The thrifting gods have smiled upon me

Hi! This is going to be a photo-heavy post, so I won't waste time with lots of jabbering.

Oh, who am I kidding? Jabbering is my fave thing to do. The past couple of weeks I have found some really fun stuff for really cheap, and I can't wait to share the photos. Last weekend I was lucky enough to get to go thrifting TWICE - on Sunday I somehow got my brother Pete to agree to go with me. Sucker.

Now that spring feels like it's fighting its way through the cold and snow, I feel more excited about buying clothes. Last week I got a great Max & Cleo printed jersey faux-wrap dress for $5. It's really comfortable and perfect for work. $5 is a little rich for my blood, but I know I'll wear it at least 2-3 times a month during the summer, and in the winter I can just pair it with tights and boots, so it's really a year-round dress. On Friday I got a vintage handmade skirt that's reversible. I paid $2 for it, and I can't decide if it's ugly or cute. That's kind of how I feel about half of my closet.

Yesterday I got a button-down shirt for my brother, a Garnet Hill  wool cable knit cardigan, a vintage dress, a leopard-print sweater and a great black knit skirt for $8. Goodwill has a different-colored tag on sale for $0.99 every week, and this week's color was red, so I zeroed in on anything with a red tag that looked wearable. Most of the time I strike out with this approach, but not yesterday! The only thing I paid more than $1 for was the sweater at $3.59. I also found a beautiful Catherine Malandrino skirt for $1, but it was stained beyond wearability so I reluctantly put it back. Not because I'm so cheap I won't relinquish the dollar, but because I don't need more junk clogging up every corner of our house.

While I had great luck with clothes, I had even better luck with fun decorative stuff for the house. Lots of great things for the walls and another brass animal to add to my collection.

I could write about this stuff all day, but the pictures are the fun part, right? Without further ado:

Retro vintage plate for $1. This will be part of a gallery wall in the guest room.

Bird art for $3. The bird is actually made out of feathers. 

Mama and baby giraffe! I paid $4 for this, but I love it so.

Gorgeous botanical print for a gallery wall I'm working on for the master bedroom. It's not in perfect shape, but for $2, I can't complain.

Okay, I know what you're thinking, but this $1 dress is actually super cute on! It's ever-so-slightly too small for me, so I'm saving it for the Etsy store I hope to open some time this summer.

The obsession with birds continues. This gorgeous brass and enamel plate already has a handy wall-hanger thing on the back. $2.

This little mini-painting is only about 3"x4", and I love it. According to the signature, I think it was done in Venezuela? It was $2 and I'm almost certain it's an original.

I got this metal tray at the Goodwill Wearhouse, which is essentially a Goodwill outlet. More on that later. Ugh.

This framed print was $8, so not the cheapest ever, but the colors are so vibrant and I just couldn't leave it at the store. It's also enormous, so takes up a good bit of wall real estate.

Cute brass apple container for $3. 

I got this B. Makowsky crossbody bag last weekend. It didn't have a tag on it, so I wasn't sure they'd sell it to me, but my homegirl at the St. Vincent de Paul store said I could have it for $3. Woot!

Close-up shot of the rose gold hardware. Love it.

And here's a pile of brass junk I have no idea what to do with. I think maybe it will be part of the master bedroom gallery wall. I just don't know.

So, I mentioned the Goodwill Wearhouse above. You guys, it was truly terrifying. I'm trying to branch out with my thrifting spots, but I don't know if I could be convinced to try this one again. The by-the-pound Goodwill in Queens is full of the surplus donations they just don't want to sort and individually price. The one here in Omaha is where janky shit goes to die. The bins were full of broken stuff, filthy books, a crushed Cadbury egg (?!) and various other junk no one in their right mind would want. On one side of me was a woman feverishly snatching any book she could find, and on the other side was a homeless man who seemed mostly interested in records. I got the floral tray, an embroidered pillow front (more on that in a later post) and three of the brass butterfly/bird wall hangings above. I paid $3.50 for the haul, so it actually wasn't that much cheaper than buying them at the regular old Goodwill. The experience was pretty traumatizing. I got all scratched up by broken junk, and you should have seen the color of the water when I went home and washed my hands. Yuck.

I think I'm a pretty seasoned thrifter, but there are some places even I'm willing to write off. I think that's one of them.

So, that's that. Two weeks' worth of thrifting goodness. I would estimate I spent about $40 total and got a bunch of clothes and housewares that are unique and fun. That's what it's all about. (You do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around...)

If that's stuck in your head now, I am so sorry.

xoxo,

Leigh