My Kind Of Black Friday Shopping

Hello! I've never been one to participate in the big Black Friday sales, but now that some of the local thrift stores have their own Black Friday sales, I'm all in those! 

I visited two such sales last Friday, where clothes and/or housewares had reduced prices for the day. I did check out both categories, but I couldn't resist the already-low prices of various Christmas items, such as:

A vintage Hallmark Beverage Ensemble- 16 coasters and matching napkins. Not sure how old this is, but I'm guessing from the 1960's. Similar NOS (new old stock) sets on eBay go for several dollars more than the one dollar I paid for mine. 

A nice assortment of vintage Christmas craft magazines. The one on the right is the oldest, dating from 1969. The one on the left is the newest; it came out in 1979. The two publications in between are both from 1976. The pieces of paper sticking out of these magazines were used by me to write down the page numbers of projects I may want to try in the future. 

Don't laugh - it's not unusual for me to see projects in these magazines, and realize I'd seen very similar crafts in their present-day counterparts. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that vintage craft magazines are perused by the folks at Martha Stewart Living and all those holiday "special publications" from Better Homes & Gardens to come up with ideas for their own issues. Of course, these modern crafters take advantage of present-day craft supplies when they write up their instructions. Naturally, I do as well.

At any rate, it was fun to look through these magazines; made a Thanksgiving weekend car trip fly by! Not bad for a total of one dollar for all. 

Another possibility for Christmas crafting, this time an older hardcover book:

Leslie Linsley's Christmas Ornaments and Stockings, published in 1982. I've picked up other craft books by this author at secondhand sources over the years. Most of her patterns are full-size, have good directions and are easy to make. This book is no exception; I saw many projects that would still look good today. 

Thus, it was no mystery that I'd fork over 50 cents for this book. What was a mystery to me is how this book ended up in West Michigan. It was once in the collection of the Bayard, Nebraska public library! 

Lest you think I just bought things that are decades old, here's the last purchase from my Black Friday thrift store shopping:

The current issue of Midwest Living magazine. I don't recall what its newsstand price is (maybe $3.99?), but it's certainly more than the quarter I spent! 

Such good deals I found on Black Friday! And just think, the same two thrift stores I visited then will start marking down their Christmas items in a couple of weeks or so. More shopping ahead for me!