Category: Thrifting Fun

This month, we have a fun extravaganza of thrift finds! Early in the month I did some classic thrifting at a Goodwill. Later on, my friend and I had a day o’ fun and found cool things at antique stores, consignment/secondhand shops and even an estate sale.

Let’s check out my May treasures!

Offline by Aerie top, $10

Starting strong with a new-with-tags ($59.95) cropped sweatshirt from Aerie/American Eagle. It’s super lightweight and comfy with a boxy, but cropped fit. And thumb holes, which are very important in my loungewear. This one is great to throw on over my home gremlin looks and it’s been worn and laundered a few times already. With that being said, I would not recommend buying this full price, as it doesn’t seem like it’s made to last. For $10 though, I’m happy with it.

Umgee top, $9

Another new-with-tags find ($68) – this one is a corduroy top in a really pretty shade of green. I think this will be cute to throw on over jeans and a t-shirt next Fall/Winter as a sort of lightweight jacket kinda thing. It’s casual, soft and the perfect outdoorsy layer for bonfires and admiring the changing leaves.

Basket, $10

I actually had “a bigger basket for Cooper’s toys” on my list and this one was exactly what I needed. I picked it up at a vintage shop and it’s nice and heavy with no broken weave.

Wire Basket, $4

This one came from the same shop and was only $4, so obviously I needed it for my office. Once again, for dog toys. Yes, they’re a bit out of hand but Cooper just loves his toys so much!

Planter, $16

I picked this one up at a consignment shop for my friend, but then at the register she decided to put it back… so I reclaimed it for myself. It’s just a cute little planter and I really like it. I like it even more because Lindsey gave me a Monstera to put in there and now it lives happily in my office.

Flowerpot, $5

For this cute little pot, Lindsey picked it up for me and I was like ‘no, no, I don’t need it’ and then bought it. So, there’s that.

Flowerpot, $8

One more flowerpot. This one is for orchids, so that the soil stays drier than a typical pot. Succulents also like a drier soil, so as soon as I got home I added a succulent to the pot and it seems quite happy so far.

Handmade Pottery Vase, $16

I love handmade pottery and this vase is just the cutest! As soon as I brought it home I was wanting to run out and get a little bouquet of flowers. I hit up Trader Joe’s a few days later and this thing is just so adorable! I LOVE IT and it makes me smile whenever I walk by.

My last two items came from an estate sale. Lindsey and I walked through and made a big pile of random stuff. As I was inside grabbing a couple more things for the pile, she had already paid $30 for everything and was loading the car!

Included in that pile:

Cactus Flowerpot

Obviously, a flowerpot with a cactus is going to be for me, right?! I’ve screenshot a ton of stained glass succulents and cactus artwork and I can’t wait to try to create some of my own. I think this flowerpot will be great to fill with some little rocks and then one of my stained glass creations! Fun fact: my sister-in-law recognized this in my photos because her mom has the same pot!

Picture Frames

I forgot to take a photo, but I ended up with (I think) 4-5 wooden picture frames. They seem nice and hearty, so they’ve been added to my stained glass studio to frame some future projects.

Quilt Topper

So, this one is super interesting – I saw that it was handmade, so I just grabbed it and threw it in the pile to research later. It looks like it’s a handmade quilt topper made between 1930 – 1940. The style and embroidery outlining are classic 1930’s Depression-era applique designs and some key tells of the time period are: the pastel feedsack prints, embroidery running stitch and blanket stitch outlining the applique, dotted embroidery filler in the background, and the fact that it is set on unbleached muslin.

According to my research, these types of quilt tops are highly collectible because they are entirely hand done and have ‘folk art charm’. Since it is in good condition with no major tears or stains, it can be sold for $175 -$350 to quilt collectors. I think I’m going to take the time to photograph it and list it on ebay to see if a collector would like to add it to their collection.

For April we have a very short, yet sweet, thrift haul. Okay, it’s only two items. But it’s two items that I LOVE… so that’s really all I needed. With that being said, I just added a few items to my “looking to thrift list”, so next month may be a little extra fun (fingers crossed)!

Here’s what I thrifted in April:

Cider Cotton/Linen Tiered Skirt, $6.99

Okay, so I’ve already worn this skirt like three times since I thrifted it and I still can’t tell if it’s black or navy. I guess it doesn’t really matter, but it’s kind of frustrating that my eyeballs can’t figure out the color. Anyways, this is a beautifully heavy cotton/linen tiered midi skirt and it basically goes with everything. The only drawback is there are no pockets, but I’m thinking about maybe slitting open the side seams and adding some on my own (I mean, it’s only a $7 gamble if I mess up….).

I love a natural fiber skirt and one in an neutral color is a bonus, so this one was an easy decision to add to my closet. I wasn’t familiar with the brand, but after googling it looks like one of those crappy importer slop brands… so I’m surprised that this is all natural fibers and not some sort of plastic.

Shyanne Floral Embroidered Boots, $14.99

Can you believe that I was considering leaving these boots behind in Vegas?! We checked out just ONE thrift store on our vacation and in the entire store, these boots were the only thing calling my name. They’re embroidered. They’re leather. They’re my exact size. They’re made in Mexico and retailed for $205. And THEY WERE $15!

I went back and forth about them – I mean, I do own three other pairs of cowboy boots. Also, they wouldn’t fit in my suitcase so I’d have to rearrange everything and wear them home on the plane. My husband gave me The Look and told me I NEEDED to buy them. So yeah, they came home with me.

I already wore them a few times and I’m obsessed with them! They are so comfortable and adorable and put a little extra pep in my step. I’m so glad I didn’t make these a sad “the ones that got away” story.

Each year, March feels like just trucking along to get from the chilly weather to the nicer days and this year is no different. With that being said, I think I left my house less than normal because I don’t have many outfit photos to share. I have high hopes for April though, as we are counting down the days to our upcoming Spring Break trip!

Let’s take a look back at my March outfits:

I was so excited to wear this thrifted Anthropologie dress that as soon as it was clean, I cut the bottom tier off and styled it for work. The pattern is quite busy, so I decided to top it with a pretty green cardigan. I love these Birkenstock wedges and they feel springy, so I pulled them out to complete the look. And yes, I know I’m quite pale — I enjoy having the complexion of a malnourished Victorian ghost.

Here are two skirt looks at the opposite side of the spectrum. I wore the left look to brunch with my sister — I paired a fun tee with a pretty thrifted vintage skirt and my tall Docs. Someone pointed out that this skirt looks like stained glass and I love that!

As for the look on the right, you all know how much I love my running skirts! For an unseasonably warm 3 mile walk, I pulled out one of my favorite running skirts (from Popflex, love them) and added a secondhand Athleta workout top and sneakers. I felt cute, which is all you can ask for when checking a workout off the list.

Another brunch look on the left. I really wanted to get another wear in of my Johnny Was shacket before it gets too warm, so I pulled it out again to pair with a solid black tee and bootcut jeans. I also wore my fabulous platform Dr. Marten mary jane’s, which are a kind of ugly-cute that I’ve been loving lately.

On the right is a casual errand running look. I had purchased these distressed/patched jeans secondhand last spring and they were unfortunately too small for me. I decided to give them another try this month and they fit and I think they are just so cute. I paired them with my newly thrifted Birkenstock mary jane’s and when I was searching through my t-shirt drawer I found this one that hardly ever got worn. It’s super soft and has a cute design, but was an odd longer length. So I took a pair of scissors to it and now it’s kind of perfect.

New vs Secondhand Tally

This month, I count 7 items that I purchased retail and 9 items I purchased secondhand.