Category: vintage art

Helping Herself

On this week’s thrifting adventure I found a few treasures at the Goodwill Outlet in Indy and a friend’s garage sale…including the print that this week’s blog get’s its name from.

Home Sweet Home

When it comes to having a home away from home, some people feel at home at their favorite restaurant…a book lover might feel at home at the library or in a used book store…a golfer might feel at home on their favorite course…but I feel right at home at the Goodwill Outlet. Today’s trip was a rare mid-week visit on account of being able to duck out in the afternoon to go and have lunch with my parents in honor of their 50th anniversary.

Field Trip!

I was up in Chicago for a few days for work and decided to end the trip with a visit to a new (at least newly relocated) store by the name of Architectural Artifacts. It was kind of like being able to shop at a museum – there were rooms and rooms full of amazing tables and art and other unique objects – including some of the topiaries from the movie Edward Scissorhands (who doesn’t need one of those?!).

The building was formerly a Catholic school, and it still had a little of that vibe going on (and a few remnants like blackboards and locker cubbies in some of the classrooms. There was also a lovely cafe – where Chris and I had a lovely breakfast – and the space doubles as an event venue…complete with a pickleball court in the middle of the school’s old gymnasium. It is also worth noting that we found easy parking behind the building (under the elevated train tracks) – so all in all it was a wonderful way to end a great trip up to the windy city.

The other neat thing to note about this spot is the fact that there were QR codes scattered throughout the building that told about the history or other interesting facts about various objects. We watched several of the videos and found that it was a fun way to learn a little more about the objects we were looking at.

A little bit of this and that

With a snow storm predicted for next week, I decided to squeeze in a thrifting trip this weekend at the spur of the moment. I was channeling “board games” (specifically a vintage Nancy Drew game I’d somehow just learned about). I didn’t find the Nancy Drew game, but I did find several others…along with some illustrations that look like they might be prior to 1900 and a magazine from 1903, along with a great hymnal that was in really bad shape so I’m not going to feel too bad about repurposing it for some junk journaling. I also found some fun vintage Christmas pieces and a few sewing patterns.

The coral-colored suitcase was one of the first things I spotted on this trip. It had been turned into a dog bed, but I plan to remove the staples and felt covered pad and recover the insides to make it good as new and functional for some exciting purpose.

I took a gamble on some old art supplies…and have been watching some You Tube videos to see if I can revive the paints. I’ve also seen warnings that it may be ill-advised since older paints are more likely to have materials that are now considered toxic. If I do revive them, I will proceed with caution. In the meantime, I thought the bottles would look good as part of an art-related shadowbox.

I also stopped by a regular Goodwill…thinking that I might have better luck there looking for vintage board games (i.e., before they are sent over to the bins). I left with two small tin plates that were beautifully decorated and a binder that I’m going to use to organize some of my ephemera (along with some plastic organizer pockets that I found on an earlier thrifting trick).

Happily Ever After

We helped my stepson move into his new house this weekend. I had just enough energy after we finished to duck in for a quick visit at the Goodwill Outlet and found a few treasures. There was a small pile of ephemera that I found in the corner of the last bin I rummaged through just as I was giving up hope I was going to find anything of interest. It contained cards and photos from Rosie and Charlie Hazel…and I learned from a quick internet search that she’d passed away last month and is buried not too terribly far from home. They didn’t have any children, so a lifetime of memories ended up in a bin of junk…which is sad…but it would be even sadder if I hadn’t stumbled upon these memories and find some ways to preserve a memory or two on their behalf. Even though I didn’t get home until close to midnight, I couldn’t resist making another digital collage.

“Happily Ever After” collage

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.

Emily, Midge and Skipper, etc.

On my way up to Chicago for the weekend, I had a chance to stop at the Goodwill outlet on the NW side of Indy.  I found a few paint by number boards, vintage Midge and Skipper dolls that admittedly need a little TLC, and a delightful Etiquette book by Emily Post that is being used as a pillow by my sister’s cat, Twixie.

Traveling through time

Chrissy, Cam, Evie and I visited the Goodwill Outlets on Indy’s NW and SW sides earlier today. There wasn’t really one theme or outstanding purchase from today’s thrifting adventure; instead, it felt a little like a trip through more than a century worth of history.

Many treasures were found today, including this delightful tome published in 1883.

I love the contrast of these two tales about cats…”Dick Whittington” (1934) and  “Puss in Boots” (1955).

 

Above: Bromwell stainless steel tools and “A Text-Book of Cooking” (1915) and “The American Women’s Cookbook” (1938). Below a book on birding from the 50s and a retro thermos and Coleman drink cooler. Below that, a funky Tupperware pitcher a Johnson’s milk bottle and a retro table cloth.

It’s always Christmas-time at the Goodwill.  Today’s holiday highlights include a vintage sled, a wintery paint-by number, holiday fabric and ribbons etc.

And of course there were games…

It is still July for a little longer so, below are some of the patriotic finds of the day.

Above, Cam and  Evie, kidding around. Below, the car crammed as full as we could get it. and below that, Evidence that Cam shopped til he dropped!