Thrift and Yard Sale Shopping

[adrian]

i went yard saling this morning and found a really REALLY LARGE happy halloween banner

[Black Catt]

We went yard saling yesterday but the only thing I found was a doll to use in my crockpot and a green bottle to melt a black candle over!
I did spend $50 at a toonie and loonies store..found a severed hand that is on a foam tray, wrapped in cellophane like a piece of meat, a pen that looks like a needle with blood in it, severed fingers, a skeleton that takes a glow stick, some floor/wall stickers, nylon face masks, some cool/funky sunglasses, some fingerless lace gloves..I'm sure there was more, just drawing a blank.

[MauEvig]

Here's the black cat decoration I mentioned in a different thread that I found at an Antique store: http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu89 ... 38cb9b.jpg
I know that's technically not a thrift store, but antique stores often have the same stuff, but mark it up higher than usual. This cat wasn't too badly priced though.

I also attended my neighbor's moving sale today, and got some great sun catchers, which not only included Halloween, but Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving. However, I'll just post the Halloween ones I found here:

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu89 ... 4f8f19.jpg

(Not including the cat lol)

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu89 ... 6a83d6.jpg

I had to get those little bears to add them to my collection of Halloween bears: http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu89 ... 176e71.jpg
http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu89 ... 264b97.jpg

I got this because it looked so cool:

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu89 ... 25b0ad.jpg

And it lights up!

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu89 ... 230c33.jpg

And a few other things...

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu89 ... 63db47.jpg
http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu89 ... 7c2c6c.jpg
http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu89 ... e219d1.jpg
http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu89 ... 3ba0ad.jpg
http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/uu89 ... 34ddce.jpg

I swear I go crazy whenever I see Halloween stuff at ANY time of the year. For some reason, there's something charming about seeing Halloween stuff in the spring time. Maybe because it's not as expected. I like fun surprises like that! XD
Along with a few kitcheny things like a pot for cooking pasta in that drains out the top, and some silverware, a few Christmas things, and I only spent $3 for the lot. Pretty good haul if you ask me.

[Andybev01]

Wow, Mau!

I really like the Sun catchers and the ceramic JOL.

[Spookymufu]

does witchy know you got her broom?

[MauEvig]

Thanks Andy! Glad you like it. She said she's going to give me some more Halloween stuff as well.

lol Spooky if she didn't know she'll know now! I'm afraid that broom might be a little small though, it would take a tiny witch to fly this one. Not to mention it belonged to my neighbor/land lord, so I wonder how it ended up with me? XD Maybe it's like the one broom, sort of like the one ring deal?

Edit: Time to blow the dust off this thread! I wondered what happened to it...I literally had to search for it.

But I wanted to say I found some cool stuff for Halloween last year at Good Will. Some of the stuff was still in the package even! And if it wasn't, it still had a sticker on it. I'm surprised so much stuff is practically new or even brand new and just never been opened!

Thrift stores also seem to be ideal places if you want to put together a good costume. I got my witch hat at a Spirit Halloween, but the outfits were pricy there. So I opted for a cheaper route and found a nice dress. I'm not normally a dress person, but they had some that worked nicely for my outfit. They had some cute decorations there.

And even if you don't find specific decorations, you can find stuff to make your own costumes and props. Perhaps even some horror movies marked down. Streaming is nice, but I do like having DVD's as a back up in case the internet goes down or decides to act up. I guess that's the old timer in me, I like having physical copies of stuff even as a back up.

But I say that and I have a Steam account where I keep my games.

[Murfreesboro]

Good Will is terrific for Halloween costumes. I've been shopping there for ten years or more.

Once I bought a Greek goddess costume for my daughter when she was in high school. Don't recall why I did that, but she disliked it and never wore it. I've held onto it all this time, but I really should donate it. She's never going to wear it, and it won't fit me. If I should donate it, that would be a brand-new costume for someone.

[Andybev01]

That's the way; reuse reduce recycle repurpose.

[MauEvig]

You might find someone else who might appreciate or enjoy that costume more than your daughter did.
Did you buy the costume at a Good Will? Even if it's brand new, sometimes teenagers can be rather fickle about wearing anything from a thrift store. I know I went through a phase like that growing up.
But before that I did buy a shirt at a Salvation Army. I think that was before the teen's hit though.
But I agree with Andy. Better to recycle. Someone else might like and appreciate it.
I think the best thing is for people to pick out their own costumes, unless they're too little to do so. But I think my mom said she took me trick or treating for the first time when I was 5, citing how it was just "too cold." You owe me 5 years mom!
It's all good though. I enjoy the freedom of celebrating Halloween as an adult however I want.
I agree thrift stores are the best places for costumes on the cheap, you can get creative because there's so many combinations and options. It's a shame that places like Spirit Halloween are expensive. Still, I'm happy with the witch hat I got and I hope to get plenty of uses out of it.

[Murfreesboro]

I bought the Greek goddess costume at Walmart, and I no longer recall why. Maybe she'd been invited to a costume party? I don't know why I chose that one, but she never wanted it.

She's never been averse to shopping Good Will for Halloween and did so more than once as a teenager. As an adult, she is the queen of thrifting, ThredUp, etc. She has a fantastic eye and nabs very high end things for pennies on the dollar.

[MauEvig]

I guess if it was all those years ago it probably wouldn't matter at this point.
Well, she sounds like a smart girl then. When I was in school I guess I was prideful at a certain age.
But now that I'm older and an adult I know better, and care a bit less. Teenagers were pretty ruthless at my school. Appearance and status were everything. I couldn't settle for anything less than clothes bought at the mall. I even gave my mom a hard time about shopping at Walmart for clothes! But like I said, I was a teenager back then just trying to fit in with everyone else. At this point in my life, I'll throw on a tee shirt and pair of slacks and be happy. I buy most of my clothes at Walmart now, but I'll occasionally splurge on a shirt at Hot Topic or Spencer's if we go to the mall.
I've never heard of ThredUp, is that a thrift store in your area or is that an online store?

[Murfreesboro]

ThtedUp is an on line marketplace. People sell their gently used clothes. Often they are very high end. For example, my daughter has snagged boots for under $100 that originally sold for over $1000. She has good luck with clothes in part because she has a good eye, but also because, right now, in her youth, she has a very unusual figure. She's about 5' 7", so, not short, but she has a real wasp-waist that she inherited from her long-waisted father's people, not from short-waisted me. Tiny hips but surprisingly full on top. She can wear tiny sizes, 2s and 3s, so there just aren't so many people competing for her sizes. As a theater major in college she worked in the costume shop and learned to sew, also learned about fabrics. Right now, in part because she has ultra-sensitive skin, and in part because she's ecologically minded, she's trying to purge her wardrobe of synthetic fabrics and collect all-natural. It's not easy to do these days.

She and her older brother inherited their father's love of clothes. My husband, who started adult life as a military officer, was always very attracted to uniforms and knows more about them than anyone else I've ever known. He also has a great eye and knows how to put himself together when he dresses up. Sometimes women he works with will ask him if I've picked out his clothes. If they only knew! They assume I'm the one with the great eye for fashion, but it's him.

My second son, bless his heart, is like me. He scarcely notices what he wears and thinks that obsession with outward appearance is superficial and foolish. While I get that, it bugs me that he has never attempted to play up his natural beauty, because he was actually the handsomest of my three kids. He is also the best singer and refuses to do anything with that, either (his dad and I met through singing, so all the kids sing). I feel like he's wasting his natural gifts. It's true that judging by appearance is superficial, but people do judge by first impressions, like it or not, so one really needs to pay some attention to self-presentation, especially in youth.

[MauEvig]

Oh I'm not one to really dress up either. I mean, I still dress professionally for work but other than that I just throw on whichever I feel like. I do like to wear nice shirts but they're usually something with a cat or a video game or anime character on them.

I think you're daughter's lucky in that regard. I'm afraid I grew in the opposite direction. Short and stout, like a pumpkin. I'm 5'2" and I'm afraid the rest of my growing was in the other direction. I always hated it, but it is what it is.

I'll have to check out Thredup.

[Andybev01]

As I unpacked my wardrobe boxes in my new place it surprised me that it was all shirts.

I only own shorts, one pair of jeans and a 'wedding and funeral' suit.

[Murfreesboro]

Oh, so you've already moved in! That was fast! I own more tops than bottoms, too.