Category: Thrifting Fun

Antiquing Fun

I had a surprise open weekend day the Saturday of Mother’s Day weekend, so I decided to grab my friend and do a little antiquing in Deale, Maryland. We LOVE shopping in Deale because there is such a fun variety of antiques, consignment stores, and local artist shops. On this trip, I actually had a few things I was looking for, but when it comes to this type of shopping… you just have to trust that the right items will find you.

Here are the treasures I found:

Linda Lloyd Etchings, $28 each

I initially pointed out the chipmunk etching to my friend, because her boyfriend has a pet squirrel. But then, when I was doing a second loop of the store, I saw the bird etching by the same artist.

The artist, Linda Lloyd, was famous for her wildlife etchings and from the research I did, I’m guessing these are from the mid 70’s. The bird is 95/100 and the squirrel is a one-of-a-kind artist proof. I love them both and they will be perfect in our living room once I put it back together. The chipmunk has a crack in the corner of the glass, so I’m thinking of changing out the frames to something a bit more gold and gilded. I’ll keep you posted on where they end up!

Hamilton Letterpress Drawer, $21

I love this little letterpress drawer with all the fun sized little spaces. If you tilt it on its side, there are even handwritten letters on each spot that shows which letter lived where.

One of my loves is typography and graphic design, so this find was a perfect fit for me. I’m thinking I will hang it up and put little stuff on display – perhaps a mix of small gemstones, lego people, whatever else catches my eye.  Fun fact: there is actually a Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum in Wisconsin and I would totally go if I lived closer.

Original Oil Paintings by Glenn Stewart, $25 each

I’ve purchased a small oil painting by Glenn Stewart in the past and I love his little creations. He paints up a storm and then drops a stack of canvases off at a local art studio. I went through his latest pieces and found these two, which I love.

I’m not entirely sure where they will end up in my house yet, or if I’ll leave them unframed or mat and frame them. All I know is if I see affordable, original art that I love… I’m going to buy it and add it to my collection.

April Thrift Haul

Looking back at my last few Thrift Haul posts, I realized I haven’t had much luck in thrifting clothing items lately. It may be because I don’t really need much in my closet these days, or as an extension of that I’ve gotten much pickier with my finds. I have been finding quite a few scores for Jack though, so at least one of us is benefiting from my thrifting.

This month, I did find one clothing item for me:

JC Sunny Kimono, $7

I found this colorful kimono in with the cardigans and my initial thought was that I love it as a beach cover-up. However, now that it’s been washed and I tried it on, it also looks really cute layered over a top with shorts. So, this may also become a pretty topper this summer.

Crochet Blanket, $6

This isn’t a clothing item, but I have been using it on a near daily basis. You all know how I love my handmade crochet blankets and the colors on this one just grabbed me! I love it and it has been living in my den for all impromptu cuddle/reading/coffee sessions this month.

K’Nex, $4.50

Yup, I bought Jack some more K’Nex. This giant box was on half-price sale for just $4.50, so I figured it was a no-brainer to add it to Jack’s collection. He’s already scavenged it and made a bunch of projects, so it was totally worth it already.

Turing Tumble, $8

I wasn’t really sure what this was when I picked it up, but it was only $8, had all the pieces, and looked like something STEM-related, so I gave it a chance. After googling a bit, I found that it is a $70 computer coding game. Jack loves it and has used the gears, bits and interceptors to make his own marble runs. I certainly wouldn’t pay $70 for this, but for $8 it’s getting lots of use in our house.

As I’ve mentioned before, if you’ve got a kid who loves STEM toys, make sure to hit up the local thrift stores. So many people receive them as gifts and just donate them unopened!

March 2022 Thrift Haul

I had one opportunity to stop by my favorite thrift store this month and mostly struck out. Well, actually I struck out for myself… but did well for other people!

The one thing I found for me:

J.Crew beaded necklace, $5.99

This photo makes me laugh so hard. Ollie was laying on the bed when I was putting stuff away, so I decided that he could ‘model’ my new necklace. He was not thrilled. I really liked the color scheme of the beads on this necklace with the bright orange cord. It just looks so very ‘SPRING’ to me and I decided that even though I rarely wear necklaces, I needed this one. For $6, it wasn’t much of a gamble. And it looks beautiful on Ollie.

Things I found for everyone else:

 K’Nex Ferris Wheel with Motor, $4.99 and K’Nex 60 Model Set, $10.99

I bought Jack some K’Nex for Christmas and he loves them, so when I saw this unopened Ferris Wheel for $4.99, I knew he would want me to buy it. These sets go for about $25 – 30, so it was quite the deal. Jack was so excited that he put it together as soon as he woke up on Saturday morning. I also scooped up a larger set of random K’Nex pieces for $10.99 that was opened but had a ton of pieces in the box. He played with them all weekend long and asked that I keep my eyes out for any more K’Nex next time I go thrifting!

Color Sort Rainbow, $2.99

I found this new-in-box baby learning toy and couldn’t resist picking it up for one of my nephews. The box is a little banged up, but the toy is still perfect and unused. It’s a Montessori-style toy that helps kids with color sorting, stacking and creativity. They’re selling for $16.99 on Amazon, so buying one for $3 was a no-brainer.