Thrifted for $6.69

I got these two tops at a thrift shop—they were on sale and together they were $3.50. I loved the color of this purple Ann Taylor Loft blouse. I liked the details on this top and the bit of texture of the fabric. I think it will be a nice light blouse for warmer weather.

I also got this navy Ann Taylor top. It's a simple jersey top. The most interesting part is the back that has a gold zipper that goes a third the way down the back.

At another thrift store I got a mason jar, three small bowls and two tops for $3.19. I thought this mason jar was cute.

Three more Pyrex small glass bowls. They match some bowls I bought previously.

This black and white top was interesting to me—it's kind of retro. I'm not sure when it's from, judging by the sizing, maybe a couple decades back.

Finally, I got this navy Banana Republic anchor sleeveless top. I liked the pattern and the detail around the collar.

Things I Didn’t Buy 39

While I thought this tea set was adorable and very retro, I didn’t need it…at all.

I considered buying this cigar box, because you know, I love boxes. But I remained strong and resisted.

This candy tin was nice.

I also liked this sea green box (that I think was meant for playing cards).

This glass jar was pretty cute.

Things I Didn’t Buy 29

I liked this Sunkist juicer—so simple and clean.

These casserole dishes were cute.

And I liked these mixing bowls.

I almost bought this Osterizer glass jar. I liked the art on the top, but decided I didn’t really need another jar.

And finally, I also liked this bowling bag.

$8.50 at Estate Sales

First I got this little metal box for $3.

I like the Climax logo and the arrow detail to move the circle to the right to open it.

I got this large white bowl with little handles on the side for $3.50.

I got another glass jar for food storage for $1.

And I got this Anchor mason jar for $1. I really like the anchor image on the front and back.

Thrifted for $2.82

I picked up items at two places: a church sale and a pay-by-the-pound Goodwill. At the church sale, I got a children’s book, Timothy Slept On. It’s exactly what it sounds like; a boy (who likes to sleep in), just doesn’t wake up no matter what the townspeople do to rouse him.

This book is from 1964 and I adore the illustrations. They are awesome. I bought this book for 50 cents.

I also bought this glass jar for $1. I liked the fleur de lis marks on it. It’s simple and cute; I thought I could use it to store food supplies.

At the pay-by the-pound Goodwill I got some unnecessarily items for $1.32. First I got this red Pendleton sweater. [Pause.] Now I’m having second thoughts about it…and I’m thinking it’s going in the donate pile.

I also got a gray and red belt.

And finally I got this Old Navy Love More shirt. I would never wear it in public since I avoid wearing anything that has words with any sort of “message” or logo on it. I only bought it so I could wear it at home.

Label Me

I keep more stuff than I ought to because I often see an item’s “potential”. I generally look at something and think, “I can use this in some way…someday” [although, to be honest I usually don’t get around to using those items any time soon and they just sit around waiting to be used. (Sigh.)] But I finally got around to using some spice jars that had been accumulating.

There are basically two ways to buy spices: in prepackaged bottles or in bulk. I have bought prepackaged spice jars, in part because of the options available in a store and in part because of convenience. There are plastic bottles and glass ones, and while I’ve bought both in the past, I like the glass ones and tend to keep them. Since I’ve accumulated some glass jars, I now feel more apt to get spices from the bulk section of a supermarket that I can refill my jars with.

So I washed my old spice jars out and removed the labels. Then I used a piece of black linen tape as my base (to create a border) and placed a white piece of artist tape (with the name already written on it) on top of it. I think I should be able to remove the white tape if I need to re-label the jar (or at the very least I could just put another piece of tape on top of it).

Besides using empty spice jars for spices, they’re good for holding other small items, like paper clips, tacks and beads—pretty much anything small or sharp that you want to keep a lid on.

Jar of Junk

I like figuring out how to use items in different ways (especially if they’re items that might be considered junk). I picked up this jar at a vintage shop; it was sort of a “grab bag” in that the jar was pre-filled with stuff. It was taped at the top so I didn’t open it, but I could see that there were keys and watch faces inside. While I didn’t need any of it, I still couldn’t resist getting it; I thought that I could use what was inside in some way (though I wasn’t exactly sure how yet).