Thrift Finds: Speak & Math and OMG! Stained Glass Window

Thrift Find: Speak & Math
Found At: Goodwill Lake Zurich, IL
Price Paid: $4.69
Why I'm So Excited: It is a working Speak & Math. If you don't understand how effing-fantastic that is to find in a Goodwill, it may be that we are experiencing a generational gap. I haven't seen one since I gave mine away when I was ten. Twenty-plus years of fond memories and now I have one to play with my son. :D :D



On any normal thrifting day, that would be enough of a !!!!YAY!!!!FIND but this day, I was combing through the Volo Antique Malls in Volo, Illinois this same day for Yule gifts and found something even more exciting...

Thrift Find: 25" x 19" Fairy-themed Stained Glass Window (OMGOMGOMG!)
Found At: Volo Antiques Mall Volo, IL
Price Paid: $150
Why I'm So Excited: I love glass in all incarnations. More than anything, though, I am entranced by stained glass. It is my favorite artform on earth so when I turned the corner and saw this propped up in a dark antique mall stall, I couldn't look away. I was on a mission to shop for other people, so I'd passed dozens of Breyers and She-Ra dolls, not to mention some glorious antique pieces. This window, though, was so phenomenal and super-reasonably priced for the size and intricacy, I couldn't leave without it. I had no real idea what it would look like in the light so I was even that much more chuffed to finally see her in the light with her dear little hand-painted face. Love, love, love, love, love. I'm over-the-moon to have found this. GAH!

Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly!

This four-day weekend was our best ever. I cannot say enough about the benefits of staying home for once. We got so much accomplished, spent glorious amounts of time together, and were able to celebrate the transition from autumn harvest to winter celebrations. We dined! We cried through A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa! We wrapped dozens and dozens of gifts and bought dozens more. We're pretty much set on that whole Yule gifty-gift thing and that gives us the luxury of an entire month to relax and enjoy the fruits of our labors. :) Last year, we didn't even have a tree up in our last-minute scramble, so this feels really good.

We use and reuse an artificial Yule tree but this year we brought home some greenery from the florist--fresh-cut boughs of holly and a beautiful evergreen and pinecone wall arrangement of sorts that just has to be misted on occasion. Sunday, we hit up our storage facility and dug around for that box of ornaments and a few other seasonal odds and ends. Here are the festive results of our decorating!







You can see a lot more photos, including close-ups of some of our ornaments, at our Flickr page.