thrifted goodies – insights & inspiration

Hi friends! If you enjoy thrift shopping and understand the thrill of the hunt, then, this post is for you. Today I am sharing my thrift finds from the past few weeks. I will share where I found them, why I picked them and how I plan to use all these thrifted goodies.

Join me for the next installment of Thrifted Goodies with Rachel from the Antiqued Journey. Every month we will share some sort of thrifted goodness with nuggets of information and major doses of inspiration. Come on in and grab your beverage of choice, because this is a fun one and you’ll want to stick around.

Please also skip over to Rachel’s and check out her Thrifted Goodies – Volume 8. Rachel always has the best tips, and I love how she styles all her vintage goodies. If you don’t know Rachel yet, pop over, introduce yourself and check out her fun blog.

At the end of this post I share all the previous thrift shopping posts for your convenience. Today I will share my thrift shopping escapades from the last month, which include 6 different shopping excursions. This might sound like a lot, but keep in mind I only purchased at three of those events. That’s part of the thrift shopping experience, which I touch on in this post {vintage thrifting – tips & tricks}.

HAUL #1 of thrifted goodies

So my first thrift store haul was from a local store in town called The Thrift Station, and it’s one of my regular thrift spots. I stopped here on the day I posted my last thrifted goodies installment {thrifted goodies – using vintage linen pieces to create a table runner}. Between my post and Rachel’s post, it inspired me for some thrift store magic I guess.

I didn’t find much, but what I did find, I absolutely love, and I have some fun plans for these guys. I found the metal wire basket, which I picked up as soon as I saw it. Can you say Easter basket goodness? You will definitely be seeing it in an Easter vignette around here.

This silver basket will make a fantastic serving piece for bread and crackers when I want more of a fancy feel for my charcuterie boards. I usually use wooden bowls but a pretty linen in this delicate basket will elevate the game for fancy occasions.

Can we talk about these copper mercury glass votives!!! I am obsessed. What’s crazy is that, I did not even see these votives on my first pass through the store. I am not sure how I missed them, but I am happy I found them eventually

Thrifting Tip: Always do three passes through the thrift stores to make sure you do not miss anything. Every time you will look at everything with different eyes, catching different items.

You all know I have a love affair with mercury glass, and I am slowly using copper more and more. This was a marriage made in heaven for me. I have a copper St. Patrick’s day table scape project, using these cuties, which is coming your way really soon.

HAUL #2 of thrifted goodies

My second thrift store haul is once again from the same store, The Thrift Station. The following week, I found myself in the area on a separate errand, and thought why not pop in again? I found some great silver pieces and if you know me or have been around here for a bit, you are familiar with my obsession, which you can read about here {metals I – silver-plate}.

The thing is, the day before I had been researching tea pots for a project I have at the end of the month. I looked on Etsy and eBay and all my regular on-line haunts, and although I found some fabulous pieces I did not want to spend what I was finding. Sooooo, in the back of my mind I was hoping for a teapot, but the logical frontal lobe was not expecting much.

Lo and behold I find this dainty teapot with a spirited profile, wonderful detailing and reasonable price. I scooped her up right away. You will see her debut at the end of the month with another tray tour.

Then I rummaged the utensil bins and found a ton of silver flatware. The pieces are 50cents a piece, which is a fantastic price. I use to buy many pieces at a monthly flea market for $3 a piece, which at the time I thought wasn’t bad. Now I always check the silverware at this particular thrift store, since they tend to have neat pieces for a fraction of the price.

Thrifting Tip: If you frequent your thrift stores enough, you start to familiarize yourself with what the strengths of each store might be, but always keep yourself open to the unimaginable. That’s what makes thrift shopping so exhilarating, finding the unexpected.

Anyway back to the silver flatware. I picked up a bunch of spoons and a Mother of Pearl knife. Mother of Pearl makes my heart go pitter patter, and this is my first vintage piece. I see an obsessive collection in my future. The spoons were a great find because they compliment a set of knife and forks I already owned. I shared them recently in this post {pretty in pink tablescape}. Stay tuned, you will see them come out to play plenty more.

HAUL #3 of thrifted goodies

My last successful shopping outing was from a Savers thrift store. Do you have one near you? If you do, I suggest you visit. They are enormous!!! The one I shop at tends to also be my donation drop off of choice as well. They have a very organized donation system, where you drive up and unload very quickly. I highly recommend it.

Anyway, for this particular trip I started not very inspired to tell you the truth. The houseware department, which is where I hover the most, was not all that on that particular day. But then I spied the little, dainty, glass, green vase on an end cap, and it reminded me of my grandma.

I don’t need another vase, but thoughts of my grandma made me pick it up.just.in.case. And the St. Patrick’s day holiday is looming so it would make a cute decoration. Plus I love the color green, yada, yada, yada. Here’s a sneak peak to how I plan to use it. Either a botanical vignette, or a St. Patrick’s vignette or a botanical St. Patrick’s day vignette… You get the idea.

Thrifting Tip: Always pick up anything you’re considering at a thrift store, even if you change your mind later and put it back. It prevents another customer from scooping it up while you’re mulling it over.

Then a few aisles down I find this! This copper trough, at that price?!? Ok, twist my arm. The little green vase was no longer a debatable decision, since I was definetly making a purchase right there, that day. You will be seeing plenty of this Mr. Copper guy around here.

Then I found the vintage flour sifter. Do you see that green knob? Say no more. This has been on my on-going list of things I would like some day if I can find it for the right price, in the right condition, with the right style. Last but not least is the wicker cornucopia. When you see her again in the Fall she will be transformed. I will be using one of these techniques {weathered baskets DIY}.

HAUL #4, 5 & 6 not so much

All my unsuccessful shopping excursions were at Hospice Thrift Shoppes interesting enough. All three were at different locations though. Two of the stores I frequent regularly, and I usually find treasures so it was just off days. The third one was new to me, located in a town where I had to fulfill my civic duty and respond to Jury Duty. I like to find thrift stores in new areas, and more on that here {why you should always thrift shop while on the road}.

I don’t usually thrift shop this much or frequently these days, but I wanted to share as much as I could with you today. Hopefully you can gleam some insights from my thrift shopping excursions and find inspiration in some of my finds. I will be sharing these thrifted goodies in plenty of posts soon.

MORE thrifted goodies inspiration

“Thrifting is more than just shopping…it’s an everyday adventure!

Unknown

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sharing @ between naps on the porch