The other day when I was trying to find a match for my wreath fabric, it just so happened that both fabric stores were in the vicinity of two major thrift shops. I love a great deal and while some get their fix at the mall, for me it’s Kijiji and thrift shops. I was already out and the bonus was that I had no family with me, so I was able to make the pit stops and check-out what the local thrift stores had in stock.  Between the two stores, I spent $35, but I am so impressed with what I got that I just had to share.

Keys to Thrift Shopping

I try to go every few weeks or so, as stock is constantly changing. I often have a list of specific things I am looking for, but when I don’t I am always looking for items that are well made, sturdy and have a nice shape or design element.  Generally, I peruse the following:

• furniture (I rarely find good deals, but always look. I find that many of the items are over priced based on their condition and quality).
• glass wear ~ I can often find things like vases, decorative “jars” with lids, pedestals, etc.
• wooden accessories ~ salt and pepper mills, spoon racks, serving trays, fruit bowls, etc.
• wrought iron

Saturday’s Thrift Shop Finds:

This was purchased at my first stop for $25. I got three great wrought iron pieces. The top left piece is a stand for a plant pot and the two below are wall mount plant holders. All of the pieces are well made and very sturdy.  I also picked up a great molded picture frame. I will be painting this out at some point, but don’t have a specific plan for it. Just loved the size and shape. I got a set of three matching pedestals of varying heights and a glass bowl. I love setting a nice table with a tiered look, so these pedestals will come in handy. I think they might actually be candle holders, but they are completely flat on top, so they can serve a variety of uses. I already have a plan for the little “welcome” sign. I love the shape of the wood and it will save me some time and energy.

When I stopped at the second thrift shop, I picked up the following items.

The first little collection is a set of things I bought for school. I am in the midst of creating a Boston Pizza center in my classroom. I plan to convert my play kitchen into a pizza center and went thrift shopping specifically to find wooden serving trays or dishes. The larger wooden tray is actually some kind of “lazy Susan” gizmo. It actually has a base that rotates. I am not sure, but regardless of what it is/was, I will be removing the base and converting this into a “medium” pizza for my center. The little set next to it “killed two birds with one stone” so to speak. The handle can be removed from the middle and the wooden base will become my “small” pizza. The salt and pepper shakers will be used on the table in the “pizza restaurant”.  The second photo shows a large wicker tray. I was specifically looking for something to sit under our fig tree pot. It has a very large pot and it is difficult to find a base that is big enough. This tray is huge and I am not exactly sure how it will look, but for a few bucks I thought it was worth a try.

Macklemore’s Thrift Shop ~ A Parody

When I was planning this post, it made me think about when this song came out. I loved this song when it was first released and my kids seemed surprised that I let them listen to it.  I knew there was some offensive “language”, but I had heard worse. It wasn’t until weeks later when I was singing in the car, that my daughter rolled her eyes and asked….”What are you singing?” I replied, “What come on sing-a-long….”this is TEAM awesome”!  She proceeded to explain to me that the song did not say TEAM awesome, but something far less appropriate. Oh. I shouldn’t actually be too surprised by my lyrical mishap as I am actually quite notorious for this. In fact, it wasn’t more than a few years ago that I learned that there was a song called “Dude Dresses Like a Lady”. Now just imagine my surprise when I thought back to my youth and how I had loved to sing along while “Do the Lucky Lady!” played on the car radio. Ugh. I really should just stick to listening to my pod casts and not even try to be “hip”.  I thought you might enjoy this Macklemore Parody.  (Not squeaky clean, but not too bad.)

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