WTF WEDNESDAY

Its been a while since I have shared some WTFs, I do have many compiled, so let's get started:

Holiday shaped cat scratchers. Your cats don't give a fuck. I promise you, they prefer the rectangular shapes cat scratchers. They don't even believe in santa, they are not falling for it. Save $5 and buy the traditional shaped scratch pads. 


They also don't give a shit about this either:

Seriously, THEY DON'T CARE.  Winter wonderland cat scratcher. So, what? they can only use this for the holiday season, then you have to take it away? Your cat really just wants the damn box it came in. This may put you in the holiday season, but it doesn't make a difference it your cats world.

Didn't buy this:

Soap dispensers? The female is in curlers and a housecoat. The man is wearing a tool belt. He is working to pay for her vodka. 



And I also didn't buy this:

Or this:

You can start by NOT wearing a yellow jumpsuit. Because that doesn't even look good on a non pregnant super model.

They state that the "super classic" (which cost more money) has added tumeric. However, reading the label and comparing the non super one...well everything was the exact same. So pay more AND get a few ounces less. 


AND this is the crap I found cleaning under the sofa cushions. $1 in change. It pays to clean! I do take responsibility for the hair bands, no one is taking blame for the spoon. Its shameful. 

So enjoy all this crap and keep checking back for more fun stuff.
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Thanks for visiting!

WHAT'S COOKING?

Just in time for the holidays! Fun and sometimes unusual cookbooks. Good stuff I tell ya!

This book has always been one of my favorites, I have come across it only 3 times, and I squealed each time!

This particular copy is not the sought after 5 ring binder one that I have had in the past, however its in stellar condition, lovely nonetheless, so I can't complain.

I think this one weighs half a ton. Massive cookbook full of all the classics. 

 I have 2 of these available. 



This next book is old as shit. Gnarly condition, but being from the 1930s, what can you expect?

Not too uncommon, but always a nice score and full of classic relevant recipes that are as tasty today as they were back then.

I also have tons of vintage cookbooks in my $1.50 section, going quick, check it out. 

Check out these cookbooks and lots more here

---------------------> RANDOM GOODS BOOK ROOM

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Happy Friday!

Mid Century Love

My favorite thrift shop scores are always when I am so lucky as to come across some mid century goodness. It's not often enough, in my opinion. But when the stars are aligned and mercury is in retrograde...I know to hit the shops (I made that part up. I really don't know about that kinda stuff and the impact on my thrifting experience.)

I decided to stop buying dish sets long ago. They take up a lot of storage space, they are a beast to pack and ship, and they cost the buyer a small fortune to ship. It is hard for me to pass up all the amazing sets I find. I have paired down to a more manageable purchase of cups and saucers and serving dishes. 

Such as these beauties:

I kinda lied, I did purchase a dish set. But I separating them into more manageable grouping. This here is the cup and saucer grouping. 

And the bowls...

I proceeded to list the serving plates as well as the creamer and sugar bowl separate. 

THIS. Always my favorite cookbook of all time. The first copy I found, I just thought it was cool, I didn't realize how desirable and valuable it was. So when I stumbled upon another copy,  I nearly peed myself. Then I saw the condition and my bladder immediately regained control.  Totally shitty condition. But I still love this book imperfections and all. It has clearly been loved by the previous owner. It had a sultry past, but so did I, so no judgement here.

And this. Totally good condition, so I do feel redeemed just a bit. It was a 5 ring binder kinda day at the thrifts.

I scored some more mid century knit/crochet magazines. Not really for the knit/crochet aspect, more for the kick ass fashions.

Its time to admit that people in the 50's were way cooler than us.

And this gem...

Enough for now. Remember to check back on Wednesdays for WTF Wednesday. Where I feature the things I didn't buy and other oddities in my travels in Thriftlandia

Check out my goodies here:

RANDOM GOODS VINTAGE

And here:

RANDOM GOODS BOOK ROOM

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RANDOM GOODS VINTAGE

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Be sure to follow my blog and social media pages for more fun holiday surprises and secret sales....shhhhh. 

Thrift Stores Closed Due to Hurricane Hermine

Yep, the thrift shops were closed due to hurricane Hermine. Thankfully, it was rather mild where I live, some of my friends weren't as lucky, flooding and whatnot. Many businesses were closed, thrift shops included. I guess I will have to go twice as much next week to make up for it. 

Well, here are some fun finds that I found last week. 

Fun mid century fashion magazine, I would do anything for that coat. Although, living in Florida, it would just sit in my closet. But whatever....

This recipe file is kind of freaky. See how it appears to be 3-dimensional on the cover? It isn't! Crazy huh? 

Back in more innocent times. Teenagers would read about the mystery of the missing hat. Now they read about who's getting fucked.

This luggage was almost passed up....As I was leaving the thrift shop, bags in hand, I saw this gem underneath some cheesy vignette set up. So of course I purchased it. By the way, I don't think thrift shops should have vignettes. It's like they are trying to be a boutique. If I wanted to shop at a boutique, I wouldn't be shopping at thrift shops, for crissakes!

These 2 gems! OMG. Love love love the cover art!

Thanks for checking in, Don't forget to check back on Wednesday for WTF Wednesday where I share my freaky finds. 

Follow my blog so you don't miss any fun.

Follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr and Pinterest, because you have nothing better to do.

....And while you are at it, go visit my shops, click on the shops on the side bar. All items I have featured are available. 

Carry on......

Advice From a Serial Thrift Store Shopper

I have had several requests asking how I manage to always get the good stuff when I am thrifting....

I will provide a few tips to help you on your thrift store journey


1. You cannot pop into a thrift shop once in a while and expect to find that specific item that you were looking for. Thrift shops don't operate that way. You have to go often and several different shops, Like ALL the time. The more you shop, the better your chances are. If you need something specific that day, just head to the mall. 

2. Know your shops! Each shop has a different "specialty" if you will. Some are good for furniture, some for clothing, some for housewares, some for books, some for linens. I have yet to find a shop that caters to all of my needs. Which is why I go to a variety of shops.

3. Map out your shopping route. I find that many shops are in a cluster. I have it mapped out where I can hit 5 or 6 shops in one shopping day. (4 hours of my time)

4. Know the special sale days, For example, some shops have a 50% off day, Some shops have certain color price stickers on sale that day. Pay attention. And get a punch card. 3 of the shops I go to have punch cards. 

5. Know that some days will be a bounty of vintage goodness, and some days you will leave empty handed. It is what is it. They are thrift shops, Not every day will be a score.

6. I shop about 2 times a week. And 2 times a year, I take a road trip 1-2 hours away to venture to some new shops, have to keep things fresh.

7. Once in a while you score big. I almost peed myself when I saw these:

I purchased 2 large unused sketchbooks $5 each and a brand new still in wrapping prismacolor set of 24 colored pencils for $3 (which is the cost of one pencil retail) So I go to pay, drooling all over myself and this incredible deal, only to find out that green tags were 75% off! I am not fucking kidding! All this stuff for under $3 total!  Let it be known that that is a rare score. But it happens, I do get lots of incredible things....mainly because I go ALL THE TIME.

8. This bit of advice seems very unfun. However it is important: don't bring a friend that is shopping for the same stuff as you. Don't. It can ruin a friendship when you are both clamoring for the same vintage treasure. 

9. Don't try to make your shopping day on a Sunday. Many thrift shops are church affiliated and tend to be closed on Sunday. 

10. Don't be afraid to dig around. Ask for a discount if you are buying a lot of stuff. 

11. Make friends with the employees. 

Again, I can not state enough, that the key to success is to go frequently. That's how you will get the "good stuff". That is my number one key to success. Also,  try not to go on weekends as the stores are overcrowded and picked over. 

Keep checking back on my blog to see me feature some of  the vintage goodies that I find in my travels. 

Also follow me on Instagram, Tumblr, twitter and pinterest for sneak peeks

Shop at my 2 vintage shops, click on the shop links on the right hand side bar. 

Any advice that you can share? Comment and let me know!

WTF WEDNESDAY

Today is the first day of school for my kids, I have been up since 5:30, therefore I may have lots of typos and whatnot. Whatever. I am tired....

However, I have so many WTFs that I just had to take the time to share in my sleep deprived state.


There is so much wrong with this picture. Its the label on top of a bin full of panties:

No matter what I do, this picture is sideways. Weirdest thing as it is not sideways in my photos...Big WTF right there! Well, you get the point, it is a bin full of panties.

1) It says "panties as marked" not "panties PRICED as marked" totally changes the meaning.

2) Panties should not really be at thrift shops. I love thrift shops, but I draw the line at items that come in direct connect with my vagina.

3) If they insist on selling panties, they should be priced all the same, 25 cents each. (still too much money for items that come in contact with my vagina)

4) Someone had the job of sorting through the panties and pricing them accordingly. How does one do that? Deduct a few cents for stains, sniff test? I mean, really, how does one sort through and price them, what is the criteria?


I do have much more crazy shit to post, but I am tired and I need to refill my 10th cup of coffee, Just keep on tuning in for more fantastic finds and more crazy shit I find in my travels.


Follow my blog, (do it!) and then follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr and Twitter for more fun. Also check out my shops, in the side bar,  I have tons of clearance items! 

Annual Spring Hill Follies

Spent the day thrift store shopping in Spring Hill, as you have learned from past blog posts, Spring Hill is an area of Florida, full of retirees. Old people move there from up north, ditch their belongings or the die and their family ditches their belongings. One way or another, the thrift stores are full of belongings. And there is no competition for the good stuff, as everyone who shops at the area thrift shops, they shop for housecoats and muffin tins, not cool vintage shit.  
Spring Hill is about one hour away, however, we take the rural route and hit shops the whole way there, by the time we get to Spring Hill, my trunk is already full of found goodies.

I go with my 13 year old son, Evan. My 9 year old daughter, Avery, stays at home. She hates thrift store shopping (gasp!) But she does love the stuff I bring home for her. ( This time, I got her four DS games and 2 shirts)


My favorite place we hit last year (by "favorite" I mean the oddest place you can imagine, not really any place I purchase anything from) I was delighted when I discovered it was still there!

First of all, if they sold better shit, they'd be able to pay for their electric bill. Notice the towels hanging on the fence....See the following picture for an explanation:

Yes, that is a swimming pool, right outside the thrift shop.  It is an above ground pool that was dug into the ground to create a built-in underground pool effect. Clever.

And another lovely aspect is the party outside the thrift shop. Every time. Every day. 

I asked for a margarita, but they only had Pabst and Miller High Life.

Our last stop on the way home...it decided to rain, while we were in the store. In Florida, "rain" means "intense fucking downpour that floods the streets in 4 seconds"

As we rung up our goodies the cashier told us that the credit card machine was down, due to the storm. Cash only. In which I had none. Thankfully, Evan did. In the car. He had to run out in the car and grab his cash....came back soaked! Paid cash, and then the credit card machine worked for the next person! 

And now we had to take the crap we bought and go to the car. In the rain. Evan asked if we could borrow some large bags to sort of create a parka of some sort. GREAT IDEA, RIGHT?

Actually, very, very bad idea. Once we headed outside, the wind gusts fill our contraptions with air and then we puffed up and rain entered our  cut-out eye and breathing holes and we couldn't see or breath! We ended up being just as wet had we not had on our special protection gear.

I did get tons of goodies regardless, so all is good!

All items and many more can be found in either of my Etsy shops

Here:

RANDOM GOODS VINTAGE

Or here:

RANDOM GOODS BOOK ROOM

Also, don't forget to check out my clearance books section. Tons of books for $1.50!

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Check back in on Wednesday for my WTF Wednesday feature. Its going to be good!

Replay-Old School Arcade Games

Trying to do things with my kids. Its hard now that they are too old for all the little kiddo things usually offered.  Parks, cartoons movies, library reading...etc. And its hot as fuck here in Florida, so unless they are in the pool, forget about hanging around outside! both my kids, ages 9 and 13, love Museums and thrift shops...both of them are kinda old school. My 9 year old daughter, Avery, loves Joan Jett and Tracy Chapman, no new pop music...My 13 year old son, Evan, loves 80s and 90s alternative music, both kids love wearing clothes from thrift shops. 

Lucky us, I found out about this place about 30 minutes from our home called

REPLAY MUSEUM 

It's full of all the old school video games like Pac Man, Asteroids, Centipede, Qbert about 50 of them and about another 50 old original pinball machines. You pay $12 to get in and then you get to play all the games for free for the whole day! Meanwhile my kids came to learn that these old games are every bit as challenging as the new games. Maybe even harder in some cases....

First of all, my kids were pretty much the only kids there. It was full of old people (like me) trying to relive their childhood. 

The kids ran around trying to figure out what to play first...Avery set her eyes on this:

Qbert! I think she was drawn to the little cute bouncy guy with the swears...I immediately told her to stay away from Qbert, as it would ruin her day. Its very frustrating and it would just piss her off! Of course, she ignores me...cause that's what she usually does. Don't tell her what to do, she is going to do whatever she wants! So go ahead, Avery, don't say I didn't warn you....

Well, she proved me wrong, she stayed glued to this game for 2 hours and made the leader board every time! 

See the Burger Time game in the background.....

BurgerTime has a special place in my heart. It was actually my very first video game I ever played. Even before Pac Man....My dad's break room at work got one of these and my dad was explaining it to us and he would always be taking quarters to work...so one day, my mom drove us to my dads work to we could see what all the fuss was about. It was amazing and we stayed for hours, my brother and I, making burger patties and avoiding the enemy, a hot dog. To be able to play this again, and expose my kids to this, was so awesome!

Now MY game was always Centipede.

This is the game I spend all my money on as a kid and guess what? IT IS STILL EVERY BIT AS AWESOME AS I REMEMBERED IT! God, I love this game! If I could afford it, I would own this game and find somewhere in my house to put it and I would just play all day until my fingers decomposed.

Even though there are a lot of 2 player games, we tried to find a game that all three of us could play. And this was it:

Michael Jacksons Moonwalker. Here is how the game is played: We were all Michaels, just with different colored clothes. So we would all just moonwalk around and then shot mafia robots, and at anytime we felt the groove coming on, we would press the "Dance" button and everything we stop and a spotlight would come down on us and we would dance. It served no purpose. But for some reason we really enjoyed this game. Couldn't stop laughing at the ridiculousness.

Meanwhile Avery was being a game hog on Qbert, so every once in awhile I would have her step away to see if anyone else wanted to play, actually, no one ever did, I guess they knew how frustrating it was. I just felt it was good courtesy to give other people a chance. 

Not everyone felt that way....

From the time we arrived, until many hours later a 50-something lady hogged Pacman the whole time! And that is THE game! Pretty rude, I'd say...My son was getting really pissed off, needless to say, he eventually got right behind her, "go left now!" and "get the cherries!" and "run, run run, the ghosts are coming!" He started barking all sorts of orders two inches from her head....  until she got so pissed, she just got up (finally) and left the game. My son played it for 2 minutes and said "this sucks, too hard"......hahaha

I highly recommend this place, something new and different for the tech savvy video playing pokeman go catching glued to their phones generation, to see where it all started and how much fun they still are!

Here is the final run down of the favorite games:

Avery: Qbert was her favorite (of course)

Evan: BurgerTime was his favorite

Me: CENTIPEDE!

We also did play several pinball machines and those were also fun and addictive. But we gravitated more to the video games. 

If you ever go, or have already experienced this place, let me know what you think?

What was your favorite video game?

WTF WEDNESDAY

Summer time...kinda losing track of my days. I almost posted this yesterday....on a TUESDAY, can you believe the chaos that would have caused!? Whew, caught it in the nick of time!

Here you go:

Found this treasure in the "nun section". Yes, there is a "nun section" at one of the thrift stores I go to, seriously, I cant make this shit up.

At first glance, I just thought it was one creepy looking nun, handcrafted with "love"

Then upon closer inspection, I realized it was an old timey judge. Still handcrafted with "love". Apparently he looked nunny enough to hang out with the sisters. 

Look at that fine craftsmanship! 

As usual, I go home and regret not purchasing it. Not because I liked it, because I SO DID NOT like it, but because I like the weird shit. So, I go back the next day to buy it, (not sure why) I get there and it was already sold!!?! For real!

Enjoy reading about my thrift store shenanigans? Follow my blog, visit my Etsy shops (click on side bar pics) Follow me on Instagram, tumblr, twitter and pinterest. 

until next time....

Blog Fog

Blog fog is kind of like writers block, actually not "kind of", EXACTLY like writers block but not rhyming. 

So I decided to share with you one of my favorite children's book authors, Bill Peet. 

I stumbled upon Bill Peet accidentally, about 10 years ago I was thrifting for toys and books for the kids. And I grabbed this book called "Wump World" it was just such a cute story about these peaceful creatures called the Wumps. They lived a nice life in their world until it was overtaken by the Pollutians. The Wumps got scared and hid underground. The Pollutians built and polluted their land and once it was destroyed they moved on to another world. The Wumps came out from hiding and needed to rebuild their world.  

We ended up enjoying this book so much we went on to seek out other Bill Peet books, I have come to realize that he was an animal rights activist and an environmentalist. All of his books had some sort of moral message in very odd ways. 

The Spooky Tail of Prewitt the Peacock...This poor peacock had some sort of messed up weird tail and none of the other peacocks wanted to play with him. So he felt like a big loser. Meanwhile the other peacocks were confronted by a predator. And Prewitts creepy tail looked like a horrific creature and scared the predator away, saving all the other peacocks, who then decided he and his weird tail were pretty cool after all. 

You kinda get the drift right? He has a lot of books about Karma and being happy with who you are and tolerance. Most books written in the 1970s. 

Here are some of his other gems:

My personal stash of Bill Peet books is about 30 more books! I love him!

These books and more are available here:

RANDOM GOODS BOOK ROOM

***Also, be sure to check out my clearance section! Tons of books for $1.50. Fantastic bargains.

If you enjoy reading my blog, please follow. (and if you read this far, I'm guessing you do enjoy my blog, or are just incredibly bored.)

Follow me on Instagram, tumbler, twitter and Pinterest. 

That is called self promotion.

Until next time......