Thrifty Finds: BOSTONS!

Every thrifter has a wishlist, a collection of items they are always on the lookout for when they embark on their adventures in thrifting. Over the course of my thrifting career, there have been some pretty standard items on my personal wishlist: vintage pieces of Fiesta, green swirl Owens-Illinois depression canisters, and McCoy pottery. Then I happened upon this image in 2008:

via Retro Renovation

A freaking wall of dog paint-by-numbers. A wall of them. I tend to be in general awe of gallery walls, but was particularly infatuated with the portrait in the right hand corner, a paint-by-number Boston Terrier. And thus began my obsession. 

So, yeah. Nearly four years of searching. I scoured eBay, repeatedly checked my local thrift stores, and set all my thifting family and friends on high alert. The closest I ever came was on eBay, where the paintings - there are two of them - would go for upwards of sixty dollars or more. I finally decided, after having lost out on one of the paintings earlier this fall, that I was going to take the next auction seriously. A paint-by-number Boston would be mine. 

And there hasn't been a single one listed. Not on eBay, not on etsy, not anywhere. 

And then! And then! I was in TFA The Future Antiques this weekend and THERE. THEY. WHERE.  Two of them, in beautiful condition, for not exactly cheap but not anywhere near the upper limits of what I was willing to pay. In fact, they were asking for both what I was willing to pay for one. I would like to say I handled the find like an adult, gracefully picking them up and placing them beneath my arm. Rather there may have been the flapping of hands, perhaps a bit of a happy dance, and perhaps even some whooping. And so goes it when a thrifter finds an item from their wishlist. 

 

Now to find frames and figure out where they will live. I think I was so convinced I would never ever find them that I haven't considered where they will live in my house.  Also: Excuse the funky iPhone photo. I need to get my DSLR back in regular rotation. 

Oh, and blog more. Hm.