Tag Archives: Thrift Store

Thrift Store Gems

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We normally visit the kids’ thrift store once a week to look for books and clothes. Buying used not only saves money, but is a great way to live a little greener when it comes to kids’ items they outgrow quickly. The past two times we’ve gone, the store has been temporarily closed. So today we went down the road to the regular thrift store run by the same company.

They actually had a few children’s books in the book room. We also checked the craft bins and found some buttons. I think the little seed packet buttons would be cute for a quiet book page garden. The My First Word Board Book was a great find, because last night I had to make Jax put his hand-me-down word book in the recycle bin. He kept folding the pages back to open it wider, and it was ripped beyond (re)repair.

For $4.50 total we got: that word book, 3 sets of ceramic buttons (seed packets, cats/houses and potted plants), Baby Dazzlers: Twinkly Night, a Baby Einstein music book and A Crack in the Track.

Thrift Store Gems

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We are making weekly trips to the thrift store to start building a library for Jax. I plan to make some sort of reading corner for him, most likely using picture rails or spice racks from Ikea. (Just need to convince my husband to make the long drive there!)

Here is what we got for $7.50:

Five small Winnie-The-Pooh books, I Spy Little Hearts, Elmer’s Colors, Clarence the Curious Calf (that squeaks!) and You Can Drive an Automobile.

We got lucky with his clothing size this time. We got: an OshKosh train engineer hat and button down, Gymboree t-shirt and Cherokee cords (in gray!)

While I was there, I showed the shopkeeper a photo of how his kitchen turned out. She was shocked at the transformation. She took my contact information in case the oven door should turn up, but it’s unlikely.

Thrift Store Gems

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We hit the motherload at the kids’ thrift store today!

Jax has been having trouble sleeping due to teething, so we were up and ready for our day a little late. The local kid’s thrift store opens at 10 am, so we had breakfast to waste a little time before heading over. I was hoping for some board books and was keeping my eyes out for a wooden kitchen to refurbish. I didn’t expect to find one (they always had small, ugly plastic ones) so I planned to drive over to the adult thrift store after to check for small hutches I could convert.

But, what did I see when I walked in the door? A 100% wooden (be it mostly MDF) kitchen for $12.25! It is missing the large door (the shopkeeper offered to hold it for me if it turns up), but I think I’ll leave it open and put wire baskets on the shelves. The backsplash shelf is broken off but intact. The faucet needs to be reattached and some of the knobs are glued together a little wonky. All-in-all it just needs a good scrub (there is dirt and mulch inside it), a sanding, several coats of paint and some nails and screws.

I’ll have to get some number decals for the clock as it will get painted over. I’m thinking bright red for the whole thing, with all the door and accents in silver. Maybe a magnetic primer under the “fridge” door for magnets. Should I do something special to the backsplash? It will have its shelf halfway down. I love that the sink is wood so I can paint that too! If any of you hardware-inclined friends have suggestions on reattaching the shelf and faucet, let me know – L brackets under the shelf? This is going to be a fun, quick project now that I only have to paint!

     

We got lucky in other ways at the store too. I found 4 great board books for Jax. He is BIG into being read to now, and I have to read him at least a dozen books every night (or the same one 10 times!) The thrift store is great for books because they sell them for 10% of the cover price – meaning they were all 59 – 79 cents each! We found: Where Is Baby’s Belly Button? A Lift-the-Flap Book, Peek-A Who? (which has a mirror in the back), Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?.

I also got a Melissa & Doug Rainbow Stacker for $1.75. He has stackers, but those are his favorite toys and I like that this one is more advanced with smaller holes. He has to concentrate to put it together. We found Stride Right boots 1.5 sizes up from where Jax is now for $2.50. They are in perfect condition.

Do you thrift shop? I used to in college and only recently started up again. Reusing is great for the environment AND your wallet!