M is for the Many Things Goodwill Gives Us

That’s right, this is another Goodwill bin post.  Even with garage sales, we just can’t stay away.

First, though, we have a giveaway.  Kathy found several packs of these Arm & Hammer bird cards that were premiums.  I love the set’s title—Useful Birds of America:

The cards measure 3 × 2.75 inches and there are 15 different birds; for some reason, this set has a duplicate Downy Woodpecker card.  According to sellers on Etsy, the cards are from the 1930s.  You know us, we are suckers for paper ephemera, and we hope some of you are, too.  To enter the drawing, like this post or leave a comment.  You can also like this post’s FB link or comment there.  The drawing will be held 5/19/17 at 8:30 pm MDT.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled post.

Elvis is in the house, the big house:

This caught our eye when we walked into bin heaven a couple of weeks ago.  It’s a huge piece of fabric.  We’re not sure what mere mortals would do with it, but I’m sure a real Elvis fan could make a bedspread out of it.

I’m not even sure what kind of flower this is supposed to be:

By the shape of the flower, but not the leaves, it looks like a pink daffodil.  The nub behind the open flower either looks like an unopened poppy, or a tulip minus the petals.  The leaves look kind of like tulip leaves, but that is a piss-poor rendition of a tulip.  It kind of looks like an apple blossom, but the leaves are all wrong.  Quite frankly, this is a mess despite the label on the back.  I can’t remember if it was Lefton, or another major maker, but they should be ashamed!  Calling this a decorative piece is awfully misleading, and 50¢ is reaching.

OMG, this was never good:

Thank goodness those wide plastic belts were only popular for about ten minutes in the 1980s.  This might be one of the ugliest examples I have ever seen.

Well, what a way to welcome in the New Year:

The one on the left makes my blood run cold.  Why would you ever want to spend New Year’s Eve with a, gasp, clown?  Even a vintage clown is still a bad clown.  Brrrr.

This made me laugh:

I like this sandal, so it’s a good thing that the brand is deb.  The bad thing about finding a nice shoe in the bins is that you rarely can find its mate.  We have spent many fruitless mornings searching through giant bins looking for a shoe or sock (we have found a single SmartWool sock more than once).

How long has this crewel bear been hanging around someone’s house?

It’s actually kind of cute in a saccharine way, but it would work in a baby’s room.  We found the bear first, and then the frame with the next pass through the bin.

I know that one of my bad-craft books has this pattern:

   

Holy 1960s craft woman!  Why, oh why, would you ever make this?  Again, you could probably inflict it on a small child, but there will be a price to pay later in therapy.  If that’s your plan, go for broke and make a matching clown.

Wishing all you moms a wonderful Mother’s Day.  Hope your family showers you with all the love and pampering that can be worked into a day, or a year.

 

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