The Gift of Thrift: A Bill and a Bow in a Box

A few weeks ago when my pal Marino Krstačić-Furić was in town from Rijeka, Croatia, he mentioned his futile search for the fabled $2 bill, a paper denomination so rare these days that Marino asked me if, in fact, it actually existed. Had he been told some Croatian/American urban myth?

I assured him that the rarely-seen bill did, in fact, show its Thomas Jefferson face on occasion even though I haven't had one in my possession for years. That was about to change in a couple of weeks when I made a purchase at a Walgreen's in Fort Lauderdale and the clerk gave me a $1 coin and a $1 bill as part of my change. When I turned my nose up at the $1 coin, she said that she didn't have any more paper dollars in her till, and all she had was a $2 bill. "I want it!" I almost shouted.

I had just been passed the perfect gift to offer Marino on my own trip to Croatia just a few weeks later. I packaged the bill with a vintage bow tie in its original box that I paid 50 cents for at a synagogue rummage sale in Queens. It originally came from the old Klein's department store in New York and has "Made in the USA" stamped in red in the right-hand corner of its original box.

I always find it frustrating to find gifts for friends outside of The United States because hardly anything that I can afford or that strikes my fancy is made in this country. So I was especially pleased to offer this vintage, state-side goodie that cost me a grand total of $2.50!

Always Frugal, Always Fabulous!

The Elegant Thrifter

Reuse & Repurpose: A Cooking Quandry

Tired of cooking, but love your pots and pans? Why not take them along with your tea kettles, your funnels, your oil pitchers and your ladles and turn them into wall décor like they did at a restaurant called Alla Rampa near the Spanish Steps in Rome?

I was transfixed by this marvelous, metal wonder -- all tied together by similar shapes and variable sizes in a coppery finish for a subtle shine. But then I started to imagine attempting this with my own (might I also add....not-so-pretty) pots and pans in my Manhattan apartment. There would be singed bundt cake pans lining the living room, pitiful skillets and cookie sheets hanging out in the hallway, and blackened espresso pots and a dented teakettle mounted in the bathroom.

Yikes!

Always Frugal, Always Fabulous! (and always looking for more space to hide my sad cookware!)

The Elegant Thrifter

Fabulous & Frugal Fun: A Croatian Flea

I've traveled to Croatia several times, and always seem to miss the flea market that take place every Saturday in Britanski trg (British Square) of Zagreb, the country's capital city.

Just more than a year ago when I attempted to take in this flea, I came down with fast and furious case of food poisoning that dashed my hopes of discovery, but this time I was fit as a fiddle as I ventured out on a cold November morning to leisurely stroll through tables heaped with home goods, chandeliers dangling from poles, unusual antiques, and oh yes, postcards.

What I realized about flea markets in Croatia is that while the assortment is somewhat different, there's always something familiar about maneuvering through jostling bodies looking for a good deal and the excitement of stumbling upon a true find -- even if it is nothing more than a handful of printed plates from a tome of traditional costumes or a few, ahem, postcards!

But as you know, I go more for the opportunity to see unusual items that I don't get to see everyday. The experience is like a virtual postcard of memories -- one that I can call up anytime I like.

Why, in Zagreb, I felt right at home.

Here's a little video of my adventure.

Živjeli!

Always Frugal, Always Fabulous!

The Elegant Thrifter

The Find: One Tile at a Time

Words can be enchanting and encouraging, often helpful and sometimes hurtful. Maybe that's why a random mix of letters like those found on the tiles in a Scrabble board seem to provoke thought and inspire creativity wherever they are gathered.

I featured this photograph by Jim Franco in The Find: The Housing Works Book of Decorating With Thrift Store Treasures, Flea Market Objects, and Vintage Details because I was charmed by the way Yasmine McGrane from Maison Rêve carefully sorted vowels and consonants to offer welcoming words to a visitor or randomly grouped them in a vintage apothecary jar.

(Recently, though, one critic of The Find noted that bonne nuit wasn't correctly spelled in French. That is true in this picture, but anyone who's ever played Scrabble knows that you can only have seven tiles on your rack, and that there's probably an open ne just waiting for the bon moment!)

Deb over at Proper Prim had no trouble finding the right letters in a set of children's building blocks to set a joyful laundry theme that she displayed in front of a jar teeming with scrambled letters and a jumble of wooden clothes pins.

She perfectly placed the right letters together to turn the idea of a daily chore into a whimsical task full of colors that will never run.

The Los Angeles Times recently printed some funny words about me in its holiday survival guide. Read about how to handle drunk party guests and decline a holiday party right here!

Always Frugal, Always Fabulous!

The Elegant Thrifter

The Object of My Desire: Winners Revealed

When I found the Rain-Runner in a Fort Lauderdale thrift store -- the grand prize for my Mystery Giveaway that'll be sent along with a personalized copy of The Find: The Housing Works Book of Decorating With Thrift Shop Treasures, Flea Market Objects, and Vintage Details -- it evoked many memories of small-town ladies keeping their hair-dos from wilting in a Spring mist or from shriveling under a full-on downpour.

Of course, my Grandma Williams who lived in Mulberry,

Arkansas, came to mind. She was not a fashion plate, and I can't recall her ever wearing makeup, but oh-my-my goodness, her pride and joy was her hair. Being a preacher's wife, she got her hair done every Saturday so she always looked her Sunday's best. I always think of that funny Southern saying, "The higher the hair; the closer to God." Now I wouldn't go so far as to say she had a super-big bouffant, but it was thick, white and wavy, meticulously coiffed, and never moved an inch even when met head-on with a mighty gust of wind. Toward the end of her life, even though the occasion for her to go out in public dwindled, her hair did not, as she always made it to the beauty parlor to have her hair puffed back to perfection.

So before I get all sappy over a rain bonnet, let me reveal the winners of my first Mystery Giveaway. Since I'm the one doing the giveaway, there are now three prizes.

FIRST PRIZE

Someone who follows me anoymously by the name of "Lurky" guessed that the mystery gift was "one of those plastic hair caps that my mother always had in her purse in case a raindrop fell" with the second clue on December 1 at 10:41 PM.

Now "Lurky," you have a choice. You may select the Rain-Runner from Fort Lauderdale OR the red ILGWU rain cap featured below that I purchased for 10 cents at a rummage sale in Independence, Missouri. It'll come along with your personalized copy of The Find. I promise not to reveal your identity, so just email me your shipping and personalization instructions at theelegantthrifter@gmail.com. (I'll give you a week to respond, but then I'll need to pass the choice of bonnets off to the second prize winner.)

SECOND PRIZE

LuLu Kellogg at Coastal Sisters chimed in a mere hour-and-a-half later guessing a vintage rain bonnet. Once "Lurky" decides which bonnet he or she wants, then I'll send you the other piece of fabulous headgear along with a personalized copy of The Find. Email me at theelegantthrifter@gmail.com with your shipping and personalization instructions and I'll have your goodies in the mail as soon as I hear what "Lurky" has selected.

THIRD PRIZE

Shara at the Monkey Box guessed on December 3 at 11:25 that the mystery gift was in fact a rain bonnet "folded just right so you can never get it back correctly." I'm going to send Shara a personalized copy of The Find as well. So Shara, just like the others who have a rain-bonnet second sense, send me instructions to theelegantthrifter@gmail.com and I'll have it out to you in no time.

Always Frugal, Always Fabulous....come rain or shine

The Elegant Thrifter

Saturday Surprise! Bok! from Zagreb

Since I have only had dribs and drabs of Internet access in Zagreb, Croatia, I've been moderating all of your patient comments from afar on my cranky BlackBerry. I return to New York filled with inspiration and ideas that I'll be sharing with you during the rest of the year. I met the Martha Stewart of weddings here in Zagreb, and just to tease you with the emerging in this charming city, here's a photo of an elegant lady made of silk roses and candle wax posing in a fabulous window in a brand new parfumerie.

And yes...I made a video...flea marketing in Zagreb that I'll post next week after announcing the winner of my first give-away. I'm brewing up some consolation prizes, so I'll announce those as well.

Have a wonderful weekend!

The Elegant Thrifter

Always Frugal, Always Fabulous!

Mystery Giveaway: Let It Pour!

With a vintage flourish and a bit of thrifty fanfare, the mystery gift is revealed: The Rain-Runner rain bonnet made by André Fantasies Originals right here in Fort Lauderdale! While I can't identify the exact era of this lovely mesh nylon mass of protection, being that its style name is the Bouffant, "perfect for any hairstyle," tells me it must have been from the 1960s or 1970s.

Furthermore, the copy on the packaging rings true to that used in the Mad Men decade: "Let it rain! Let it Pour! Your Rain-Runner keeps your coif in perfect shape!" Or maybe this promise: "Your Hairdo Stays Bone-Dry in A Driving Rain!"

Visit me on Monday, December 7 to congratulate the new owner of the fabulous Rain-Runner and a personalized copy of The Find: The Housing Works Boo of Decorating With Thrift Shop Decorating, Flea Market Objects, and Vintage Details.

Now I would never wish anyone to have bone-dry hair, but a perfectly shaped coif? Why not?

Always Frugal, Always Fabulous!

The Elegant Thrifter