Thrift Store Shopping For My Birthday!

I am enjoying the thrift store haunt and finds at the moment, so this year, the birthday gift I gave myself was a thrift store shopping spree! I am happy I found beautiful pieces.
I am loving the plate! It was by Narumi's 2000 year plate featuring Chihiro Iwasaki's illustration of the Tulip Girl Statue from 1973 collection, my birth year!

The flatwares. I love the vintage sugar cube tong!

A beautiful stemware! I love the detailed Rose carvings on the stem.

Cute mini ceramic reamer. This is the second reamer I bought from the thrift store. Hmmm... another one and it will be another collection?

A 70s Eagle sand art frame, souvenir iron trivet and tin tray!

I got a great deal on these two! Wood bowl and wood server tray.

For future DIY projects!

A happy birthday to me indeed!

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Surplus Shop Sneak

Going to surplus shops has become my obsession lately. It was decided at first that those trips will just be done once a month. But oh, waiting for another trip is just too long a wait! So, on my trip to town last Friday, I sneaked into one of the shops and these are what I got!

Condiment server. My new and recent "will buy" items are serving dishes and I am just so happy with this find.

White ceramic dessert plate. Honestly, I wasn't too happy with this one. But well, there's nothing I can do but use and enjoy it.

Wooden Wise Monkeys. This one is a great find and more of a dream come true as I really wanted to have something to remind me of the "Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil" thing.

Happy thrifting indeed!
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The Scoop

Shopping, Vintage & Thrift Stores!

Vintage things always interest me. There is something in their beauty and craftsmanship that is just admirable. A trip to a surplus shop, a thrift shop, flea market and garage sale is always such a treat. When there is enough extra money to spend for extra things, I go to those places. Either I am searching for items that I collect or to look for some nice vintage stuff. Sometimes, I buy things like bag, belt, hats or dress for myself but most of the times, it is for the house, for the kitchen in particular.

My recent obsessions were teacups, plates and saucers (which to be used as dessert plates). I love mismatched ones! Here are some of my recent finds.

Recent finds. I just love the little ceramic rabbit and chicken.

So excited for my Escargot dish plate. I got it so cheap too!

With a help from a spoon collector, I learned that spoons I found were called berry spoon. I particularly love the Daisies on the handle of the butter knife. They are just so cute!

Wooden trays. This Okayama wooden tray is one of my great finds and great buy!

They were sake bottles/containers. The sake cup is one of the four cups in a set. It depicts an erotic scene but in an artistic way.

Vintage glass reamer and glass bowls.

Other finds.

For fabrics, I usually buy table linens, placemats, table runners and dish towels. I particularly look for those with seasonal designs. Oh my, I just realized when I took a picture that I have amassed such a collection already. They are not all vintage, by the way.

It was just a piece of lace when I saw it in a rummage sale. It must have been a part of a vintage dress or something. Looking it over, I thought that maybe I can use it to embellish future project. I asked the seller if I could just have it for free and she said sure. At home, I first tried putting it on a lampshade but it doesn't look okay. Then I saw one of our throw pillow with a plain pink case. It sure needs a little update and the lace perfectly fit!
When I bought this crochet doily, I did not know at first what to do with it. I just like that it's vintage and was on a cheap price. When I was looking for something to cover the top of our water dispenser, I decided to put the doily on it and see how it looks. It perfectly fits and it looked nice so I decided that the doily will be the cover during summertime.
Some fabric stuffs that I found were used for framing projects. There was this very nice tapestry which I got for a really cheap price. I just bought a simple frame for it and framed it myself. When I showed it to my hubby, my sister, a cousin and some friends, they were amazed because of the price and for how it turned out so well. Happy me!

Another fabric that I framed. Perfect for my Easter vignette. This was also the first time that I put up a vignette (as a result of so much blog hopping!). :) The beanie babies plush toys were also bought from a rummage sale. The bunny couple was from a surplus store. They too were great buys (price and cuteness).

Another fabric find with Peacock embroidery. I don't know what it's called, but I am guessing it must be worn on the neck by women. It looks like a bib. Anyway, I love the Peacock design and I am still hunting for the perfect frame. Isn't it beautiful?

Thank you for visiting!

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Instant Spring In Our Garden

This time last year, my garden were full of blooms from my orchids, petite mini roses and other flowering plants. I have marveled in their beauty and they inspired me a lot to garden more. This year however, they seemed to have fallen asleep. Last year, it was like there was a springtime in our garden. Here in the Philippines, we do not have what is called the Four Seasons. Although I think we do have it, just not acknowledged like the way other countries do. For instance, during this time of year, flowers are also in blooms. Isn't that spring time? Then, there's summer where the heat is unbearable. Around August, leaves from trees keep falling off. Isn't that what they call the Fall season? We have never experienced snow, but around Christmas time until February, the temperature is unusually very cold. So, I guess, in a way we might have it.

These flowers I recently bought gave our garden an instant springtime feeling though.

Pretty in Pink Roses!
When I was younger, I thought the color Pink was too "little girly". I favored the color Yellow then, the butter yellow shade or the pastel one. As I reached my 40's, I cannot remember however, what triggered my sudden interest to Pink colored things. I guess, it's true what they say, "Life begins at 40"!

Anyway, at the farmer's market today, I saw this beautiful Pink Rose for sale. I normally buy the petite mini Roses ones, but I was kind of drawn to this one. For one thing, it is Pink and it looks so pretty! And those buds, would they just be so lovely when they open up! Also, the vendor kept lowering the price (I had to smile remembering it). From 180 pesos, she lowered it to 160. I asked if I could get it for 150, as well as 50 for the petite mini in Golden Yellow originally priced at 70, then 60. 200 pesos for the two. She said okay. Although it was another impulse buy with a feeling of guilt on the side, I still went home happy!

I really do not give justice to things with my photography. I do my best to get their best shots, but I guess my best wasn't good enough. Hahaha.



Millionaire's Flower
Isn't the color lovely? I always like to have this flower, however it was kind of expensive. But not, I just found out, when it is sold in a farmer's market! It also came with free lecture on how to care and propagate them. Isn't it great! :)

Just including my frugal/recycled/re-purposed garden project. The tin kettle had holes in the bottom already, so its time for it to be re-purposed as a planter for my begonias. The teacup and the mugs had broken handles. I grouped them together for that coffee/tea theme.

My orchids, this time last year.

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Tea Sets, Teapots & Teacups

Recently, a friend who lives in Japan has been posting pictures of her beautiful tea sets/teacups collection in a social media site. They were so beautiful! We had a little conversation about it and she admitted that it was a very expensive hobby and collection. Her husband, she said, has at one point complained about the money she has been putting on it already. However, when they are having their tea and coffee in those lovely tea sets, the husband started to enjoy them too. He is now a supportive husband to my friend's tea sets/teacups obsession. From my friend's posts, I have seen quite a number of her friends comment about her collection and that they too are collectors.

Another recent conversation I had where tea sets/teacups came up, was with a cousin. I was telling her about my vintage and thrift shop purchases. She then asked if I was able to see tea sets/teacups up for sale in the shop because she likes them. Oh my goodness, you too! I told her I'll keep an eye on it the next time I visit the thrift shop.

After our conversation, I realized that there seems to have a tea set craze going on and my curiosity was perked, so I searched for tea sets images. The search results generated, lo and behold, so many beautiful tea sets and teacups! They are so pretty, no wonder a lot of women fall in love with them and I think I'm about to count myself in! I actually do have a small demitasse collection (blogged here) but I guess they're different from those fine teacups.

Lately, in such coincidence, I decided to cut my coffee intake so instead of my usual mug, I have been having my coffee in a teacup. The day, I went back to the thrift shop, I particularly looked for tea sets/teacups. I saw one set but it was too expensive and looked overused. There were many teacups though, some with their matching saucers and some without. They too are quite expensive. But this pair, I love so much so I bought it! Makes my breakfast more enjoyable!

It is a Mikasa brand. I would really love to know if this is vintage. No search results for this particular design came up.

On another trip back to the thrift shop, I bought this teapot. I am not a huge fan of tea right now but at one point during my active days in Swap-bot, I received a lot of different flavored tea packets which I also enjoyed. I was even lucky to win a give-away of a few tea inside this cute tea wallet!

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