I am a thrift shopper and proud of it. I am the kind of person who thinks if you can get it cheaper why pay more. I'm also a person who enjoys discovery and thrift stores are often places of discovery. In talking to some friends, I realized many people associate thrift stores with clothing, but there is so much more! Read on to discover ten other things you might never have thought of finding at thrift stores.
1. Storage. This is by far one of my favorite things to find at thrift stores, especially having two daughters and myriads of small items they interact with. I bought the above Pet Shop case for $2; it retails for $35. (Several of her pets also came from thrift stores).
My daughter also likes Squinkies, these little rubber toys. She has at least 34 of these things. Most of those (and their accessories) have come from thrift or eBay. While I was out one day at a thrift shop I happened upon the above Squinkie cake that holds tons of Squinkies (it's sparse because she was playing with most of them when I took this picture :-D). Yay! Somewhere to store those tiny toys so they don't get lost. This cake is no longer available in stores. I paid $2.49 for this; it's offered for $15-$25 on Amazon and eBay.
For storage, think outside the box! (No pun intended). My daughter loves art. She loves to color, draw, cut, tape, glue, as she says, "Make crafts!" We recently found the above carrying case. It was made for makeup, as it had some makeup powder residue in it, but it hit me when I saw it, "What a great case for art supplies!" I bought it, took it home, wiped the inside down, then put in her art supplies. It holds her crayons, markers, color wonder markers, stickers (front zippered pouch), glue, scissors, tape, colored tape, pencil box, paint box. I'm going to add doodling pads. There are also pockets on the sides that I forsee holding sequins, pipe cleaners and other art items. Best of all, it's portable! This was $3.99. On the Justice site, with makeup, this item retails for $35.
I can't take credit for this next one. I read about this idea online. And I actually bought this case at Walmart, not a thrift store. However, I am pairing it with what follows. And I am sure you could find something like this at a thrift store, I just didn't look that day. Anyway, this is a case that I found that has movable dividers. It holds my daughters' LEGOs and keeps them separated by color (or object). Storing them like this makes it so much easier for her to find the piece she is looking for. (The section on the far lower right is for creations she doesn't want to break down, yet). I can tell you, this has increased her LEGO playtime. Now that it is so easy to find what she wants she is more motivated.
Along with the case, I saw this idea of storing instruction manuals in a picture photo album. I found this one at a thrift store for $0.99.
2. Purses, Bags, Wallets, Suitcases. Most thrift stores are chock-full of these items including kids' backpacks and lunch bags. Yes, some of them may have been used a lot and not in great condition, but often they are in
great condition. You can find popular brands on the cheap. I already have a lot of bags so I don't buy these items, but I see them all the time and I am often impressed with the perfect condition of them. I did buy a small card wallet recently to hold my credit card, license and library card that I am always digging for in my purse. Genuine leather for $0.99.
3. Shoes. Now, this is one item they often tell you not to buy at a thrift store since you don't know who was in those shoes and what they might have had on their feet. That said, you can find shoes that have
never been worn at thrift stores. One day I walked into my favorite thrift store and they had boxes and boxes of children's sneakers on sale. I don't know where they came from, but they were brand new. I found the above dress sandals for my daughter. They look worn now as she's been wearing them for months, but when I got them they were pristine. I snapped them up when I saw them. $2.99 for stylish dress sandals.
4. Dishes, Glasses, Silverware, and More. Seriously, any kind of table item you can think of you can find in a thrift store. Often you can find entire sets of dishes and silverware. I am sure there are vintage finds, too, though I'm not a vintage shopper so I couldn't identify them. I found the above plates for my daughter. Cute and we use them all the time. I think they were taped together and were like $1.99.
5. Appliances. I've actually never bought an appliance at a thrift store, mainly because I haven't found any I need. But I know people who have and they love them. You might as well give it a shot if you are looking for something.
6. Homeschool items. Alright, this one is so outside the box, but the second one I love. I am starting homeschooling this year and have kept an eye out over the last couple years for educational items. I found the file folder games above, language arts for 1st and 2nd grade. These were $4.99 a piece, but worth it as each retails for $14.99 to $17.99 at teacher stores. The book I found is by H. A. Rey, author of Curious George, only this one is called Find the Constellations and introduces children to the night sky. I got that one for $0.99. I also have found little books for early readers, not to mention workbooks on various subjects.
The above was one exciting find! When I taught preschool we had these hanging pocket charts that you could so all kinds of things with--letter ordering, number ordering, colors, simple sentences, introducing vocabulary, math equations and so on, whatever you can come up with. But those are pretty big and I don't have anywhere to put that in our home. I was thrifting one day and low and behold stumbled upon the above--a portable pocket chart. This thing has a pocket and you can fold it around so it stands up. Perfect for our table. I paid $1.99. Retail? Anywhere between $20-$25.
And guess what? Whoever had owned the pocket chart left this in it! A handmade number place teaching tool. Seriously. Too awesome a find!
7. Books and DVDs. Thrift stores have tons of books. I usually read on my Kindle if given an option, but children's books are another matter. Alexis loves books. Above is her most recent find. This book has a fun paper flashlight that helps you solve a mystery with Sergeant Sally on special pages. Alexis loves it. Paid $1.99, retails $12.99.
These are examples of DVDs I have found. I gave Alexis the Blue's Clues one last year. She loves it and still watches it often. I found the other recently. We already have one Praise Baby DVD. These DVDs are a little like the Baby Einstein ones only they are set to praise music. This one is the Christmas edition. Paid $1, retails $10-$15 dollars.
8. Games and Puzzles. We always go to the beach sometime in the summer and I am always on the lookout for things to play with when it rains or we aren't down at the beach. The puzzle on the left is a Melissa and Doug magnet fishing puzzle. It didn't have its fishing pole, but that was fine as we already have a magnetic fishing pole. This is an older puzzle you can't find anymore, but there is another version that retails for $10-$15. I also picked up the game Spot It, Jr. completely new in a sealed box for $0.99! Retails for $8-$10. I have found other games as well. One of Alexis' favorites is Moose in the House. It's a hysterical game and is small and travels easily.
9. Toys. If your child likes a certain toy, I recommend going to thrift/consignment stores and seeing if they have it. I swear the bulk of Alexis' toys that I have gotten come from those stores. Kids truly don't care where toys come from, just that they get to play with them. You can find large toys and small toys. I have found Littlest Pet Shop lots for $0.99, Squinkies for the same, a Groovy Girl mermaid with the tag still on for the same, Duplos in bulk for $1.99 and so on. Above are two play sets I picked up. They were both only cents. One is an actual Squinkie castle (the top is missing, Alexis could care less). The other is an ocean set for Zoobles, but I bought it for Alexis last summer when we went to the beach. The Squinkie capsules are the perfect size and shape to roll down the slide. (Sidenote, Alexis just discovered Zoobles. I have a couple for her for our vacation; each I bought for $0.25 and each retails for $5-$10).
Can't forget my new little one! I found the above for my baby this summer. A cute whale that has a book on the bottom and the tags still on and an Usborne board book.
10. Holiday Items. If you want to decorate your house for Christmas or find a Halloween costume or buy holiday gifts for teachers, go thrifting! You can find anything and everything. You will find boxed ornaments, holiday lights, Halloween buckets and bags, Easter buckets, plastic eggs, crafts for any holiday, etc. Just go around the time of the holiday and you will find a treasure trove of items. One example is the barn above that I bought for my mom's Christmas village. It was in perfect condition and absolutely adorable. I also have started a tradition where I read a new book every Sunday of advent. You can easily find holiday books at thrift stores. Two amazing finds were two Robert Subuda Christmas books. They are gorgeous pop up books that retail for $20-$30 and I didn't pay more than $1.99.
So there you go! Ten things beyond clothing that you can find at thrift stores. I'm sure there are more. Leave a comment and let me know what
your most unique or exciting find was!
0 comments:
Post a Comment