Celebration and Thriftin’

Well folks, yesterday marked my 3 year blogger anniversary!  I truly intended on posting yesterday, but with it being a day off work, I had things I had to attend to and errands to run and orders to ship.  But I did get to stop by the 3 thrifts that I visit in town.  It been a long time since I’ve hit all 3 in the same day!  I found some great things at each one, so it wasn’t wasted time :-)

But first, in regards to my anniversary, I want to let you know that I will be having a giveaway to celebrate!  It will be open to all of the wonderful people who have been keeping up with me over the past 3 years- through good postings and bad, through creative times and absences.

  I have not been able to get to my sewing machine to finish up the cross stitch item that I made especially for the giveaway, so I will be posting my giveaway on Monday or Tuesday.  So check back to enter!

I went to the Restore for my first stop yesterday and found a few great books.

I haven’t had time to check any of the recipes from the cookbook yet, but I did leaf through it and found some wonderful pictures!  That was a plus!

Sorry these aren’t great, but look closer at the one of the women at some kind of sale!  I would DIE if I came across a sale like that!  Look at all of those old tables!

These are of laundry day.   The lower left is chunks of soap.

Very cool pictures.  That book was $2.  This next one was 50 cents…and also equally cool since I live outside of Salem!  This one I did spend some time pouring over.  It is so awesome to look through and see the same buildings that I still see today!

This is State Street in 1906 at the Centennial Celebration.  The suprise on the last day of the celebration was an announcement made presenting the city with a 25 acre park which was named Centennial Park.  When the boys were little, we used to go there to play a lot.

This is Broadway street- where the GW is now located.  It actually is in the last building on the right side!  And the other thrift I visit is now located in the building that is first on the left!  Pretty cool.

Some houses that I recognize still today.  The top one, a mansion, has 16 rooms and 6 bathrooms.  I was thinking that this was another house, so I am going to have to try to find this one to see if it is still there now.

The bottom one is still standing, but is now an apartment building.  It sure doesn’t look as grand today.

These 2 homes still are there today.  There are many beautiful big homes along State Street and Lincoln Ave.  And most of those have been kept as beautiful as they were back when these photos were taken.

This book is filled with photos.  I love looking at them.  Especially the ones that show the insides of some of the stores and businesses!  How cool would it be if the business section still had stores like that today?  Cigar shops, Mens Clothing, Millinery, Shoe Stores, Hardware, Knick Knack and Notions….Maybe I will try to scan some in so I can show you some day.  They certainly depict a simpler time.

My next stop was Second Blessings.  This shop is run by one of the churches in town (which is also pictured in that book!) and all the proceeds go to help those in need.  I did find a 4 gallon crock for $35.  But I could not talk myself into paying that.  I know it’s probably worth it…it was in almost mint condition.  They had a lot of nice stuff, but they also have 50% off donated items on Tuesdays, so I passed on a lot of things.  Other things, like the crock, are consigned items, and those don’t get marked down.  If it’s still there next time, I may be able to talk myself into it :-)  I bought a cutting board for 75 cents and another wooden item for $4.  I forgot to get pictures of those.

I walked down the street to GW and found a few items there also.  I found this little window sill candle for $2.

This tart warmer was $4.  I didn’t have one, and I knew that someday I would come across one cheaper than new price.  When I plugged it in, the bulb blew.  So I bought the same size-60 watt- and then once I got home read the tag that was on the warmer and it said to not use higher than 25 watt in any warmer.  It does get hot FAST with the 60 watt, so I am not going to be using it until I get a smaller bulb.

I got this little bowl to put beside my sink to hold my scrubbies and scraper.  I won that little scraper at a Pampered Chef party and I use it ALL THE TIME!  That is one of the handiest tools in my kitchen.  It’s to use for their stoneware items, but I use it on any pot or pan that gets stuck on baked on food.  I was washing dishes, so I didn’t want to get a full on shot of the sink :-)

And I found this Roseville Pottery pitcher for $5!

It had greasy spots all over it from being in someone’s kitchen, but a little Magic Eraser took care of that.

And I found some fabric too!  I never find fabric there!

Well, I’d better get this posted and get going.  It’s finally a rainy, cold day and we are FINALLY putting the carpeting into my craft and t.v. room!  I’ve had stuff all packed up for weeks now so I have not been sewing  anything, and I am missing it desperately!  Now we cannot hardly use the living room b/c it is piled up with my boxes of stuff!  I can hardly believe that all this stuff fit into that room and it wasn’t overcrowded either.  I’ll post pictures when I get everything moved around and put back.