Thrift-ovember Pt. 2

I mentioned in my last post that I found some good things on my trip to 2 local Goodwill stores and a Salvation Army Family Store yesterday.  I definitely feel like my good thrift karma is coming back!  I took some photos today and wanted to share them with you.

We first went to the Salvation Army family store.  At this particular store (maybe all of them, I'm not sure...check with your local store), Wednesday is Family Day and every thing is 1/2 off except for the current color ticket.  I like this better than Goodwill's color of the week deal.  Generally, I rarely find anything at Goodwill that is worth picking up when it is the 1/2 off color...I think by the time it comes to a color being 1/2 off, everything is already too picked through.  I'm sure you can find some deals if you are diligent, but like I said, in my experience, I almost never do.  What I also like about the Salvation Army is that their prices are actually reasonable.  More and more with the Goodwill stores in my area, I find the prices go up on things they think are worth it.  For example, when the store in my neighboring town first opened back in 2008, I could find gorgeous Pyrex pieces for $2.99-$4.99.  Now, I find incredibly worn/scratched/faded pieces for $4.99-$5.99 and nicer pieces for $6.99-$7.99.  At these prices and with the amount of Pyrex I have, I need to really love the piece to pick it up, but a vast majority of the time, I'll pass.  Another example is that everything at my Goodwill stores starts at 99 cents...nothing is priced below 99 cents, whereas, at Salvation Army, I have seen things for 19 cents, 29 cents, etc. 

On this trip to the Salvation Army, I found the vintage Angel topper/ornament (marked "Japan"), the felt mouse ornament (also marked "Japan"), the Fitz & Floyd Santa plate, the loose Shiny Brites, the bottle brush candy cane ornament with mercury glass beads and the plastic nativity (made in Hong Kong).  All of these were 99 cents and under.

At the first Goodwill, I found the vintage made in Japan ceramic Santa mug for 99 cents.  It has some hairline cracks around the top, but I couldn't leave it there on the shelf.  The same went for this vintage ceramic Alice in Wonderland figurine.  Marked Wales, made in Japan, she has a chip on her base, but I adore all things Alice and couldn't leave her there either.

My favorite finds of the day came from the second Goodwill stop.  This particular Goodwill is located next to our major mall and is always busy and it's hard to find good things there usually, having usually been pretty picked through.  Right off the bat I found 10 bags of wooden drapery rings (which I use in my button wreath ornaments).  I grabbed them all and then had to find a basket, as I couldn't keep everything straight in my arms.  I then ventured toward the Christmas area and couldn't believe my luck when I found a "grab bag" of stuff for 99 cents and in this bag was 3 vintage diorama ornaments.  At first I thought they were plastic, but then realized they were the real deal glass ones.  I've always wanted some of these ornaments, but they are always too pricey online, so I was beyond excited with my find!  I then found the boxed Christmas corsage (99 cents) and went around the corner and spotted one of the little Christmas spaghetti trim girl figurines randomly sitting on an all green glassware endcap...I snatched her up immediately...I love, love vintage Christmas figurines like this and these too are always pretty pricey online.  I kept poking around and saw a small set of shelves near the entrance to their backroom and noticed Christmas stuff on these as well, so I went to check them out and spotted a second figurine, slightly different from the first!  99 cents a piece, I couldn't go wrong on these for that price!  Both are marked Japan.  I double and triple checked all the shelves to make sure there were no others and there were none that I saw, but on my 3rd trip around, I did find 2 little plastic deer.  A good trip, for sure! 

I started putting up the Christmas decorations today...I looked at the calendar long and hard before I started, but I figured, it's going to take me so long, that if I start now, I might have it finished by the weekend after Thanksgiving.  Today, I managed to clean, dust and vacuum before I started and then got as far as fluffing my mini trees.  It's going to be a slow process, but I promise to take lots of pictures when it's finished!  :)

Have a great weekend!
-Lindsay