Sunday, August 27, 2006

Nifty Thrifting

Like I said the other day, I have been finding some awesome used treasures in my travels between Rutland and Burlington. Ooooohhh! Show and tell is so frickin' exciting!!!
These Brooks running shoes were only $5 at the Salvation Army in Burlington. They are mens size 9 and fit me perfectly. They looked to be worn once, if at all. I threw them in the washing machine and they were good to go. The only thing was that they gave me a killer blister between my two last toes on my left foot, but so do the sneakers I have now.
shoes
These green boxes came from the RetroWorks in Middlebury and Recycle North in Burlington and were 50 cents each.
greenboxes
These stacking dishes also came from RetroWorks and were $1.50. That seems like a little too much but most things there are overpriced. I bought them after I saw some plastic stacking trays in Domino Magazine which were shown as an example to store jewelry in.
stacking3
At the Open Door Mission in Rutland last week I found a bag of zippers for $2. There were also a few more in packages which I promptly cut up to make zipper pins out of.
missionzips
These zippers were given to me by a woman at the Middlebury Farmers' Market on Wednesday. Amy and I thought the fabric from her husbands old pants was pretty darn neat too.
zipperfrances
Some other finds in the past few weeks have been:
*Two huge bags of retro Betty Crocker and Better Homes and Gardens cook books for $8 which were immediately put to good use by making cards and pencil cans (more on that later).
*Two pairs of pants. One is L.L. Bean and one pair of jeans.
*A huge ziploc bag of assorted plastic beads for $3.
*A Samples CD for $1. I have been a fan of theirs since high school and have seen them in concert three times.
*A wicker basket with a latch and a handle.
*Two metal stands to display necklaces/bracelets on.
*A wire box with clear beads strung in between.
*A double Harry Chapin Record that my sister probably took with her to her apartment.
*A brand new colapsable luggage cart for $1 that I use to bring my bins from the car to the market.
*A pair of shutters for $12 found in Maine that I may end up using to display stuff on at my sales.
*An XL Northern Isle teal cardigan wool sweater new with the tag still on it for $6 for my sister. It is totally her style and may even have one like it in another color.

I want to say a few things about the thrift stores around here. The Open Door Mission in Rutland has the best selection of womens plus sized clothes. I almost always find something there. They must be getting ready for winter because they had some beautiful and good quality sweaters. Most of them wouldn't fit me, but someone would like them. They have scads of new stuff every week.
The Salvation Army in Rutland had gotten so ridiculously expensive that it is almost embarassing. They have a butt-load of crap that they have marked sky high and I don't think people are buying very much of it. For example, they have had some of those old two tier side tables marked $29.99. Now really! You can find those at yard sales for $3. And they are usually brown and crappy looking, unless you are crafty and paint one like ljc did.
The Salvation Army in Burlington is smaller but had plenty of junk to peruse. The prices were much more reasonable there. They have a sign there that says something like 'please do not shoplift, for HE is watching'. I think if you are going to shoplift, you probably aren't going to care if 'HE' is watching, just as long as the workers there aren't watching you.
RetroWorks in Middlebury is pretty neat. I have never found any clothes there but they have a nifty craft section. Things are often marked on the high side, especially if they are even the least bit 'retro' looking, even if they are crap. They have a room in the warehouse part which has 10 cent dumpster diver specials and a load of 8-tracks and vinyl albums.
Recycle North in Burlington is by far the coolest thrift store around. They have furniture, appliances, computers, house stuff, books, records, art and craft supplies, and tons of everything else you can think of at extremely reasonable prices. No clothes though. The place has been hopping the past two times I have been there. They also have a used building materials center nearby that I would like to check out.
Last week I was told about a thrift store in Brandon by one of my customers. This past Friday I took a walk down there. It is run by older women and the selection of clothes there reflects that. There was a small section of plus sized garments that were mostly polyester pants, Alfred Dunner or Sag Harbor. They looked like they had seen better days on the BonTon sale rack. There was a small selection of reasonably priced merchandise and a free bin. It was neat and clean and the staff was friendly. I didn't find anything there but may check back on that free bin in the future.
I went to two thrift shops in Middlebury which I haven't been too in a good long time, Neat Repeats and Round Robin. They have a good mix of clothes and other assorted household stuff. Both of them were overpriced and I didn't find anything worth buying. But you never know what you may find at some other time.
I haven't had any time to go yard sale-ing these days as I am always busy with the market on Saturday morning. I really miss it but that is something that will always be around. After moving twice in one year I know that I should be avoiding these tempting situations to buy other peoples discards at all costs, but I just can't help myself!!!

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Ahhhhhh! Long time no see...

Well, hello there. It sure has been a while, hasn't it?
I have been pretty busy with my crafts. I am doing three farmers' markets now. I just finished the one in Middlebury and had one of my best days at a market ever. You never know!
The Rutland and Brandon markets have also been very good too.
Other than that things have been the same. I haven't been anywhere interesting lately.
However, I have found some very exciting items while thrifting recently. I should have some pictures of those some day soon and maybe some of my new work.
I am at the library now so I am keeping it real.
This week is going by really fast and there just isn't enough time to do everything.

Monday, August 07, 2006

Oh My Gawd! It Was AWWWWEsome!

Yesterday Eric and I went to Lake George, New York to take a one hour excursion aboard the Minne-Ha-Ha. I can't believe we have never been. The tickets were only $10.50 each. The boat has three levels and there was plenty of room to move around. The boat has a paddle wheel which is steam powered. It was light out when we started at 7:30. We watched the sun set and it was dark by the time we arrived back at the dock. The only thing was that we could hardly understand what the person was saying on the loudspeaker about what we were looking at. They were talking very fast and there was a lot of background noise. It was a lot of fun!
minne ha ha
The steam.
steam
The paddle is through there.
paddle
The sun is setting.
sunset
It is set some more.
lake george
The Minne-Ha-Ha back at dock.
minne ha ha night
However, the town is filled with the most OBNOXIOUS mobs of tourists I HAVE EVER SEEN!!! When were were in line to buy our tickets before boarding the boat we got a taste of what was to come for the evening. There was a middle-aged mother with her two daughters grown daughters in front of us. The mother was a large woman with huge, gaudy white sunglasses that covered half of her face. She didn't say much, but the daughters did all of the talking, and boy were they loud. They wanted the mother to have a senior citizen discount even though she looked to be in her mid to late 50s. The one daughter was smoking a butt and had a dress on with a tag hanging out that said 'plus sized'. After the boat ride we walked around the town. It was loaded with tacky souvenir shops that were filled with seashells, plastic lobsters, and figurines made in China. Lake George is a LAKE, not an ocean. Who would buy those there? There wasn't much of anything local or nice or good quality to be found. As I said, the people wandering around in droves were the worst. I believe they all must have come from New Jersey. They all had wicked annoying NEW YAWK accents. As we tried to remove ourselves from one ice cream shop, one woman stood in the doorway and bellowed to her family "DO YOU WANT HAAAARD OR SOOOFT?" Oh my Gawd! The town was also filled with behemoth SUVs...Surburbans and Hummers with New Jersey and New York plates.
We would definitely go on the boat again, but I will avoid the tourist trap of a town called Lake George from now on!

Sunday, August 06, 2006

Success!

It has been another busy weekend. I did well at the Brandon market on Friday and even better at the Rutland market on Saturday. I was put in my favorite spot and sold a lot of stuff. It was a nice day, breezy and not too hot until the end. The display looks better than ever!
tent
My sister and I created these t-shirts last week and finally got to wear them yesterday at the market.
t-shirt
I also bought some of the best bread in Rutland, a pint of blueberries, and four ears of corn. It's all gone now and it was crazy delicious!
market goods
I was asked to do a zipper pin demonstration next week at our county fair, Field Days. I will be working on them all day and I will be able to sell them at the table there. I am hoping to be there Saturday as it will be busy. I am trying to get a hold of the woman in charge of the building now to make plans but the phone keeps ringing.