thrifting 101: thrifting with kids

We've all been there (at least those of us with children).  We're out shopping with our kid(s) enjoying our retail therapy time when your child decides they have had. e. nough.  They start throwing things, whining, yelling, crying, and eventually have a meltdown while everyone stares at you annoyed that your child is now interrupting their retail therapy.

Lets face it, shopping with kids is hard.  ESPECIALLY thrift store shopping.  At least at normal department stores you have a little more freedom to let your child out of the cart or stroller and walk around or play in the dressing room while you try on your clothes.  But at thrift stores you can't really do this.  They are dirty.  And I mean diiiiirtyyyy.

 After months of trying to figure out how to wed my love for thrift store shopping with one of the loves of my life, I have finally discovered the answer.  BE QUICK.  I know that sounds silly and really simple, but it's true.  And this is especially hard to do in a thrift store.  There is SO much to look at and it's SO unorganized that it takes a long time to comb through everything.  So here are a few ways I have discovered to be quick in a thrift store:

1.  Choose to only look at 1 or 2 sections.  I used to love spending hours on end combing through every single piece in every single section.  That's usually how you find the best things!  But that is no longer an option with kids.  Now when I go in to a thrift store I usually tell myself that I am only going to look at dresses and shoes or housewares and shirts, etc.  This way I only spend about 30 minutes total in the store.  I have found that any time after that your kid is definitely done and ready to leave.

2.  If you want to look at everything just do a quick scan.  This option may take more practice and experience, but try it!  Since I have been thrifting for so long I am pretty good at spotting the good stuff just from walking down the isles glancing at the items.  I may not find as many great things this way, but it allows me to look at everything in the store.  Just keep your eye out for bold patterns or colors in the clothing racks or any fun material or fabric that is unusual and eye-catching.  

3.  Go when there are little to no crowds.  It's easiest to look through a thrift store when you don't have to fight people for dressing rooms, take turns going down isles, or wait in long lines.  This also cuts down on a lot of waisted time.  Hit up the thrift stores when they open in the mornings and avoid the evenings and weekends.  That is when they are most crowded.  

And on top of everything else, make sure you have enough snacks and toys to keep your little occupied while you shop.  I have found that bringing toys Sawyer hasn't played with in a while really helps because it will keep him interested for longer.  

Good luck to all of you and and happy (quick) thrifting!

Home Decor Thrifting

Hey friends! It's been a while since I've showed you my recent thrift store finds! Today I'll only be posting the gems I've found for our home because, let's be honest, if I posted the clothes I've found we'd be here all day. So here it goes…

First off let me tell you how much I LOVE Nate Berkus. I have been following his work for close to 10 years now.  I have some of his books and have often dreamed of working with him as an interior design student. That being said, you can imagine how excited I was when he did a collaboration with Target. It has been SO hard for me not to buy all of his collection from Target. You all know how savvy cheap I can be when it comes to buying things.  Therefore it was hard for me to justify spending money on buying any of this things from Target.  

Fast forward a few months…As I've told you before, items that don't sell at Target are donated to Goodwill.  So needless to say I ended up scoring some Nate Berkus items at Goodwill for less than half the price! *happy dance*

I found this rug just last week while at a trip to Goodwill. It is originally $130 from Target but I got it for $60!  It's handwoven, super soft, and absolutely adorable.  

I also found these Nate Berkus pillows at Goodwill that were originally $25 for $12.  I wanted them from the moment I saw them at Target so I was SO happy when I found them at a thrift store.  I also found that rad mid century lamp at Goodwill for $7.  The lamp shade was a little dingy, so I just did a little Pinteresting and recovered it with this inspiration and this tutorial.   I LOVE the way it turned out.  

I also found this Nate Berkus bed spread set at Goodwill for $50, originally $90 at Target.  The African woven basket hanging on the wall to the left was also thrifted for only $2!  

These curtains, also originally from Target for $30, were purchased at Goodwill.  To be honest, I don't remember how much I bought them for, but again it was meant to be.  I wanted some simple white and mustard yellow curtains and had seen these at Target, but didn't want to pay full price for 2.  So I waited and found them at Goodwill for a better price!  YAY! 

You've probably started to notice a trend by now that I buy a lot of Target merchandise from Goodwill.  Well, here is one more example.  This cute little yellow pillow was originally from Target for $25 but I scored it for $10!

I have been searching for these handwoven baskets for a long time now but couldn't find one at a reasonable price, and low and behold, I found one at Goodwill for $6 people!  It doesn't get much better than that!  

stepped out of a magazine

as many of you know i had the opportunity last night to talk to a group of women from church about "how to shop at thrift stores," and let me tell you it was so much fun!  

they started out with a cute skit about where some different women bought their clothes from and then it was my turn to share my thoughts!  i spoke for about 15 minutes about my best "thrift store how to" tricks and then opened it up for questions.  the women had some really good questions about where some good kids thrift stores are, if the outfit i was wearing was thrifted, where are some good thrift stores to get furniture, and more.  they then had a fashion show spotlighting women who bought outfits from thrift stores.  women of all ages showed of their finds.  the MC was hilarious so we all had a good laugh and enjoyed watching the shows.  we even got ice cream after! yum......

i had the chance to talk to many of the women after who told me that they, too, love to shop at thrift stores and that they couldn't wait to try out some of the tips i gave them.  i had a display table to highlight some of the amazing things i have found at thrift stores and many women stood there talking to me about how they couldn't believe i had thrifted those things.  it was so much fun to talk to these ladies and to hear how excited and pleased they were with what i had shared with them.  

my favorite quote of the night was from a young lady while she was looking at my table: "you look like you stepped out of a magazine!"  i highly doubt that, but it made me laugh and made happy to know that people are beginning to find out that you don't need to spend lots of money to be fashionable.  

{happy thrifting!}