Tuesday Treasures - 23, 2024

 Finally... the thrift store drought ended! 

I was ready to walk out of St. Vincent de Paul with nothing when I noticed the back of a mola hanging in the craft and fabric area.  I have a mola that belonged to my grandmother, so I know the backs.

It was priced 75¢!  75¢.  I only had 50¢ cash, and they have a minimum of $5. What was I to do!  I wandered around, found a dog toy for $1, asked my son if he'd found anything (no), and passed by the craft area again, and saw I'd missed another mola, for 75¢!

I'm pretty sure they must be armadillos.  They look like rabbits in helmets.

Okay, I was up to $2.50.  I was willing to donate an additional $2.50 to get these, but looked around for anything to fill the gap.

I ended up with a '50s ceramic spaniel with wonky eyes. 

My other mola is older, brought back from Panama (San Blas Islands) by my paternal grandmother. Oh, what's a mola?

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/the-colorful-history-behind-panamas-mola-180980536/

https://craftatlas.co/crafts/molas

This is the one from my grandmother.  The four-armed figure is Naa Ukuryaa, a symbol of the four cardinal directions.  It can also represent the octopus that created the world, a myth I read about when first researching molas, yet can't find now! 

This older mola has more cut work than the new ones I just bought. 

Such tiny stitches.

It pays to keep going back even after weeks of nothing.