I just love thrift store shopping. My mom took me as a kid. I loved it then and I still love it now. Thankfully I have some really great stores in my area. for the most part, each of the towns, no matter what direction I go, has thrift stores and my going to town always means I’m stopping at one of them.
So many people tell me that the reason they don’t like thrift shopping is that they don’t find anything. For me, that’s not a problem. For the most part, I shop with everyone in my family in mind. Carver could use a few pairs of jeans for when school starts in the fall. I love all things crafty. Buck was looking for a Dutch oven. So with all of that in mind, it’s easy to find things.
Here are some of my finds over the last few weeks…There has been a lot of fabric at the thrift store lately and I love it. These were all 1 1/2 yard pieces. I love grabbing these.
There were also these three panels.
They are the same panel only different in color. Two were $1 each and the other was $2. I can never figure out their pricing. I bought them all. I kept one and passed others on and hopefully, they will be charity quilts one day.
I picked up these pieces. On the right are all flannel pieces or sweatshirt pieces. They will go for layettes. I kept the $5 batik and that was already used as a part of the quilt back for my Garlic Knots quilt.
This was my haul from another day…The one floral is a feed sack. I paid 50 cents for it!!
The pink is sweatshirt fabric and will go to Carolyn to be made into sweatshirts for baby care kits. I think it was $2 for the chunk. I thought I’d send the Frozen fabric to the Cresco ladies to use for a backing. The others were just small pieces of fabric, 50 cents each that I’ll add to my stash.
I scored on Rick Rack. I pick this up and pass this on to a friend. I did keep a few that I plan to use in finishing some projects of my own.
Kayla told me to be on the lookout for these little frames and boy did I ever score!!
All of these for $2. Kayla resells these in her Etsy shop.
I also scored some sheets. The bottom gray ones are flannel and will be used for baby kits. They will be turned into diapers. The others are cotton and will be quilt backs. I keep an eye open for me and for the Cresco Ladies.
I often find deals like this…50 cents for vacuum cleaner bags that fit my vacuum. There were 8 in the package. Something like this, I buy whether I currently NEED bags or not. This time I was actually down to two bags so it was a good time to buy more, especially for only 50 cents.
I’ve been looking for a few Ken dolls. They rarely have them at the thrift store but this day they had four. I bought three of them. I’m so happy to have found them. The after-school girls like to play Barbies and Carver likes to play. Previously I only had one “Ken”. Now there are more. These were 50 cents each. I found a brown-haired Barbie and Barbie clothes too!
For less than the price of one Barbie at the store, I got four dolls and three bags full of clothes!
I found fabric more fabric to send to Carolyn for baby gowns.
I got this bag of balls to have to add to my dough bowl if I need fillers. It was $1.50.
I bought this sewing basket for $2.
I’m debating about using it to keep a cross-stitch project in here that uses floss on spools…hmm. For now, it’s in my sewing room.
I also picked up this little box. It was $2. I’d love to find something to stitch and attach to the top. I love stitching samplers but I also love all of the little do-dads like this little box that can add to the whole sampler wall area of cross stitch.
It will likely get painted before I attach anything to it.
Here is my haul the last time I went. No fabric this time! I bought a coloring book and stencil for the kiddos. Two fresh rolls of scotch tape were only 25 cents for the two. I found a gown for the baby kits. I bought two small embroidery hoops, 25 cents each and two skeins of embroidery floss for 10 cents each. It’s all a strange collection…
I found linens. I have something in the mind for the linens. Who knows if I’ll ever get to it.
I was happy to find a brand new microwave popcorn popper. I have the smaller version which I have loved. I typically eat two batches though so having the bigger one is perfect. It was $1.50.
I just never know what I’m going to find when I go. The possibilities are really endless.
I was talking to my sister one day and she asked why I thought I liked thrifting so much. I told her if I go to any Walmart in my area, they pretty much all have the same thing. If I go to any chain stores…it’s all the same and there is little fun in that.
If I go to the thrift store, the offerings change daily and for some, even hourly. I can afford anything in the store. It’s the only store I can walk into and feel rich! I’m sure there are some of you who thrift and can totally relate. For those of you who don’t, thanks for tolerating all of us who do.
Yep, I’d rather go to a thrift store, than a fancy boutique, you never know what you’ll find, and you can certainly afford what you do find. But you are the queen!
I volunteer at a thrift shop that benefits Hope Hospice and I always shop there before going to a regular store for almost my needs and wants. Saved me money and benefits a wonderful cause.
Wow! You made out like a bandit! Great thrifting. My DH and I go out every couple weeks or so and hit 4 or 5 stores but I don’t see deals like you found. DH found a rice cooker the other day and bought it for $4. He was all excited to try it. Well today he boxed it back up and will re-thrift it. He said he could boil rice and have it stick to the bottom of the pan as easily as with the rice cooker . LOL.
An Instant Pot is the way to go for cooking rice. It’s perfect every time!!
As my mother always said about me , put you in a thrift shop and you were as happy as a pig in muck. She was right, I can get lost for hours. Just love it. Even when we are on holiday in Malta I go routing and often come home with linens in my suitcase.
I agree. Every time I go into a thrift store it is like a treasure hunt!
I’m not a thrift store shopper, but I am a donor. Reading your posts made me rethink what I donate. Nothing is ever too small or inconsequential anymore. Sometimes my husband tells me to just throw this or that away and I assure him that someone will buy it! He ordered some wildflower seeds from Amazon this spring and mistakenly bought perennial instead of annual. I told him we could take them to St. Vincent and he just shook his head. He just doesn’t understand.
Someone would totally buy it! I am positive. I’m sure there’s the perfect person who would love to have it.
I absolutely love going to thrift stores too. I find things that stores no longer stock but that I want. Probably 75% of my very extensive stash is from thrift stores. Recently I bought neutral civil war reproduction fabric 10 yards for $3.99. This isn’t an uncommon thing for me either, I buy huge amounts of name brand fabrics for under $5, I get positively giddy when I find these beautiful buys. So I will continue going to thrift stores forever.
Mine is mostly thrifted too!! I get Giddy the same way!!
I so wish I could go “thrifting ” with you! What fun!
I love going to thrift stores, too. I always look for all sorts of things— old linens, vintage appliances, and unique old-fashioned kitchen gadgets that my son, an industrial design professor, loves to see. Sometimes I go with a mission–i.e., a coffee grinder or a pillow for my dog’s bed. And regardless, I always find a treasure. Lately, my local thrift shop has had 100-watt incandescent light bulbs, a vanishing find that gives me joy. It’s a cheap guilty pleasure for sure!
I love thrift store shopping! My husband used to call them junk stores, but now he likes that I shop at them.
Recently I’ve bought him like new name brand dress shirts and pants for $1 each. He’s told me not to buy them new but go see if the thrift store has any.
I spent many hours with my mom at our local flea market as a young teen. We had a booth every Saturday. I loved it! We also went yardsaling. Her eye for a good buy for resale would have fit in perfectly with today’s crop of resellers. I try to only go thrifting if there is something specific I need. Or, if I feel a heavenly nudge. Which has happened more than once and always netted me something wonderful. Blessings!
I love thrifting but in my area we only have big name thrifting and the prices are not at all like yours. Seldom find any good fabric. Still, I like to go and see what I can get. Last fall I got my best find- a Cherry Ethan Allen cabinet to store quilts. It’s in pretty good shape but I think the price was low because it’s big and heavy! We got it here but my husband says hes not moving it again!
Nice thrift haul, Jo! I wouldn’t say that I love thrifting, but I do like it very much. The last time I went I found a modern art print for $2.99 that I thought would look great in DS2’s area of the house. He liked it for a pop of color. I told him if it didn’t work in the space, we could just donate it back!
I don’t need much but I enjoy looking for others. Wood 2 drawer file cabinet for a granddaughter, stainless steel electric fry pan for a cousin. (no lid but she had a lid that fit perfectly) 2 pair shoes for myself & a dress I wore to a grandson’s wedding (got tons of compliments on it). Curtains for 2 bedrooms & our living room. Name brand cookware. Jewelry (oh the jewelry !) Winter dress coat. Granddaughter takes pictures as a side hustle and I’ve found props for her. Cast iron Dutch oven still in box. Fun fun fun !
Thrifting is the ultimate recycling. Just think if all that “stuff” went straight to the dump. We think we have a problem now with garbage now. It would be way worse with the thrift things added too.
I love to find someone’s recycled fabric like flour sacks or just any leftover fabric. I also pick up lots of the embroidered items that our Moms, Grandmothers, Aunts, etc. made. Those take lots of time to make and then someone gets rid of them for like a quarter. When I’m gone, I don’t want my “stash” just thrown away. Someone will love getting it.
I’m one of the ones that can never seem to find anything, at least not anything I want enough to buy. I’m always amazed at what you seem to pick up at your thrift stores( here in Australia they’re called op shops – short for opportunity shop).Maybe I need to have a look with different eyes…
Jo,
please republish the names of groups who will take quilt tops and finish them.
Thanks from Maryanne Comly
cultiv8or@hotmail.com
Jo, if you go to the top of the bog you will see a link for quilt donations. There are over 30 individuals listed that accept donations of quilt tops, blocks, etc.
Maryanne, if you go to the top of the blog you will find a link titled “quilt donations”. There are over 30 individuals listed that will take donations. Awesome group of people.
OMG, I can’t believe all of the stuff you find at thrift stores – and the prices! These finds do not exist in my area at all! I absolutely LOVE that sewing box! I have been looking for that exact style box in any color for so long now. Would you consider selling it?
I do like a good thrift store find. You made a nice haul with some great bargains for sure. The popcorn popper is interesting. Might have to research that and keep my eyes open for one here.
You got such a deal on the microwave corn popper – Amazon has it for $19.99!
Yours is the first blog I actually enjoy reading and can relate to! I had just returned from a fun thrift store run, when I saw this message . I’m always looking for books , fabric, or kitchen stuff. But you never know what you’ll come across for 25 cents! Have a great day.