Occasional Scores

I'm finally almost done with all my crochet Christmas presents. I'm quite pleased with how they all turned out so far and can't wait to post pictures of everything! Since I mentioned it last time, I decided to do a post on my recent scores from the occasional sales. If you've looked at my Instagram, then you've seen the picture of the lovely dishes I got at Flamingos. It was an awesome deal at only $28 for 20 assorted sizes of plates. I saw them, passed up on them, thought about it, and went back. I didn't see them at first, but BJ caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye and they were mine for the taking! I have a couple of TV trays that I found at Arc's about a year ago that match nicely. I'm sort of obsessed with sputnik/atomic bursts right now. 

On my first go around there, I found the two ornaments in the middle of that picture. I'd never seen one of those plastic case ornaments and decided it was so-ugly-it's-cute enough to be welcome on my tree. There aren't any markings on the green ball, but it's sparkly and I had to have it!

Urban Cottage opened a week later and I found a cute little postcard with gnome santas in a forest with mushrooms. Perfect? My most favorite ornament of all time is one that belonged to my sister's grandma. It has a little scene set inside it with an ugly little humanoid. It's so precious. I'm always on the lookout for something similar and I finally found one by Shiny Brite, and it has a mushroom in it! The top where the cap and hook connect is a little broken off, but it doesn't change how it hangs. I also found something special for my mom that I can't reveal, but it's neat-o!

Speaking of my mom, she came up for an appointment last Tuesday and wanted to go to some antique stores. I took her down to 50th & Xerxes. It's a lucky thing I did, too. They were having their annual sale a week earlier than I expected! I found a cool old Singer Sewing Center yard stick and a beautiful Shiny Brite reflector in my fave colors at Hunt & Gather. The sparkly ornament beside it says made in Italy and comes from Arc's- .69! I didn't even have the reflector a week before BJ accidently smashed it to pieces... I'm having a hard time letting it go- the half of it that still exists is setting on the desk beside me. Any idea on how I can reuse this gorgeous piece of Christmas ornament history? 

Normally we've always gone to 50th & Xerxes for Small Business Saturday. It turned out to be this past weekend, so after we went to the Green Gifts Fair at Midtown Global Market, we hit up the shops. We got a steal of a deal at Vinaigrette on rosemary, truffle, and cinnamon(!) olive oils. Then we headed to Loft Antiques where I found a Sammy Kaye Christmas record from 1951 with art I couldn't pass up, another mushroom themed ornament, and another Shiny Brite reflector- not in my fave colors. >_< Arc's was crazy busy on Saturday as usual, but I scored a box of red Shiny Brite ornaments with an old Target sticker [I always love that!] for only .69. Unfortunately, it also took a hit in the great weighted ball accident. Only one broke though. In addition, I found a really heavy blown glass ornament with a cool design. The Shiny Brite tree topper came from eBay because I decided that my tree needs a topper this year, and I didn't want to leave finding the perfect one to chance. It came in a super awesome box. I think I'm either going to need a bigger tree or I'm going to have to purge part of my Christmas collection- maybe both!

I forgot to share this one when I got it a few months ago. I actually saw this exact  non-pierced earring tree used as a display piece at an occasional sale and I thought, "Oh man, I wish it was for sale!" Wouldn't you know, I found it at Flamingos right after! [The ring is from the Walker gift shop. The flower hair clip is from Ethique Nouveau. The bracelet is by Glitter Workshop. Earrings are thrifted from Arc's.]

One project that I can share is my Annabelle scoodie! It took a ton of yarn, but worked up quickly. I used this pattern by Dearest Debi and just changed the ears to cat ears. It is so incredibly soft and warm and it's vegan!

I finished it just in time, too, because the weather decided to become super cold. My baby Annabelle somehow got a bladder infection [which only about 4% of cats actually get] and it cost an arm and a leg at the vet. Because of that, I don't think I'll probably be doing much Black Friday shopping, but Goose's health is more important than deals that probably aren't that great anyway.

I do have other fur babies who don't seem to get as much attention. First and middle born syndrome? Don't worry, you two, the family holiday picture is coming! :)

A quick side note: Society6 has free shipping worldwide through Cyber Monday. I uploaded a couple of new designs and reworked the designs for mugs. They also now have available kids shirts and onsies! Order now for Christmas!