Recent thrift shopping expeditions
Posted on | May 21, 2012 | 3 Comments
Thrift shopping – any shopping, really – has gotten a lot harder as Sebastian gets older. Whereas he used to be content in the shopping cart so long as we were moving, he is now insistent upon walking (usually running) around to explore on his own. While I love his independence, I do miss being able to shop leisurely. Still, we’ve managed to pick up some good stuff lately.
Above: Shopping Chase Me Home in Gresham. I’m sure that I make the staff a little bit nervous bringing my toddler in among their breakables, but he is very good about using “nice hands” – He seems to get it that everything in the store is pretty fragile. It’s definitely not just his nature as he is a lot more rough-and-tumble at home. His dad and I do a lot of shopping at antique shops, mainly while on vacation, and I want Sebastian to have practice not breaking all of the things.
Picked up these tops (above) from Rewind with a few bucks of store credit. I love consignment shops for that reason! We generally avoid spending store credit anywhere unless money is tight that week, and then it becomes a great (free!) retail pick-me-up. I tend to avoid more boutique-y secondhand shops because a lot of them over-price (I’m talking to you, Buffalo Exchange) but they can be a good place to find “gently worn” basics. Sometimes you can get name-brand clothing for cheap if the staff isn’t savvy on the particular brand or style. Ultimately though, I do find it less thrilling to shop places that are more cultivated. No challenge!
Our thrift shopping typically focuses on clothing, but lately we have been working to accumulate pieces for the apartment. My new obsession with Nate Berkus may be partly to blame!
Donny always looks for Blazers drinking glasses when we go thrifting. We also found some interesting picture frames for around $1 each, a pair of $1 blue wayfarers for Sebastian, a brand new woven basket (still with the Trader Joe’s tag on it), and this cute Asian kissing figurine. Around $15 total.
New figurine was perfect fit on the small bookshelf in our living room. Gallery wall of frames above is a work in progress.
This blanket is one of the best things I’ve ever thrifted in my opinion. $5 from Chase Me Again, it adds the perfect amount of color to our living room and I love the pattern. I had never really considered buying blankets secondhand (I don’t know why!) but I just threw it in the washing machine on hot and even through the dryer – Good as new!
Missed Connections
Somehow, photographing items I like but don’t end up buying makes me feel better about the loss. These moccasins from Chase Me Again were just a smidgen too large to make practical slippers for me:
We definitely should have picked up this Nate McMillan bobblehead – I honestly have no idea why we didn’t! That’s my so-sad-we-fired-Nate-McMillan face, not dissimilar from my so-sad-we’re-out-of-the-playoffs face from 2010.
Best believe I would have bought this red faux fur coat if it wasn’t springtime! Also love this skull-print scarf. Both at Rewind in downtown Gresham.
Have you thrifted anything good lately?
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Alternative Housewife is about maintaining a fabulous and eco-friendly household on a budget. My name is Janine and I live in Portland with my husband Donny and our son Sebastian. {We are expecting Baby Boy #2 in May 2013.}
I believe in the glory of thrift shopping, and in voting with our dollars to raise non-toxic families.
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May 21st, 2012 @ 6:15 AM
What I want to know is how the books stay in the bookshelf, and not on the floor. lol
May 21st, 2012 @ 3:51 PM
I pick them up every day. (As I type this, I can see about a dozen books on the floor.) Before he could pull out books himself, they were all arranged by size and color. Now I usually just throw them – often literally – onto the shelf. It’s pretty funny to think about what a psycho perfectionist I was pre-baby. Once in awhile I will sit and move the books around, group them by size and put new stuff in the front.
June 4th, 2012 @ 7:24 PM
Hi! New to your blog. I LOVE it! I picked up that same Nate McMillan bobblehead in Portland at Goodwill! (I bought it last year though) There must of been quite a few running around.