Summer Vintage Finds

I love Thrift shopping. I go on a regular basis, hunting for little treasures for my home and sometimes to set aside for future selling. This Summer I have found a few vintage dolls, sewing notions & supplies, fabrics, pot holders and kitschy goodness, 

sheets and useful storage items in my sewing room.

I was excited to find two quilts as well. My recent find was a Grandmother's Garden Quilt...I have always wanted one but never could afford some of the price tags on them. This beauty was $10. I saw it hanging there and was a little weary to look at the price...thinking nah, it would be to good to be true if it was affordable. I saw 10 and was like...Um, yeah! I snagged it off the hanger so fast it would have knocked your socks off. I really couldn't believe this hand sewn, colorful quilt from the 40's was so cheap! it made my day, that's for sure!!!!

We also found these adorable lunch containers for Freckles new school year. 

They are not vintage but it reminded me of little floral vintage fabric... The colors are so sweet...

And all $1.50 each from Daiso...eeep!

 I love a great bargain!

There's No Place Like Home

I must confess...I love home....I am not a wanderlust or a huge adventurer or traveler. I like to stay close to home and not too long away from it. Home is where my favorite people are, where we gather and show hospitality with friends and church family, enjoying meals and fellowship. A place where we can be ourselves in rest and quiet solitude, feeling safe or even enjoy one another's joys, triumphs, dreams, and laughter. And the sad times filled with disappointments, tears or times of unrest and hurts. It's a place where we work, play games, watch a movie and just plain ole' relax....Where we can be raw and real. It is a place where I am able to express myself through decorating or re arranging, switching things out, making it a homey and comfortable sanctuary for my little clan. And though this is a temporal home, I am blessed that we can share our seasons and memories under one roof together with the people I love the most, until our heavenly home is given to us,

 we are grateful for the time we have here on earth. 

Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young – a place near your altar, LORD Almighty, 

my King and my God. 

What do you love about HOME?

(vintage 1950's cottage/home salt and pepper shakers with sugar bowl? 

(found while scavenging through an antique shop)

Have A Happy Day!!

My Birthday

I celebrated my 43rd candle last week. Can't believe how fast the years are flying by. I had a good birthday this year...Even though we spent it a bit sick...It was quiet yet sweet. My Hubby spoiled me this year for our anniversary and birthday...giving me a bit of spending money. So...I went to a vintage/salvage shop and found a few pieces that fit perfectly in our home. I got a little old window, an old screen door, an awesome metal tool box and a vintage kitchen stool.

I didn't get very good pictures...I used my phone. But will share a little home tour soon with better pictures. I hung the old window in the kitchen area and the old screen above our television with a basket of flowers. I'm using the metal tool box on my dining table, just not sure what I want to fill it with as of yet. Then I added the stool to our breakfast bar. I'm going to be painting my dining table and switching out the chairs for a new look. Everything in our new home is coming together nicely. We are making it our home sweet home.

Thank you to all my friends, my MIL, my in laws, my dad and step mom, my brother and sweet Mr. Darling and my kids for wishing me the happiest birthday. 

You guys are a very important part of my life.  

You are blessings.

Afternoon Alone

Today I had an afternoon to myself. Freckles was at school and Mr. Darling was busy working at home. I had to kill four hours...So off I went to "Not Too Shabby" in San Jose. 

It was really nice to browse slowly through the whole place.

 I wasn't in a rush. and thoroughly enjoyed myself. It was me time! 

The old chippy, rusted, charm and goodness was complete eye candy. I actually went through some of it twice just to get a good look through every cranny. And how I wanted to take many things home...It just wasn't in the budget to do so.

After a time there, I went to a couple thrift stores an found some treasures that I could afford. I spent three hours in the thrift shops, went down every isle and almost every rack. 

I found a couple large tins...One I will use in something crafty and the other will be for my garden. I also found two little tart tins which will also be used in crafty goodness. I found a sweet yellow rose ring and yellow bangle, two cotton tops which were brand new from Old Navy, a sweet sweater, a lacy skirt for my sons girlfriend, two vintage books, a lace table cloth, a vintage yellow ceramic basket bowl, two granny square tops I am thinking maybe making them into throw pillows or crochet them together to make a purse. we'll see. I also found this funky, colorful piggy bank..which I think I may be using in my garden as well. I have mental plans for my garden...Will share soon. I also picked up some colorful plastic Easter eggs, a sweet Easter basket for Freckles,With all I bought, I picked sale tags and had a 30% off coupon and left spending $40 bucks. Now that is a deal for all I got!

It was a good day for popping tags!

Revamping

Freckles and I took a little trip to the Thrift shop...Momma brought home some bright, fun goodies. I have been collecting vintage sheets and linens for a while now and stashing them away for craft projects. They all have been sitting for sometime now, waiting for me to get out of this crazy funk hiatus I have been in since the last year. It has been a hard year 1/2...But I am just about feeling ready to start creating again. There were a couple false starts in the past months as I just wasn't feeling it. It is also hard to believe that my Gramma passed away just about 8 months ago. It hit me pretty hard and I lost interest in many things that I loved to do, one is I stopped making things...I feel it is time to take some steps forward and make stuff again...Gramma would have wanted me too...I know this. The past couple months I have drawn out a bit of a plan in revamping my little business...I already changed the name of my business to Frolicking Freckles a while back.... Now it's time to make it happen and bring it to fruition.  

Bare with me as I find my rhythm and find my inner creativity once again. I'm even asking for prayer in this. Depression is a real thing friends. Sometimes it is hard to come back from it. I know for certain though I don't want to be there anymore. I am broken and flawed with good intentions. But, I have to force myself out of this or I fear I would never get well. I really appreciate you all, my dear readers.....Prayer is powerful too...I could really use them right now.

Hugs.

Curb Side Treasures and A Thrift find...

 

I have been known to pick up other peoples discarded trash from the curb...But only the good stuff. Years ago I had found a sweet potting bench which I used for several years, until I left it behind before moving here. The weather and rain eventually rotted it out, so it wasn't worth moving. I always keep my out out for curbside goodies. Most of the time though, the stuff is eh...Until the other morning, Freckles and I were coming home from an errand...There it was..This cupboard and a dresser. The dresser needs some help...I think I can make it cute...But this cupboard was ready to come inside. I like it just how it is. Old and chippy. The color is alright...Maybe someday it will get a coat of new color....that's if my son doesn't end up with it. He saw the picture I posted on Instagram and said, he wanted it.

 

I told him, maybe someday when he is married and has a home to put it in. For now I am going to enjoy it. I didn't know quite what I wanted to store inside it though. It appeared to be used as a tool cupboard, which held nuts, bolts and nails....I decided...I would put some of our games in it. It works.... I hung this sweet pillow flower on the door from our friends from church.

 

 

Then I added a little bit of fun and some color on top...Voila...

Okay, now on a separate occasion as Freckles and I were scouring the local thrift shops, I came upon this chair. I agonized over weather I should haul it home or not. I walked through the store contemplating it. I couldn't get it out of my head. It was red, crushed velvet and in wonderful condition....Not to mention a decent price. So, I called Mr. Darling...He ok'ed the purchase...And so the story goes...I brought it home and love it. It looks quite nice with our new vintage couch we found on Craig's list a couple weeks ago.

 

I'm thrilled with it. Now we are ready to have guests in our home.
 Plenty of seating, fellowship and we will even feed them.
Happy weekend....

Homemade Green Tea Ice Cream

Our Summer vacation has officially ended. Now on to school. But before we blog about our home school adventures, I wanted to share this yummy, yet healthy ice cream recipe. We made this the other day as a little treat. Looks like we are heading into a bit of an Indian Summer...And to beat the heat we like cooling off with a cold treat.

     

• 2 14.5-ounce cans coconut milk (full fat)
• 1.5 tablespoons matcha green tea powder
• ½ cup agave nectar

       INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat the coconut milk and green tea powder in a saucepan over high and bring to a full boil.
2. Stir well to incorporate the powder until it is dissolved, which will take some time because matcha doesn’t dissolve easily.
3. Remove from heat, stir in the agave and allow mixture to cool before pouring it into a container and refrigerating it.
4. Once the mixture is cold, add it to your ice cream maker, following the instructions.
5. Enjoy your healthy ice cream!

 

And...What's a cold treat without a nice vintage dessert dish huh? Freckles and I found these fun dessert dishes while thrifting this last weekend. Okay so there was only three...but that didn't detour me from getting them for just a few dollars.

 

I think the dessert tasted better in them. Ha Ha...
Hope you enjoy...Try it out, your gonna love this one.
Oh....You can buy Matcha on Amazon here

I Like Old Stuff...

Nope, this isn't a post about our move or our new place yet. We burned out pretty hard this last week from the moving and excitement. Freckles ended up getting sick this last week....So following suit is of course me and Mr. Darling. We are slowly getting somewhere with our stuff...Good thing is the kitchen is all unpacked. Other rooms will follow. So....I decided to share some goodies we found thrifting, before the move here. You know how much I like old stuff...Before our big move my family was having a garage sale, there lying on a table was my Grandpa's little Kodak Instamatic and his Polaroid, of course we had to save them from someone buying it for a buck. Freckles wants to get some film for it...She is now even displaying her Great Grandpa's cameras in her room on a shelf. Awwww, so sweet. You can still buy film for them too...So I was thinking when she goes on her Summer Camp trip, I'll get some film for her to take pictures with it.

Okay, so off we go to the thrift shops...I found this darling pull doggy, which reminded me of my childhood. Fisher Price toys are timeless. And, yes I was singing down the isles as I clutched him close, "How much is that doggy in the window" Soon I will show you our craft/guest bedroom/school room where this doggy resides with his other pals.

Sorry for the blurry pictures...I took some of these with my phone. Next up...Another little doggy made it in my bag along with some sweet yellow dessert dishes and a colorful tea tin.

One of the best bargains was finding another vintage typewriter for Freckles. This darling blue electric typewriter was 75% off the day we went in...So for $8.00.....I couldn't pass it up and it works wonderfully. Ever since she got her yellow typewriter for her birthday last year, she has been writing almost non stop every day with it...She is in the middle of writing a series of books. Shes so cool. Will share more on that another time.

I found this sweet Grannie square Ghanny...All pretty and pastel..this perhaps may be

 one I will part with in  my shop in the near future.

MMMMMM. I also found vintage sheets. Some will be used as our bedding and some will be for projects. I got more, which isn't pictured here. Can't wait to start sewing again.

I couldn't pass up these beautiful Pyrex and Fire King dishes. Yes, I am one of those suckers who love Pyrex...Especially the ones I can afford. They finally have a nice home in a hutch I refinished the other day. Will share pictures soon. Some of you may have seen it on my Instagram account: Check my Instagram/ user name is Junquemama if you want to follow along.

Lastly I found this sweetie for just a few dollars in a Thrift Shop here in San Jose...The weekend we came up to visit, before we moved...i had to scope out some of the Thrift shops I would be frequenting. I love this vintage German Irmi Child/Nursery lamp, it's brilliant colors are perfect for my sewing table. I just have to get it a lampshade.

I love the characters on it....Especially this cow. 

Well, that's it for now. I hope to show you our new digs soon.

 So come on back I will be doing some canning even this week...

We were blessed with some fruit trees. Yay.