new site!!

For the last month, I've been in the process of re-launching my blog on Tumblr. The new domain name is shorter, so just drop the "blogspot" and use www.modernthrifter.com. I finally finished my logo, and all of the posts have been moved to the new site. I'm still working on the search feature of the new site, and there are a few other kinks to iron out, but overall I think the new site will be a much better experience for everyone. I'm particularly excited about how quickly the mobile tumblr sites load.

Starting tomorrow this blog will redirect automatically to the new site—if I get my coding right, that is. Until then, hop on over and test it out. Don't forget to update your bookmarks and RSS feeds, too.

www.modernthrifter.com

until next year

We say goodbye to my beloved home state today. The car is packed with suitcases, thrift store goodies, and a few boxes of memories that I unearthed at my parents house. We even packed three dozen eggs that we bought from a little farm near the Highwood Mountains. As we say farewell to the treasure state until next year, I'll leave you with a few photos of our visit to the farm.


Alden quickly befriended the two boys, Caleb and Jacob, who's family own the farm. They showed him their swamp, their fort, and their horses. My little city girl was a bit afraid of the horses at first, but she quickly warmed up to them.


Patrick and I both share the dream of someday having a little bit of land in an area like this and erecting a little pre-fab like this one:

thrifting in montana - day 2

The local thrift store was finally open yesterday, so Patrick and I left the kids with grandma and dove in. My mom had warned us that the store was so disorganized and overstocked that it would be nearly impossible to navigate, and her description proved accurate. The store was extremely small, and there were sections that almost required climbing. Much of the clothing was piled on the floors in the aisles, and there were spots that were impassable. Lots of items weren't priced, but we found that the owner was friendly and very willing to negotiate.




We came away with these two ceramic teapots and a few other small items. The blue one is labeled "Home Style Finlandia Ironstone" and is made in Japan. It's my favorite of the two. The brown one is unmarked, and a little more traditional looking. I think I'll use it in the colder months for serving hot chocolate or cider.

(Sorry for the picture quality on this post. I'm using the iPhone because Patrick took the camera to do some sight-seeing.)


I'm not a fan of the antlers-on-the-wall trend, but if I was, this would have been a good find:

thrifting in montana

We went to two little shops yesterday morning, and we'll hit the local thrift store today since they were closed yesterday. The first store we went to was River Breaks Gear & Books. It's mostly a used book store, but there are a few antiques & knick-knacks crammed between the piles of books, as well as used outdoor gear scattered throughout the store.




The little ceramic owl was hanging—unpriced—from one of the bookshelves. It was covered in dirt and had melted wax caked inside, but I don't mind having to clean off a few layers of neglect. The owner of the shop sold it to me for $4. Here's what he looks like with a candle lit inside:


Next we checked out a saddle and antique store. The owner repairs and sell saddles, and even has one of my parent's old saddles for sale right now in his shop. I hadn't seen it for years, but as soon as my mom pointed it out to me, I recognized the leather lacing on the back—that's where I used to ride when our family would take our horses out for the day. My sister always rode with my dad and I always rode on the back with my mom. I wish I had appreciated those rides when I was little. Instead, I remember being bored, hot, and repulsed by the foamy horse sweat seeping out from under the saddle.


There were some great wool blankets for sale at the saddle shop, most of them priced between $35 and $85. They reminded me of the blankets at the Ace Hotels. I'm still tempted to go back and buy one, but I don't know if I want to deal with the dry cleaning.

This yellow striped one is actually a saddle blanket and was smaller than the other blankets, but I loved the colors! Here's the blanket at the Ace:


My mom also picked up this glass hen dish as a birthday gift for me. I'm not sure what I'll put in it yet, the black and green iridescent glaze is peeling slightly on the inside, so I'll have to be careful with it.

home office: before and almost after

I had planned to post a few pictures last week of the new office shelves that I've been working on, but with all the laundry, packing, and errands that precede a road trip, there just wasn't time. I was able to snap a quick before & after photo, although the "after" picture isn't quite complete. We still have a few more shelves to put up on a different wall, so there will probably be more shuffling of the boxes and books that are in the picture. As for the "before" picture... well, let's just say I might as well show you a picture of my dirty laundry. It's pretty embarrassing to admit that this is actually what it looked like. It wasn't from a lack of trying, there was just no way to organize that much stuff on the old steel shelf. It was a temporary solution, and I'm so thankful to have found the new shelves at the thrift store. It's such a nice surprise to be able to tackle a project sooner than expected.

I hope to finish up the rest of the office when we get back to Seattle next week, and I'll be sharing more photos when it's done as well as that acetone transfer project I've been promising. In the meantime, I hope to hit some local Montana thrift stores, and maybe I'll turn up some blog-worthy finds. If you'd like to keep up with our road trip adventures, you can follow me on twitter.

summer in montana

Happy 4th everybody! We packed the car and headed for Montana on Friday, so I've been neglecting my blog for a few days. We're spending the weekend in Bozeman and tomorrow morning we will head up to Fort Benton, a small town situated on the Missouri River where I grew up. A week of summer vacation in Montana is just what I needed—the hypnotic sound of sprinklers in the morning, thunderstorms in the afternoon, and chirping crickets in the evening.

Since we're in Montana for the week, I thought it would be appropriate to share a garage sale find by Kellee, a Modern Thrifter reader from Montana. She managed to score this wood cabinet for $10 at a recent sale in Great Falls. Kellee loves garage sales, but since she's planning to have one of her own this summer, she's promised her husband to only go once a month.

bozeman image by meganpru via flickr

birthday candles

My sister has probably the best memory, when it comes to buying gifts for people, of any one I know. She never ceases to surprise me on my birthday or at Christmas with thoughtful gift. Sometimes it's something that I might have mentioned a few months prior to the occasion and sometimes she picks out something that I never would have expected, but completely perfect.


This year for my birthday, she sent me five whirly hanging candleholders from CB2. I think I may have mentioned liking these months ago, during one of our many phone conversations. Of course, she remembered, although I had forgotten. We finally put them up, and I'm so happy with the way they look! It would have been nice to hang them a bit lower, but we probably would have found cars and dolls stuffed inside them daily—maybe we'll be able to lower them in a few years. I still need to figure out what to put on top of the nightstand, but I think Patrick prefers it bare.