News that cannot wait!

*drumroll please...*

My sister's engaged!! Im super thrilled as my sister is literally my other half. we're identical twins and have always been inceprable. Im so happy for her and her new journey to marriage!

Congrats you two!
(Photog by yours truly)

 SOO..of course, she was in the "im GOING to get married" stage and we've already discussed what the theme might be.. And Im so happy she's sticking by it.. "vintage country".. This has got me knocking in my boots excited! Im sooo thrilled to be thrifting like mad for this big day. And not even to mention my beautiful daughters are going to be decked out vintage-style dresses which makes me even more giddy (and is filtering out the stupid idea that my sister has in me wearing heels..lol is all i had to do) I can't wait to stand beside my sis and watch her embark the biggest step in her life!! Its been a very exciting day.

Now I can't leave a post without a thrift find..

Pink vintage weigh scale

A friend was online and noticed this when she was in MCC (remember my post about going back a few times/week.. I've been twice already, and this never was there!). And she saw this and thought of me (how sweet!) Im so excited for this to go in our new basement bathroom when renovations are complete.

I also picked up a few finds for Miss H's 1st birthday bash in June (yep, already brainstorming), and its also made in Japan which warms my heart a bit. So.. most likely will be on our Thrift Find Monday over at Apron Thrift Girl's blog tomorrow!! Stay tuned!

A few things about me..

I never really formally introduced myself..
My name is Alesha, and Im from Winkler, MB.. I've loved thrifting as long as I can remember. We never had the kind of money to get new clothes growing up so we thrifted pretty well everything we wore. If our shoes weren't thrifted, they were bought new, but used and abused till they weren't even worth sending back to MCC.. Im pretty blessed to live an unmaterialistic world here, living in a 1940's character home, with my two beautiful daughters (My spunky, filterless Taylor, and my miracle, lovable Hailey whose 9 months and born 2 months premature) and my workaholic husband Jered..We're huge budgeters, and will find many ways to save a dime in our wallet, but not on quality. Out here, we don't have estate sales, we have garage sales.. and they're most held in people's yards or garages through the months of spring, summer, and partially fall. I read consistantly how often people get to search through people's houses for items, I find that so interesting! It hasn't hit garage sale season here quie yet, late April into May is when its the beginning, and its always heated when it starts off.

I also do photography, but has taken some time off for my family. I still do the odd session here and there, although most of my pics are taken of my kids and daily life. 

I have never had any formal collection in my day.I would loove to begin one but im not sure which one to start. People collect vinage dishes such as Pyrex and Corelle, and some people collect owls, or other of nature's creatures in everything from ceramic to pins to plates. I need to find my taste and start indulging.. I would love to know what you enjoy collecting!

I won't go off and do a whole bio on myself, but just wanted to give you guys a taste of who I am.

Now to end with a find..

One of my best friends and fellow thrifter Ayne, found these.. They're solid and look like they're very old.. I wish I knew the era they were from.. The sizing is stamped on the back of the shoe and its definitely not proper sizing. These shoes must've been handmade because they  have no arch support or anything that would suggest they were made in the last 40 or so odd years.. Hailey's only 9 months and Im already brainstorming what her big girl room's going to be, and these will definitely add a great touch to it!

spring's here!

Linked up to Junkin' Find Fridays! 

Spring is just around the corner here in MB and we're definitely seeing it.. The grass is showing up through alongside all the other goodies that somehow got left underneat the snow. We found lots of garbage that wasn't there before it snowed, and if any of you have pets, you know how unwelcoming their surprises are underneath it all too! Its been in the plus's here so opening up the windows, spring jackets, and rubber boots are all in full swing!
As I was running some errands this morning I had one of those "i have to go inside" feelings passing by MCC. So I pulled up and made a quick runabout the store.. And there it was..

This vintage umbrella holder. It looks more goldy in this pic as my speedlight was quite bright, but its more of a rustic gold look.. and NO rust! I think it would look perfect in my back entrance. I'm not entirely sure if I wanna paint it a bright color, white, or what with it, but its going to look great with all of our umbrellas in it!

EDIT> exchanged the old bright photo for a more realistic one.. Kinda gives you a better idea of the look. 

Hope everyone' having a great St.Patrick's day!!

Its in the name!

Ever wonder why my blog is called "Thrifty Tuesdays"? Well, in this town, our thrift stores tend to restock on Tuesdays leaving a big handful of patiently waiting people outside MCC almost starting at 9am.. (doors open at 9:30).. Hands down, I used to giggle at the people waiting wondering exactly what their intentions were waiting that early.. And now I've become one of them. About 9:20 or so I will pull up and wait alongside those bundled ladies who overtime has gotten to know eachother so personally they were discussing family weddings and clothing exchanges.. lol. Great group of ladies.. they're so sweet when you walk through the store, they come and see all the neat finds you got in your cart and encourage you by telling you about certain sales. It pays off huge waiting a few minutes for the door to open. Not only have I scored my favorite finds, but I have saved a bundle on everything in between! And I do go one more time throughout the week to spot any random put outs incase I missed something..

Random thought.
I love a lot of things and I have wish my heart was bigger so I can store all that love. I have a huge wishlist and I'm slowly docking things off of it each week I go. But my space isn't getting any smaller so I'm pretty sure that give a couple weeks or so I'll be reselling.. And Im not looking at making a HUGE profit off my items (as Im not that kinda person), but maybe get what I paid for and a small finders fee as well (plus shipping incase theres any out of town purchasers). My response to my items has been postitive so I hope that my sales would be as well. Im not a horder, as I do let go of things very easily.. but now to try and find a price thats worth it is going to be tough..plus I guess I gotta open up a paypal account too.

Here are my finds of the day.

I picked these up for my fellow best friend and thrifter Ayne, shes huge into aqua colors so I thought the base would be perfect for a plate or something..

Closeup of the bases.

This is solid wood so of course it won't stay brown.. Once our entrance is painted, I thought it would be great. The middle is a mirror and the other two are 4x6 glass frames.

The second bedside clock I've found in the last 2 days. I wonder what kind of hit this would be on etsy..

Thought this was super cute.. I had one as a kid (but gold) and would've loved for Taylor to have one too, and never would've thought I'd score one that was PINK! How neat!

I'm always looking in the clock section and always walk out empty handed.. Theres never really anything that catches my eye until today (where I also found the one above..) Love the shape this one is in!

Going to hang this off of something in the girls room. I love how tiny it is.. maybe 3 inches? Its super cute!

Thrift Share Monday!

Linked up to Apron Thrift Girl blog, AND for coming home from the antique show at the mall in Winnipeg, I figured it was a good time for a post.

We left town about 9:45am, and only got to the city about 11:30, it was icey! We only noticed half way there and thought we might as well just continue cuz its gotta end somewhere, and it did! We made our first stop at the show in the mall, and it was a disappointment for us. Im no jewelry fanatic and have a hard time understanding whats beautiful and whats not.. I don't wear or own much jewelry, I have a few vintage button rings and necklaces from finicent but nothing that wow'd me.. When I got there, I thought I'd ask around if anyone had any owl items (as its our girls theme in their room as well as a huge collection of one of my best friends so I thought maybe I'd score a few neat peices.. Yup, didn't happen. Hardly anyone had anything owl related, so I was a tad disappointed..
SO we decided to hit up some Value Villages too and see what we could find.. and if I knew more about collecting Im sure I would've had a cartload full! But since I was only interested in the things I thought was neat and would possibly resell, I didn't find very much.. Random thought insert here:.. Did I miss a phase on fish?!? I came across COUNTLESS vintage fish and what looked like some sorta collectable fish items.. I don't care for them but the amount that was around was interesting! Ok.. So, then we went to Winners thinking maybe somethin was there but our thrifting minds took over and everything was too overpriced for us to take.. or it wasn't a complete collection (like a bookend with a Z at one end but no A.. so one bookend). We drove home slowly to watch out for ice and 1 1/2 hrs later we made it. We both  learned a lot.
1) Winnipeg thrift shops such as Value Village isn't NEAR the pricing of our local MCC.
2) Look for road conditions.. even if it looks good... we live in Manitoba.. Anything's possible.
3) Going to go local town hopping next.. Not going to hit up the city shops for awhile.. atleast until we hear of some good spots and know they're worth the drive.

Finally, here are my finds!

A little "clothes rack" style jewelry holder.. Thought this would be cute white and put in Taylor's room to hang her necklaces from.

13 inch square trays. Loved these when I saw them.. Not entirely sure what I wanna do with these yet.. Thinking maybe for summer when we're out for a bonfire to carry things out in. But defintiely will no longer be gold.

Vintage bedside clock. This has a cute backlight 

This I thought was neat.. Its a box with a slideout lid, and a devider inside. Ayne had the wonderful idea of putting markers and pencil crayons in there.

Owl tealight holder. Thought it would be a cute addition to Taylor's room by putting one of those flameless candles inside.

Mall Shopping & Shoppe Hopping!

I have two local friends who just love thrifting as much as I do.. and Im uber thrilled to have them join me on Monday as we header on off to Winnipeg for the Annual St.Vital Antique Show!! Leave her at 9am, and hopefully check out a few shoppes and secondhand stores while we're there. We all have our own style which is awesome..

Spent this week working on my daughter's room.. Heres a sneak peak!
(beware, the ugly green walls WILL be changed.. as soon as I convince the husband).


Found the bed at an antique store for $70 and got it sandblasted and repainted professionally for near 100 bucks.. Overall investment : $170..(mattresses were handmedowns from an aunt who hardly used the thing.) can't complain, this bed is one heavy bugger! Im hoping to find some neat owl peices to add in this space.. Once the wall's painted, I'll post some more pics of the room with some neat additions Im in the middle of working on..

 Hope everyone's enjoying this winter weather.. well, all you Canadians out there, living in Manitoba.. living in Winkler. We just got hit with one blustery blizzard over the weekend.. yikes.
Sending up prayers for safety on the roads, as well as victims of the Tsunami in Japan on Friday.. We're blessed, and it sucks to have a harsh reminder of something so horrible to remind us of that.

Upcycle & Recycle.

Aaahh...
Im organized.
 I don't have a room or garage devoted to my finds.. I have a closet. And it gets packed up pretty fast. So, Jer kindly reminded me that if he wasn't able to walk through that entrance, he was going to clean up and clean out for me so that if there was ever a fire,we could get to that entrance.. he was right, and its now cleaned out.
I went through some sewing phase and realized a lot of that is useable so Im just selling it out and getting rid of junk. I love filling my drawers of my collectables and such so its feeling new right now..


Heres a little glimpst of whats been going on here during the week..

Last weekend, we turned a 1950s TV into a puppet theatre.. or started to atleast.. My mom (conveniently) works at a recylcing place in town, and coooonstantly comes home with the most random stuff.. I would love to be her to see what kind of books come in.. Our kids storybooks have all came from there.. We have almost the entire collection of Dr.Seuss, and Mercer Mayer, and so many more old favorites! I was shocked when she came home with this and invited me over to revamp it with her!

This was a before picture.. The tv was in there when she got it but got it removed.

Another before picture. There was 2 knobs that came with it as well.. So you can tell how old it was!

Needs to be a fresh coat of paint on it, as well as some red curtains just behind the glass for curtain appeal!

With the knobs put back in and some friends posing.

Sewed a black curtain and thrifted this rail for 50 cents

Both girls up from their sleepover at G&G and ready to act!

Found an old vintage Bingo Game with most (just missing some dots) peices!

I was shocked at the condition..

AND the amount!

Vintage coasters.. found these for 30 cents. There was a few more sets I might pick up.

Picked up 2 of these $2 each. I think I might add some bling for our bedroom.

Old ROYAL typewriter $4. INCLUDES case & manual! And new ribbon!

Closeup..

About this frame for 50 cents.. And I was going to remove the artwork and put something in place of it..but thinking now its growing on me.. so might stay!

Thanks to all you new visitors checking out the blog!! Im excited to get this one up and out there to showcase the things I find, and maaybe soon I'll start reselling them. I would love to check out your blogs if you have any!! Post a link in my comment and I'll come send you some love!