thriftymama's thrifty finds

[mccoysnina]

 I've purchased gazillions of buttons over the years but I rarely buy them by the jarful.
I was in my favorite thrift once and I saw a lady with one of their trollies putting merchandise out.  On it was a whole clear plastic shoe box type box filled with buttons.  Marked $3.  You are not supposed to grab thing off the racks and I didn't.  But  Icertainly followed the woman around till she put it on the shelf.  Hardly landed on the shelf before it was in my hands.  I think she figured out what I wanted and put it out when she got tired of being followed:)
Jeannie

[thriftymama]

The Care Bear album is titled "Introducing the Care Bears" and each song is titled after their names... "Good Luck Bear," "Cheer Bear," etc. But I don't have a record player to see how it sounds. I think my mom has one though, so I might have to check it out this weekend.

I had been hoping to come across some buttons like the jar I found. When I was younger, I had two glass coffee jars (Sanka?) full of antique buttons. My dad used to go to a lot of auctions, and he found those for me. I have no idea whatever happened to them, but I wish now I had kept them. There were so many neat ones!

[thriftymama]

This has been an ongoing collection of mine (for my daughter) since McDonald's had these Wizard of Oz themed Madame Alexander dolls with their happy meals last year. I only got two of them from McD's myself, and the rest have been thrifted. My best find of the day was the Wicked Witch for 25 cents at a garage sale. It's so exciting each time I find another one! Aren't they cute?



Of course, I do realize this was the second time McD's had these, so my collection is a little mixed with the 2007 and 2008 collections. Oh well.

[valleythriftshopper]

I see those from time to time but I usually see the same ones.  Yesterday there was a bag of mixed toys at the SA with two lions & a Dorothy, although she looked a little different than yours.  Some of those I have never seen I bet some of them are harder to find than others- nice job and you didn't have to eat a bunch of greasy food to get them (although I think you can buy the toys without the food or it used to be that way).

Oh & I just remembered when I was at the SA the other day with my daughter she saw the Wizard of Oz on VHS for 99 cents & decided to buy it (She has a job this summer so she can buy her own stuff now)!

[thriftymama]

Yeah, at the time McD's had these, I didn't realize it would become an obsession to collect them, or I probably would have gone back a few times more! And before I knew it, they were gone. I tend to see the same ones over and over too. And I have also found some of these in mixed bags at the thrift stores. The 2007 Dorothy is a little different from the one I have... she doesn't have the picture on the dress.

[mccoysnina]

I have some ofthose too.  I found them at a ts last summer for I think $.40 a piece.  Found a couple more this summer too.  In fact the Wicked Witch is scowling down at me from the computer right now:)
Jeannie

[valleythriftshopper]

Well, you know, if you buy a new lamp, I bet a good one will turn up at the thrift store shortly after. That's usually how it works for me. So what you do is keep the tags on your Target lamp for a while, then when you find the thrift store lamp, you can return the other to Target! 

I don't know what I'll do with the buttons. Right now I just put them in a different glass container, and have them displayed on a shelf. I think they're just fun to look at.

Today I was pulling out of the driveway to do errands & hit the thrifts when I spotted a floor lamp left out by the sidewalk across the street.  I checked it out & it was a torchiere lamp, but a nice one, new looking.  Chrome base and frosted glass shade, not a cheap dorm room torcheire.  I looked online and these types go for at least 60 bucks, so not too bad.  I am still looking for one I can use my lampshade with, but this will do in the meantime. 

[thriftymama]

Nice! I never find good free stuff on the side of the road.

[thriftymama]

Today at Goodwill I found this cute jean jacket from The Children's Place for my daughter. Half-price for 2 bucks!


Treasure! I've become a big John Green fan, and this book was sitting on the shelf at Goodwill, just waiting for me to come along. When I saw it, I grabbed it, perhaps a little too quickly, and uttered a quiet "sweet!" to myself. When I checked my receipt, I noticed the cashier didn't even ring it up... so it was FREE! Was it wrong of me not to say anything? I can't say I feel bad.

[valleythriftshopper]

Cute jacket.  I only started thrift shopping & yard saling about 4 years ago, so when my daughter was little I shopped at the actual Children's Place alot (and spent too much money!).  I like their clothes, even if you shop at the store they are much more reasonable than the Gap Kids.  I remember Gymboree was the most popular & trendy kids store at the time, are they still sought after?  I don't look through the kids stuff at the thrifts too often but I look at the racks as I walk by and don't notice any gymboree stuff.

My daughter has her first summer job & works in an office downtown where there is a Salvation Army around the corner.  Yesterday she bought a cute top for 3 bucks and a string of really cute orange beads, that I missed when I was in there, for 50 cents, half-price. 

I wouldn't feel bad about the book if it is after the fact.  That has happened to me too.  If I realize it when they are still ringing up stuff I will say something, but if I have already gone home I don't bother.

[thriftymama]

Went to a garage sale today and found this Smurfs lunch box for 50 cents. Also found a bunch of sewing notions: thread, needles, pins, buttons, etc... spent 70 cents on those. Found the Playskool Match-Ups at another sale for a quarter. I thought my daughter might have fun with them.

[valleythriftshopper]

Love the lunchbox & the classic playskool, fisher price, etc games are always the best!

[marcismom]

Love the Smurf lunchbox.My 5 yr old and I are always on the lookout for smurfs and little people.

[thriftymama]

Not sure if it was there before, or if I did it when I was scrubbing up the Smurfs lunchbox, but I noticed a crack on the bottom. I think I might have been scrubbing too hard. Or it might have been when my daughter stood on it. Oh well.

So today at Goodwill I found a few good things. First, I found a toybox in really nice shape. Unfortunately, I couldn't fit it in my car so I don't have it yet but I will be able to pick it up tomorrow. It is like this one: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001LMW5Z4/ref=asc_df_B001LMW5Z4883617?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&tag=priceg-toys-20&linkCode=asn&creative=380341&creativeASIN=B001LMW5Z4
I paid $6.99 for it, and the cheapest I found it online was Target for $79.99.

I also found this neat blue bowl for half off at $1.50. Has a few nicks, etc., but I love the color.

[thriftymama]

Found lots of good deals today at garage sales, mainly clothes for my daughter for this winter, everything 50 and 25 cents. I think we're now stocked up.
Here is one really cool find: A Fisher Price push-along music-making thing. It has a date of 1963 on it. I paid a quarter! And best of all, my daughter loves it!