Have A Green Thumb With Greenbacks To Spare

Butterfly garden stick, $1 from Goodwill.

If you're anything like me, you love getting your hands dirty in the garden. You ditch the gloves and go for bare palmfuls of dirt to plant those seeds right into the earth. And maybe--like me--you also love flaunting a little decorative flair with planters, indoor and out. 

There's nothing so fresh and so naturally gorgeous as a blooming flower or foliage contained within some cute little planter. 

Our front lawn has a new mascot. 

Or in this case, maybe not so little...

I bought this oversized handmade wooden elephant from a local flea market last year. It originally had a removable wooden rack in its body, and was designed to hold magazines. But for me, Sir Artemis Stompington (Yes, that's his name) was a fine record rack indeed.

Hand-carved wood elephant, $5 from the flea market. 

Since scoring a lot of awesome thrifted jams and therefore expanding my record collection, I realized Sir. Stompington needed to roam free... as a repurposed outdoor Petunia planter. 

First we drilled a few holes at the bottom for drainage, then we plopped him outside and  planted the flowers right in there. His wood is solid and shellacked, so he'll survive the season out in the wild. 

A collection of thrifted planters.

As for the inside, our picture window is the perfect display area for my little assortment of thrifted planters. (And yes, that's another elephant). I can't pick a favorite, but that pair of vintage owls...well they're just charming! 

I love having a few house plants and succulents here and there. They provide a nice pop of color and they really do oxygenize the room.

Vintage candy dish and heart-trimmed bowl, $2 each from Goodwill. 

I bought these two non-planter planters from Goodwill and knew immediately some succulents would do them well. A bright orange cactus for the candy dish and a waxy-leaved Peperomia plant for heart-patterned bowl. 

The trick to repurposing planters lies in the drainage issue.  Given the right sunlight and watering conditions, many plants can thrive year-round indoors. But not one of my indoor planters has holes for drainage. And this is exactly why I chose cacti and succulents. They require little water and little drainage. The root system sucks the water up and stores it, which means more creative planter options for thrifters like us. 

So the next time you see a mod little box or a kitschy mug, maybe you'll consider sticking a succulent in there. It's two green thumbs-up, thrifters! 

Go North, Young Thrifter.

How lovely!

After wallowing in sadness since the untimely loss of my dog, Penny, I thought the time had to come to post some upbeat business to the blog. My vacation, while punctuated with sickness and depression, was not a total loss. Like I mentioned in my last post, I was fortunate to spend some time with friends up the mountains during my paid leave from work. And in addition to taking photos and trying to scope out the local wildlife, I was also able to do some up-north thrifting. 

On our way to Arrowhead Lake, we happened upon a flea market on Sunday afternoon in Blakeslee, PA. Since it was after 1pm, many of the outdoor vendors were packed up for the day. But the indoor market was still open and packed with merchandise booths. It was a tad pricier than what I'm used to paying. But, what the heck! I figured, "Hey, I'm on vacation. I'm splurging." 

My splurge? 

Mint condition. Great for making loops and mixing. 

I love this series. I have another in the set that's mostly city noise and machinery. I can't wait to rip this onto my iTunes. SONAR? Sperm Whales? Sounds good to me. Since these were antique booth prices, I was surprised at my ability to passively "talk" a vendor down on the price. The record wasn't marked. When I greeted the cashier nearby and asked for a price, he gave it a once-over and said $7. I thanked him and began walking back to return the record to its spot. He then said..."How about $5?" That was a little better. Also, I scooped up this book.

Another quirky art book for my collection. $1 

Six dollars for a book and a record? Eh, not too bad. The next day, we ventured out to the long stretch of road that held all the shops, restaurants and entertainment that the mountains had to offer. Our first stop? 

Mountain thrifting! 

Goodwill seems to outnumber Salvation Army thrift stores in my area back home. So maybe I'm just not used to the arbitrary pricing of clothing at Salvation Army, when compared to the flat fee of the typical $3.50 per shirt from my local Goodwill. I didn't see much anyway....except for this adorable decorative scarf for my sister.

Talk about eye-catching. Vera Neumann silk scarf, $3. 

I paid for the scarf and we hit the road in search of more shopping. Our next stop was The Old Village Trader, a rather strange store with a large miscellany of souvenirs, novelties and secondhand wares. This family-owned business is a must-see for those in the Mount Pocono area. The staff were super friendly and there was just...a ton of stuff. 

Be sure to brave the descent to the basement. 

It's a little creepy. It has the musk of age. But they have a basement literally filled with vintage books. I didn't want to keep my friends waiting while I thumbed through thousands of pulp paperbacks. But I did gladly fork over the $2 for this...

Zombie bonus!

Halloween is right around the corner...

Imagine listening to some of this up the mountains...where there's nothing around for miles but complete darkness. Spooooky. 

Behold. The beauty of nature. 

Well, maybe this wasn't entirely natural. It doesn't take much to amuse me. I just...like tree faces. 

I guess the overall theme for these past few days is trying to adapt to a place without Penny. It's been hard. And I've felt especially guilty about being on vacation when she passed. I know she loved me. And I loved and cared for her. 

So even with the unpreventable loss of my puppy, which I deeply mourn, I tried to make the best of my time off from work. Friends, photography, thrifting. And now blogging about my experiences... It's all I can do for my days  to bare a semblance to normalcy. It's what Penny would have wanted. Well, all that...and a pillow fort with an endless supply of Twizzlers. 

Have you had a thrifty vacation? 

PS. Don't Forget to stop by Apron Thrift Girl for Thrift Share Monday!

Flea Market Finds...for Around Five Bucks

Why, yes! That is a giant wooden elephant. 

Last Saturday morning, my sister Ashley, her boyfriend Brian and I stumbled upon this friendly wooden beast at a local flea market. He was affixed with a price tag for $7, which was later crossed-out and replaced with $5. And boy were the previous owners thrilled to not have to lug this thing back into the truck once I set my eyes upon it. In the end, Ashley talked me into forking over the $5 and having the kind sellers hold it for us until we were finished trekking around the rest of the market. I do love elephants...especially wooden elephants with big ol' googly eyes.

But what is it? Well the previous owners used it as an oversized magazine rack, but also suggested that I could weather-proof it and use it as a planter. No,  thanks. I had something else in mind.

Form and function. I love this thing!

No magazines. No plants. This trusty old elephant is the new home for my novelty LPs. Music To Strip By, Nutty Numbers and my latest thrift acquisition... Bar Room Piano by Joe "Fingers" Carr are just a few classic titles, to name a few. I'll get more into that last record in a later post.

Thank God, Brian was on hand to carry this thing back to the car. It's a sturdy piece, to say the least. Plus, this left Ashley and I some free hands to dig for other fun flea market finds. Ashley found herself a lovely pair of vintage sunglasses. I found yet another owl figurine to be photographed with better lighting in a future post, and the Parker Brother's  slightly condescending game of Careers for Girls. It was worth the $2 to experience the five, that's right, five available careers for girls circa 1990. It was an all-around awful experience for everyone involved.

But don't worry. I totally redeemed my flea market prowess with this:

Where's Ellen Ripley when you need her?

This is a Facehugger from the Alien franchise. And for a buck, it makes a nice addition to my shelf of horrors. Don't ya think?

The Facehugger is just hanging with Sadako from Ringu. 

So admittedly the total for the elephant rack, the alien creature, the little owl and the awful board game tallied over $5. But the night before I recovered $6 from my pants pocket while doing the laundry. Bonus! 

But wait...there's more! Me...Ashley...Brian....We, the Three Flea-Marketeers also bought something else...a super secret surprise. This can only be revealed after a photo shoot that will inspire, amaze or at the very least...confuse every last one of you. It's going to be...huge. And that's all I'm saying for now. Hehehe.

What flea finds have you scored lately? 
_________________

Country Life, City Life: The J. Crew Catalogue of Thrifting.

City life, a bustling metropolis of businesswomen on the go. Big meetings, short deadlines and faraway out-of-town conferences. What’s a girl to do?

Why, pack up her dreamy, vintage sky blue Samsonite train case, of course!



Samsonite train case, $6.97 from 2nd Avenue Value Store.

 
But when the big city lights shine just a tad too bright, a gal’s just got to get away. May we suggest a leisurely holiday to the countryside…of Japan?

Towering mountains, limitless lakes and a cool and easy breeze makes this country life worth living. Sit back and take it all in.




Three-dimensional handmade tree bark art from Japan, 50 cents at a local Philadelphia flea market.

There she can enjoy the comforts of breathtaking views and with just a few simple ingredients, equally exotic cuisine.





Vintage Japanese Cookbook, 1969. $1 from the flea market.

For ordering information, please scout the aisles of your local thrift store.