Thrift-larking

I've coined a new word. Thrift-larking! Let me explain.

While I was "hibernating" in January I discovered a wonderful hobby practiced in England, mostly around London and the Thames river, called Mudlarking. Originally it was a practice of scavenging for items that could be resold thereby supporting an individual or family. These were the poorest of the poor people. Today it is a hobby for history, and other, enthusiasts, and I found several fascinating YouTube channels.

They are delightful people and I've learned lots of interesting tidbits from their adventures.

Well, I can't go mudlarking at the Thames, but after a fun trip to a couple of thrift stores I decided that I can call it thriftlarking and have my own little adventures. You never know what will turn up at a thrift store. I also think of them as museums where you can touch the items!

So what did I find on my latest adventure? Well first a little story.

Last November TopDad and I attended Stake Conference (a regional, semi-annual church meeting), where I was the choir director. The church building the conference was held in is about two hours from us and TopDad's truck's heater wasn't working very well (it's old and tired) so we stopped at a store to get me a cheap blanket for my legs. All I could find was a 100% polyester blanket that, while pretty, shed all over my black wool skirt. Yuck! And it was about $16 or $17. I've wanted to replace it with one that doesn't shed.

The offending blanket

Well, imaging my joy at finding this gorgeous, 100% cotton blanket for just $6! New, still tied with a lovely grosgrain ribbon. Yes!

I collect alphabet books, and being the beginning of Black History Month I liked this charming book for $.50

A few bits and bobs: two plant hangers for my front porch, an over the door hanger, and a small wire basket.

The photo does not capture the brilliant emerald green of this towel. It's one of the clearest, prettiest greens I've ever seen. Since I'm rather tired of all the dull colors of towels in my drawer I picked this one up for a lovely change.

Next up some pieces of fabric for specific projects:

Woven cotton for napkins

Cotton knit for pajama bottoms

A lovely cobalt blue linen piece with white embroidery. I think it will look stunning as the centerpiece over a white tablecloth. I do love a well dressed table.

A sweet floral dish towel. Since I do all my dishes by hand I use lots of these!

A few pieces of glassware: the ribbed bottle fits a regular mason jar lid, a wide mouthed Ball canning jar (for just $.50), and a little tulip shaped toothpick holder (for Noble, when she moves out this summer). I think the ribbed jar is exquisite, never seen one like it before.

I found this funny "Motto" on Pinterest and have adopted it as my own:

Sometimes I just can't resist the pretty colors and prints. Here are a few new pieces for my collection (all for $4, less than half the price of one yard of quilting fabric):

If we're going by Marie Kondo's criteria, fabric sparks JOY for me. I love the colors, patterns, and textures. There's a huge fabric store two hours north of me that I love to visit just to see, touch and even smell the gorgeous variety of fabrics. And it's amazing how much I have used up over the years as I make clothing for me and Noble, things for my home, as gifts, or when one of the boys asks, "Mom, can you make me a _______?"

So that's it. My February 1st Thrift-larking adventure. (I found a few more treasures, but as they are gifts I won't reveal them until after the occasion.)

What kind of "larking" to you like to do?