-4 dollars for new clothes.  Yesterday I found another pair of like new Converse for $3.99 (they are a little muddy cause I wore them already).  They are made in USA Converse too (pre-Nike era, Nike bought the company in 2003 & moved operations overseas).  Can you imagine having a cute pair of Converse sneakers in your closet for years & never wearing them?

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj292/thriftshopper/cv.jpg
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj292/thriftshopper/cv2.jpg

Thank goodness thirfts are closed around here on Sundays- I have been spending way too much time there!  Also don't be afraid to tell the guys the prices are too high, if everyone does they'll get the hint.

[dukek9]

Wow, great linens and vintage fabric too.  Waht a score.  I never find anything like that at the thrifts though I will say that part of the reason is undoubtably that I tire of going through the titems o find the good stuff, if it indeed is there.  Just see a lot of everyday household items like fairly new, but worn, towles that I think are vastly overpriced.

Thrifting here has been kind of down for me, although I have noticed soem interesting things in thrifts for the right person.  There's a whole collection of state decorative plates at one thrift.  Must be someone got rid of a collection. I keep hoping that someone who appreciates that will take them home. Some look quite old so would be quite an addition for someone.

I was sorely tempted by a hot air balloon collection that was recently donated.  Pictures, little hot air balloon knicknacks and some very charming homemade wall hangings.

Also saw a huge amount of salt and pepper shakers which I assume also came from a collection.  Was also tempted by this but really do not need to start yet another collection!  Some very cute sets though. The funny thing about this is that a lady was in the store, asking the clerk about salt and pepper shakers and he pointed these out. She said they were ok, but she was really looking for plain white ones.

So I guess it is all about being in the right thrift at the right time to find what you want and my timing seems to be off.  But it's still fun to go!

Dee

[hollidais]

My goodness Dee I wish I had been with you.  Plates and salt and pepper shakers.  Both sound fabulous.

I love to see collections come into a  thrift but I like you hope they go to someone who appreciates them.