THRIFTING AND A SON COMING HOME

 Last Saturday we went thrifting.  Knowing my son would soon be coming home on leave motivated us to finally get out and look for a bed for the spare room.  We went to a new thrift store and hit pay dirt as far as we were concerned.  Matt found this cute little wooden cardinal tealight holder originally marked 50c which rang up for 13c!!!  It's an adorable addition to my growing cardinal collection. 

We also picked up two more of the Harry Potter series, both hardbacks, for $10 each.  The books looked like they were in brand new condition.  I think we just need two more books to complete the entire collection.  Matt's been waiting for us to pick up book three so he could continue the series in the correct order so now he has reading material. 

I also found this beautiful headboard marked down to $9.99.  With a bit of cleaning up it looks very nice - not to masculine, not to feminine, and not to childish.  I apologize for the disorder in the picture.  Matt had been putting in the molding around the floor so we had pushed everything to the middle of the room.  It was fortune that we went thrifting because Wednesday my son informed me he'd be home the next day!  Wow, talk about very little warning.  Matt and I managed to pull the room together and he has a peaceful place now to rest and sleep.  Matt even managed to get our old tv brought in and hooked up the cable for him. 

On a serious note, I haven't posted regarding my oldest son being injured in Afghanistan as it was very personal for me and I was very emotional for a while.  About a month ago he was shot multiple times while on patrol.  He was extremely lucky and none of the shots caused any serious injury.  He's been in a hospital in Qatar since and wasn't sure they'd let him come home on leave.  Thankfully they did because mom really needed to see her son to make sure he was okay.  Creating a sanctuary for him was my labor of love and a way to focus my energies.  His Purple Heart Medal is beautiful BUT I wish he'd never gone through what he did to receive it.  I was one of the fortunate that when I got the call it was from my son and not a stranger.  My heart and prayers goes out to all those moms who aren't so lucky. 

FLEA MARKETS AND THRIFT STORES

One thing I have learned to enjoy is going to yard sales and flea markets. We had a new flea market open up this past winter and although we've talked repeatedly about stopping in we hadn't gotten to it until yesterday. For those in my area that might be interested it's called TriCounty Flea Market and is located on the corner of Groesbeck and Frazho. It's not a huge flea market yet, but there were a lot of interesting shops in it. The shops are cash only, but there is an ATM in the back if you need one.

I absolutely fell in love this this tea set when I saw it. I've been wanting to start a teapot collections and this was the perfect start for the collection. The set included the Little Red Riding Hood teapot, 4 teacups, and a tray for $15. The details are just so adorable. The wolf's glasses are a real miniature pair of wire rimmed glasses, not just the wire frames. The wolf's tail is the teapot spout. I loved the picnic basket teacups too. Although, I'm not a grandmother yet (and hope not to be for quite a while) I could definitely see myself having a special afternoon tea with a granddaughter or two down the road with this set. Matt bought it for me for Mother's Day.

I also found two vintage wool coats. One had a fur collar and cuffs on it (I'm assuming faux). One was priced at $20 and the other $25. The fur trimmed coat was 3/4 length and the other one was a full length. The longer one was missing all but one button on it - although it wouldn't be difficult to locate vintage buttons or just replace them with new ones. I may end up going back and getting one or both of these coats. They were both black in color which is why I didn't pick them up yesterday. My wardrobe runs in more earthy tones and I'd really prefer a brown or dark green coat. Both coats were 80% wool and were quite heavy weight wise.

Another purchase we made were 2 celestial pictures for the bathroom and a celestial nightlight for a total of $7 for all three items.  Here's a picture of the nightlight ($3).

I also stopped at a thrift store after I dropped my son at work yesterday. It also opened over the winter and I hadn't had a chance to drop in yet. Signs that say 50% off are a definate draw for me. I was able to find a gauzey black broomstick skirt originally $3 for $1.50 and a book called Secondhand Chic originally $1 for 50c. Overall, I did pretty good on finds.