Girl Time is Always Productive

Today, Ri stayed home again (i am a little miffed at her school right now--their insensitivity to Ri's current medical condition has me so mad, i am ready to just pull her out of school now and homeschool the rest of Kinder myself. Then maybe she'd be able to work on some challenging material instead of stuff she already knows.) Anyway, i digress...

Thursdays are typically my days to meet up with my dear friend, J. Her son and Ri are like two peas in a pod, and so are their moms. :o) We met up at a local restaurant and chatted for hours over copious amounts of coffee and hot chocolate.

After we parted, Ri and i decided we should head over to the children's bookstore in our dismal little downtown area and acquire some supplies for making St. Patrick's Day decor for the grandparents.

Ri's Irish flags she made for her grandparents decorations

Well, after all that emersion in child related sundries, i decided i would like to look at a couple of the local trinket shops--an upscale resale is right across the street from a thrift store next to the children's shop, so between the two, you can usually find something.

Ri found this classy little red purse. She thinks it would go great with her new blue canvas Converse oxfords. (A fashionista at such a young age!)

And i was delighted to find something worthy enough of my M&M's....

A Muppets container (with the Muppets Inc. logo on it, back when "the Street" characters were known as muppets!)

Truth be told, i just couldn't resist any Sesame Street item that has Prairie Dawn on it. She's from back in the day when i used to watch SS and i just love her and that 3 wheeled bike!

Can't forget cute, adorable, lovable ol' Grover and Cookie Monster either!

The real gonga came from the thrift store--i spotted two acrylic bins on a desk in the back of the store. Once i got back there, i discovered this

And for $6, how could you go wrong?

Once we got home, the fun began. There are zippers galore! Knitting needles and crochet hooks galore (and those itty bitty hooks for lace work--yeeowser!) And sewing needles and DMC floss and embroidery hoops galore. It contains a virtual crafting smorgasbord!

And some of these lil' treasures:

After i saw this, now i know why my "tracer dohicky" for transfer paper never works quite right! Those people that wear numerous ear rings up their lobes could use this to pierce their ears! ;O)

And ric rac and binding tape galore! And most of it was sold for under 50 cents. Needles from Safeway!?! If anyone reading this knows someone named "Betty", i have some handmade by labels for them.

This was totally intriguing...

especially because all 70 needles are still in there. Really, i don't know who can keep track of a needle this well! After i'm gone and all of my craft notions go for pennies at the local thrift, there will be a ton of half empty needle boxes. :o) LOL

For some reason, this trim reminds me of Oktoberfest. Ri likes it too, so maybe i'll use it to jazz up some jeans or a cute jumper for her.

Lord knows what a waist shaper was used for! If you know, please pass it along.

And the last of the little treasures were a thimble from Toledo, a retractable measuring tape (you can never have enough of those!) and an orange applique.

It was something else going through two boxes so full and everything but the German-esque trim being made in the USA or made in England. Wow! Gives this gal a little perspective on how different things have become since around the time my parents were kids till the time i was a kid. I remember most of this stuff was foreign made by the 80's when my mom was introducing me to bias tape, ric rac, and DMC floss and needles.

I am so excited to get those knitting and crocheting supplies organised and box up my ric rac and bias tape for another crafting day. The only thing i was a little sad i didn't purchase was a crocheted apron for $7.95. It just seemed a little pricey to me...especially if i can find a pattern to make one. ;o)