Dumpster Diving in NOLA

I love summer. Along with the endless sunshine, afternoon downpours,and frogs singing, everyone is cleaning up and cleaning out.And putting it out. On the street.
This super sweet dresser was just lounging around off Orleans Avenue begging to come home with me.
It wasnt meant to be as we have way too many dressers as it is and heather would kill me.
but not a day goes by that I dont find a great bit of wood (or two) to throw in the back of the car and think about what it will eventually become. Tune in yall for when we are forced to open up a salvage yard.

What I'm not okay with

Sometimes people take it to far. I was suprised to get this picture in an email yesterday. I was really suprised when I found out it was customer and fellow artist. Then I went to her blog. She says she will sell them everywhere but Etsy out of respect for me. Thanks. Thanks for giving me credit and directing customers to my shop. Thanks for admitting your complete and utter copy, down to my signature sales stands. Is it okay to copy my Etsy shop designs only if you just dont sell them on etsy? I dont think so.This was only my banner, my moo card image, the picture from my ads in the paper and on blogs. You've lost a friend pixie.

Thrifting in Oblivion Austin Texas Syle Part 3 Goodwill and Hill Country

The outer limits of Austin are a true junking mecca.We came upon this roadside stand and couldnt believe the bargains for rusty metal.
This is how I ended up with a trunk of doilies. How could I pass this up as founder of the doily liberation front?
As we headed out of Austin, we checked out the groovy neighborhoods of East Austin, including the Habitat Restore and happened upon this new school Goodwill.
The place had the best housewares selection so far seen in the area, with a collection of vintage Johnson Brothers interspersed with Southwest and Mexican Pottery.

There was also a great collection of paintings, canvases to be repurposed, and frames.

Thrifting in Central Austin Goodwill and St. Vincent DePaul

We had a great time visiting the shops on South Congress while waiting for the bats to come out on the first street bridge. Right on South Congress there was a fantastic St. Vincent DePAul and one of the best we've ever been to. The first thing you see when you walk in the door is a rack of secondhand boots that would make cowbies cry (in glee). They were fancy, spiffy and even polished.
We by passed a good looking amount of wedding dresses, some vintage, some not, and headed towards the back to see the craft section. It was big and they had a large assortment of yarns and kits, perfect for our krewedocraft emergency craft kits.
Then we headed upstairs, thinking it would be a small area and it was an impressive, gracious space that had a large amount of vintage and newer furniture. I dont have the room to post the armoirs, 1920s dressers and headboards and a small amount of picked over mid century pieces.

The St. Vincent dePaul on South Congress is a great place to find furniture and affordable craft supplies. The clothes are pricey with the exception of the wedding dresses.

Thrifting in Oblivion Austin Texas Syle

Hola Compadres! It is wonderful to be back home all relaxed and rested after visiting Austin Texas to check out the city, try out a new evacuation route and see the Indigo Girls once again. It seemed the thrift gods were smiling on us once again as our hotel was across the way from the aptly named TEXAS THRIFT STORE.Boasting a spacious parking lot, generous aisle size, and friendly clerks, this place was one big yee haw from top to botton. The store is right off of I-35 south as you exit from 290 coming from Houston.
This store has some wonderful aspects- students and seniors get a 30% discount on Tuesdays and they have 3 different color tags on sale at a time. They also have a 99cent day once a month for new items.But the best thing about it was the book section!Any one who collects vintage books,ephemera or just likes to read a lot needs to check out this place when in town. The books are also arranged acording to subject matter. Not quite the Dewey Decimal system but it will do. We got a stack of leather bound books perfect for collage and artistic reuse.
Another thing about thrifting in a new town is that you can get your souvenirs a bit more cheaply (and environmentally friendly) while thrifting. they are also often cuter. We got some vintage UT football jerseys and a visor instead of buying them new.How often will we really wear this dusty orange?Not so often to buy something new, that's for sure.
I love the motto posted at this store- never ever buy new again. With stores like these, that options looks more and more enticing.
Texas Thrift Center is located at 5319 N. IH-35. The phone number is 380-0025. According to Michael Blujay, an Austin thrifter, this store "benefits Medina Children's Home."

New Thrift Store on Bienville in Mid City New Orleans

It's kinda cool to report that there is a thrift store open in the 70119 zip code these days. There's been no where to thrift in that area since Katrina and Thrift City decided to reopen on the West Bank instead of rebuilding. Now Mid City dwellers can drift over to 2600 Bienville, off of Broad to find some good bargains.
Bienville Community Thriftstore (or El Thrifto) (that's my name for it as it has a Latina vibe) is open Thursday through Saturday 10-6.While peeking my head in (the pictures didnt come out) it was great to see some super low prices, such as tshirts for $1.They also had some really cute childrens clothes in the 2 dollar range.Everything in there is brand new and it is super clean.
The store is located in a real live recovery zone. If you are on your bike bring your lock and your tough girl attitude. You'll have a great time.
You can also catch a snowball right down the street after you thrift. See yall there!

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originally uploaded by rustchic.

It's 90 degrees today. No really. I visited a new thrift store and want to update but it feels too hot by the computer so am going to switch to something cooler like a nap.

I also have to go water the flower garden we planted in the lower 9th ward because if I am this hot, then the flowers must be struggling.

Otherwise its Wednesday but really my Thursday because we dont have to work on Fridays in the Summer. Love Summer!

Are you ready .........

It's June 1. We're getting ready for hurricane season.Arthur is but a blip on the horizon and there are 25 more letters left in the alphabet to go.
I have never been this prepared before or frankly as anxious. I have been churning out things at a rate previously unknown to me. It's all about finishing projects, cleaning out and documenting, just in case.
One of the biggest things we are doing is clearing out and using things up instead of getting new stuff.From the freezer to our craft supply filled closets, its time to load it up and move it out.
We have an escape route, supplies and our pet carriers and medications in order. We'll have to benedryl two of the pets because they get so nervous.One thing we dont have to worry about is the iguanas which were difficult to keep happy and getting so big they couldnt fit in conventional carriers.The other thing we'll have to take is two cars since we have so many pets now.There's so much to think about and it seems like the time is just flying.
Are you ready?