so many treasures...

so a few weeks ago i went to some training in the city (new york city, actually)and i got to spend one night with some sweet friends, jenny and thomas. while thomas was in class, jenny and I went juking around their neighborhood, peeking in used book stores and thrift shops along our route. then we stumbled upon the best place in the whole world... olde good things. it was filled with treasures! treasures that i wanted to bring home SOOOOO bad.

and the best part was that they were old, and cool, and moderately priced.  if you live in new york or la, or scranton, pa (what?) then you're sinning if you haven't visted olde good things and taken home everything you can fit in your car.

beaucoups of bottles...

love the beaker!






imgspark, at, sunday suppers, imgspark, & the last five from at

beautiful burlap!

oh oh oh! look what i found!
burlap is my favorite texture...it's scratchy, but so great looking here as upholstery.



i'm so in love with it that we used burlap as the tablecloths for our reception... anyway, what do you think? unbelievable or uncomfortable?

photos from 1stdibs and gypsypurple

happy earth day!

in honor of earth day (and because it's crunch time for me) here are a few of my favorite eco-friendly previous posts!

# a fab shoulder bag made out of a thrift store leather jacket

#2 recycled china given a face lift with a new coat of glaze


#3 eco-graffiti (it's MOSS!)




#4 beautiful, gigantic wall hangings made from found scraps of trash


#5 re-usable grocery bags that provide lunch for hungry children

Feed bags... and bags that feed!

i rspotted these bags in this month's real simple... and since i HATE HATE HATE plastic grocery bags i was pretty excited. Did you know that apparently we use 4 to 5 trillion plastic bags a year worldwide?? And these bags, never, never disintegrate. ever.

now, i really hope this number has gone down a little since 2008 when publix and wholefoods (even kroger) started selling reusable bags in their stores, but with as many folks as i see leaving with seven or eight plastic bags of groceries, i doubt that it's diminished much.

anyway, for those of you who're always on the lookout for something cool looking AND something good for the world i thought i'd share this. now i know you've got tons of reusable shopping bag options out there, but here's a shopping bag that's not only reusable, but also FEEDS 100 children in a developing country. Also, the company has another one that feeds 1 child for an entire year. this is fabulous, and a great gift idea... besides, who doesn't love the rustic feel of a burlap feed sack?

sercret's out...

guys, the secret's out! i learned on npr yesterday that everyone else in the world has apparently started shopping at thrift and secondhand stores. (thanks, recession)

i mean, i knew people would discover how cool they are sooner or later... let's just hope they don't pick up all the best books and frocks before i can get there.

my favs in ATL are the goodwill on Buford highway and last chance thrift off of N Decatur Rd. their book selection is ALL laveryle spencer, which i don't get into... but, it's where we got these Royal Tennebaum outfits for halloween and some other awesome ensembles (it was a costume, but i'm def. going to wear the coat FOREVER)


but then, the goodwill in roswell and the nearly new shop over on Howell Mill are fab too (if you're looking for men's clothes, shoes, or fancy dresses.) and everyone knows ALL goodwills will sell you great books for like $1.

then there's this place... they started in 'ta but then expanded to savannah, chapel hill, and other awesome southern cities. the thing is, i'm sort of intimidate to shop there. sometimes i think i'm sort of cool, but it's in little five. and they sell vintage stuff. there's no way i'm cool enough to even set foot in that place.

atlanta thrifty shoppers, am i missing any hot spots? and all of you folks from other cities, where do you go when you want a bargain?

addendum

so, i found these other pretties that i wanted to show you... let me know what you think!
daisy rings from CKA and everything else from Me&Ro

rings on her fingers and bells on her toes...

Now, when i think of buying jewelry, i think of my adorable little grandfather who used to go on hunts for the perfect pieces of antique jewelry for the women in my family. in fact, i have the mostbeautiful ring and gold watch from two of his excursions.






for this reason, when i'm looking at jewelry i don't usually turn to new jewelry stores to find something. first of all, it's much more ethical to use gemstones and metals that have already been put into the economy, and on another note, most antique pieces are just prettier to me.
and, let's be honest, i've been really into pretty jewelry lately... especially gold rings. Maybe it's because it's time for me to buy something new, or maybe i'm just hinting for a Christmas present, but, either way, i've been looking.

And if i look beyond my commitment to vintage and estate jewelry then i turn to handmade pieces from reused or recycled metals. Anyway, there are tons of great artists out there doing just this kind of work...but as for my faves, i think this turquoise ring from sarah perlis and this knotted ring from the rust belt are fab!

Not only are they just so pretty on fingers, but these ones are made from recycled gold, and sarah perlis uses conflict free diamonds. ;) yep, thought you'd like that.

i also love browsing on etsy for handmade jewelry...and er, well.. i'm a sucker for a bird or a tiny locket on a thin chain. i'm not sure about the materials these artists use, but their pieces are lovely and have a vintage-y look to them.

lockets from seaunicorn and earrings from kristinfriesen on etsy

Starting from scrap...

although I've been in Atlanta over a year now, i'd never been to the High Museum. i went in july to see an incredible Civil Rights photography exhibit, and ran across another exhibit in conjunction highlighting black artists from around the world. I was mesmerized by a Ghanaian sculptor, El Anatsui, who utilized found objects like food wrappers and bottle caps to make, what looked like, an enormous quilt.
about a week ago, i visited some friends in Manhattan, and they lived just a few blocks from the Met, where i found this.


El Anatsui has shown his found object sculptures all over the world. From far away, they look like soft, flowing, organic fabric.





But up close, you realize that they're made from metal and metallic plastic found on roads and in villages near his home in Nigeria. Both textures (the real and the implied texture) are incredible.


i hope that all of you will get a chance to see El Anatsui's artwork in person...but until then, visit his website for more information.

photos from El Anatsui's website, the NYT, bookofjoe, designboom, the Timeline for Art History

Baaaaad to the bag....

so last year, i committed handbag heresy. i've been obsessed with LOOP NYC bags ever since i discovered one slyly hidden on the back rack at TJMaxx two years ago and have been a loyal LOOP buyer ever since. i love that people stop me in stores and at functions to complement how original they are. Covered in fringe, appliques, and always made in funky colors,
i just hadn’t seen any other bags i would rather have, until i found a beautiful leather nina bossi shoulder bag...and I converted.
and i had to have it. i mean...had to. i love that the leather is soft and feels worn in.

i've been carrying this beautiful leather bag for nearly a year, and now that it has ample pen stains on the lining, and was run-over by my honey, it's probably time for something new.

now, what i'm coveting are the ashley watson's shoulder bags made from old motorcycle jackets.

How cool are these?? Notice how all of them are different. my favorites are the ones with crooked zippers and diagonal pockets... and when you FEEL one...incredible. it’s like having a bag made out of butter. unfortunately, they don’t carry THESE at TJMaxx and Loop doesn’t really make anything this understated. Even though they’re reasonably priced, (and recycled) my grad student self can’t afford an ashley watson at the moment...but ohiwishicould.

Go to her website for a list of stores that carry these works of art or contact her yourself... but word on the street is that these bags are in such high demand that the canadian artist is hard to get a hold of.

another man's trash...

last year, my cousin showed me these refurbished pieces of china from Sarah Cihat that she saw in the Brocade catalog and i blogged on another space about them (in fact, several of these posts are older posts from a different blog of mine that out of the blue, just stopped working).


the wall was covered with these really funky plates and platters in all sorts of colors and shades. on each plate was a different design...anchors, skulls, cassettes, fleur de lis... cihat makes her rehabilitated dishware from old rejected china pieces that she buys at thrift stores and refires with a newer, much cooler design.

Her site mentions that her work is a statement on the value of recycling and the renewed value of unwanted things. pretty cool. visit her website for more.