More Smalls

They are addicting, aren't they?

I have a whole drawer in the basement office/studio that is filled with such things. There is a little sign on the drawer (I love a good label) that says "Stuff I Love But Have No Clue As To What To Do With".

I should change that sign to "Things To Play With".

Here are the rest of the items found Tuesday evening:



A Dr Pepper bottle opener. I also snagged the Coke.


I love these old ashtrays! Now, of course, they are turned into something else. The Flea Market Style magazine showed using them as drink coasters...how cool is that? I like using them to hold change, jewelry and cell phones. Or more smalls!


When I showed this to Hubby, he laughed when I said I always wanted one of these! He asked if it was because of the high winds we have going through the house that I need to have papers spindled. I still want it and I still think it's cool!


Adorable little shot glasses! The graphics are so good.

Admit it. You want to come over and play, don't you! Bring your stuff.

Smalls

There is something I loooooove about tiny little things. Holding them in my hand, turning them over and over, admiring them, playing with them. I am like a little boy who wants to keep all his treasures right there in his pocket.

When we were at the Spring craft show, there was a lovely woman hand stamping jewelery with whatever words or sayings you would like. Then she would add little trinkets to the necklace, little findings she had collected here and there. I wanted to sit down on the floor and dig through her tackle box of treasures. I didn't want them on a necklace, I wanted to play with them. I think you know exactly what I mean. My Girlfriend and I were talking about collecting teeny tiny treasures just like it...to pull out and just enjoy.


Tiny Pencil

Skate Key

Tiny Measuring Tape


I found these at that-place-I-can't-tell-you-where-it's-at last night and while they are not teensy, they are still small and exactly the kind of treasures I am drawn to.

Spring Salads:

We can't get enough of them right now. Hubby likes a basic with Romaine, tomato and cukes. Bud loves just the cucumbers and can devour a whole plateful. Lu and I are addicted to Greek salads. We had them at Panera Bread several times and then I realized I could make them just as yummy at home for a fraction of the cost.





In this Greek bowl of yummy-ness I put romaine lettuce, small sweet tomatoes, some chopped up cukes, slices of shallots, black olives, feta, red wine vinegar and olive oil with lots of pepper on top before we mix it all up...



We could eat this everyday. I am also grooving the Thai Chicken salad at Panera and the Grilled Salmon Ceasar at Minervas. We have yet to recreate these at home.

What is your favorite salad?

And Into The Weekend...

Getting tired of hearing all about my decluttering this week? Still doing it...you gotta do it when the spirit moves you!

Remember I had all those cool boxes in our bedroom closet?
They actually held things inside. I haven't looked inside them for oh...two years? Pulled those down and will be going through those at some point this weekend.





Yesterday held some sun-shiny moments and I was taking pictures for Etsy like a nut. Am very proud to say I now have *70* items listed! This is one of my fav's:



I am in groove mode now when it comes to listing...the more you do it, the quicker it goes.

Annnnnnd, last but certainly not least: The first church rummage sale of the season was listed in the paper this morning! Yipppeeeee! Mindful thrifting, here I come!

Enjoy your weekend,

Sonya

Nesting...

Have you seen the Bald Eagle nest on ustream?

My Girlfriend called me on Monday and as we were talking she mentioned the Eagle Nest. So to make her happy I went online to look at it. We sat on the phone for an hour saying OMG! DID YOU JUST SEE THAT?! WHAT IS IT LOOKING AT!? IT TOTALLY SPOTTED SOMETHING!! OH! WAIT IT IS GETTING UP!! DO YOU SEE THE EGGS!? OHHHHH!!!! THERE IS THE SPOUSE!!

Never knew I was such a nut for a birds nest. I cannot stop watching. Lu has no idea that I tote around her laptop, but I have it on in the background all day long and have gotten good at listening for the chirps that mean the mama and papa are both in the nest and switching sitting shifts. CLICK HERE to see what the fuss is all about. The rumor amongst my friends is the eggs are to hatch around the 1st of April.

Since I am probably not going to bring up birds again real soon here on my THRIFT BLOG, I thought I would also show you pics I took out the front window when I saw Callie Cat obsessing over something:







Oh! A puffy little Robin!


Oh! Lots of Robins!


Ummm.....



OH MY GOODNESS! Come look at HOW MANY BIRDS ARE OUT HERE!!


And yes, when I speak, there is a lot of enthusiasm about everything and yes I am usually shouting with excitement.

Back to sorting through things...

Enjoy your day!

Clippings here...Clippings there...

Yesterday was too dark to take pictures for the shop but I am still in organizing mode and need to continue making progress toward my studio mess. So plopped myself on the ground in the basement with my stack of magazine clippings and started sorting.

That cat was ZERO help at all. As a matter of fact when I left the room for a few minutes she tried to do some 'rearranging' and is lucky to be out and about.

After I sort all these millions and millions of clippings, I want to get rid of ones that are of no interest anymore. I've been trying to take a quick look at them as I sort and have recycled a good amount, but truly want to weed through one more time for good measure.

Are you a ripper-outer?

Finding My Groove On Etsy...

I am pleased to report that I have finally, FINALLY found my groove in taking Etsy pictures and listing items. As you know yesterday I was trying to find a good place to take all my pictures that would make all my treasures look cohesive in the shop.

And the perfect place was right in front of me all along! Isn't that the truth about so many things? We just need to open our eyes and look around. Does it seem like I am channeling Charlie Sheens positive-ness right now??

I ended up using an old radio stand with the white wall behind it that we have in our foyer. Lots of good natural sunlight (I take a lot of photos on the dining room table by it) and I like the way the darkness of the wood contrasts with the lightness of the wall:



Today will be spent retaking all my Etsy shop photos of previous listed items. Since it is another dark morning however, it make just be spent gathering all the items on the dining room table waiting for some sunlight to break through!

Keeping it real, baby.

Enjoy your day and THANK YOU for all your advice yesterday, I do so appreciate it!

Over The Weekend and Into Monday Morning...

First of all, I want to give myself a big Woot!Woot! for continuing to get things ready for Etsy!

There are a ton of things that have been measured (seriously. how tedious is measuring? It cannot be just me who feels this way.) and are now ready for their close ups. I am realizing I need a specific area for taking all of my pictures that is well lit with either natural or mimicked sunlight. I thought about making a light box, but...think I want something, I don't know, more sturdy? Have you made one of these before? Yes? No?

Lu and I went to her first 'real' concert Saturday night:






Sugarland at the Tyson Event Center! Lu has been singing their songs around the house the past few months so thought this would be a fun introduction into the concert night life. And it was!

Also went to the Spring Craft Show with one my Girlfriends and found THESE:





This is what we'll use for the kids' Easter Baskets! Squeeeeeee! I thought this was a novel idea. I have seen these here and there on the Internet, but had NOT seen them using Children's Albums. The only thing I wish was that they were older and more beat up. When I look at these they are nearly pristine which makes me wish I could play them on our old stereo. LOVE listening to albums.

So that was the weekend in a nutshell and now today will be spent running errands and figuring out the whole Etsy photo area.

Enjoy Your Day!

Guess What I Thrifted?!

I think this landed in my hands due to the sheer volume of items I have been donating the past few weeks. Thrift Karma is real, my friend.

Too bad my friends are all past the point of having more babies. Would this not make a fabulous shower center piece?!

If I still had my booth at Memory Lane, I would SO be using this for display purposes. Since I do not have my booth, this will be showing up on Etsy. Ahem. At some point.

You would've been proud of me, however...yesterday I spent a fair amount of time measuring items and bringing them into the dining room for their photo shoots. I didn't care too much for the pictures so will be doing another photo shoot and listing this afternoon.

Can Someone Please Pinch Me...Hard?

Top O' The Mornin' To You!

I need to get stuff listed in Etsy. Truly. I have been distracted lately by decluttering and my Birthday. Now I NEED to get down to work. Easy enough for me to say when I am planning my day and all jacked up on coffee...not so easy once the day gets started and I get distracted (easily). A lot of this will depend on if the sun comes out. Can't take pictures in the dark! See, already making excuses.

Found this while thrifting at Goodwill:




Christmas thrifting must always be done when you find it. No matter what time of year. That is my motto.

Well, as I have been typing, the sky is getting darker and darker which means I am most likely not listing on Etsy this morning.

Sometimes I swear I roadblock myself.

Happy Birthday! (And Winner Announced...)

Not only to me, it sounds like there are a LOT of bloggers who celebrate in March! Well, we are a very creative sort now, aren't we?

Congratulations to JACKIE! She was the name drawn this morning and will be venturing into the Dime Store Thrift Etsy Shop to pick out a treasure of her desire. Email me and we will get that going Sweetie!

Thanks to everyone who signed up, I always wish I could gift each and every one of you.

I've woken up this morning to Hubby, Lu and Bud's Birthday wishes and gifts (we always do that first thing in the morning over breakfast) and am now languishing in the scent of Chanel Allure. I smell goooooooood! And very alluring. When one gets pushed onto the 40 year mark, one should smell alluring.

And now, on with the day!

Hoarding

Have you seen Hoarders: Buried Alive? We catch it every so often on TV, late at night. It isn't anything I search out, it's more of a 'there's nothing on, we might at well watch this for a bit' sort of a show for us.

I am going to be honest here.

That show scares the hell out of me.

As one of my Twitter buddies said, there is a fine line between collecting, reselling and hoarding.

When the show starts, I usually start looking anxiously around the room about 2 minutes into the episode thinking in a panic about what needs to be cleaned out. My mind is racing...How long has it been since I cleaned out my makeup drawer? Do I really need *5* pairs of black tights?? Is it necessary or could this be the beginning of something dangerous? Will I be interviewed at some point sobbing, holding onto the cardboard of 300 rolls of used paper towels, saying it all started because I had *5* pairs of black tights?!

As you know, I have been trying to clear things out. I am not a hoarder, I simply have some things that are not necessary to my pursuit of happiness and contentment. OK, a more than a few things. Over the past week or so, I have gone through the booth leftovers and took a bunch to Goodwill because I have no interest in them anymore...the kids and I went through their rooms to weed out things for Children's Closet...I've been eyeing my studio area with a raised eyebrow and am working on letting go of a few things in there. That is taking longer than I expected. But I have been distracted by the kids' stuff. And that is my excuse for that right now.

So as I am getting good at this purging of goods, I am getting focused on my thrifting as well. I simply cannot buy something just to buy it. Because when it comes home with me, it needs to either go somewhere specific in our home or it needs to get listed on Etsy. I can't just 'hold onto things' to be holding onto them anymore. Except for Christmas items. That is a whole other subject. Because you have to buy them when you see them! And then hold onto them to list them on Etsy in September! Am I being defensive? I have *5* pairs of black tights. I own my defensiveness. Truly, I wish someone would pinch me every time I needed to get things listed in my shop. I am terribly good at procrastinating about that and am really trying to change that habit.

It seems that we are all in this process of clearing things out of our lives that just are not working for us anymore. I hope it has been successful for you, too!

Items that are marked and ready to go to Children's Closet:




Items to be listed on Etsy:

Basement Ramblings

Basement Log, Day 5: The purging continues. Finally deal with the fact I have been driving around with the booth leftovers in the back of my suv for 2 weeks. Bring them inside. Sigh heavily knowing what I need to do. Start sorting. Watch Celebrity Ghost Stories that are DVR'd. Bow head in shame.



15 Minutes Later: These are the bags that are going to Goodwill. Time to let a few things go. Feel pleased with myself. Decide to check email for a minute while I brew some more coffee.



10 Minutes Later: Am on my way to church. Got email from Children's Closet reminding me sale is next month. Have to pay my sellers fee and get tags. And hangers.

10 Minutes after that: Get supplies from church and head back home. Realize I have not begun sorting for Children's Closet Sale. Or pricing. The sale is a few weeks away. Panic. Get coffee. Focus. Start the procedure.


Thursday: Time to go back into the basement. I am not letting this project go until it is done. And I have a few more Celebrity Ghost Stories before I can delete them off the DVR.

Letting It Go

Sometimes we, as resellers or collectors, buy things that are wrong. We sorta like them. But not a whole bunch. We store the item. We put it in a rubbermaid or on a shelf. Not having much interest in listing it or pricing it or loving it and so it just sits. Mocking us a bit every time we walk past it or come across it while going through things.

It's OK. These things happen. You might have been having a weird day while out thrifting and all of a sudden desired shabby, chippy when you are more of a sleek, streamlined sort of collector.

One of my favorite relaxing things I love to do at some point over each weekend is to head down to the basement and take a look around. I usually bring a cup of coffee and sift through things. Moving inventory around...thinking about things I want to make at some point...sometimes daydreaming...and these days decluttering to make more space in my personal area.

After looking at some of these purchases I have made, seemingly bought on a whim, that sit and sit and sit on the shelf, I make a decision. Instead of berating my thrift karma, or thinking that I might fall in love with it someday, I have been bagging it up to donate.

You see, I want to only sell things that I love. Be surrounded by things I love. I want to feel a pang when I am packaging up an item that sold on Etsy and wonder why I didn't keep it because I love it. I want to send that love on to the person who is on the receiving end, that THEY will love it and it will fill a place in their lives until it gets passed on again.

Hubby was downstairs with me while I was taking a good hard look at everything and was moved to take a good hard look at some of the stuff we have been storing. Cheering the other one on, we filled a few boxes and bags, loaded up the SUV and I took a fair amount of things to Goodwill this morning.

LOVE that feeling!

In all the years I have been decluttering, there are two books that I keep coming back to that help that urge to remove things that just aren't working in our lives:

Clear Your Clutter

And a newer book of inspiration, The Joy Of Less


It feels like this acquiring/decluttering thing is something that I will forever be working on, but each time I do it, I feel like I am getting closer to how I want to live.