It started with my search for a typewriter on Craigslist...I luckily found this one, posted for sale by Pat in Renton, she and her husband Jerry used to run a payphone business and they had this lovely Adler typewriter waiting for a good home. It has an extra wide carriage, so I can put an entire 12x12 paper in and type on it! Shazzam!!! If that doesn't make my lazy butt happy, I don't know what will. Pat also gave me some ribbon that is still in the package- I really scored on this, and it was only $15. I plan on typing my "journaling" for my scrapbook pages with it...we'll see. Pat gave me extensive lessons on how it works- most of which I forgot by the time I got home, but I was so impressed that she could tell me all about it, even though it's been years since it was used.
While I was there, Pat mentioned that they were hoping to get rid of a lot more of the stuff they had accumulated- and that is when I spied this beautiful treasure on her wall and asked if she was looking to sell this as well...
This beautiful vintage Seattle map has found a loving new home with John and I here in Redmond. It is pretty big, I had to drape it over the curtain rod behind the living room couch to get this picture. Note that Drake is asleep and could care less about the goings on around him, as long as no one tries to move him. :) The map doesn't have a date, but Pat said she has had it for a really long time, so I will have to do some research. She also said if she saw it for sale on Ebay for $1000 she'd hunt me down! lol!! No worries, I am not going to be parting with this pretty treasure.
Now, normally I would call it good, but I needed some props to help style some of the hoop.dee.do photos I took over the weekend, so I stopped by my local Goodwill and Redmond thrift store- Goodwill was nuts- it was literally worse than IKEA with all the people shopping. My local shop was better- I ended up getting really lucky with a few finds there:

I really like that retro shaped dish, I used that for all the hoop.dee.do photos...I also scored a box of vintage flash cards, a silver tone ceramic apple, an adorable squirrel nut bowl, a mini red wagon, mini Playskool mailbox, a balance scale, 2 retro wire baskets, a metal owl and last but not least; an old vintage pinking machine...I have been looking for one of these for a few years and got really lucky finding one at a thrift store! I haven't hooked it up yet, but when I do I will make some pinked edge paper with it and show you how it works. It's freakin' heavy.
Lots of fun stuff!! Not what I would call a "cheap" weekend...where I live, even thrifting is not really that thrifty. I put back a lot of stuff because it's too pricey. I guess that's just the reality of living in Microsoft Millionaireland: :) you have to be doing pretty good even to shop at Goodwill!!
Looking at that pile, you may wondering what I do with all this crap...(don't worry, you're not alone, John wonders the same thing all the time)...some of the stuff I pick up goes up on display immediately in a vignette somewhere in our little shack, but most of it goes into my stash, and I use these pieces as props for my photos, or I just save things so I can redecorate when I get a wild hair. I do hope one day to get to a point where I feel happy with the collections I have and maybe get a booth at an antique fair or something...but that is a long way off. If I had a cute house with an adorable front porch like some junkers I know, I would totally do a porch sale...but I live in a teeeeeeeny little hole with no place to host something that fun without irritating our irritable neighborhood. :) So for the time being, I just hoard like a pack rat!!! Good times!! :)
That is my junking update. I should put some new pictures up of the house and add to my vintage finds gallery, I will put that on my list of things to do soon; but for now, I have some scrapbooking and stamping to do...
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Oh, and also, thanks so much for all your kind comments about the hoop.dee.do! I want to welcome any new readers who might be visiting from my link on Etsy, or who found their way over from Decor8. and...here is another picture I snapped of the hoop.dee.do with some of the items from the above junking trip staged for a Kid's Room...
That's some of my art from my Kindergarten and 1st grade years, and a delightful photo of me with my long hair...ha!
Ciao!!