New Thrift Shop Finds

• Who can find a virtuous woman? her price is far above rubies
• She is like the merchant's ships, she bringeth her food (and other things!) from afar

Today was our first Saturday back in Columbus. The heat is horrendous this week--temperatures in the mid- to high-nineties and a heat index of at least 100 (trust me, it felt like 115 to me!) but we braved the oven-like temperatures and hit a couple of thrift stores.

The first place we stopped was new one for us--Southern Storage and Thrift Market on Armour Road, between Britt David Road and Airport Boulevard. We saw a couple of commercials for it and decided to give it a try.

I was a little apprehensive when we walked through the door and were directed to a side door into the big warehouse-like area--did I mention that it's been HOT here this week? But we bravely pressed on for the sake of whatever hidden treasures we might discover! And hidden treasures did we find! They had a couple dozen booths with a variety of items, from clothes and household goodies to furniture--and can you believe, a pretty decent selection of leather saddles near the back!

Never mind the saddles, though, this is what I found:

This beautiful china cake plate with matching server, still in it's original box, $6.00. The plate has a little gold sticker on the back marked "Andrea, by Sadek, made in Japan". (I looked this up on the internet, these sets retail for about $25.00) I have a set like this at home that's a different pattern that I use for special occasions. Isn't this one pretty?

The next thing I found was this copper-colored aluminum tumbler with lid for $3.00. Know what it is? A milk-shake shaker!

The bottom holds up to 2 cups of ingredients, then you put the top on and shake it. It reminds me of the aluminum pitcher and tumbler sets that I remember from the 60's--not sure if they were from the 50's or 60's, but I remember drinking from those cold, cold, aluminum tumblers. My grandma used to make home-made root-beer in one of those pitchers, that stuff would get ice-cold! I'm sure this is from the same time period.

There were a few other items that I looked at with interest, but by this time I thought was going to melt, so I headed toward the front to check-out in air-conditioned comfort--and bless their hearts, they had a table near the entrance where they were giving away FREE ice-cold bottles of water! What a life-saver!

The next place we ventured was an old favorite, the Valley Rescue Mission Thrift store on Second Street, just a block away from the original Valley Rescue Mission. They have a good turnover of items of all kinds, both new and used, so you never know what you may find, and it supports a good cause, as well. AND, it's air-conditioned. Yay!

Today I brought home this:

It's a tin-plated cast-iron tortilla press, still in it's original box, for $5.00. (I found this exact tortilla press online for $19.99--so this was a 75% savings over buying a new one--woot woot!) I've seriously been wanting to learn to make my own tortillas, but I'm not very good at rolling out pastry of any kind. This makes it easy to have really thin tortillas without using a rolling pin.

Just open it up, put your ball of dough between some wax paper or plastic wrap...

Close the top....

then crank the handle over and voila' ! Ready to toss into your skillet. I'll let you know how they turn out!

What thrifty treasures have you found this week?


Until next time...

This post is linked to:

Today's Thrifty Treasures at Southern Hospitality

Vintage Thingie Thursday at Colorado Lady

Thrifty Thursday at Tales from Bloggeritaville