Nifty Thrifty Thursday

Just so you know, this probably isn't going to become a weekly post series, because I don't thrift weekly.  This is on top of my dresser right now (in real life right now there are more shells and feathers and rocks that I added yesterday).

When you make jewelry faster than you sell it, you have to have a place to put it.  And if you make minimum wage, you might have to get creative.  Everything on top of my dresser (aside from the jewelry, which I either made or bought) is something I made, thrifted, was gifted, or purchased inexpensively (aside from the copper colored jewelry holder in the center on the right side, which I bought on eBay).  I made the picture frame jewelry holder from a Dollar Tree picture frame.  I made the wine bottle jewelry holder from a sparkling cider bottle my mom gave me and some wire that I bought on sale at the art supply store.  I made the two small blue clay dishes in art school in high school.  I also made the box on top of the wooden jewelry box on the right in high school art class.  I just hot glued together some cool tiles.  (I'll show you it and the clay dishes in greater detail in another post later on.)  The biggest wooden jewelry box, wooden mushroom, and little blue owl were all gifts.  The little jewelry box on top of the smaller wooden jewelry box is one I've had since I was a little kid.  All of the other dishes were thrifted, all for less than $5 each.  My latest finds are the oval sectioned dish with the gold handles and a white saucer with a black bird track pattern.  I'll dedicate an entire post at a later date to the cool patterned dishes I've thrifted, but not today.  I also have some other thrifted teacups that live on my shelf.  Some people might think this looks tacky or cluttered, but I love it (even more now that I have my shells, stones, and feathers).  My decorating sense is definitely eclectic.  (and soon there will be more proof when I share my ever-growing wall of art)

Where to Shop in Seattle: Assistance League Thrift Store

My bus goes past this thrift store every day on my way to work and every day on my way home, and you guys know how much I love thrifting, so it was really only a matter of time until I checked it out.  I stopped by for the first time two weeks ago on Thursday, which is the last day of my work week.  Unfortunately that day they had to close early because one of the volunteers who work there wasn't able to come in.  I did have enough time to find and try on a really cute blazer which fit me perfectly, so I bought it.

I went back to the thrift store last week, again on Thursday.  I asked the lady working there that day if I could take some photos for my blog.  She let me take some photos and then she shared information with me about the wonderful organization that runs the thrift store.  The thrift store is called Bargain Fair Thrift Shop.  It is located in the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle at 1415 N 45th St
Seattle, WA 98103.  It is run by volunteers who work for The Assistance League of Seattle.  (The Assistance League has branches in many other major U.S. cities.)  The Assistance League is a really great organization.  The Seattle branch of this organization provides new school clothes for underprivileged children, provides enrichment scholarships for kids who couldn't otherwise afford extracurricular classes, and awards community college scholarships to adults who may not qualify for traditional scholarships.

And if a great cause isn't enough to convince you to shop there, maybe the great prices will.  When I was there they were having a half off sale on all of the black clothing or clothing that had any black in it.  But enough words, it's picture time!

so many lovely teacups and saucers!

This dress is so pretty!

racks of clothing just waiting to be browsed for treasures

a pretty good selection of dishes and vases

And now I would like to share with you all of the things that I bought.  Keep in mind that I hadn't thrifted for quite a few months while I was sick and not working, so I had to make up for all of those months without any thrifting.

I bought two jewelry boxes, a gold-rimmed saucer, a flower print mug, a little dish for jewelry, a pretty orange top

a ring holder, a cookbook for G, next year's winter coat, a Forever 21 floral top, a black lace top,

a black dress, a ruffly grey dress, and a floral scarf, all for the grand total of $57!

So if you live in Seattle or are planning to visit Seattle, you should definitely visit Bargain Fair Thrift Shop.  There is lots of vintage clothing, modern clothing, and housewares, all for unbelievably great prices.

Friday Fashion: New Stuff

It's been a while since I've shared the new things I've bought and thrifted. Besides these things, I've also thrifted 4 pairs of jeans and bought a pair of leggings.  These things were accumulated over the last 4 or 5 months.

brand new faux leather jacket from Wish

Converse brand jacket from Buffalo Exchange.  It's actually a dark gray but the picture isn't so accurate.

It's difficult to tell from this picture, but this is a knit beanie with a bill
to keep the rain off my glasses. I bought it brand new from Wish. 

I thrifted the combat boots from Buffalo Exchange, the flats from Crossroads Trading Co., and the Converse from Goodwill.  The boots are Bamboo brand and the flats are Ruby and Bloom.

I purchased all of these rings for less than $5 each online,

except for the robot, which I bought from Wish.

 

I bought this hat from Wish.

 

I bought this hat at Wish too.

 

I bought this scarf online for less than $5.

Friday Fashion: New Shoes

I hung out with my friend Marie the other day.  We went to all the thrift stores on the Ave, because I needed to find some plain colored sneakers and flats.  I ended up buying patterned sneakers, but they aren't nearly as clashy as my rainbow plaid sneakers.  Also, they're awesome and brand new looking so it's cool.  My rainbow plaid Airwalks somehow have an orange stain on the toe that I cannot get off no matter how hard I try.  Also I have no idea how I got an orange stain on them.  I didn't rub Cheetos all over my shoes or anything.  I also bought some really cool boots.  I saw them last time I was at Crossroads Trading Company, but I didn't buy them.  After not buying them, I repeatedly wished that I had.  They were still there this time, at least two weeks later, so I tried them on and they fit perfectly and I bought them.  We also went to this amazing store that sells vintage and things by local artists, and YOU GUYS, if you're ever in Seattle, you need to go to this store!  It is the best store ever and the owner is the nicest lady.  I might be able to sell some of my own jewelry there, which would be pretty much the coolest thing ever.  The store is called Valley of the Roses Boutique.  I commented to Marie that I loved this one pair of shoes (bright orange heels with orange and white striped bows on the toes) and the owner told me that if I wanted to buy them, she would put them on sale for me.  Talk about customer service!  They were way too small for me though, because I have big feet, so big that G likes to call me Bigfoot.  Anyway, here is the outfit that I wore for thrifting.

This outfit is mostly thrifted/free.

I won the arrow necklace in a blog giveaway, bought the deer necklace for cheap off eBay,
made the earrings, and got the bracelet from the Oregon Coast years ago.

And here are the shoes I bought.

Studded straps are one of my favorite shoe features.
These cost me $15 at Crossroads Trading Company.
They are just like new. I don't think they were actually worn.

These work as neutrals.  Even though they have a print, it's subtle.
I really like the not-quite-glitter not-quite-sequins.
For some reason I was very drawn to shiny shoes that day.
These cost me $10 at Goodwill and they are pretty much brand new.

Friday Fashion: A Hippy Punk Outfit and Some New Clothes

If I were to describe my personal style, I would say that I like to wear more feminine things with more edgy things, usually things that most people wouldn't put together.  G calls my style "Hippy Punk" and I think that is a pretty accurate term for it.  Before I show you this outfit that a wore a couple of weeks ago, let me inform you that G's reaction was to tell me that it's exactly the sort of thing I would wear, immediately followed by, "You need a new outfit."  Boys.

I didn't edit this picture and that is my right as an American citizen. So deal with it.
Also, that empty soda box was my ex-roommates. This is from before the move.

Look at this photo that was accidentally zoomed in when I thought
it was zoomed out all the way.  I'm so accidentally artsy.

Here you can see my shirt better.  So many instruments on it, but I only
play one of them, unless there's a flute somewhere I didn't see.

And the new flats which make this outfit lean much more to the feminine side.

Another gem of a fashion comment from G, about my new plaid Airwalks in fantastic bright colors: "Those are the cutest ugly shoes I've ever seen."  When I asked him what he meant, he said that he wouldn't wear them.  I said I hoped not because they're clearly girl shoes and even have a some pink stripes in the plaid.  He said it was a light purple stripe.  It's not; it's pink, magenta to be exact.


And here are the lovely new (to me) clothes that I bought when I was visiting my family.

My mom found me this amazing little black lace dress at a yard sale for just $2!  And she bought it for me after I tried it on over my clothes.  And it fits me perfectly!!!  I found this blazer at Salvation army.  I think it also cost me a whole $2, and it's like new.  I found these jeans at a yard sale.  The owner never wore them because they were too long for her, and they were skinny jeans so she couldn't hem them.  They cost me a whole 50 cents.  For brand new jeans.  That have awesome studded details and fit me really well.

Home Sweet Home

So as I mentioned the other day, I'm all moved into my new place now.  My mom doesn't like it because it's right next to some frats and across from some sororities.  Also, she heard a girl on the front steps planning with a couple of guys how much pot they're going to smoke in the park.  I told her that people probably did that in the dorms too. Also, at first she thought that this place was dirty, but later she realized that it's just old and sort of discolored in places.  I met some of the people who live here.  There's Old Drunk Guy, Stand-Up Comic, Ex-Navy Guy, Supposedly Antisocial Guy, Rebel (which is how he introduced himself and I had to clarify if he said Red Bull or Rebel.  He said I can call him either.), and Rebel's Friend Whose Name I Don't Recall.  Those are the only people I've met so far.  I've gotten most of my stuff unpacked.  I took some pictures of stuff in my room.  It's a very small room so every bit of surface space is covered with stuff, but it works.  As an added bonus, none of the mattress springs stab me, unlike at my old apartment.

Some of the stuff that's piled places is really pretty.  I got these lovely teacups for 50 cents each at a
yard sale, and I got this H.G. Wells treasury at a thrift store for 50 cents.  It's 50 years old!

The yard sale where I bought these teacups had so much vintage stuff!  I know of so many Etsy sellers that would have loved those things to sell, or blog people who would have loved those things to have.  But, alas, I am not made of money, far from it.  I just filled out a job application for Jack in the Box, at a really sketchy Jack in the Box location, where what my buildingmates refer to as "wannabe crackheads" hang out in a group of five or more at a time and gawk at passersby.

My parents found me this clothes rack thing at Walmart, because this room has no closet.

I'm actually really liking it here so far.  As you can see from the second picture, my room gets a ton of light.  Everyone I've met has been really nice.  Old Drunk Guy lives on my floor and he likes to come by my room and ask me how my day was.  He always invites me to go hang out on the porch with some of the guys who like to talk and drink PBR around 5 o clock.  I'm not quite ready to be that social yet, but I'm doing pretty well.  I have even left the house at least once every day since I moved.


In other news, I adore Felicia Day in "The Guild" webseries, and I just started watching her vlog called "The Flog" and, unsurprisingly, she's just as awesome as her character in The Guild.  There are only 16 episodes of The Flog so far and I may or may not have watched them all today.  In one of them, she recommended this browser game called Fallen London and I started playing it.  I may or may not be addicted to it now.  It's actually a better game to get addicted to, because you keep on having to wait for all your stuff to refresh after you use it up, for about 8 to 9 minutes.  So during that time, why not do important stuff that you weren't doing while playing the game?!  And then if you do important stuff for about 15 minutes at a time and then play the game as a tiny break, it's actually super efficient and doesn't make you get tired of doing the important stuff.  The storyline for Fallen London is slightly ridiculous and incredibly interesting.  It also lets you choose between lots of different options for things, so everyone's game will end up different.  I think it's pretty wonderful and will definitely keep playing.

So to recap: I like my new place despite it being very very small, Felicia Day is a fantastic role model for females, and Hidden London is a super fun game that also allows you to be productive.


And in other other news, G took me to watch Ted yesterday and it was completely hilarious.  I got an ab workout from all my laughter.  After that we went and cooked dinner at his mom's house, because she has an indoor grill thing to put over the burners.  Protip: Steak tastes really really good if you use a spice rub of salt, pepper, oregano, red pepper, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  And it smells amazing when it's cooking.

All Pictures Update

These are all from the last trip I took to the Ave.

First, the mural outside the art supply store (While the dinosaurs mural was cool, I think this one is much cooler):

I especially love this part, because it reminds me of the movie S. Darko

And I got these four shirts at Goodwill, each for less than $5.  The purple one was only $1.29!

And finally, here is what I got from the art store:

Goodwill Haul

G took me to Goodwill today to look for a dresser and a jigsaw puzzle.  We didn't find a dresser but I did manage to find 11 spools of ribbon and 1 of lace that will be awesome for jewelry making and were 1 dollar each for a bag of 3 or 4, a shower caddy which I really need since my roommates take up all the shower space with their stuff and I'm left carrying my stuff into the bathroom with me every time I shower then back to my room when I'm done, and two jigsaw puzzles that may or may not have all the pieces still, all for $10.  I also found a second purse for 13 bucks.  I needed another one for when it rains so my stuff won't get soaked like it would in the super cute fabric one.  This one is a sort of mustard yellow color only with a little more brown in it than yellow and in really good shape, with lots of pockets and plenty of room for all of my stuff.  There was also some really weird stuff at Goodwill.  One thing that I would have definitely purchased and then mailed to thrift store pen pal Woody if I had more money, was what I can only assume was a torch holder.  It was designed to be mounted on a wall and had a bowl on the bottom part to place a torch in then a chain higher up with a handcuff type support to hold the torch.  It was pretty cool looking to be honest, but I don't live in a castle, so it might be a bit extravagant.

Friday Fashion: New Year's Resolution Style

Remember my bucket list? Well some of those are actually things I would like to acclompish this year, New Year's Resolutions perhaps (I don't really like to call things that, because then I fail at them).  The thing that I am really working on right now is learning how to walk in heels.  I didn't tell you guys this but I am going to be a bridesmaid for the wedding of the girl who was my best friend when we were in high school.  So I would like to learn to walk in heels by then, which would be September.  Ideally, I would like to learn to walk in heels way before then because I really like my heels.  Of course my feet don't like them, because they're not used to wearing them.  But I've been wearing them all day until my feet hurt when I'm at home, and so far I'm doing alright.  A few stumbles here and there, but not much worse than when I walk around barefoot.  So here is me wearing my "New Year's Resolution" heels.  And bear with me, because my automatic shutter release hasn't arrived yet.

Shirt and lacey tanktop under the shirt are from Goodwill.  Jeans and heels are from Crossroads Trading Co.  And I'm starting out wearing socks with them so I don't get blisters and other fun stuff besides them just hurting my feet.  And just so you know, these pictures make the heels look shorter than they actually are.  They're 4 inches.  It's basically the equivalent of teaching someone to swim by throwing them into the deep end, only without the possibility of drowning.

In other news, the "u" key on my laptop keyboard is being slightly harder to push lately, and it's been driving my OCD crazy.

And, in more exciting news, I got some pretty much free belts on eBay.  I earned about $4 in eBay bucks from my Christmas shopping, and I found three skinny "leather" belts for 99 cents each, with free shipping, which I snapped up.  There's one yellow, one red, and one orange.  I love it when I get stuff for free, or nearly free.  They're basically letting me spend the same money twice.

Gearing up for Winter/Enjoying Fall

I had the most successful shopping trip ever yesterday.  First, my friend Jessica and I had lunch at a Mexican place and caught up on life.  We hadn't seen each other since about May, so it was really fun.  The food was fantastic.  I had a ginormous plate of steak nachos, and only finished about half of it.  I brought the rest home for G.  Then we went to Goodwill, Buffalo Exchange, and Crossroads Trading Company.  I was hoping to maybe find a warm winter coat or some boots that I liked and fit me well.  I did not even think of expecting that I would find both.  However, I found two pairs of perfect-fitting and super-cute boots at Goodwill for under $20 total.  I especially love the purple ones, because not only are they adorable, they're also the same color of purple as the University of Washington Huskies, which is where I went to school for two years and G is an alumnus of.  So that was really exciting, and then I found the cutest winter coat at Buffalo exchange.  I ended up having $10 left of what I had budgeted for one pair of boots and a coat.  The coat is from Juicy Couture and would have cost about $300 new.  I got it for $30! That's 90% off!

purple boots and Juicy Couture coat

So my plans for today are to bake some more banana muffins, edit pictures for eBay, list my clothes for sale on eBay, then edit pictures for my blog if I still have time.  And I plan to do it all while catching up on my Hulu queue.

I also finished my Christmas shopping yesterday, and some of the things I ordered online for my roommates showed up today.  They're so cute that I had to share.

Would you believe that each one of these adorable necklaces is under $2 each?!  Sadly the owner closed down the Etsy shop after I made my purchase, so I can't go back and buy one of each of these necklaces for myself.  On the bright side, I only have two roommates so I still get to keep one of these necklaces :)