Thrifting Fun - Pocketful of Joules

February Thrift Haul

I wasn’t sure if I was going to have the opportunity to go thrifting at all this month, since I was down with the flu for so long and then took Jack to NYC for his birthday. However, I did a little lunch break thrift on Friday, followed up by a gloriously long medicinal thrifting trip on Saturday… so I have a few fun things to show you all!

Soft Surroundings Coruh Gauze Top, $7.99

Soft Surroundings is one of those pricey brands where I’m not sure why they are always so pricey! Case in point, this top retailed for $110. While the embroidery is beautiful, I’m not so sure it’s worth over a hundred dollars… however, I’m happy to add it to my closet for $8. I tried this top on with a pair of jeans, and it looks super cute. But, I think it will look even more my style paired with a flowy skirt in the spring.

J. Jill Embroidered Flutter Sleeve Top, $5.99

Another embroidered top! This one is J. Jill brand (retailed for $74) and I hesitated to buy it because I was unsure of the color. I typically don’t look good in yellow, unless it’s a mustard-type of yellow. However, this top is like mustard crossed with a bit of green(?), so I feel like it’s actually working with my skin tone. Once again, I threw this on with my jeans to check the fit (my store no longer has dressing rooms, but you can return clothing within 7 days if the tags are still attached), and I really like it. I can see myself wearing this with denim shorts over the summer, or (of course) paired with one of my skirts. I thought this would be pretty with a skirt and cardigan for the office — which is how I wore it to work today!

Vintage Enoch Wedgwood Tea Cups, 99 cents each (bought 2)

Why did I buy these? I just liked them. That’s about it. What I found through my Google Image search: Made by Enoch Wedgewood at Tunstall Ltd in England and the pattern is called Blue Heritage. I’m already using one to hold paperclips in my home office and I might plant a succulent in the other one.

L.L. Bean 100% Cotton cardigan, $3 with coupon

I mentioned back in October that I had a perfectly chunky and soft cardigan in mostly cotton on my thrift wish list. Every time I would see something similar to what I wanted, I’d check the tag and it would have wool in it (I can’t wear wool, it makes me hot and itchy). I even posted a couple L.L. Bean fisherman’s sweaters that I liked, manifesting my wants out into the world… and I found this 100% cotton L.L.Bean cardigan over the weekend. YAY! It is such a pretty mix of blue and white yarn and is very, very close to the sweaters I had been eyeing online that were around $100. I’m so happy to add this to my closet while it’s still chilly outside.

Charter Club embellished cardigan, $8 with coupon

I love a great embellished cardigan to mix and match with my skirts and dresses, and I don’t have anything similar to this color in my closet. It was priced up a little high – apparently Charter Club is a Macy’s brand – but all the beading is in perfect shape, so it was a good buy for me.

Laura Ashley skirt, $7 with coupon

You guys, how gorgeous is this 100% cotton vintage Laura Ashley skirt?! I’m guessing from the tags and some googling that it was made in the late 80’s or early 90’s and it’s in beautiful condition. It’s a medium, so I figured I’d probably have to do a little tailoring at the waist – however, the waistband fits well, but the top tier is weirdly fitted on my belly. So, I’m planning to do a quick little fix and move the existing waistband down to the top tier. Let me know if you want me to post a quick tutorial on how I do this! I LOVE the softness of the cotton of this skirt, the beautiful details at each tier, and how swishy and flowy it is when you spin around. I can’t wait to wear this!

Girl’s Weekend Antiquing & Secondhand Shopping Adventure

At the end of January, I had a much-needed girl’s weekend with my friend Lindsey where we wandered around to a bunch of shops touching everything. There were consignment shops and antique stores and more consignment shops. And yummy food. And girlie movies. And face masks. And coffee. It was basically everything I needed for a mental reset.

And OF COURSE I found some awesome stuff on our travels, so let’s check it all out!

Let’s start with Clothing:

Tahari dolman sleeve top, $18

This t-shirt is soft, comfortable and flattering. This is one of those easy flowy tops that I like to pair with leggings on my telework days or throw on with a pair of jean shorts in the summer.

Lou & Grey Cardigan, $20 and Chicos Cardigan, $18

I wear cardigans pretty much year-round, and most of the time I’m able to keep them looking nice with a little sweater shaving every so often. Over the past few months though, I’ve donated a few of my casual cardigans so when I saw these two in new condition, I figured it was a no brainer to add them to my closet. Both brands are typically nicely made, so these should last through a few dozen loads of laundry.

Athleta ‘With Ease’ Top, $6

I have no idea why this top had a clearance tag on it at the consignment shop, because it’s pretty much a brand new Athleta top that is still being sold in stores for $59 (the inside tag shows it was released in stores in 7/23). I hadn’t tried the style before, but I had no idea what I was missing because it is soooo soft and super flowy and flattering. I was originally planning to wear this to bed, but now that I’ve washed it and tried it on, it’s going into heavy rotation for my telework days paired with joggers.

Smartwool Intraknit Merino 200 Crew Base Layer, $15

While I wasn’t specifically looking for a fitted base layer, Smartwool is a great brand and this was cute and my size. Smartwool’s Intraknit pieces run around $130 each, so for $15 it made sense to pick this up and keep it for when I need it. While I don’t have any skiing plans right now, it will be great to have the next time I need to snowsuit up!

Clothing total: I feel like I went a little crazy on clothing with purchasing 5 pieces. However, my clothing total was $77… which worked out to just over $15 per item.

Moving on to the antiques!

Jadeite hand, $18

There was a jadeite grouping on an antique store’s bookshelf and I immediately grabbed this fabulous ring holder. It has the mid-century vibes that I love and was in perfect condition – and it looks super adorable holding my rings. Fun fact: my kid now refers to it as the alien hand.

Vintage Pink Homespun Depression Glass Tumblers, $8 for 3

Google images is telling me that these are vintage Jeanette Depression Glass tumblers, but I don’t see the ‘J’ mark, so I’m not sure. I love the pretty pink tint though and the price was great. I only wanted 2 of them, so I gave the third to my friend to enjoy.

Pottery mug, $7.50

I love handmade pottery and this cute cup fit perfectly in my hand. It has been added to my coffee cup rotation.

Sargent & Co Carpenters Level, $18

There were two of these antique levels and I ended up with one and Lindsey bought the other. This one is from Sargent & Company, which was formed in 1858 when three Sargent brothers combined their businesses. It looks like they stopped making hand tools in the 1960’s, when they focused more on locks and builder’s hardware. This level is just really cool and I love the look of it on my bookshelf. Also, I know my dad is going to love it and I’ll have to keep an eye on him the next time he’s over my house!

Fulton Woodworkers Marking Gauge, $9

I just thought this vintage woodworking tool was really cool. I already had the level in my hands, so this naturally needed to come home with me too.

Blue Jay by Elizabeth Paxton Oliver, $80

Out of all the treasures we found, this is my absolute favorite! It was hanging on the wall at a consignment/antique store that we love and I couldn’t take my eyes off it. I left it to look around some more and just had to return to it again. I did a quick Google Image search while I was in the store to make sure it wasn’t overpriced, but found the same print had sold online for $300.

After doing a little more research at home, I found that the artist, Elizabeth Paxton Oliver, lived from 1891-1977 and was an absolute pioneer of the time. Due to the bias against women artists, she used her initials to conceal her gender (it is signed E. Paxton Oliver). I love it so much and I’m thinking I’m going to hang it on an empty wall in our bedroom. I need to live with it a bit first and walk around different rooms of my house to make sure that’s the best place before I commit.

January Thrift Haul

The start of the year means a whole clean slate for thrifting fun. Crossing my fingers that I learned from my mistakes of the previous year (I probably didn’t….), and looking forward to all the new treasures to find!

DRU Holland Dutch Oven, $6.99

This was a ‘start the car’ moment for me while out thrifting a few weeks ago. In fact, they hadn’t even put this adorable dutch oven out yet when I yoinked it out of the bin and put it in my cart. Within 60 seconds, another lady started sniffing around and asked if I really wanted it… BACK OFF LADY!

Anywho, DRU Holland Dutch Ovens were made between the 1930’s and 1960’s and many pieces were distributed as premiums in grocery store sin the 1950’s. Most of their pieces are enameled in pastel colors with contrasting trip and adorned with depictions of tulips or other flowers.

I love it so much and it fits right in with the rest of my mid-century collection! PS, you can see I also have a smaller blue tulip version too (another thrift find).

Glitter Converse One-Star Shoes, $8.99

I’ve been casually looking for a pair of glitter Converse for a couple months now, after falling in love with a bejeweled high-top version on Poshmark. These are super silvery sparkly, but not actual glitter (so it won’t be shedding while I walk). They were a little dingy, but a bleach wipe and a magic eraser cleaned them right up and now they’re looking as good as new!

A New Day rain boots, $5.99

Another pair of shoes – but these weren’t on my list at all. However, they were new with tags ($26 retail) and my size, so I figured I’d try them on. They are super comfortable and I don’t have a pair of rain boots, so I figured I might as well buy them. A quick wash with some dish detergent and they look fantastic. So far, these have come in really handy as ‘leave by the front door’ boots, since I can step into them for hands-free ease to run out to the mailbox.

Athleta Arrival skirt, $13.49

I love Athleta, so when I saw this super lightweight skirt in a cool pattern I scooped it up. It’s the “arrival” skirt (retail price $89) and it’s made for hot days and traveling, since it won’t wrinkle. This will be great for the summer paired with a tank top and some sandals. I washed it in the laundry on cold and let it hang dry — now it’s waiting in my closet for the spring to come.