Thrift Shops and Birthdays

It's been a busy week that started with a trip up to Port Washington to visit Beth in her new apartment, explore her new neighborhood, and hit up some thrift shops.  Downtown Port is quite adorable, and I'm sure Beth is going to love how walkable the area is because I know we both miss that aspect of Oshkosh.  We stumbled into a new little vintage shop called Mobocracy which had some great clothes and custom jewelry.

We did make it to the Saint Vinny's thrift store, but I only found one thing I couldn't live with - a floral enamel pot I plan to use for removing used postage stamps from old envelopes.

Then yesterday was H's birthday and we made and decorated some cupcakes.

The inspiration came from these frog cupcakes from a Disney Princess cupcake book and I think the girls made some adorable frogs.

But Miss H had some other ideas.

Today Tia is coming over for lunch and I'm planning a solo jaunt for some errands tomorrow and hopefully I'll have enough time to swing by another thrift store, what can I say - I'm a little predictable. 

Thrift store hopping and hoping

Well, it's a new year and now that the rush of all the holidays is over I've been settling into our home routine.  But to be honest it feels like it's missing a bit of something.

And I'm fairly certain the missing factor is thrift shopping, estate sale browsing and yard sale hopping.  With all the gearing up for the holiday and gift shopping I had to forgo the occasional thrift store stop, and the thrill of the hunt just wasn't there.  Seeing as it is winter in Wisconsin there certainly won't be yard sales any time soon and while I've already made plans for this year's 100-mile-yard-sale that's still months away.

In the meantime I'll go out this Friday with Beth to some stores a few towns over and hope to have good luck...and a good lunch!

Thrifter's Toolbox

There are so many aspects that I love about shopping secondhand.  I have a chance to find quirky, and even new, craft supplies.  Brand new red fun fur yarn for fifty cents a skein? Yes, please.  The options for vintage accessories at low prices are plentiful if you're willing to look.  And it always feels good to give an unwanted object a second life.  On the eve of my great jaunt across Wisconsin to attend the 100-Mile Yard Sale, I've decided to share some thrifty tips.

My favorite haunts include the usual suspects - Goodwill, Salvation Army and St. John Vianney Thrift stores as well as estate and yard sales.  I have a lot of tips for how to choose a good thrift store or sale, but today I'm sharing the tips of the things I use to find the diamonds in the rough.  These are the things in my traveling toolbox, do you use anything I might need to add to it?

Traveling Toolbox
- Sewer's Measuring Tape - after all, you should know if that bookcase is going to fit in your house... or even your car, and all rolled up the tape fits in your pocket
- Magnet - let's you know what is plain metal and what might be more
- Wet Wipes - I keep these in my car because one never knows what sticky substance you'll find on your fingers after rummaging
- Bags - self-explanitory
- Socks - if you're ever going to try on shoes, you're going to need socks.
- Water Bottle and Snacks - these are especially good to have when hopping between yard sales or even thrift stores as they'll save you a pricey lunch.
- Sunscreen - what can I say?  I burn easily and when I'm out at yard sales, I'll be spending a lot of time under the sun.
- Cash - always cash, always small bills, always makes it easier.  It also helps me keep a budget, plus I always know if I find something ridiculously amazing there's gotta be an ATM nearby.

Those are all the things I carry with me on a regular basis while I'm thrifting.  If you've got any extra tips, I'm always eager to learn.

Adventures in Thrift Land

Because we are terrible at reading calendars we mistakenly thought today was the 50% off sale at the Habitat ReStore (it's actually next Saturday) and made a trip out to Wauwatosa to see if there was anything we desperately needed for the house we're still trying to buy.  While there wasn't anything we needed to pick up for the house we did have some great little finds, and now I know where I'll be picking up a sink for my often dreamed of dark room.

I had a little thrill when I saw this box on the shelf among the other hardware.  Not only am I a sucker for great vintage packaging, but one of my littlest cousins is named Atlas and when we come across fun things with his name on it we like to pick them up to give to his parents and while these aren't exactly practical I also needed nails this size, so they had to come home with us.  I picked a couple other things, but since they're gifts I'll wait to share those.

After lunch we decided to drop by Goodwill where I found these fun little vintage ornaments.  I have a soft spot for Shiny Brite christmas ornaments, and while only the seven blue ones on the right are actual Shiny Brite, but for just 49 cents I can deal with a few duds.

Today is an easy day

Today, Richard and I have no real plans... at least for the morning.  He's heading off to his friend Michael's place for what I'm sure is an afternoon full of video games.  Meanwhile I'm meeting up with Beth to go for a bit of thrifting and a visit to our new Woodman's market.

For now, since I've already been up for hours, I should probably get some breakfast and start the laundry.  I love lazy Saturdays.

Thrifted Finds: A $2 Trip

A couple weeks ago during a thrift run at the 91st Street Goodwill I came upon these three strange creatures that just couldn't be left behind.  Besides these three that I came home with there was a plethora of other generic ceramic items colored in varying shades of talent and once I came across plates with swatches of glaze and numbers written below I could only assume some paint-your-own pottery place had cleaned out its back room of unclaimed merchandise.

First there was this tiny elephant bank which I figured was a steal at 49 cents.

Next was another 49 cent bargain - the fish who is apparently an ash tray, and I'm not sure what I'll use him for, but he was just too intriguing to leave behind.  Perhaps I'll perch some small figurine on his lip, about to be swallowed whole.

And then of course there was the matador, in all his 99 cent glory, who put me up to my self imposed limit of $2.

These three creatures plus a lovely shade of red spray paint will make for some nice tschokies on the shelf above my desk.  I plan on putting the elephant bank to good use as a savings place for my travel fund change.  Hopefully the next trip he will help to fund will be a train trip someplace south with Jennie.