Fourth of July Festivities

Greetings all! Back to the grind after a wonderful weekend with the family at the farm. Activities included food eating, banjo playing, hog roasting, and lets not forget treasure hunting! Our trip concluded with a stop in Normal, IL. My Aunt co-owns a shop there called The Garlic Press, a magical place full of overwhelmingly wonderful things.

I found a few gems, one of which was this awesome little invention by Cuppow!

It fits on any wide mouth jar, turning it into a travel-friendly container for your beverages!

It comes in several colors and sizes. I thought the clear one would go best with my normal color palate. Its so simple and beautiful and mason jars make me cry with happiness. Any excuse to use them and also save the planet gets a thumbs up from me. I brought it to church with iced tea inside and was asked if I was drinking moonshine...awkward...

Also, I was stoked to find this heat sensitive, color changing mug for only like $8.50! I love pixel art, and just look how cute it is!

Finally I had to add this beautiful diffuser to my tea collection. I was told by an employee at Harney & Sons in New York that this is the only way to brew tea. Apparently it lets the leaves "breathe."

Lots of beverage related items, mason jars and tea in my life lately. As it should be.

Until next time

|>o<|

Treasure Share

Today was a day of sun rain and treasure hunting (intentional omission of commas). The people of Bloomington don't mind getting a little damp when it comes to selling their wares to appreciative hunters.

The day started out at A.Z. Vintage's warehouse sale. They have a store downtown, but their stock was overflowing at their storage units just outside of town. I got up bright and early (should have been 8:00, was more like 10:30) and drove down with the tall one. I promised myself this was the last time I was going to remove money from my vault, and I definitely made $40 count. 

Getting ready to have my own apartment, I'm finding that the act of just surviving in a space and being self-sufficient takes more stockpiling and accumulation than originally planned. Maybe I'll get it together by the time August arrives. 

 But speaking of apartments and living and stuff, my first find was these excellent burlap sitty things.

With the reality of limited space and some consultation with the roommate, I landed on just getting two (the pair on the left). My car is small and also I wasn't sure how to handle the mystery marks on the others... With the help of my dandy sweater shaver, these will simply add to the screaming hipster vibe we've been building in preparation. 

I cleaned out their tie inventory as well.

And found this gem for a buck.

It's perfect.

On to the second storage unit...

I've already built up quite a collection of vintage fabrics than I plan on utilizing for bow tie making, but I guess I needed more. 

(sun cone corner)

This plus another box my mother is bringing me from Oklahoma, I think I should be set for quite a while.

There was also a sweet little soda trailer (stand? cart?) selling scones and natural sodas. The ginger ale mango soda tasted like something I shouldn't be allowed to drink, and the strawberry basil made me wonder about the last time I'd ever tasted anything so delicious. I wish I could remember the name, but they set up at the farmer's market, so I'll be visiting again. Plus they gave us paper straws.

On my way home I happened upon another sale. The mason jars in the front tipped me off to the potential of success.

I was not disappointed.

This tin had such fantastic typography that I couldn't resist, even though I'm not sure how old it actually is. The two little tins above it are a pair I got from Vintage Vogue. When I get around to it, they'll be clinging to my fridge along with a few other exciting little containers.

This is probably the most exciting item of the day. It's an old super eight camera in beautiful condition. The lady wasn't sure if it worked or not, so she just threw it in with the rest. No matter its functionality, I'm just excited to make it a part of the new bookshelves.

Look at that mustard velvet.

I grabbed this bag because of its great color and structure. I'm feeling a little sketchy about the strap, so it'll probably end up with something leather instead. Contrasting pairings are my favorite, especially when it comes to bags. 

I also picked up some records and a few books that I've been wanting to read. My summer apartment is so painfully empty, I think I felt the need to fill up some space.

There will be bow tie updates before long. I'm working on building my inventory as well as expanding into new products.

Stay tuned.

I>o<I