You can download and view the latest (and the first!) Look Book for this Summer 2009 update to my Greentag Vintage Shoppe on Etsy.com by clicking here!
Lots of accessories, Vintage designer 50's, 60's 70's and 80's items from Coach, Halston, Guess. Everything revolves around a little summer party theme, but I can assure you these pieces can be stylishly worn anytime! I also have several Plus-sized pieces. Stop by after July 4th!
Happy Independence Day~ A.
Below is a piece I recently wrote for www.thethriftshopper.com
Once in a while I encounter a retail snob who just CAN'T believe that I am such a recycling junky and they wonder out loud and ask, "What could be so great about decorating with flea market and thrift store junk? How can you actually bring other people's used stuff into your house? Yuck!"
Now, I try and temper my responses just right. I try and remember that not everyone was raised to appreciate delicate antiques. Not everyone experienced the fantastic adventure of hunting for treasures from garage and estate sales they may have frequented with their grandparents. Some people have no attachment to history or time. Some people, quite frankly, have very little imagination!
I try to be forgiving of their sublime ignorance and I reply:
"Listen, I am fortunate enough not to HAVE to buy things like used underwear or blankets and such...but if I had to, I am pretty sure a healthy amount of bleach would kill off anything harmful!
The type of stuff I seek out is rich in history, or art, or beauty which can't be authentically found and bought at a TARGET store. (Not that there is anything wrong with shopping at a TARGET for generic stuff!) Some people also go to thrift stores to seek plain, useful objects that function well and cost a fraction of their original price. Most thrifted things are usually fairly easy to clean-up or dust off. That's why Clorox wipes were invented!
The idea is to be original in the selection of your possessions and gather things to paint a picture within your home that is like none other! Life is the fairytale you make of it. This includes the objects you surround yourself and your family with.There is an absolute rush in the thrill of discovering something long forgotten by someone else or re-inventing something to fit into your personal "picture-book" which can't be copied out of a catalog or off a showroom floor.
The added benefit is that you are recycling, often contributing to a good cause or charity, and occasionally scoring something of such great value for mere pennies!"
If you are new to the world of thrift, do not be afraid, my pup. If you are a germ-a-phobe, wear gloves or bring your hand sanitizer "to-go" bottle with you...but gosh, it really isn't that bad! I guarantee you that what is on the bottom of your shoes after walking around all day in the world is far worse than anything you'd bring into your house from most thrift stores. Almost anything can be properly scrubbed and sanitized, and the stuff that you aren't sure of...you won't be buying (like stuffed animals, shoes, undergarments, etc.)
When venturing into a Thrift Store, follow this advice:
Once inside, plant your feet and slowly scan the entire place with your eyes. Get a deliberate overview of the layout. Read the signs. Often thrift stores run weekly or monthly promotions on certain types of items (i.e. Furniture,) or on certain colored tags (i.e. all green tags are an additional 50% off during the month of March.)
Do a first pass "drive-by". Don't stop at one section, just scan all the isles quickly making a mental note of anything cool or unusual that you want to come back to check out more closely. NOTE* If you see something particularly rare or something you collect or are looking for: grab it and place it in your cart! You can look at the details and prices later and put it back if it isn't right.
Take a second pass based on areas of the store that looked promising during the drive-by.
Carefully examine the condition, underside or interior of an object and its price. Look for any makers marks or relevant manufacturing symbols which will tell you more about its origin and value.
Be sure to reference any price promotions in relation to the item as it might receive an additional discount at checkout. This will further help you to make a purchasing decision. (See #1.)
Look high and low. This is a trick I learned from my grandfather. When you are looking at a bunch of stuff piled up on a shelf, it is easy to miss things placed away from your direct eye level. Crouch down and look again. Raise up on tippy-toes and check that top shelf again.
Examine nooks and crannies of the jewelry case or other specialized display areas. Often times items that are for sale are used in thrift stores as a window display or functional display item. This little brass ring tree was holding crappy, plastic rings on display, but upon examination I realized it was also for sale for $1.99. I took off the plastic rings and added it to my cart. It now holds the cool, old dinner rings given to me by my grandmother.
When it comes to thrift shopping, go into it with an open mind and view yourself as a retail anthropologist. Uncovering and honing in on your own unique style aesthetics will allow you to shop with confidence and discover the fantastic glow of finding useful, beautiful objects to breathe new life into while saving the bulk of your bank account for more important stuff.
Happy Thrifting!
Audrey writes a blog about thrifting, vintage objects, artful discoveries and social awareness at www.greentag.typepad.com. Her ETSY stores www.audreyrich.etsy.com and www.littlegreentag.etsy.com feature her unique vintage finds for sale. When she isn't writing or photographing something, she works as a Marketing Communications Consultant and lives with her husband and son in the suburbs of Detroit, MI.
Typically, it is called a Grand Re-Opening Sale....but I never opened properly to begin with! I was finally able to devote some time to ye' old shoppe! Added a few items this past weekend and will be adding more throughout the week! Check it! http://www.audreyrich.etsy.com
Remember when we were kids and there was a run on Cabbage Patch toys? Think Christmas circa '84, '85, somewhere in there. Every girl just HAD to have one. Parents were in a frenzy to BUY them. Then the manufacturers went on to market and create the same frenzy over Cabbage Patch Preemies the next year. Then Cabbage Patch silk-haired dolls.(You could actually brush the hair!) I think mine was named Elyse Izadora. It had a birth certificate and everything.
Some evil (brilliant?) sales executive said "Yeah! What a great idea! We'll short order a supply of a toy we think every kid will want. We'll market the hell out of it. We'll advertise like crazy and they'll be so few in stock, they'll just fly off the shelves! We'll play upon the competitive, sick nature in parents. We'll guilt them into to clawing through the toy shelves so that their child won't feel left out!"
That guy also invented Elmo, and talking Elmo, and dancing Elmo, etc. I am pretty sure he is indirectly responsible for killing that guy in the Walmart stampede, as well.
Anyhow...it's 2008 and the "HOT" must-have item for boys 3-7 years old this Christmas is this:
The Batman Mega Cape. Retail Price at KB Toys $49.99 (Sale price at Walmart the day after Thanksgiving $30.00= Stampede.)
I never thought I'd be one of those parents. But.... (sigh.) I have looked at least 10 different places for this thing when it was on sale, and it's always sold out. My boy is absolutely nuts about getting it. I refuse to pay $49.99 for it online or otherwise...so I guess our son will have to be happy with whatever else he is getting and finally learn about the New Year's Panda.
What is the New Year's Panda, you ask?
The New Year's Panda comes on New Year's Day to all good little boys and girls who didn't get what they wanted on Christmas day from that old hack, Santa. The New Year's Panda understands the value of a dollar, a hard days work, and shops on clearance after Christmas. I am pretty sure the PANDA has about 12 of these batwings tied to his bamboo shoot sleigh! Now, don't feel bad for my poor son. He is getting absolutely spoiled, as usual. I will get those Batman Wings for him, of course. (It's too built up of a challenge NOT to!)
I would like to attempt a totally handmade Christmas one year, and I half-attempted it this year. Instead of buying toys for our friends' kids, Lucas helped me make a cozy Christmas eve blanket for each one. (20 in total!) I think they turned out great given my wonky "organic" sewing skills. Thank goodness my husband took home economics (since I didn't,) and he prevents me from kicking my sewing machine on a regular basis! Our son also "helped" with the sewing. It was quite fun, imperfections and all! Toys are more fun of course, but a practical gift is okay once in a while!
(Click to enlarge photos.)
If you aren't into "crafts" with a capital C... you could also come up with something equally thoughtful and creative like Stephanie's friend did at Cottage Thoughts. I love the idea of giving someone a taste of another city, in a box. She received "London in a box" from a friend traveling abroad. Her box included a beautiful tin of English Breakfast tea, an antique teacup, a candle, two chocolates wrapped in paper decorated with London scenes, two dried tea roses, and an envelope of British pence to show to her children. Even without the Spice Girls and the Queen...you get the flavor of the city. Simple, sweet, and thoughtful.Those types of gifts beat out lame gift cards, (you mind as well give cash in a box..) DVD's, and all the plastic, overpriced Batman crap you can handle!
Last Spring I drafted a family cookbook as a tribute to my grandmother as a Mother's Day gift. You may remember me rambling on about it in this post. WELL...it's finally done! My grandmother helped me edit it and I added a little intro to give a little background on our family and the FOOD!
I chose lulu.com for their print-on-demand publishing which makes managing inventory very flexible and keeps the production costs low. If you are interested in a hard copy of the book, just click on the book cover icon in the top right corner of my homepage. As a gift to my extended family, friends, and readers I am offering a PDF of the entire 36 page mini-book for you download. Just email me or leave a comment here and I will send it your way! (Just in time to bake something for that workplace Christmas party!) ~Enjoy!
It's been stormy here lately. Hot, swirling, summer storms with dark blankets of bloated clouds. I can't resist photographing them. My friend at the news desk at WXYZ channel 7 in Detroit knows I love bad weather and am probably photographing it. When he needs filler for all that dead air time, weather man chit-chat between new doppler radar alerts he calls me and says "Did you shoot the weather, (and if you did) will you go on air and talk about what you saw?" And...I say yes, because being on tv doesn't even scare me any more. And...it's just my voice not my big, cheesy mug for all to see so... (blah, blah)...why not. "Audrey, describe to us what you saw over there...."
Here are a few shots from yesterday's storm........... which knocked out power in "alota places".
I am not a formally trained photographer. I haven't talked about my photography website on here because I am in the midst of overhauling it entirely, but I will be sure to give an update when it is done. I photographed my friend Paul's wedding about a week or so ago and it was such a nice day. I felt honored to be apart of it. I sent him and his new wife, Lauren a copy of one of my favorite shots straight away to open upon returning from their honeymoon. Somethimes I get it wrong, but this time I think I got it pretty right. Paul has already made this photo his myspace profile shot. Could there be any greater compliment to a friend/photographer in this modernday cyber-techno world of profile mugs? How nice.
What a smashing couple!
I am not a spoon collector.
From what I hear, spoon collecting was very much in vogue "back in the day". I am sure there are fantastic, old, silver spoons waiting to be collected out there, but I am not going to be seeking them out. So...it would seem that I have no business purchasing a $2.00 spoon holder shelf thingy at a yard sale. ($2.00 has been my magic thrifting number lately....) However, the key to any creative recycling project/effort is to have an open imagination and never get tied down to the idea of what an object was actually intended for.
The old lady having the yard sale said "spoon holder" but I saw:
SHARPIE HOLDER!
Now I have a nice little rack to keep my medium point sharpie marker addiction in-line and organized. No more digging around for that magenta pen! It has its own little nook. Plus, I have room to grow. Scissors and all sorts of things fit in these notches. (Sigh..) Little, re-thunk junk like this makes me happy.
Mother's Day is approaching and I have been hard at work on a pet project for my grandmother (and actually, for my entire family..)
I have been working on compiling our old family recipes (which span at least four generations,) for the past few years. I made a leather-bound reference binder with all the old hand written recipes from my great-grand mother, grandma, and mom and safely tucked each recepie card in plastic sleeves. Now, I've finally begun transfering all the data to digital files to layout and publish as a "real" book! 
I will release it through the publishing wonders of www.cafepress.com (a wonderful site, indeed.) The plan is to have the first copy mock-up done in time to spring it on Grandma and the relatives at our Mother's Day brunch at my uncle's cafe' in East Lansing on Sunday. Then she can see if I am missing anything, edit, and approve of it before it goes to press.
Getting her blessing is up there with kissing the hand of the Pope, in our family.....so I hope she likes it!
Look for all of the ridiculously delicious, old school recipes that have contributed to my large rump size in the upcoming- Just One More Bite: Beloved Recipes from Catherine O'Connor and Family!
Literally every recipe is of "I can't live without this.." quality. The term "comfort food" can't even live up to it. Put these recipes up there with air, water, shelter, and love as a basic human need. (This is the fat girl coming out, in me... but really, I mean it.) Not a single one fails to reach that level of yum. They aren't fancy. They are composed of the type of simple flavors that are sprinkled through the memories of good times in our lives. I can't wait to share them with everyone!
