back into bentos

I haven't made lunches forever for the kids because of school break and sickness, so I am just back in the swing of things this week.

On Monday, I packed lunch in the Totoro boxes the girls got for Christmas. They are just the right size for them!

Here we have ham and swiss, a happy sunflower butter sandwich, bean salad with our new mini-elephant forks, carrots, edamame, and a clementine with a cute new pick.

After I packed these lunches, I realized I forgot dessert! But they managed to survive. In fact, these went over pretty well and pretty much only some of the carrot sticks were left. And then they ate a lot when they got home! Must be a growth spurt or something.

Next week I should have more bentos to share.

thrift share #4

Got out to the flea market this week, which was excellent. I think that is my favorite place to thrift, even though I'm more likely to find valuable things at estate sales. For some reason, I only find maybe three estate sales a month, even though I'm in the bay area, which of course is heavily populated. I must be missing something.

But the flea market is like going to 1,000 garage sales at once. And if you keep going, you start to get to know all the vendors, and then they start to like you, and hopefully give you a better deal! One guy last week even gave me a pastry after we had talked for a while. The guys are so cool there!

The first thing I came across was this vintage glass cutter.

I wasn't actually that excited that it was vintage, though that does add to its charm! But I know that specialty crafting tools can be expensive, so for about $1, I was willing to give this a try. It looks like it hasn't been used at all! Really great shape.

I found this guy and was immediately drawn to his face.

Mostly because he wasn't cheesy looking, but authentic and crafty. He's in great shape, just a small hole in his sack, and the tag is labeled 1978. The girls, when they saw him, wanted to go put him down in our Christmas boxes. I think they've taken a liking to him! How can you not? His face is very genuine.

Then it was off to the super-cheap booth. Everything there is 10 cents or 25 cents and the big-ticket items are $1. Thought they did have some new 20-quart cooking pots they were selling for $8. I almost got one as the husband needs one to help collect honey from his hives, and it's much harder to find pots for super-cheap than I expected. But since he doesn't need it until next harvest season, I was just annoyed with the idea of carrying it around and storing it.

Anyway! The booth is cheap, but of course it's mostly crap. I do usually find one or two things though, including a Christmas craft book and these vintage baby shower plates:

Very cute design, and for 10 cents, it's hard to pass them up! I wonder if anyone would actually be interested in buying them, though.

Hit another moderately-priced booth, and found some breakable things!

I quite liked this cup and saucer for the shape and design, and when I noticed it was made in Germany, that sealed the deal. I have German roots, so I have a soft spot for anything from that area. It joined me along with these three collectible plates.

The are actually miniature plates, and all tied together so they hang in a chain on the wall. They don't really seem related, however. Even the markings on the back are all different. But the illustrations were appealing, as well as the mini cuteness! I got all this breakable stuff for $4, and afterward, I wish I had tried to go down to $3, which I think I could have gotten. But, eh, sometimes in the madness of thrifting you forget to bargain.

I also picked up some clothes for the new baby when he arrives ($2), a set (complete!) of vintage sheets for the guest bed ($4) which I had been looking for, and a couple Cooshee Boosters for $3 each. I had always wanted that booster, even though my two kids don't even use them anymore, and thought at least I could leave them at the grandparents' house or something. But it looks like they do pretty well on eBay, so I'm going to give them a try there.

Unfortunately, I could only stay there for a little over an hour, which is so hard! The market is huge, it would probably take me six to seven hours to go through all of it. Usually I can spend two or three, and that makes me pretty happy. After a while I do get sick of digging through so much stuff.

Walking through the booths I didn't get a chance to look through on my way out was so difficult! It's a great place.

Linking up to Apron Thrift Girl's thrift share monday.

Thrifty Finds #3

I'm almost back in the thrifting saddle again. If only the kids would stop getting sick! Okay, I guess they can't help that.

I did take the older one to a mediocre Goodwill on Monday when she was out of school and the other was in. She's pretty good to go shopping with. I found a few things for me (including a great REI toddler snowsuit for $4!), but the only thing I found for resale was a bag of five cross stitch and ribbon embroidery kits for $3.50. They weren't that amazing, but cheap enough to try.

I listed them on eBay, and was amazed when two of the ribbon embroidery kits went in within a day! Sold the last one within the first two hours of listing it later that week. I was surprised, as looking at ribbon embroidery kits previously sold on eBay didn't reveal anything amazing. But I was glad to have some success already from that random bag I picked up.

I was able to hit two thrift stores and an estate sale on Friday (which turned out to be more of a glorified, indoor garage sale). But I was able to find some amazing vintage stuff at Goodwill of all places. I never have luck with the one I visited on Friday, but I did very well there.

The first thing I saw was this amazing owl needlework pillow! I NEVER find things this cool, so I snapped it up right way.

Next up I found two vintage creamers.


Also, I never seem to find pottery that is very interesting, but maybe I've never really looked before. The deco one is made in Japan, by the Toscany Collection, but I haven't been able to find any more about it. Still have to research that one.

The flowery one is from England, and isn't that old since it says dishwasher safe on the bottom! Still have to research that, too.

Finally I hit up a tiny little thrift store that I usually have good luck at, and picked up some vintage children's clothing.


This sailor knit actually has snaps on the bottom so that it's a bodysuit. That seems so funny to me! I wonder if anyone actually wore it.


This next piece has seen some wear, but is in great shape overall. I love the green corduroy, and it even has snaps up the legs. What a great vintage clothing find for a thrift store! Usually I only come across things like this at estate sales.

Ready to get busy again next week picking up inventory. Now the kids are back in school, I can really start searching again to fill up the shop!

Linking up to Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday.

I heart this skirt

One thing I've learned about sewing is that it is almost never cheaper to make clothes yourself. Clothes are so inexpensive these days, even cute things! And really, fabric is expensive.

Except for when it's 30% off! Though it came at the expense of one of the cutest online fabric store's closing sale. But, I did get a bunch a good stuff including two yards of this colorful heart fabric by Anna Griffin.

As soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to make the girls skirts for Valentine's Day. Mayanna especially loves skirts. She is forever wearing them.

So I followed this ruffle skirt pattern from the long thread, modifying it slightly to make the ruffle bigger, and making the main panel a patchwork of three different fabrics. I had make one other set of skirts from this pattern before, and it's pretty easy once you get the hang of it. (True of anything, I guess!)

Then, since I loved the hearts so much, I quilted a single heart layered on a piece of felted sweater to create a matching shirt.

And, ta-da! Valentine wear for 2011. And it was even pretty warm for the party this year, so they got away without jackets or long shirts underneath.

Again, I am so pleased with how they turned out, and, happily, the girls are too.

Relisting Challenge 2.21

I have actually done a lot of listing this week, which I am very surprised about! Though on the other hand, I haven't been able to go out thrifting very much, so the inventory isn't as exciting as I'd like it to be.

So according to my chart, it looks like I've listed 12 items in the last week. Two on Etsy and the rest on eBay.


I love listing things on Etsy. The site is beautiful, simple and so amazingly easy to use. This group of vintage Italian buttons was in a big box of old buttons. I ended up dividing them up by origin, since that seemed like a simple way to go. Japan and Holland are up next!


eBay, on the other hand, is so much less enjoyable to use. Even when you have templates set up and even when you're actually used to the process. I can get in a groove eventually, like a few nights ago when I listed a bunch of clothing I had, including these swimsuits. I eventually got a lot listed, but would have loved the process of Etsy.

I've also learned in the last couple weeks that I really prefer set price selling rather than auction formats. Auctions are too stressful for me! My first auction (another lot of clothing) turned out poorly, but in the end, the buyer backed out so I was able to list it again at a set price. I think I set it too high, but figure I can always lower it eventually. Of course, now I'm anxious again to decide when to reduce the price. It has almost been a week, and it's a 30 day listing. I think I've decided not to change anything until a week has passed.

I was happy to sell one more item, the little grasshopper toy from last week. That did sell within the first few hours for a good price, so I was happy about that. But now I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong and all listings should go that quickly.


These Ugg boots I found last week for $10, and they were in new condition, so after a little research, I listed them for $99. Later, I also added a Best Offer option after reading more about it.

Within a couple hours, someone sent an offer of $75. I spent some time considering it, and just wasn't happy with taking 25% off the price so quickly, especially since I was offering free shipping! So I countered with $89 and a nice note about it still being so early. But the offer was ignored, so now I'm second-guessing myself again.

I think this is the hardest part of reselling, when you're trying to figure out your best strategy for everything. Though I know that process continues throughout. But the learning curve is tricky to navigate.

Other items in limbo include this lovely pot (which was perfect until I dropped it and chipped a chunk out of the enamel) which got an inquiry quickly from a buyer in Korea about shipping cost. I quoted her $11, but haven't heard back yet.

Also this cute clothing set, which I set at $12, and then accepted an offer for $10. But that was Sunday afternoon, and I still haven't been paid. I know it hasn't even been 48 hours yet, but I still worry. She looked reliable! Hmmm...

Patience is what I'm learning this week. Patience.

Linking to Apron Thrift Girl.

february crafts #1

I've been quite crafty these last few weeks, starting with this project which was a Valentine gift to the girls.


Okay, not the kazoo. I haven't figured out wood carving yet.

But the little house pouches. Aren't they cute?

This was a project from an extremely talented woman, Ellen of the long thread. I worked with her a few years ago for both of my sewing calendars, and I have thoroughly explored her projects. This house always appealed to me, and since I'm trying to make more of the kids' present this year, Valentine's Day was the first opportunity.

I've finally learned something after reading 10 million sewing tutorials, and used a heavy-weight stabilizer so they are quite sturdy. I didn't add a handle to make it into a purse, but might do that later. I filled them with Valentine pencils and cards so the girls could doodle and draw. They were well received.

More coming! I just have to photograph it all first.

Had to make the girls a quick lunch yesterday, so went with the peanut butter sandwich route. But I wanted to spiff it up a bit.

First came the dinosaur sandwich cutter, then the banana, then the blueberries, and it all fell into place from there. So please welcome the skateboarding dinosaurs!


Zooooooom!!