Thrifted goodies I wouldn't have bought new (partial part deux of vide grenier haul)

Leather jacket: 2 Euros, Annecy vide grenier.
Worn with gifted maternity top, cheapie leggings, new patchwork purse;
Handmade and hand-dyed fringed shawl made from vintage fabric (not by me);
Vintage elasticized velvet and rhinestone belt.

I'm showing off my two-Euros leather jacket, a buttery soft European-label found at the vide grenier from a few weeks ago. Along with a statement-piece shawl and handbag, it jazzes up an otherwise boring black outfit.

Vintage 1990s booties found in Toronto, Canada.
Bracelet snagged for 5 Euros at Annecy thrift shop.
(31 weeks).

It's burgundy, not a colour I'm hugely attracted to and in truth I wouldn't have bought it it were any more than a few Euros. But that's the amazing thing about thrifting: because it can be so inexpensive, it gives you freedom to experiment with new colours and styles that you typically wouldn't if you were to pay full price.

Flashback to 2010, to another thrifted leather jacket find
(to when I had thighs).

Ditto for this slightly sheeny bubble-gum pink cropped leather I found in Toronto in 2010 at a half-off thrift sale. If it were 20-plus bucks, I very likely would have turned my nose up at it. But for about $10 (if memory serves), I snatched it up. The jacket spruces up denim, black or a relatively neutral outfit. And the wacky pink makes me smile. :)

Wearing the same vintage booties, along with a vintage leather bag, thrifted sweater, designer jeans
and purple Coach sunnies.
(Scarf bought new and worth every penny of the exorbitant price I paid for it at Anthropologie).

I kept most of the pieces comprising this outfit when I moved overseas, save for the designer Angel jeans found for a few bucks in a Toronto thrift shop. I was super super teeny back then, as a single girl. Marriage and general happiness (and not eating crackers and cheese for dinner) automatically put a couple pounds on me. But sadly, that meant I had to part ways with these, my favourite, jeans.

A look I've long admired in jewellery but wouldn't necessarily have paid retail for.

I'll quit moaning now. My new and expanding body is a blessing, even though I do sometimes mourn my former uber-svelte self. On another note, check out this bracelet I found at the thrift shop the same day as the vide grenier for 5 Euros. I've always loved this look but never wanted to pay full-price for it. It's got a slightly '90s vibe crossed with a tribal feel. I've been wearing it endlessly.

Does thrifting allow you to try on new or different looks, or acquire pieces you'd never buy new?

Linking up with the lovely ladies at Pattie's Visible Monday - the 90th installment! Thanks to Patti for continuing to host this fun linkup!

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My fave thrifty decor creations

Now that I'm married to a contemporary streamlined decor kind of guy, I've had to make some major style concessions in our new home together - and indeed, most of what you see in these photos are no longer in my possession, sigh. Not to say that our newly painted living room (pics coming soon) won't have a wee bit of boho injected into it, but let's just say, compromises have been made - on both sides. This post will honour a couple of looks I created in my old Toronto apartment, using salvaged curbside pieces and thrifty decor finds.

TRASH: An ex brought me this wooden dining room table with flip up table extentions - so cool. He found it in the trash. Though it had heaps of shiny paint and varnish on it, I still liked it. The white vinyl chair - covered in a dollar store faux fur rug and velvet pillow - was another garbage find; so too was the curved chrome chair at the front.

THRIFT SHOP FINDS: The silver chair in the back was part of a set of four salvaged at the Salvation Army in Ottawa years ago, spraypainted silver by moi and then covered with a silver tablecloth from the dollar store - tres grunge chic. Ditto for the painting, wall lamp, and handpainted bowl. The lamp was a junk shop find.

BOUGHT NEW BUT INEXPENSIVELY: The curtains were on sale in a fabric shop, tied with ribbon from a gift. I found the heavy crystal Art Deco style vase at a dollar store, if you can believe it. The large black and white photo was a gift, and the two smaller ones are old photos of me that I framed with inexpensive white mattes and frames.
INSPIRATION FOR VIGNETTE: I love the droopy tulips. I had a dinner party the evening before and someone brought them to me after walking through minus 30 degrees temperatures - so they wilted, rather artfully I think. I started with the vase and tulips on the table and went from there.

INSPIRATION FOR VIGNETTE: I really, really loved this creation - I call it my boho corner. The fun thing about this look was that it was created in the dining room space of my one bedroom apartment - but I said, what the hell, let's put the living room in the dining room - something my best friend and I did when we were 20 and living in our first apartment together.

TRASH: The loveseat, a Barrymore made in Canada gem (covered with an inexpensive slipcover from Zellers, a Canadian store) that a beau from years ago hauled out of a dumpster (actually, there were two, and I go them both).  Blue velvet chair: a curbside find in Toronto, as was the amazing wooden console dresser.

THRIFT FINDS: The Chinese style lamp was a Value Village find and the blue shade was also from the thrift shop; the Indian carpet was found at a junk store along with the head vase on the large console; the large mirror and painting balanced on it were both thrift store finds and so were the wooden oval, silver wrought iron and glass/brass tables.

BOUGHT NEW: The boho cushion on the chair was found in Saskatchewan about a decade ago, and the striped silk pillow on the sofa was part of a pair, also purchased new and splurge items if memory serves. The rest of the pillows were thrifted.

LOVE: The green Star Trek decanter on the console (see pic one up) - a gift from my best friend. It belonged to her folks and came with eight teeny shot glasses that matched.
Sadly, though I managed to sell/donate a lot of the smaller items, most of the larger furniture pieces were left curbside in Toronto when I moved. I tried to to donate the furniture to charity shops but they are so under-resourced they could not pick them up. Hopefully some like-minded folk picked up my stash left in front of my apartment.

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1980s necklace that will present a fun challenge!

I've admitted that I find 1980s plastic bib style necklaces oddly attractive, and that even though I am drawn to them I have mixed feelings about wearing them. Ditto for this 1980s necklace with painted blue, yellow, peach and gold detail, $4.99 at Canadian Thrift.

Not sure what I'll do with it but I'll try to snap a pic when I figure it out!

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Million dollar life I could have with these thrifted vintage earrings

Dah-lings! I'm so busy leading a fascinating life in my new thrifted earrings that I can barely stand still for you to seeee them!!

Yah right. The look says it all, my thrifty pals. And though I am no longer an earrings person - I reserve all my bling thrifting exploits for pendants and the occasional brooch - I simply could NOT resist these absolutely GORG vintage earrings I found in the Value Village showcase for - wait for it - $5.99!!

Deal!

Does it matter I don't lead the kind of life these earrings (not clip on but the screw on kind) surely merit?

Not really. I could play dress up with them in my apartment, introduce them to all the lovely glam thrifted dresses I never get a chance to wear ....

Mmm. Let me think. Or I could somehow manufacture a glam Grace Kelly type life, and jaunt around the French Riveria in some flashy sports car convertible with the top down - with the earrings, of course.

Only thing is, I'd need to make a million dollar life for myself, all because of these $5.99 thrifted vintage earrings.

Perhaps I'll see if I can integrate them into my existing life and wardrobe before doing anything too drastic?

What do you think? Hi-low dressing has been all the rage for years now - do you think I could mix them up with skinny jeans, or perhaps some wide leg pants?

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Coro pendant and an inspired blogging solution

This pendant isn't really my style but I loved it on sight and thrifted it for literally a couple bucks. I was really attracted to the blue. Got it home and flipped it over and saw it is signed Coro piece. Initially I was going to find a gold chain and rig it up, but then I Googled "Coro blue stone pendant" or some such thing and came across this lovely blog, Oriental-Rose.

Can't believe my haphazard Google skills found the very same piece! Now if you scroll down from the original link, you'll see that the designer fashioned a lovely pearl and gem-like necklace for the pendant.

Mmmm. That got me thinking. I took a rummage through my Tickle Trunk and dug up one of my first costume jewellery finds from my university days, a sturdy 'pearl' necklace I don't really wear anymore as it's too staid for my style. I actually almost got rid of it recently but some sixth sense - or perhaps my semi-hoarding instincts when it comes to bling - made me hang onto it.

Well, hell. What's the use of reading blogs if you can't take some inspiration from them? I'll have to find a jump ring or something, but that's all the pendant needs to transform it into a true statement piece!

I'm just so thrilled about the idea - now hopefully it won't take me five months to find the ring. The cool thing is the pearls can be worn long or wound around the neck twice for a choker effect. The strand does the Coro piece true poetic justice - so much better than a boring old gold chain, don't you think?

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My Thirft Gift to him

So you must be bursting with anticipation: what on earth did I get my mannie for Christmas? Several things, among them this 'gift of thrift' that I felt sure applied to his life as a pilot who travels around all the time.

It's a retro leather traveling case. Looks like it's never been used!

The case, and all the utensils in it, have "Made in Western Germany" stamped or engraved on them.

I think I may have been more thrilled about the gift than my man! I love the chrome-covered tops on the brush, toothpaste and soap holders. So sleek. So retro!

Just look at this brush. I mean, isn't it the absolute top banana?

And this razor and brush? How absolutely darling!

There was a second case, also made in Germany, that looked as though it was used, but I bought it and cleaned it up and gave it to my sweetie pie with the other one. Both were found at a thrift shop.

I just loved the sense of history and the quality, and the fact that the kits tied in however loosely to my man's life. He could use them or not - and if it appears that he's not getting any value out of them, well, I'll take 'em back!!

My little thrifting ways, btw, inspired my mannie to buy ME a little thrift gift for x-mas - his first ever!! It was a second-hand book. I think he was pretty pleased with himself. As was I!

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Thrift Gift a la VV

So I was in Value Village yesterday and resisted the urge to shop pour moi, because I was on a mission to find some books for my nieces and nephew.

This set of Disney classics came in a baggie marked $2.99, and they're brand new! Cute eh?

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Thrifty Halloween

This was me for Halloween last year wearing a thrifty Halloween costume. I was supposed to be Super Girl but my editor joked I could have been Shopping Girl, tee hee.

The outfit was really easy to put together; in fact I used mostly thrifted items I already had, like the wool-cashmere cape, the Italian suede boots, and the disco belt. The only thing I had to 'buy' was the blue skorts, which I found at my local thrift shop for under $5.

 

This year I think I'll build my outfit around one thrifted inspiration: this vintage Sarah Coventry pin I bought a while back for a few dollars.

Doesn't it just SCREAM "Star Trek"??

It really does look like the little badges they used to have on their shirts in the retro, original series.

I could wear it with a short black dress, black tights and black boots and pile on the green eye makeup and black eyeliner and be some sexed up little Trekkie - OR I could do what I find more interesting and wear it with short black pants, black boots, a blue top (that I still need to find) and blue eyeshadow ... and who would I be?? You guessed it! Spock! Or Spock's sis!

I'm sure I could find those pointy ear things at Value Village.

If you're still thinking of Halloween costumes check out the post I did two weeks ago with Value Village costume expert Meg Allan Cole.

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Bloggin' about talkin' about bloggin'

Ahem. I'd like some quiet please.

Joke! As you can see by the pic here, my speaking style is, well, somewhat expressioned, shall we say.

I was invited to speak at an I Tweet, You Tweet conference for small biz in Toronto this morning, held by PR pro Parmjit Parmar of Montana Ridge Enterprises and Lisa Kember of Constant Contact email and social media solutions.

My task: speak about my experiences developing a social media profile through blogging.

I"m not a social media expert by any means, but I am an expert on me and what I do, and I do 'interface' with small businesses through various social media platforms. I babbled on in my typical manner, so I sure hope what I said was useful to the audience.

One of the things I spoke about in terms of blogging was using it to share specialized content so that you can establish yourself as an expert in your field. If you are a fellow thrift blogger out there, you are part of that larger community, but you also know that community is relatively small. I've been approached by two thrift stores from the States, which have stores in Canada too, to write and blog about them - call it blogger outreach, and a little sign I have something to contribute. Bring it on, I say, I love it!

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My apt, back in time

Alas, I've been doing very little in the way or re-jigging or decorating my apartment these days, so I thought I'd show you some pretty and hopefully inspiring vignettes from last year.

I know, I'm a bad blogger, recycling content - but hey it's very Grunge Queen!!

I love the colours here and the drama of the black and the purple .....

The black head sculpture was a fave find at Value Village. The black tablecloth: fab dollar store find.

One of my fave paintings, a thrift store find that I had to buy as I loved the colours and it reminded me of what heaven was like as a child.

Can't remember what I paid for it. Perhaps $50, steep for GQ but when she gets emotionally involved, watch out!

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Thrifty yet not so effective idea

I have a dear little kitty who's starting to pee outside the box.

She still goes into the litter box, but her wee butt hangs over the edge, so a lot of pee ends up on the floor.

I've been using newspapers and buying expensive dog trainer pads to put under the box and soak up the urine, but the other day as I was cleaning out masses of papers, I hit upon an idea: instead of shredding my old resumes and bills, why not use 'em to soak up the pee?

It's not the most effective method as the papers don't absorb as well as, say, newsprint.

But at least I found something to do with my old resumes that would otherwise be shredded! But the downside is I don't think I can recycle pee-soaked paper.

And as you can see, Dinky is attracted to the pile of papers that she will one day pee over!

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