They Nest!

Sometimes, I'll come across a blog that details in photographs a grand haul from a thriftstore, and it's always the same thing....
It will start off with something I always need and/or totally want....like these storage jars I can't seem to get enough of for everything from lentils to buttons, or these ridiculous ceramic bowls.





Did I mention the bowls?  They nest.  And pour.  Swoon!







Then there will be a stack of sheets, perfect for backing pieced blankets or to turn into a shirt or two.  Maybe even a big, perfect, king-sized  crisp white sheet, that can be dyed any color under the sun!  The photo will include a small (but necessary) stack of melamine plates, which I personally love to keep on hand for kid-meals.





A stack of vintage linens will follow.  So many of these are hand embroidered or edged with the most delicate of crocheting and tatting, and I always shake my head in wonder at how fantastically undervalued these items are on the second-hand market!

Same goes for a few dozen linen cloth napkins, or these handmade braided potholders that are so tight and thick and lovely they make me want to weep. 

Then the parade of vintage aprons (and it's always the same "picked up a dozen of these for $3.00!").

And then the next picture will undoubtedly be some handwork detailing on the vintage aprons that were practically free....






And the final picture, with the MOUNTAIN of useful, vintage, and/or precious-to-me haul, will invariable end with "and all this cost $11.00!!"







And I'm here to tell you, that is not how this story ends. I don't live in the Land of Nod, where somebody's grandma is selling aprons for a quarter.  I live in the SF Bay Area, where things cost money.  Did I mention the seven million people?  Yeah, it's crowded here.  So whatever it is, that you're looking for at  a thrift store or as a second-hand bargain, it's likely that about a hojillion other people are scouting out the exact same thing.  And some of those people (read:  most of them) will have a lot more money than you do, so they'll be willing to pay a lot more than a quarter for an apron.   Frankly,  it's rare that I even find this much wonderful all at one time.

I felt lucky to have found all this, and I even felt luckier that it "only" cost me $35.  The aprons were $2 each, and those bowls were a king's ransom in thrift money at $9 for the pair. 

But you saw the bowls, right?   *cute*