second-hand news

one of the main reasons i wanted to start this blog was to share the stuff i find on my thrift outings. the blogs i visit regularly are all by other women who seek out the same kitsch that i do. i find myself feeling so jealous when one of them gets something really good (and cheap). austin is a pretty tapped market, but if you are diligent and consistent and you keep your secret spots to yourself, occasionally you strike gold. or maybe real silver.

pictures in order of appearance:

*a bathtime wooden tray puzzle. this is too young for snowcone but i couldn't resist. plus, i have a weekness for the vintage puzzles.
*a sweet little porcelan sugar bowl. cubes only.
*an orange plastic picnic set. when i got this home, i took everything out of its perfect carrying case and now, cannot figure out how to put it back together. seems like a running theme in my life.
*a ravensburger lotto game. vintage german ravensburger games are the best out there. the pictures on this game are so odd...mens undershorts drying on a line? a vacuum? but the pictures are precisely why i bought it.

i live for perusing the shelves of second hand stores. i prefer estate sales, actually, but frances is never interested in getting up early on saturdays to be drug around to dead peoples houses. i can't understand why. i tell her we are going 'treasure hunting' and that she has to look for the best thing she can find. it buys me a little time in whatever store or house we are in. i find my must have inside and frances, my little bag lady, finds her treasure in the parking lot. on the ground. a piece of broken, colored glass and an old candy wrapper. i guess it's true, one person's vintage mccoy planter is another person's crumpled up gum wrapper. i appreciate frances finding the beauty in every last piece of crap she comes across. i only hope she grows out of it when she starts dating.