Yard Sale Finds

This past Saturday my Mom and I ran across a yard sale on our way to run errands. Yard sales aren't very common in Baltimore, you might find 3 on a Saturday — if you're lucky — and they usually won't have very good prices or items (at least not for the vintage lover! Mostly children's clothes, toys, As-Seen-On-TV junk that doesn't work, etc).  So when we spotted a sale at this house we were very elated!

We had stopped at this lady's rummage the other year and she had scads of sewing supplies! Her items were clean, super cheap, and extremely organized. She's lovely to talk to — we probably ended up spending most of the time talking more than shopping!


For $6.00, I came away with three zippers, three tape measurers, a gorgeous rhinestone pin, a bundle of safety pins, and a Dritz tracing wheel. This pin was the most expensive item at $3.00. I bought all the tape measurers because I never have one handy when I need one! They seem escape from my knitting bag and sewing box.

First post of 2010

2010. Not sure how I feel about that. I'm not feeling the excitement of it being a new decade, and it hardly even feels like a new year to me. Perhaps the new decade thing is making me feel old, and even further from the simplicity of how things used to be. Anyways, I set about three goals for myself this year:

#1. To really work on my relationship with God. He does so much for me, the LEAST I can do is spend time with Him each day. And in the end, I benefit from it. I'm tired of being stubborn with Him and dancing around the fact that I need to just surrender my time to Him. He is SO GOOD! He never fails, never.

#2. To budget. Yeah . . . that was my resolution last year. Maybe the fact that it was a resolution set me up for failure. I spent so much money on junk I didn't need, but it was like the merchandise was latching onto me! Haha. I'm trying to keep the "make do or do without" mentality. Do I really need another black clutch? Or is it just because it's on sale? Unless it's vintage . . . then I'll give in ;) I developed a simple budget which should be easy to stick to.

#3. Be more organized. Whether in getting tasks done or just keeping my stuff in some order, I HAVE to get organized. I'm also trying to thin out some of my stuff. It's amazing how things accumulate.

In addition to the goals, I have a list of projects I'd like to accomplish. On the top of that list is sewing two new patterns. If anyone knows of any vintage (or vintage reproductions) patterns that are fairly simple/easy, please let me know. The last time I sewed a skirt it looked like a shapeless tube. Sewing tends to frustrate me, but the only way to get better is with practice.

On a vintage note, I received Volume 1 of The Barbara Stanwyck Show for Christmas. It's fabulous. You need it. And my new favorite red nail polish is "Frankly Scarlet" (color 745) by Revlon. You won't be disappointed!