Thrift Store Treasures

This week marked the end of quarter one at our school. So the gals had friday off. We celebrated by having a mom and daughter date. We did our favorite thing: Shop. But we do not shop at regular stores! I love love love saving money. We are thrift store, yardsale and flea market regulars. I buy clothes, shoes, needed dishes, books, gifts, furniture. and jewerly second hand.  We try not to buy things we only want as opposed to need. Sometimes though if something is a great buy I will get it because I "want" it. It was a blessing to spend time with my gals and just enjoy shopping together.

I bought a 1960 lamp ( that I LOVE and need!) for 2.00!. A wall plaque ( a want but I sure love it) for 1.99, Some candle holders. A basket. A beautiful round frame and print for 25 cents. A train set for hubby. Beautiful dishes.

 I want to share about the dishes. We had a dinner for some friends on Friday. I really wanted to decorate for fall. So I went looking for fall themed paper plates. The cheapest fall design paper plates I could find cost $2.99 for 8. I needed at least 12 and dessert plates. Just could not see wasting that kind of money. At the thrift store I found a complete old set of fall themed porciline dishes for $5.00! Serving platter, bowls, salad plates, plates, cups and saucers to serve 8. Not quite enough for my dinner party but a close enough match to mix and match with my white dishes and make it festive.

DD got two pair of jeans for 5.50. This would have cost her 100.00 brand new. A pair of vans. A beautiful bird cage for $3.00.

My younger daughter got an antique suitcase ( she sort of collects vintage stuff), a cute pair of shoes, and six first edition Nancy Drew books. ( by Carolyn Keene) These books we 50 cents each.

All the stores we go to have a free table. I love this! We always find something.

All toll the gals and I spent $25.94 on $433.99 worth of stuff!

And this photo has nothing to do with thrift stores....just our love of our felines.

I LOVE FREE!

Today we planned a fieldtrip to our favorite museum: The Chrysler  Museum of Art. We are so blessed to have this treasure in our town! Last year we went nearly every Wednesday ( the free day) to soak up art of the masters and see special exhibits.  The gals would bring their art bags and spend quality quiet time sketching. So today was really no different...its Wednesday so its free. Well we found out today that every day is going to be free from now on!!! They had a celebration going on with balloons, yummy cake, coffee for all. Special exhibits will cost money but with our teacher/student discounts it will be managable. Now we no longer have to plan our museum trips around Wednesday! Wednesday is such a busy day for us and I was wondering just how we were going to get our Museum fixes in ( we are addicted!)

Another free treasure is called History at Your Feet. It is 11 different historic places within a 2.46 mile walking distance. We have lived in this area a very long time and never done the tour! All but one of the places is FREE. Today we visited the Norfolk Southern Railway Museum. Hubby is a railway hobbiest. We did not even know this place exhisted!  Other places on the tour that we plan to see this year: Mac Arthur Memorial, Moses Myers House  ( 1792), Freemason Baptist Church, ( 1848),  a revival gothic style.Willoughby - Baylor House ( 1794), St Pauls Episcopal Church, pre Revolutionary War, has a cannon ball lodged in a wall. ( 1739),Epworth United Methodist Church,( 1850) known for it's 22 stained glass windows and Romanesque-style.

Look for photos in the future of these sites! 

We ended our "free" day with a trip to one of our favortie thrift stores. Em found a chinese style vase ( large) and Naomi found a brand new ( tags still on) picture board.

Day of Bounty

Our church did a really cool thing this week called the Day of Bounty. Everyone brought stuff they no longer wanted ( had to be in good condition and working) to the church. On Sunday after church we had a no cost yard sale for the church family. It was so much fun!

Here is what I got:

A 1972 singer sewing machine and cabinet. Now my youngest dd has her own sewing machine!

Complete Set ( only used once) China Pearl Noel pattern Christmas Dishes!!!!! I have always wanted a set of Christmas Dishes. This set is beautiful! When no one took it by the end of the day I just knew it was mine! Go here to see the pattern.

http://www.unique-collectible.com/china_pearl_noel_6_set1enlarged.htm

A 4 cup pyrex measuring cup!

A paninni maker. We have always wanted one. We had cheese sandwiches last night. It did a fabulous job!!!!

Several dish towels. I can always use them.

2 picture frames.

2 lamps and one lamp shade. One is a piano lamp. Our old one broke a few years ago. Its nice to have one again!

1 Body Works lotion ( new) DD 1 favorite.

Craft Stamps.

1 bottle of alcohol ( for crafting!)

lots of clothes

a bike

a basket

And an entertainment center! But not the one that was at the Day of Bounty. There was one there so all who wanted it put their name in for a drawing. We did not get it ( a family who really needed it did!) A friend told us they were getting rid of theirs and that we could have it. It is huge! All the tv and music stuff will fit nicely in it.

All the left over stuff goes to our clothes closet to continue to bless folks in need through out the year.