modern thrifter
I love beautiful things and thoughtful design. I also live in one of the most expensive cities in the country, and our family lives off a single income so that I can be at home with our kids. Patience and persistence have been the key to finding stylish things on a tight budget.
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12 posts tagged graphic design
![[ AURORA ANTIQUE PAVILION ]
Wow, sorry about all of the cobwebs over here on the blog. I’ve been doing a bit of design work the past couple of weeks, so thrifting and blogging have taken a back seat for the time being. I’ll share the projects with you all when they’re done. I’m pretty excited about them and it’s been a refreshing change to get my hands back into drawing and designing. Just to clarify, those are Patrick’s hands in the picture, though, not mine.
In the middle of all of the busyness I did find time to take a quick peek inside the Aurora Antique Pavilion with Patrick. It’s been about ten years since the last time we’d been inside, and I sort of forgot about its existence until a friend mentioned it recently.
Let me tell you, this is the type of place that you need the better part of an afternoon to explore. We only had an hour and we tried our best to scan it all, but I know we missed plenty.
My overall (quick) impression is that this is the place to go if you are looking for Pyrex or other kitchenwares. The prices on most of the Pyrex pieces weren’t much more than Goodwill has been charging these days. Also, I saw a ton of Hall china, but it was priced pretty average.
I was tempted to buy this vintage poker chip set, but our game collection (ahem… it’s almost an entire closet filled with games) is overflowing, so I passed.
Furniture was mostly pre-1950, but there were a few pieces of Mid-Mod scattered around. One area that is definitely worth a look is the furniture warehouse. This section felt like it was off-limits to the public, but apparently it is not. I guess it’s just “proceed at your own risk.” A lot of the furniture was already sold and awaiting pick-up, but there was still plenty for sale at pretty steep discounts.
So what did I buy? I’ve been working on upgrading my cheap pots and pans to a mixture of All-Clad and cast iron. It’s been an expensive and slow transition, but every time I swap out a teflon-lined piece of junk for a heavy, even-cooking beauty, I know it’s worth it.
I found this vintage Le Creuset 22cm saucepan with a clever skillet lid, and I scooped it up. Well, actually I admired it for a while and walked away. It was Patrick who talked me into going back across the store and claiming it. I suppose his reasoning was two-fold: one, he loves me, two, he gets better food when I have tools for the kitchen that make me enjoy cooking even more.
I wonder how many local folks have been to the Antiques Pavilion? Is it just me who forgot about this fabulous place so awkwardly situated above the Burlington Coat Factory? I can’t wait to get a free morning to go back and dig through it all again.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m163ucRhwq1qc7v1bo1_500.jpg)
[ AURORA ANTIQUE PAVILION ]
Wow, sorry about all of the cobwebs over here on the blog. I’ve been doing a bit of design work the past couple of weeks, so thrifting and blogging have taken a back seat for the time being. I’ll share the projects with you all when they’re done. I’m pretty excited about them and it’s been a refreshing change to get my hands back into drawing and designing. Just to clarify, those are Patrick’s hands in the picture, though, not mine.
In the middle of all of the busyness I did find time to take a quick peek inside the Aurora Antique Pavilion with Patrick. It’s been about ten years since the last time we’d been inside, and I sort of forgot about its existence until a friend mentioned it recently.
Let me tell you, this is the type of place that you need the better part of an afternoon to explore. We only had an hour and we tried our best to scan it all, but I know we missed plenty.
My overall (quick) impression is that this is the place to go if you are looking for Pyrex or other kitchenwares. The prices on most of the Pyrex pieces weren’t much more than Goodwill has been charging these days. Also, I saw a ton of Hall china, but it was priced pretty average.
I was tempted to buy this vintage poker chip set, but our game collection (ahem… it’s almost an entire closet filled with games) is overflowing, so I passed.
Furniture was mostly pre-1950, but there were a few pieces of Mid-Mod scattered around. One area that is definitely worth a look is the furniture warehouse. This section felt like it was off-limits to the public, but apparently it is not. I guess it’s just “proceed at your own risk.” A lot of the furniture was already sold and awaiting pick-up, but there was still plenty for sale at pretty steep discounts.
So what did I buy? I’ve been working on upgrading my cheap pots and pans to a mixture of All-Clad and cast iron. It’s been an expensive and slow transition, but every time I swap out a teflon-lined piece of junk for a heavy, even-cooking beauty, I know it’s worth it.
I found this vintage Le Creuset 22cm saucepan with a clever skillet lid, and I scooped it up. Well, actually I admired it for a while and walked away. It was Patrick who talked me into going back across the store and claiming it. I suppose his reasoning was two-fold: one, he loves me, two, he gets better food when I have tools for the kitchen that make me enjoy cooking even more.
I wonder how many local folks have been to the Antiques Pavilion? Is it just me who forgot about this fabulous place so awkwardly situated above the Burlington Coat Factory? I can’t wait to get a free morning to go back and dig through it all again.
![[ BARTERING ]
I mentioned in an earlier post that we recently spent a few days in Portland, relaxing after our very emotional Montana trip. We were able to stay in a guest cottage free of charge, thanks to a little deal we worked out with Katy over at The Non-Consumer Advocate. Jump on over to her site and take a look at the new blog header that Patrick designed as our part of the deal.
What I loved most about this deal, besides getting the opportunity to meet a blog friend in person, was that Katy managed to figure out a way to trade services for every step in getting her new header up and running. Actually, I had no idea how many people were involved in the process.
The great thing about bartering is that it doesn’t always have to be an even dollar-for-dollar trade. It’s more about what something is worth to you, how much you want it, or how much you are willing to help someone out. If you love to barter, I’d love to hear other creative bartering stories.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lmr2un44o41qc7v1bo1_500.png)
[ BARTERING ]
I mentioned in an earlier post that we recently spent a few days in Portland, relaxing after our very emotional Montana trip. We were able to stay in a guest cottage free of charge, thanks to a little deal we worked out with Katy over at The Non-Consumer Advocate. Jump on over to her site and take a look at the new blog header that Patrick designed as our part of the deal.
What I loved most about this deal, besides getting the opportunity to meet a blog friend in person, was that Katy managed to figure out a way to trade services for every step in getting her new header up and running. Actually, I had no idea how many people were involved in the process.
The great thing about bartering is that it doesn’t always have to be an even dollar-for-dollar trade. It’s more about what something is worth to you, how much you want it, or how much you are willing to help someone out. If you love to barter, I’d love to hear other creative bartering stories.
![[ SMALL FINDS ]
I’ve been feeling quite satisfied by our recent furniture acquisitions, so I’ve been spending more of my time at the thrift store pouring over some of the sections to which I don’t typically give as much attention. Though I usually do a general scan of all the shelves when at a thrift store, searching through the rows of books, stacks of dishes, and wedged together art can eat up more time than I have. This change-up in my routine has yielded some great new—though small—finds.
I love finding vintage children’s books, especially ones with great illustrations. I found all of these on one shelf during my last trip to Deseret Industries:
The kids are really drawn to these stories and have been asking me to read them over and over and over. I really don’t mind, especially since most of them are ones that I remember fondly from my childhood. I had forgotten how great the Frances books are! We check out a ton of books from the library, so I’m surprised that it hadn’t occurred to me to look for them there. You can see some of my other favorite children’s books that I’ve collected here and here.
In the housewares department, I found a new sugar bowl—I’ve been looking for one for quite a while. My previous one was top-heavy and the shape didn’t really go with the little creamer that I bought at Goodwill last year. Though I would have loved it if this Mikasa pattern would have been made in white, the black and white combination seems to be a new accidental theme in my kitchen.
Lastly (though there were several nice, but un-blog-worthy finds), look at these Hanna Andersson swedish moccasins. They retail for $18–$22 but I picked these up at Deseret for 50¢ in almost new condition. They are too big for Tula right now (and sadly, too small for me), so I’ll tuck them away for a few years until she can fit into them. It’s always nice to have a little stash of clothes and shoes for those times when I realize that the kids have had a growth-spurt.
Aren’t they a little “Wicked Witch of the East” looking? I adore them! It seems that this pattern is no longer available, and the ones that are on their site now are a little boring. I’m so glad to have run across them.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lfvfojmUOs1qc7v1bo1_500.jpg)
[ SMALL FINDS ]
I’ve been feeling quite satisfied by our recent furniture acquisitions, so I’ve been spending more of my time at the thrift store pouring over some of the sections to which I don’t typically give as much attention. Though I usually do a general scan of all the shelves when at a thrift store, searching through the rows of books, stacks of dishes, and wedged together art can eat up more time than I have. This change-up in my routine has yielded some great new—though small—finds.
I love finding vintage children’s books, especially ones with great illustrations. I found all of these on one shelf during my last trip to Deseret Industries:
The kids are really drawn to these stories and have been asking me to read them over and over and over. I really don’t mind, especially since most of them are ones that I remember fondly from my childhood. I had forgotten how great the Frances books are! We check out a ton of books from the library, so I’m surprised that it hadn’t occurred to me to look for them there. You can see some of my other favorite children’s books that I’ve collected here and here.
In the housewares department, I found a new sugar bowl—I’ve been looking for one for quite a while. My previous one was top-heavy and the shape didn’t really go with the little creamer that I bought at Goodwill last year. Though I would have loved it if this Mikasa pattern would have been made in white, the black and white combination seems to be a new accidental theme in my kitchen.
Lastly (though there were several nice, but un-blog-worthy finds), look at these Hanna Andersson swedish moccasins. They retail for $18–$22 but I picked these up at Deseret for 50¢ in almost new condition. They are too big for Tula right now (and sadly, too small for me), so I’ll tuck them away for a few years until she can fit into them. It’s always nice to have a little stash of clothes and shoes for those times when I realize that the kids have had a growth-spurt.
Aren’t they a little “Wicked Witch of the East” looking? I adore them! It seems that this pattern is no longer available, and the ones that are on their site now are a little boring. I’m so glad to have run across them.
[ PATRICK’S DAY JOB ]
I’ve mentioned before that Patrick and I are both graphic designers, but I wanted to share this behind the scenes video of one aspect of Patrick’s job as Art Director for our church.
So what does this have to do with thrifting? One of the “posters” in the video is an image of a barren tree. That tree is actually a bonsai tree that was purchased for the shoot. It had all of its leaves trimmed off, so we have adopted the tree, and are currently nursing it back to health with what little sunshine we can provide it. I found a great container at Deseret Industries for $2 to transplant it into, we just need to figure out some drainage first.
Also, I just wanted to share my husband’s hard work. If you want to see more of his design, you can visit our other site The Mahoney.
![[ HANGING POSTERS ]
I’m really loving these bulldog clips, and seem to be finding lots of little uses around the house for them. I even use one to attach Alden’s blanket “cape” to his shirt yesterday when he was playing King & Queen with Tula. My favorite new use for them, though, is hanging posters.
Alden received this fabulous luche libre print, by the Bungaloo, from his Aunt and Uncle for Christmas. Instead of having it framed, which would cost a ton more and taken me an unforeseeable amount of time to get around to, I simply attached a bulldog clip on the top and one on the bottom and then hung it on a nail.
The posters on each side of the wrestler print are from the Gig Posters Vol. 1 book that we bought a few years ago. If you are looking for inexpensive art for your walls, this book is great. Each of the nearly 200 pages has a nice sized poster that is perforated so it can be easily torn out. For Alden’s room I chose (with his approval) a Kanye West poster from our friends over at Invisible Creature, and a Ben Harper poster from Furturtle Show Prints.
What I love about this project is that it is simple enough and fast enough that I can change it on a whim. More art can be added easily, or we can switch out the posters that are being displayed. Larger sized posters can be hung by two clips on the top, too. I’m trying to restrain myself from hanging these all over the house, but the clips are so cheap, it’s hard to resist.
Oh, lastly, check out Alden’s new organized shelves! We used some Christmas money to buy some storage for his room (which lacks a closet), and I spent a whole day cleaning and organizing his space. His room was getting seriously out of control… like to the point of not really wanting to go in there, so we’re all relieved to have this project tackled.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lehifp4kOk1qc7v1bo1_500.jpg)
[ HANGING POSTERS ]
I’m really loving these bulldog clips, and seem to be finding lots of little uses around the house for them. I even use one to attach Alden’s blanket “cape” to his shirt yesterday when he was playing King & Queen with Tula. My favorite new use for them, though, is hanging posters.
Alden received this fabulous luche libre print, by the Bungaloo, from his Aunt and Uncle for Christmas. Instead of having it framed, which would cost a ton more and taken me an unforeseeable amount of time to get around to, I simply attached a bulldog clip on the top and one on the bottom and then hung it on a nail.
The posters on each side of the wrestler print are from the Gig Posters Vol. 1 book that we bought a few years ago. If you are looking for inexpensive art for your walls, this book is great. Each of the nearly 200 pages has a nice sized poster that is perforated so it can be easily torn out. For Alden’s room I chose (with his approval) a Kanye West poster from our friends over at Invisible Creature, and a Ben Harper poster from Furturtle Show Prints.
What I love about this project is that it is simple enough and fast enough that I can change it on a whim. More art can be added easily, or we can switch out the posters that are being displayed. Larger sized posters can be hung by two clips on the top, too. I’m trying to restrain myself from hanging these all over the house, but the clips are so cheap, it’s hard to resist.
Oh, lastly, check out Alden’s new organized shelves! We used some Christmas money to buy some storage for his room (which lacks a closet), and I spent a whole day cleaning and organizing his space. His room was getting seriously out of control… like to the point of not really wanting to go in there, so we’re all relieved to have this project tackled.
![[ 2010 FAMILY CHRISTMAS CARD ]
I was thrilled to find that our cards came a day earlier than expected, so I spent Monday evening thumbing through my address book and licking envelopes. We might have even set a personal record this year for the earliest we’ve ever dropped our cards in the mail (sad, I know).
This year we made our family into a little paper doll set. I know most people probably won’t spend the time required to cut them out and assemble them, but we’ve been having fun with them. We made the front panel of the card work as a stand-alone piece, so it can be cut off and hung up with the rest of the cards without having the paper scraps hanging off the back.
We had to order something like a million of them as a minimum order, so the kids have been coloring and embellishing them. I’ve also been cutting a few of the “Merry Christmas” banners out and using them as tags on gifts. What do you think? Would you cut them out and put them together if you received it?](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ldtjgwlXHm1qc7v1bo1_500.jpg)
[ 2010 FAMILY CHRISTMAS CARD ]
I was thrilled to find that our cards came a day earlier than expected, so I spent Monday evening thumbing through my address book and licking envelopes. We might have even set a personal record this year for the earliest we’ve ever dropped our cards in the mail (sad, I know).
This year we made our family into a little paper doll set. I know most people probably won’t spend the time required to cut them out and assemble them, but we’ve been having fun with them. We made the front panel of the card work as a stand-alone piece, so it can be cut off and hung up with the rest of the cards without having the paper scraps hanging off the back.
We had to order something like a million of them as a minimum order, so the kids have been coloring and embellishing them. I’ve also been cutting a few of the “Merry Christmas” banners out and using them as tags on gifts. What do you think? Would you cut them out and put them together if you received it?
![[ CHRISTMAS CARDS ]
The first wave of Christmas cards arrived in my mailbox yesterday, with more to follow in the next few days and weeks. Patrick and I—two graphic designers who adore the smell of freshly printed Pantone ink on paper—get excited about the possibilities that come along with making a personal family card.
Each year for the past four years, we have done some sort of illustration of our family (last year’s Playmobil family photo is pictured above), and this year’s card will fall in line with the tradition. I have been at work on the sketches for a few weeks, despite the frequent set-back of Alden finding my pencil sketches and tracing them in marker the way only a five-year-old can. Last night, I finally finished the design and passed it off to Patrick to send to the printer. I’m pretty excited about this year’s card, and I’ll share it here when we get it back.
Now I’m working on finding a creative way to display the cards that we receive. I think I have an idea that I’ll post later this week. Are you sending out cards this year?](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ld1lhtmN1t1qc7v1bo1_500.jpg)
[ CHRISTMAS CARDS ]
The first wave of Christmas cards arrived in my mailbox yesterday, with more to follow in the next few days and weeks. Patrick and I—two graphic designers who adore the smell of freshly printed Pantone ink on paper—get excited about the possibilities that come along with making a personal family card.
Each year for the past four years, we have done some sort of illustration of our family (last year’s Playmobil family photo is pictured above), and this year’s card will fall in line with the tradition. I have been at work on the sketches for a few weeks, despite the frequent set-back of Alden finding my pencil sketches and tracing them in marker the way only a five-year-old can. Last night, I finally finished the design and passed it off to Patrick to send to the printer. I’m pretty excited about this year’s card, and I’ll share it here when we get it back.
Now I’m working on finding a creative way to display the cards that we receive. I think I have an idea that I’ll post later this week. Are you sending out cards this year?
![[ A GIFT TOO BIG TO WRAP ]
I love bartering, and while I’ve never been brave enough to give it a go via Craigslist, I have struck several deals with friends and acquaintances. Usually, Patrick or I trade graphic design services for a product or service that we are unable to do ourselves. That’s how I’ve been getting my hair cut and colored this year. We have also just scored free babysitting for quite some time in exchange for designing some wedding invitations for good friends.Recently, Patrick surprised me with a trade so big that I had a hard time believing it could be true. We have some friends that have started up a design and construction company and have agreed to design and build a modern built-in desk for our home office in exchange for some branding and website work. A new desk would be a huge improvement over our current workspace, which is an old hallow-core interior door with some ikea desk legs attached. It’s been functional, but it’s not the sturdiest desk, nor does it give us as much workable area as we’d like.
The new desk was supposed to be a surprise for me for Christmas, but beans were inadvertently spilled. I’m actually thankful that I found out early. Now I get to be part of the brainstorming process. The great thing is that so far Patrick and I agree on every aspect of the desk. I don’t want to reveal the final design yet, but it is going to be big. It will have some of the elements of the desks in the photos: reclaimed wood mixed with white drawers, open cubby sections, and I think it may even have a flip-up bulletin board and some built-in lighting. It’s going to be an “L” shape desk which will give us a ton of space. The only snag we are running into is that because it is going to be permanently attached to both the wall and the floor, we need to figure out what we are doing with the carpet in the office. Right now it is the same cheap beige carpet that is throughout the entire downstairs, only the office is now covered in stains from my unfortunate linseed oil incident.I would like to have something a little thinner so that our chairs can roll easier, but I still want it carpeted so that it isn’t too cold. Ideally, I’d like Flor tiles, but they are so pricey, I don’t know if we can swing it before the desk install. We are debating buying just enough tiles to fit under the desk area, and finishing the rest of the room when we can afford to do so. We also don’t want to do something super low quality, as we don’t to have to replace it anytime soon. Any suggestions?](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ld4wfdp0fb1qc7v1bo1_500.png)
[ A GIFT TOO BIG TO WRAP ]
I love bartering, and while I’ve never been brave enough to give it a go via Craigslist, I have struck several deals with friends and acquaintances. Usually, Patrick or I trade graphic design services for a product or service that we are unable to do ourselves. That’s how I’ve been getting my hair cut and colored this year. We have also just scored free babysitting for quite some time in exchange for designing some wedding invitations for good friends.
Recently, Patrick surprised me with a trade so big that I had a hard time believing it could be true. We have some friends that have started up a design and construction company and have agreed to design and build a modern built-in desk for our home office in exchange for some branding and website work.
A new desk would be a huge improvement over our current workspace, which is an old hallow-core interior door with some ikea desk legs attached. It’s been functional, but it’s not the sturdiest desk, nor does it give us as much workable area as we’d like.
The new desk was supposed to be a surprise for me for Christmas, but beans were inadvertently spilled. I’m actually thankful that I found out early. Now I get to be part of the brainstorming process. The great thing is that so far Patrick and I agree on every aspect of the desk. I don’t want to reveal the final design yet, but it is going to be big. It will have some of the elements of the desks in the photos: reclaimed wood mixed with white drawers, open cubby sections, and I think it may even have a flip-up bulletin board and some built-in lighting. It’s going to be an “L” shape desk which will give us a ton of space.
The only snag we are running into is that because it is going to be permanently attached to both the wall and the floor, we need to figure out what we are doing with the carpet in the office. Right now it is the same cheap beige carpet that is throughout the entire downstairs, only the office is now covered in stains from my unfortunate linseed oil incident.
I would like to have something a little thinner so that our chairs can roll easier, but I still want it carpeted so that it isn’t too cold. Ideally, I’d like Flor tiles, but they are so pricey, I don’t know if we can swing it before the desk install. We are debating buying just enough tiles to fit under the desk area, and finishing the rest of the room when we can afford to do so. We also don’t want to do something super low quality, as we don’t to have to replace it anytime soon. Any suggestions?
![[ DICK BRUNA BOOKS ]
We are big fans of Dick Bruna’s work, so it’s always fun to find one of his picture books at the thrift store. We already have a few books from his most famous series, “Miffy,” but this was one I hadn’t seen before. The Little Bird was was first published in 1959, and is filled with Bruna’s beautifully simple illustrations and limited color palette.
So far, we have only collected his children’s books, but I would love to have any one of his other 2,000 book titles which he designed.
Want to learn more about Dick Bruna? Read this fantastic interview with the then 80-year-old Dutchman, then go check out a few of his picture books from the library.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lbdex7ctVn1qc7v1bo1_500.jpg)
[ DICK BRUNA BOOKS ]
We are big fans of Dick Bruna’s work, so it’s always fun to find one of his picture books at the thrift store. We already have a few books from his most famous series, “Miffy,” but this was one I hadn’t seen before. The Little Bird was was first published in 1959, and is filled with Bruna’s beautifully simple illustrations and limited color palette.
So far, we have only collected his children’s books, but I would love to have any one of his other 2,000 book titles which he designed.
Want to learn more about Dick Bruna? Read this fantastic interview with the then 80-year-old Dutchman, then go check out a few of his picture books from the library.
