Category: Thrift Stores

Puzzles and Games

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Above: 3 vintage puzzles. Two ended up missing only one piece after a whole lot of digging  in the bins; one was complete!  I’d previously sworn off puzzles, but I’m glad I took a chance this time around.

Below: a cool old-fashioned looking Card Game Deck, which I assumed was Mille Bornes – and it is, more or less, but there was apparently a version called “Touring” that was released in 1926.  I don’t know if I found the whole deck because the cards were scattered across several different bins, but I found what looks to be a similar number as another vintage Mille Bornes deck that I have.

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Below: Anything that’s old catches my eye, but I typically try to stay away from things that have personal info…unless they look like they were burned. This set includes a birth certificate, divorce decree, marriage certificate for Martha Beaudin and the death certificate for her third husband, Basil P Babcock, in 1956.  It was a stack of papers that told the story of someone’s life…and it made it all the more mysterious that someone had tried to burn them but failed, or interesting that they somehow had been rescued from a fire.

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Ready, set, haunt: a Halloween dollhouse transformation

I recently decided to turn my dollhouse into a haunted dollhouse, because I love Halloween! It was as if the universe read my mind, because I’ve recently  found a ton of things at the Goodwill Outlet that enabled this transformation. There’s lots more work to do, but thankfully it is a project I started early enough this time around.

I found a plethora of fabrics and materials that will help me transform my dollhouse for Halloween. Paying by the pound at the Goodwill outlet meant that I spent less than $20 for all the supplies shown above.

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Above: The finished products…so far.  I love how the bed came out…and I love, love the updated couch…made from a purse (see before and after below). I had most of the furniture already, but most of it was broken or in otherwise in pretty bad shape. A fresh coat of paint and everything is looking pretty spooktacular!

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Another before and after…showing the difference a simple paint job can make.  A gaudy rocking horse is transformed into a plaything fit for a baby witch!

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I’m not sure if this will be my last Goodwill outlet trip for a while…but it was a good one.  Vintage santas, paperdolls, vintage girl scout goodies, craft supplies and some delightful vintage books.  The red wooden box once contained a silverware set. I’m not sure how I’ll repurpose it, but I couldn’t pass it up because I loved to the colors and the decorative star.

I LOVE thrifting/Thrifting Bingo

 

There are a few things that I can’t resist when I thrift (its like a thrifting Bingo if you will): vintage games, wooden spools of thread, puzzles, vintage holiday decor, vintage cook books, rulers, horse things,  chalkboard, paperdolls and Nancy Drew Books. Today, on my two Goodwill Outlet stops in Indy I found everything except the last one on my list.  My favorite finds: sheet music for Star Dust, which I’m looking forward to gifting, and several vintage valentines and games.

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I also found a lovely vintage bingo game set and a mind-teaser puzzle. Both had several small pieces, which I combed through various bins to find…and then I proceeded to drop the stack I was holding into a bin, and then onto a floor, and even after I finally moved everything to my cart, I somehow managed to drop everything once more. Admittedly, It was not my finest day, but thankfully there were folks who were kind enough to help me each time.

Whenever I dig through bins to find pieces of puzzles or games, I always assume that I’m not going to find everything…so I wasn’t too sad when things fell all over the floor (repeatedly) – more embarrassed, really (but I’ll chalk it up to not having any lunch).   I didn’t drop any of the puzzle pieces I collected, yet I only came close to finishing one of the many puzzles who’s pieces I collected. Miraculously, I ended up with all the pieces of the Bingo game and the puzzle game (thanks to my husband’s help; after I gave up looking, he kept combing through cards and boxes and managed to find the few of each that I was missing).

Here are my take away lessons from today’s thrifting adventure: 1) pay attention to the small stuff; it would have been so easy to miss out on all the fabulous valentines I found today (in fact, I felt like my repeated spills of other game pieces kept leading me back to find more valentines), 2) bags and carts are your friend, and  3) have lunch!

 

Start your engines!

Its a new year and I’ve already found some fun finds…including some cool vintage Indy 500 treasures including a collectable bottle of 7Up from 1979, a postcard, a poster signed by Al Unser, and a set of glasses from 1973…which happens to be the year I was born, which made it an extra-cool find.

I also found a beautiful red glass cream and sugar set, a Santa and Mrs. Claus Salt and Pepper Shaker set, vintage sewing patterns and a pamphlet and ownership certificate for a Brunswick sewing machine from 1916, an amazing stash of vintage puzzles, a few games, some fun art, and a delightful autograph book with some fun inscriptions.