I’ve been doing a lot of thrifting lately, and I finally pushed myself to get some things added to my Etsy site.

Take a peek here to see what’s in the shop. I’m hoping to list mostly mid-century finds and anything that’s a bit kitschy. I have a few more things to photograph and add, so please check back soon.

Thanks, Dustin, for the comment about Pancake. It’s been way too quiet in our place since she’s been gone. Crazy how such a little thing can have such a big impact. Big hugs to you guys, too.

The rest of the day’s going to be spent doing what I can to finish up a design job for the Mason City Downtown Association. I’m hoping to wrap this thing up soon. It’ll be good to see the booklet in its completed form. Tell me to get started and quit stalling.

Derek and I ventured out to the annual antique sale in Clear Lake (he’s such a good sport). Here’s what we came away with:

Nixon/Agnew pins!

A plaster Buddha ashtray. Terrible he was being used as an ashtray, but it was too odd not to pick up.

A stacking tea cup and pot with corked lid.

Last but not least, a red ceramic casserole dish. We plan to give it as a wedding present. Hopefully Steph doesn’t see this!

Also, not pictured is a hilarious Superman comic featuring the computer that saved Metropolis. I didn’t want to post photos of that since Derek’s planning to scan some images.

It’s been a bit of a hectic weekend:

Yesterday was spent in Des Moines (first trip out of the area in…well…I can’t remember how long!) visiting the old gang from college. I wish everyone could have been there (big hugs!) but it was still great to see those who could make it.

Did some work for…work.

Today we finally got around to cleaning the back porch (aka alternative post-flood storage) and used it as a temporary office. It was lovely.

Lots of great late summer breezes.

I also finally got around to painting an odd bust I found while thrifting a few weeks ago.

While it was drying the backyard, I happened to get a glimpse of it from an upstairs window. It looked like a bright orange explosion! I’m sure whoever painted it its original faux-antiquey finish would have wanted to vomit at the sight of it. Yay!

My health behaved for the first time in a while, which made me very very happy. All in all, not a bad weekend.

Last week I found this miniature plastic mounted deer head at an antique store. I decided to use him as a jewelry organizer in the bedroom.

I decided to discontinue the match box project. There are too many other projects I want to be working on, and I’m really starting to wonder what I’m going to do with 12 completed boxes, let alone 30.

In other news, I’ve had lots of good luck thrifting lately. Man, this is going to be a long post:

A souvenir plate from Niagara Falls, Canada. Keeping this to hang on the wall.

A souvenir plate from San Antonio, Texas. I’m planning to sell this on Etsy.

A souvenir plate from Yellowstone National Park. Keeping this to hang on the wall.

A souvenir plate from Florida. I’m planning to sell it on Etsy.

A souvenir plate from Wisconsin Dells. I’m planning to sell it on Etsy.

A souvenir plate from New Mexico. I plan to sell it on Etsy.

A souvenir plate from San Francisco, California. Keeping this to hang on the wall.

A small brown Pyrex dish. I haven’t decided yet if I will keep or sell it.

A clay bowl by Dryden Ozark Frontier. It’s currently residing on our coffee table, holding remotes and cell phones.

A strange plaster bust of a small child with a big collar. I plan to paint it bright red and either use it to display a hat or sit on my desk in the home office.

A supercool chrome kitchen organizer with wooden handles. It must be from the 50s or 60s. I cleaned it up and plan to store art and office supplies in the drawers and bread bin.

And finally…a gawdy velvet painting. Derek won’t let me hang it up in the living room, but he said I can put it up in the home office…as long as it’s on my side of the room.

This is definitely the start of a new collection…travel memorabilia from the 1960s. I found three items at the Village Store in Clear Lake today and spent a whopping 75 cents on the whole lot. Take a look:

A plastic tray featuring the Tower of the Americas at the 1968 Hemisfair in San Antonio.

Tiny plate from the 1964-65 World’s Fair in NYC.

A retro or retro-looking plate featuring “fabulous Las Vegas.”

My mum and I went thrifting yesterday and found this fantastic set of art/design books at Goodwill for 75 cents apiece. They were published in 1967. Definitely the coolest thing I’ve found in a while.