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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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?

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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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Used Postage Stamps Tray!

I finally made the tray projects that I planned to do six months ago! Gosh, that's how long I've been away from my crafting activities! Well, it's good to be back!

Last November, as I was going around the yard of my parents-in-law, I saw these two sound system speaker covers in their trash. The net covers were torn but the frame seems to be something that I can use for future projects, so I took them home.



I remember I saw a center table where the owner made a picture frame into a tray to hold their table accessories. I think it was really a great idea. So, I decided to do that.I looked at my paper stash to see if I have something that is whole and would fit the frame but I have none. Then I thought of the used postage stamps that I have collected from Swap-bot and I decided to make a collage of it for the design. I then went to a glass company and bought four pieces of clear glass that are cut to the size of the frames. All materials are set and just waiting for the craft day, but I got so busy preparing the house before I leave for my Christmas vacation in my hometown. A vacation that took me six months! ;)

Anyway, I'm back and yesterday, as I was putting the things I have acquired from Swap-bot for the last six months in their proper storage, a new baggie of used postage stamps reminded me of the tray project. These baggie of stamps were mostly vintage and since I love vintage things, I got so inspired and thought of using them for one of the trays. Excited much, I started lay-outing the stamps and eventually finished decoupaging them to the glass and let them dry overnight.

And finally, here they are:

For the center table:


The other one is for the our dining table. I used a red fabric scrap which I also got from Swap-bot.



How I made them:

I first took the net covering of the frame.


Then I glued one piece of glass to the frame using a silicone sealant.


Time to take out those lovely vintage used postage stamps and start collaging. As for the other tray, I covered the bottom glass with the fabric tightly.




Finally, I placed the other piece of glass on top of the collage and fabric. And these are the finished products!




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