10 (More) Thrifty Treasures

This summer & early autumn have blessed our family with a large dose of happy thrifting karma.  It's been a long time since my last 10 thrifty treasures post, and we are definitely due for one now!

1. This sweet desk, complete with built-in ink well...

2. My personal favorite, a SPINNING WHEEL!!!  (Joshua was so into modeling, that he jumped right over from the desk to the wheel to help :-)  

So... I'm driving past a yard sale a couple of weeks ago, when I see this.  I do believe I screached my breaks when I turned around to pull over.  Running over to the yard, holding Noah football style so I could get there quicker, I asked the first person I saw, trying to remain calm & cool, "so what's that, one of those, what d'ya call it, spinning wheels???"  She said "yeah, but it's just a decoration, I think."  Looking over my shoulder, to make sure no one was listening, and ready to scoop up my treasure from me, I asked "how much does one of those go for?"

 "Oh, I dunno, how about 2 bucks."  

I know!  I know!!!

Working or not, I love it, and it makes me smile every time I walk past it.  And if Mother Earth News can teach us how to make one out of a bicycle wheel, I'll bet Steve can get this to work someday:-)

3. Where were we, ah, yes, fabric.  Vintage sheets and pillowcases specifically.  All lovely, all super soft, and all meant for a special project coming soon...

4. This set of "Hand made in Italy" dishes, 6 in total (the lady at our thrift shop said, so you can break one:-)  One of my boys doesn't like his food touching, ahem,  so these are by far his favorite dishes.  They are so much cuter than this photo (I've been experimenting with & without flash with my ancient camera )

4 - 7. This cute shelf (50 cents), the tea canister, the porcelain tea cups, and the sweet little vase (the silver sugar bowl that desperately needs to be polished is from my mother-in law :-)

8.  This high chair, that I LOVE!  From a yard sale, the woman who sold it to me said her children & grandchildren used it, and it is in perfect shape; $5!!  I noticed that Sara has the same one in her beautiful Farm house :-)

Can be used with tray

Or without, and pushed up to the table with us:-)

9. This sweet vintage apron, again, in my current favorite color combo... makes a great curtain over my sink:-)

10. THE big one, from Tuesday this week, finally a new bike for Adam.  He has been using his (girl) cousin's pink & purple one for years, we just never managed to find another that fit him till now.   This beauty, which looks nearly new, had just been dropped off at the thrift before we got there.  My most favorite lady there came outside to see it, and said how about $3!!!  I know!!  We just needed to lower the seat a couple of inches & teach Adam to use hand breaks and he's good to go:-)

We accumulated these things over the last few months at our local thrift shops (we have many near us) and yard sales, and love teaching the kids about re-using (rather than throwing away) in such a fun way.  

How about you, any recent thrifty treasures?  If you have a photo, leave a link, I'd love to take a peek!

Happy Thrifting!

~Michelle