$20 at an Estate Sale

I went to an estate sale that had an overwhelming amount of stuff. My favorite item is this vintage Lewis tan purse that I got for $12. It’s so simple and cute.

I also got this sea foam green thin belt for $2. I think it will add a nice pop of color to outfits.

And I bought this navy and white Liberty Bell scarf for $2.

I couldn’t resist this forest green Union toolbox for $4. I didn’t need another toolbox (this is my third), but I just like toolboxes…I think I have a problem. [Sigh.]

$7 at an Estate Sale

I enjoy cooking, but admittedly, I find most of my recipes online because it’s easy and there’s such a wide range of recipes available. However, books can carry a lot of recipes and it’s great to peruse them and find something unexpected.

I bought a recipe book set: Prudence Penny: Binding of the American Woman’s Cook Book and The Prudence Penny Regional Cook Book for at total of $4. They’re from 1958. These books don’t have the cute retro illustrations that some of my other vintage cookbooks have, but there’s a lot of interesting information and recipes in them.

Prudence Penny: Binding of the American Woman’s Cook Book has 856 pages of content. It has a large introduction section that covers a wide range of information: freezing food, cooking times for meats and produce, rendering fat, how to buy food, meal planning and table settings. An extra tidbit I liked was a list of recipes to use of when you have an extra egg white or yolk (which is so smart because then you don’t waste anything).

Many recipes look pretty good and may be similar to other recipes I already use. And then there are the recipes that I question, like the peanut butter and pickle sandwich or the peanut butter and onion sandwich. I haven’t eaten either, but they don’t sound very appetizing…

The Prudence Penny Regional Cook Book is interesting because it breaks the recipes into ten American regions: New England, Southern, Pennsylvania Dutch, Creole, Michigan Dutch, Mississippi Valley, Wisconsin Dutch, Minnesota Scandinavian, Southwestern and Western.

Each region has an introduction about the region and influences on people’s cooking. There are a lot of recipes in this book that I’m unfamiliar with, probably due to a strong European background.

And finally, although I’m not really a paisley person, I bought this red scarf for $3. I liked that the pattern was muted and I think it’ll add a nice pop of color (since most of my wardrobe is white, black and navy).

Thrifted for $9.03

I don’t know why, but this little table spoke to me. I originally thought it was a stool, but it had water rings on it that indicated that maybe it was a small table. I just really liked its simple design. I bought it for $5.

I also got another cookbook that I absolutely don’t need for $2. It’s Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book; I’m not sure what year it is (but it looks like the 1950s to me.) I initially got it because I thought it was cute, but once I started reading it, I thought it was really interesting as well. Of course it has tons of recipes (some more relevant to today than others), but it also talks about food planning, canning, table setting, stain removal, as well as other interesting tidbits relating to food.

I love the organization and design of the book. Tabs divide each section so it’s easy to find what you’re looking for. And there’s a list of everything within the section so specific recipes are easier to find.

I like that the recipes are really short—it gives the feeling that it’s simple to do. And I like that the little piggy bank icon that shows you money-saving recipes.

I also like this cut of beef diagram (which is also quite useful).

I thought this calorie section was interesting because it’s so straightforward: food makes fat. I’ve never been a believer in fad diets—they just seem silly to me because they seem like “quick fixes” that will eventually fail. It’s just common sense to eat everything in moderation…it’s not rocket science.

I picked up a pair of gold and green earrings for $2. They’re fairly large earrings (at least for me), but I liked the simplicity of the design and the deep rich pop of green for a statement earring.

Finally I got a silk black and white Vera polka dot scarf for $0.03. It looks like the white polka dots are silkscreened onto the silk (which is why it’s a little crackled looking). I’m not sure what I’ll do with it but it’s cute.

Moss Stitch Scarf and Fingerless Gloves

I decided to use some white yarn (that had been sitting in a drawer for quite some time) to knit a scarf. I didn’t really need another scarf, but I felt like doing some mindless knitting and it’s one of the simplest things to make.

Twisted and Dropped

I decided that it was time for me to try other stitches in knitting (besides the basic knit and purl stitches) because eventually I’d like to do more complicated knitting. I had most of a skein left of some purple yarn and thought that I could use it for a scarf using stitches I haven’t used before. Looking in a knitting book, I thought I’d try a purse stitch that used a yarn over and purl two together repeatedly that seemed easy enough. I found some videos online and tried the two different stitches and they didn’t seem too difficult.

My $3 Red Scarf

It’s that time of year when the clouds roll in and rain falls down and you want something cozy wrapped around you—like a scarf. I do love scarves, and I wanted one that was a bright pop of color (and was desperately in need of a nice red one). Last year I bought red yarn on sale for about a dollar a skein (which then sat in a drawer waiting to be used). With the shift in weather, I finally got motivated to use this yarn for a new scarf.

Warm Me Up

I love scarves. And heaven knows I have more than I need. But in the aisles of a craft store, I was fingering the different yarns and thought, “I should learn to knit.”