'Tis the *Wrong* Season...

....to find some vintage Halloween!

Hello Friends, hope your Christmas was Merry and your New Year Happy! I had to pop in and share with you a major thrift score from this past week! As you all may know, thrifting knows no season, and the best finds are usually out-of-season gems!

And so it was for me. I happened to take a trip to my favorite thrift store a few days after Christmas and of course, I didn't buy Christmas stuff (that is all long since picked over!) but in the back of the store by the kids' stuff I found these!

Five vintage costumes still in their boxes! All are from the early 80s and earlier. On the left is a Collegeville Costume (Collegeville is not very far from here, but I had no idea they made costumes there) Panda and a Ben Cooper Raggedy Ann. On the right are Ben Cooper Strawberry Shortcake (the original version from my childhood, not the one my daughter is familiar with, LOL), a Pound Puppies and another Collegeville Scarecrow.

This is the Panda- it is probably the oldest. I'd guess it was from the late 60s, as the costume part is fabric. 

My daughter was thrilled to model these costumes for you all to see, and they will be eventually headed to my Etsy store.  I was sorry to have to tell her that she couldn't keep them to play dress up!

Naturally, this one is her favorite. It still even smells like Strawberry- remember that? I don't think the new dolls do that. I may hold onto this one for her for next year, we shall see...

 My son, aka "Eagle Eye", spotted these vintage Fisher Price pull-behind trains. He happened to have some of his Christmas money on him, so he bought these to resell. He is quite the businessman anymore. Watch for these in the Etsy shop, and help out an 8 year old entrepreneur!

That's it for today, I promise to blog a bit more in the New Year, now that I have got my camera issues straightened out! (Thanks, Santa! :)

Rummage Sale Goodness Pt. 2

Today's post is part II of the Thursday Rummage Sale loot. 

I always find some vintage clothes. As a matter of fact, two of the best outfits I own came from this rummage sale. The mustard sweater is for me, I love that color and don't have enough of it in my wardrobe. The sweater vest is ostensibly for my husband, but who am I kidding, it'll most likely end up in my Etsy store. He's just not a sweater vest kind of guy, no matter how dapper it is. 

The feedsack dress is for my daughter. I find a couple of these every year at this sale. I'm sure they were made by the same lady. They are not new, but appear never worn- I wonder why she only donates one or two at a time? Nevertheless, I always grab them. My daughter loves them- she literally wore the others to pieces. They are the perfect vintage dresses- cotton, cute details (love that scalloped collar!), hand made, and just zip up the back. I wish I had a couple for me!

I have been falling big time lately for hand-painted glassware. (I'm talking to you, Fire King Orchard Blossom!) I actually have a set of frosted tumblers that are similar to this pattern but green.  The pitcher and cup are quite small- about a quart- so probably for orange juice. I can just see them on the nightstand in a guestroom. They were only $1 for the pair. The wood plaque was for my son who didn't get to go since he was in school. He's my sidekick when we go shopping and I'm sure he would have found some cool stuff I missed if he was along!

I actually missed these the first time around and found them with a little help from sidekick #2 (aka my daughter, who loves anything girly). She was digging through the purses looking for pink or purple ones- she just turned 4- and came up with these. I love them! They're from the 50s or 60s and have that fake plastic beading on them. Totally worth the $2 each for the kitsch factor alone.

This might be my favorite find of the day. I've been looking for a 50s barbeque apron for some time. They are just so graphic and funny! I love how the guy has his martini and then the ghost of the steer appears and says "Now don't louse it up!"

It was only 75 cents, and perfect for my husband, who is a butcher, if I let him wear it. ;)

I'm heading out to another rummage sale today, hopefully I'll have more goodies to post soon!

A Big Announcement and a Sale!

Kate is officially out of diapers!

Thank goodness! Between Kate and Jayson, we've had at least one child in diapers for 6 1/2 years. I hated changing diapers, buying diapers and toting around a diaper bag. No more!

And she's got a new outfit to celebrate: we picked up this adorable 2 piece ruffled cherry print ensemble yesterday for 75 cents.

To help us all celebrate, I am having a Friends and Family sale in my etsy store. For those of you with kids of your own or with anyone close to you with little ones, I've started listing children's vintage:

Enter coupon code PIT25OFF for 25% off any item in the store!

As I have been listing these things, it's been bringing back memories of my kids wearing some of these (like the sailor suit above- Jayson wore that often) and I am having a hard time letting go of some. But I really don't want to be a hoarder and would love to see them go to a great new home. I'd love some of my blogger friends to get them- so grab them before I change my mind, LOL!

Flea Market Friday: Opening Day!

This weekend seems to mark the beginning of the spring church rummage sale season around here. I know of at least three or four happening this weekend. And while I won't be able to get to them all, here's a sampling of the goodies I brought home from a couple of them:

A 1950s felt applique tree skirt- this is going to my brother for his aluminum tree. Happy Bday, bro!

You Pyrex-iacs will recognize this piece of flameware with the original handle:

I left the price tag on for you :)

A bunch of sweet Peter-pan collared blouses for my daughter- she seems to wear more vintage than I do these days! I believe the two on the left are made from feedsacks.

A feedsack dress for her as well. Today is her birthday.

Two sets of souvenir hot pads- the top is from Tombstone, AZ and the bottom from Wisconsin Dells. I bought these mostly for the Etsy store- they should be easy to ship.

An awesome turquoise rotary dail phone. I paid 50 cents for it and it works great. However, if you could have seen it before I cleaned it up, you might not have paid even the 50 c for it- it was govered in grease.

A cute pink alarm clock for Kate's room- see how it almost exactly matches the wall color ;). It also works great and is very quiet- definitely a requirement when buying vintage clocks.



I finally found the vintage red cardi I've been looking for- at $2, a keeper for me.

Also this adorable hand-knitted Fair Isle. It's a bit small in the shoulders for me, so it's probably headed to the Etsy store.

I bought a couple of 1960s mini skirts for the store as well- they are really small; no way I could ever get into them!

I also found these papier mache eggs. I've gotten a ton of vintage Easter eggs this year- that will be an upcoming post...stay tuned!



All Aboard the Polar Express!

Last Saturday my mother treated Jayson, Kate and I to a trip aboard the New Hope & Ivyland Railroad's "Polar Express" train. We rode aboard a coal-fired locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia in December, 1925 and several 1920's vintage passenger cars. The route the tracks took between two Bucks County villages was historic as well, being used as the setting for the 1914 movie serial "Perils of Pauline".

The excursion is geared to families, obviously, so the train was packed with kids in their pajamas (like in the movie) but we chose to dress in vintage to suit both the time period of the train and the setting of the movie.   

The interior of the train is as it would have appeared in the 20s and 30s.

 Note the sign: "No smoking. Spitting is prohibited."

Santa greeted the kids on board!

The kids with Grandma- thanks, Mom, we had a great time!

The purple items are their tickets- if you've ever seen the movie, you understand why they look like they're holding on to them for dear life!

This is the money shot- about once in a thousand pictures do I get one like this!

Thank Heaven for Little Girls

Why don't people dress their little girls like little girls anymore? This is my daughter Kate, she's 21 months old. The picture is from Christmas Eve when she was dressed for Church. So many people commented on how cute she looked (even after she was crying and miserable and had to be carried out of church- it was past her bedtime); it made me wonder why we ever got away from this style of dressing.

Why do people dress their little girls as if they are 21, with booty shorts and UGG boots (don't get me started on those), and Tshirts with slogans. Why would you want to cover up that innocence, that childlike wonder and the simple delight in dressing up with ads and crass messages all over your children?

And don't even tell me about how much clothing costs these days. You're paying for the privilege of promoting a brand with your child!? This coat and hat set was $2 in a thrift store (as were the shoes) and they've already served at least one generation of children and now they're on mine. They're quality made of wool and leather and made in the USA.

I say let someone else buy that Old Navy junk, that was assembled in some Chinese sweatshop, shipped halfway around the world and plastered with labels. Until my kids are old enough to protest, they'll be wearing vintage -recycled- adorable outfits like these!