Ready!

So 2 of my thrifty finds are ready to share....

First one is definitely a guilty and secret obsession. I LOVE LE CREUSET!

I will try to keep this in check and not flood the apartment as I have with Pyrex....

When Dad passed I found out he had quite a bit of Le Creuset, some badly damaged, I kept the good pieces.

On our day trip on Saturday, I was really excited to find this....

 A nice Le Creuset gratin dish!!!

It was only $6.00! Any Le Creuset under $10 is a bargain!

I have big plans for this dish! Like baked gnocchis...

or maybe some enchiladas!

Next is this little guy!

Hello Frosty! I saw this at a perpetual yard sale...

It is opened 6 days a week except on Wednesday. we stop by

every time we go to Ontario. 

I never know what goodies I will find...

Vintage Coca-Cola glasses, vintage OJ glasses, Vintage cookie tins, Pyrex.....

I lost 2 blowmolds last winter, so I was really happy to find this....Dan (woodworker extraordinaire) paid for it.....

Aaaaahhhh Thrifty goodness!

This feels sssooooo good!

A Vintage Xmas

Hello there!

I hope you all had a great Xmas. Mine was wonderful and vintage!

On Xmas Eve it was still 61F! In December in Quebec! I saw guys in shorts and ladies in t-shirts...and a lot of sockless folks.

I got raves for my tourtiere (meat pie) and ragout de boulettes (meatball stew). We all had a great time.

 Fog in Montreal

 Gifts! (we forgot to put away the bag of chips...)

It ended up being a running gag.

 3 new friends! I had the snowman in the store a couple of years ago and I always regretted selling it....

It was the first time I've seen the cute soldier. And how adorable is the reindeer?

 The mantle

Needless to say that with the heat we didn't make a fire!

 The village

 This was in my stocking. It comes from Russia.

The bag shows fries and ketchup. These are not fries...

These are stale bread chips with seasonings...you eat them with the ketchup!

It was disgusting! We had a laugh about that!

After all the excitement, it was time for a little

nap!

Be well and I hope to post soon!

Thrifting

2014 was the suckyest thrifting year for little old me. There were no BIG finds and in a way that is fine since I decided to put the store on hiatus.

But I love a day where all the thrifting stars align and you find good stuff! You just need to appear and pouf! Thrifting magic!

So that’s just what happened on Saturday….We took a small roadtrip to drop a box of donation at the Value Village in Cornwall and cross the bridge for some U.S. groceries….

But our first stop was Michael’s for a Xmas Peanuts flag…I lost mine to a windstorm 2 christmasses ago….I have no idea why they don’t carry seasonal flags , they have Friends and Welcome but no Christmassy joy (SUPER DOUBLE BUMMER)

So back in the car and on to Value Village…I drop my box and went in not expecting much…There was a lot of gooood stuff

But especially a vintage Xmas tree stand new in a box from Zellers. We had the same one , until it rusted out and died and we bought a big ass Xmas tree stand that is super ugly nut the tree never tips over…My step daughter wanted one for a small tree and the price was right at $2.00 ($3.99 minus 50% off).

I also grabbed one of those mixed bags for $1.99 and I was thrilled to find this mini pitcher (creamer) that had been on my thrift bucket list for many years, ever since I bought its big bro in a church basement in Moncton NB…That takes us back to 1988 !

There were 2 other knickknacks that will re-enter the wheel of thrifting pretty soon….

 

 

We also stopped at the Salvation Army and I wa lucky enough to find this

Vintage exterior light set , new in the box for $2.00

 

 

I will use it to replace one of my sets that is cracking under the weather strain.

 

Last but certainl not least...

This is a blowmold vignette that Dan set up for me.

 

It fills me up with JOY!!!

 

                                  I'm off to watch TV because I need to get off my feet. I just came out of
                                 a Xmas cooking marathon! I made cranberry orange bread, cranberry fudge, mini cheese balls and Pfeffernusse dough (I will bake the cookies tomorrow as they taste better the same day).

Tomorrow I will cook the turkey, stuffing and Monte Carlo potatoes....Good times!

Xmas Lights

Time flew right by me and we are December 20th already???

I did some decorating but not as much as I wanted...

 

This is one of my interior vignettes...

The house on the left is really a box of tissues.

The Santa left for a new home and I replaced it with my snowman blowmold.

 

The snow fellas are hanging out with Santa...

 

The penguins are checking up on Robbie the reindeer.

 

In the backyard another Santa and his snowman friend are

keeping watch on the shade garden.

 

Can you tell I love snowmen?

 

The tree has been up since December 9th and it is still unfinished!

 People at work keep asking me if I'm ready for Xmas?

 

Who is?

 

Not me! It doesn't matter because I will be with loved ones and we will have fun whether  the turkey

is dry, the jell-o mold collapses or we run out of chips!

 

I'm off to bed because Bandito was signing all last night and I didn't sleep a wink!

 

 

 

On Blowmolds....

Well everybody in the know....is aware that Xmas in July is nearly upon us.

Here in Quebec ,and I have no idea why it is called Noel des Campeurs (Camper's Xmas). And let me tell you it is a big party if you happen to be in a Québec camping ground!

What is my favorite Xmas decoration besides the tree? Blowmolds of course!

So I wanted to share some pictures....

OOOOOOHHHHH MAMMA ! I WANT ME SOME XMAS NOW!

I want to find another snowman like the one above for my personal collection! It is SSSSOOOOOO

CCCCUUUUTTTTEEE!

Gotta go!

Hope this pics helped you stay cool in that crazy heat!

Night night :)

Surprise!

Friday I worked late and met Dan in the parking of our local grocery store. I had a couple more things to get for the weekend.
When I came out I opened the trunk and saw a big pile of vintage still in the package un-opened Xmas wrapping paper. And I heard : Are those vintage? Yes they are!

Where did you find those?  I asked.I got my secrets....I just dug around! You can do what you want with them; sell or keep them it's up to you!

OMG! Aren't you the sweetest!

Aren't those cute?

Here's the flip side.

Packages have 2 patterns each.

You know what? I'll sell some and keep some!

Thanks Dan, I taught you well :)

Big Garbage Friday: What my Neighbor Threw Out!

I just want to welcome my new followers; I hope you'll enjoy your visits! I haven't had time to check out your blogs because of my crazy schedule you know where....

Last night I was surprised to see a woman running with a wheelbarrow full of bags and stuff...She looked kinda familiar; i think it was my neighbor's sister. Between 2 trips; I checked out the pile 'o' crap....  

Are those legs I see???

Hello dolly!

Magazine rack still with the eeewww magazines in.

This was one for hoarders for sure! there were bags and bags of old stuffed animals and uninteresting stuff in garbage bags.

Just then I remembered that a couple of years ago when I had mice, she had some too and she told me she didn't call the exterminator...She just picked up he mouse poo with a broom and stuffed the holes they came from with kleenex. KLEENEX??? In which parallel universe does she live?

So I kept my garbage poking to a minimum....Until I saw...and dragged them home...

Who can say no to a free plastic snowman who lights up and a funky weird but with potential coffee table?

NOT ME!!!

I gave the table a good cleaning and left it outside for the night. I'll clean Mr. Snowman later. I already found him a place for this winter!

Last few days to participate in my giveaway....Right HERE ! Please comment on that post for a chance to win some fun vintage and new stuff!

Have a great Friday! :)

Retro Tuesday: Homemade Vintage Wreath

I've been procrastinating about my Xmas wreath. Probably because of that nice mild weather...



It was on my to-do list since last week. I love to-do lists and it's no big thing if I don't do everything on it...There's always tomorrow! If I don't have a list, I run all over the place like a chicken without a head. To-do lists keep me focused and a bit more orderly!



So this morning everything was covered in a blanket of snow (will I ride my bike again in 2009???). This was it, I had to decorate my wreath today or there was hell to pay! Just a figure of speech....Or I might punish myself and force me to eat Xmas cookies , that would be crual and unusual, no?




I had cut some cedar in my yard, and proceeded to arrange it around a wreath base and securing it with fine metal wire.

See second pic. Then I pulled out all the vintage and tacky decorations I found a couple of weeks ago in my fave church basement.... I glue guned those...I love my glue gun!

See? All the glorious vintagy goodness?

It turned out even better than I expected! It fills me with fuzzy joy!

I'm sure Dan will like it. But I'm pretty positive other family members will roll eyes and pass not so positive comments....But who cares?

It's my wreath on my door!

I believe most of the stuff on the wreath is from the 60's or 70's. Hard to tell. I remember seeing these before....I can't help feeling I traveled through time, I'm 5 years old watching A Charlie Brown Xmas on my mother's knee. I was snug as a bug!

Have a great afternoon!

Isn't it totally fab? look at that hanging basket on the bottom!

Don't forget to visit my pal, the original Retro Tuesday's hostess Crazy Suburban Mom at www.crazysuburbanmom.com

It's always fun! TTFN!

It's heeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrreeeeee

Forget about Halloween! My Thanksgiving is over!

I'm ready for Jolly Ol' St-Nick!

I was grocery shopping this morning at Canada's Superstore (here it's called Maxi & cie) and noticed that they were busy decorating for Xmas!

How cool is that??? ok a bit early, but how cool is that? We all need some love,peace ,goodwill and cheer and nothing makes me feel more festive than seeing Xmas decorations!

Yes I have already begun my shopping...but since it will be a thrifty Xmas...there's no time like the present to get started!

I don't plan on buying any new decorations....except maybe a string of lights if one dies. And besides second hand decorations have more character, a je ne sais quoi (besides the dirt), a Mad Men flair...They are full of memories, of what was and what could've been and didn't happen...Did I mention that lighted Xmas decorations of any kind when I was growing up (except plain lights) were a BIG NONO?

They didn't fit with my parents vision of Xmas. So now I'm totally cuckoo for snowmen and santas and the whole kit'n'caboodle. They make my heart sing!

Ok it's lunchtime in the suburbs! Be sure to visit tomorrow for VTT! See ya!:)

How cute is that?

I've been seeing a lot of amazing Xmas decorations in Etsy lately. I've seen them in blogs also...
It seems that certain people are glittering 365 days a year! LOL

Yes you know who you are....

So I was really excited to find this.... Adorable, toally cute snowman. He's missing his cord, is 16 inches tall and he's looking for a nice family to adopt him so he can fulfill his snowman destiny...To bring joy and cheer to all!

Here's where you can find him and plenty of cool stuff and Pyrex too! Did I mention that I ship internationnaly?

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=32767181

Free! And other winter pleasures....

I should have blogged about this in early December...lol I'm such a naughty girl......



On one of my wednesday walks in late November(to the chruch basement) I spotted this little evergreen by the side of the road.



The owners of the house were working on their house and had ripped most of the lanscaping.

I couldn't believe my luck! FREE tree! Free tree!!!



Of course I dragged it back to my house! Too bad it was too short to bring in the house and use it as my main Xmas tree. But I always wanted to have a lighted evergreen outside...And this is just what I did with some nice LED lights! It was delicious....



Second picture is of my new (second hand) Santa. This year I declared that I needed (not wanted...NEEDED! lol) a plastic Santa to put outside.



I found an interior one at the Salvation Army (.49 cents) and we went for supper at my brother in law Pierre and he gave me his old Santa that he didn't use anymore!



Wow I sure was in Santa heaven!!!


Last but not least a picture of my snowman. I've had it for 10-12 years, found it at the hardware store and it was love at first sight...sigh! LOL