No Pattern Required

By RetroRuth

I found the cutest salt and pepper shakers while out thrifting recently, an adorable little mouse and his piece of cheese. I decided to name the mouse Jeffie.  He just kind of looks like a Jeffie, you know?

Jeffie and his cheese are a nested set of S&P shakers from Lefton.  And no, I did not recognize them.  Jeffie was considerate enough to come with a label on his little backside.

I was drawn to this set because of Jeffie’s enormous eyes, and the fact that he is kicking through a piece of cheese!

Ooooooo…three dimensional!

For now, Jeffie is hanging out with my Harlequin collection in the big china cabinet.  But I hope to find a shadowbox for him and his cheese soon!

What do you think, Sara??  Would Jeffie and George be good friends???

Tell us what great stuff you found this weekend, guys!  We would love to rejoice with you!

By RetroRuth

I was so pumped about the thrifting haul three weeks ago I brought it home, unpacked it, photographed it…and then promptly forgot about the photos. Sigh. So, here are some of my thrifting finds from a few weeks ago.  Also, I love our new camera!

A vintage Danish Modern stainless steel bowl.  I dug this out of the kitchen cabinet at a estate sale with killer, rock bottom prices.  This pretty thing was 50 cents!

I officially declare it the best chip bowl ever.

This shot looks like a set of nested bowls, but it is actually….

Measuring cups!!! From the same estate sale as the bowl, and barely used.

I fell in love with “Foley” on the handles, and couldn’t walk away from them.

And excellent set of aqua melamine trays.  Not sure how old these are, but I loved them anyway.

A bunch of scarves and hair-wraps snagged from various sales. Some silk, some rayon, and some made of pure awesomeness.

A few have signatures.

This entire basket of ornaments was 75 cents at another excellent estate sale. At first I thought it meant 75 cents each, but then a really nice lady working the sale pointed out the price was for the whole basket!

Once I saw this little reindeer deer inside, I was sold.

More vintage Christmas ornaments from the same sale. This box of striped lanterns was 25 cents.

Yeah, I would say that was a pretty good haul! 

How about you guys? Find anything awesome this weekend? Let us know!

By RetroRuth

Welllll….it’s Monday again.  What the heck happened to the weekend??  I feel like Tom and I worked and worked and didn’t get a single thing done.  But I won’t prattle on about house repairs. Instead, I’ll give you guys some eye candy.

Behold!  Our “new” vintage vinyl sofa that Tom and I picked up recently while thrifting.  We were out originally trolling for some Tiki-themed furniture for our three season porch, but we found this bad boy for our basement instead.  Pretty sweet, isn’t it?  I love the shape of it.  It is very swank and is going to be great for the “50′s Martini” theme in the basement. 

It is also a futon, can you believe it?  It need some oil before it will fold all the way down, but it is supposed to actually fold flat.  This is good, because it is actually sprung like a mattress rather than having foam cushions.  I am pleased because then it will never get that smashed look some vintage sofas have.

The only down side is that it has that old, musty vinyl smell.  I am not sure we are going to be able to get rid of it, so I have put all my resources into figuring out a way to contain it or cover it up.

As you can see, it is already being thoroughly enjoyed by the cats.

We also picked up this excellent set of vintage vinyl rockers at the same sale.  I have to say, these are incredibly comfy and fun to watch TV in.  Not exactly the same style as the sofa, but I love ‘em just the same.

Pretty sweet, huh?

Did anyone else have some good finds over the weekend?  Let us know in the comments!

By RetroRuth

After showing  you guys a few weeks of thrifting/antiquing, I am finally pulling out the stops and showing you all the pretty things I brought home!

Three adorable figurines to add to the collection.

A tiptoeing kitten.

A mischievous Mr. Fox.  The label on his tails says “Bone China” and “Japan”.

A bunny with a puffy tail!!! Here puff! Here puff!

Oh, and the tray is something I found for $1 at a rummage sale. Score.

An interesting looking twisted gold wire tree with pressed metal leaves.  This is so cool, and it was only 80 cents!

Gotta love a seagull wallhanging!

Metal butterfly and flower wall decorations. Love ‘em!

Did anyone else find anything good this weekend?  Leave a comment and let us know!

Oh, and Tom came in 10th in his 50 mile ultramarathon!  Isn’t that crazy??? I am so proud of him!

By RetroRuth

Hey guys, got a TON more pictures for you from thrifting.  Now, don’t droll too much on your keyboards.  I don’t want to be responsible for breaking anyone’s computer!

I loved this pattern!!

A Mink Poodle!

Ta-da!  Hope this eye candy made your day a bit better!

By RetroRuth

Hey guys!  Happy Monday….or something.  Hope you all had a great weekend.  I had a busy and fun weekend, even though my birthday was on Sunday and I turned the big 3-0.  Boo-urns.  So, to counteract my mild age-related depression (my hands look like my mom’s hands! Help!), Tom decided to take me thrifting/antiquing. And it was sucessful!   Here are a bunch of pictures, in no particular order.

More on the way! Sorry about the blurry ones!

Hi All!  No guest blogger today, you guys just get little ole me.  I decided to give Jan the day off since she did such a great job filling in for me while Tom and I were in Wisconsin this last weekend.

What were we doing in Wisconsin?  Well, Tom ran a marathon this weekend, and came in 6th place!  Great job, hon!  He also was third in his age division, which is awesome.  I am so proud of him. Pictures of him running are coming soon.

In the meantime, I convinced Tom to stop at a Goodwill while we were out shopping the day before the race so I could check out the goodies they had in stock.  And here is some of the good stuff!

I almost had Tom convinced to buy this for the casseroles I make in the Mid-Century Menu.  Sadly, the back was scratched up pretty bad and it wasn’t really worth the price they were asking. Sigh!

This had one of the edges broken off, but I still loved the pattern!

I LOVED this coffee pot/tea pot, but Tom just couldn’t get excited about it.

This table was almost ours as well, but the veener had chipped off on one side, so we decided to pass.

Someone totally jacked this painting up!  As you can see, they pasted photos and pictures of a bride and groom OVER the picture underneath. Jeez.

You can still see the edge of the painting underneath the collage. We tried to peel it off, but it was just damaging the painting, so we gave up. I wonder what was under there?  A landscape? A bullfighter? An abstract? Ahhhh…oh well….

This chair was amazing! It was two-toned pink and burgundy vinyl with bronze accents.  I was so sad to leave it, but it had three big cigarrette burns in the seat, so I would have just hand to recover it. Dang.

Another item that Tom didn’t really care for but I loved.  Check out the awesome upholstery on this baby.  Love those birds!

Here is a close-up.  As you can see, the sofa is even quilted AND tufted, and the colors were gray and mustard yellow. Hubba hubba.  And only $35!

Last one.  I thought this one was great because this is the sofa everyone’s parents or grandparents had in their house in the 1970′s! Ahh…memories…

Oh my god, I am so tired! Feeding kittens is so hard. Thankfully when I talked to the vet today she said that I can stop getting up in the middle of the night to feed them. When she said that I seriously started bawling from relief. I got about 3 hours of sleep last night, and I just can’t keep going like this.  I feel like a zombie.

Aaaaanyway, here are some pictures from when Tom’s sister came to visit us.  She was patient enough to put up with us ducking into a few antique and thrift shops to check out the goodies.

My fingers itched while I was taking this picture.  I wanted everything in this room. Except for…that lion and tiger playing checkers.  What the heck is up with that?

Check out the kid’s shell chair! So cute!

These want to be on my porch.  I know they do!

Yes, those are giant piles of snow outside the window.  They are mostly gone after all the nice weather this week, though.

Here is the same sputnik light that I featured abuout a year ago.  They still want almost $700 for it!

Maggie, looking at the sputnik light. Thanks for coming to visit, and Happy Birthday! (Even though it is a little late)

I couldn’t help myself when I was out the other day, I had to take a swing by the Habitat for Humanity Restore and see what goodies they had.  Our Restore has recently moved to a new location, so they don’t have everything out they used to, but what they had was still good enough for me!

I love this sewing machine cabinet!  It even has chrome edging!

Eh. Painted.  At least it is a cute color.

Does anyone else think this kind of looks like a Heywood Wakefield desk? Anyone?

I think this table is SWEET, but I can’t come up with a good place in the house for it.  If only I could it would be mine in a second!

Anyone else come across good stuff lately? We would love to hear about it!

I know.  Because I’ve got it.

So, I found myself excited for spring the other day.  Not because I am sick of snow and not because I am looking forward to gardening. I was thinking I was looking forward to spring because then I could start running outside again.  And running outside means that I would be able to peep into my neighbor’s houses, trying to catch a glimpse of their kitchen cabinets.

I am a sick, sick woman.

So, too keep my voyeurism in check, I had to resort to looking for vintage kitchen’s on Craigslist.  It lets me keep warm while I peep, and I don’t leave any pesky tracks in the snow.

Here is a great white Geneva metal kitchen in Madison, Wisconsin.  Wipe the drool off your face!  I know mine is covered. And I think that might be a Flair oven, too!

Here is a great deal in downtown Fort Wayne, IN.  A whole metal kitchen for $50!  Okay. Catch your breath. Whew. There is wallpaper on the front of the metal cabinets, but it looks vintage so it might be a plus and not a minus.

A set of green Youngstown cabinets in Bloomington, IN.  Awesome. Even comes with the white enamel sink!

A white metal set in Lakeview, IL with some interesting handles.  These are another great deal at only $100! Love the wall oven. God.

A pretty pink stand alone cabinet from Egan, MN.  Love the handles on this one!

Here is a “beige” set from Hyattsville in the D.C. area.  It says beige, but they sure look pink to me!  A pretty set, I like them a lot. 

They also have this dreamy green set as well!

If you have the cash, 5 grand that is, here is a GORGEOUS set of terra cotta St. Charles cabs for your very own.  The St. Louis owner says they are in mint condition!

And, a cute beige, actual beige, set of Youngstown cabs in Baltimore.  This kitchen also has an album if you want to see more pics!

Wow!  That’s a lot of cabinets. I feel better already. More…calm.

Feel free to share any links or email me pictures of metal cabinets if you have ‘em to help me get through the long winter. Oh, and don’t forget to visit Pam’s metal cabinet forum if you are seriously in the market for some blue steel beauties!