A New Collection...

Brady and I have been on a fairly strict budget for the last few months but this week we splurged on our date night and I took a few trips to the thrift store for some specific items needed around the Keene-Carrington casa.  And, oh, I'm so glad I did the latter!  While I'm not a big collector of things outside of basic cardigans, vintage aprons, commemorative plates and any/all books, I now have a new thing in my life...vintage lapel pins!

I stumbled across several of them tucked behind some dusty, gaudy costume jewelry and for a quarter a piece I just couldn't say no...

I just love this funny dog portrait...and the details are quite extraordinary...

These state lapel pins are already adorning a vintage jean jacket (found for $1 during the same thrifting trip).  I plan to find one for every state!  I hope they'll all fit...

By the way, I didn't realize how gnarly my cuticles looked until I saw these pictures.  I've been treating them with rose oil and they now look much better.  Baking is tough on one's hands...

And this little one was worn on my date night.  I got lots of compliments even though it's only the size of my thumbnail...

My brooch/ring/pin storage box is now something to behold.  Maybe I have a bit more of a collection than I originally thought, eh?

If you're interested in how I made my jewelry storage box then see the pre-good-camera tutorial here.  You can also see some of my brooch selections here.