Sunday, January 4, 2015

Draggin' the kids to thrift shops

Winter break is too long for me to stay away from the thrifts shops...cause the kids want to do other stuff. But too bad for them. Actually, my son, Evan loves thrift shopping. He could do it all day, everyday with me. My daughter, Avery HATES them. She loves going to produce markets, grocery stores...anything with food. But she hates thrift store shopping. I wanted to set aside 1 day, just ONE day out of winter break to go to thrift shops. Evan was gung ho, Avery....not so much. However, I am the Queen of Briberious. (which means, I know how to bribe my kids, Duh, what parent doesn't?)  All I had to say was "if you go AND are good the whole time, no whining or complaining, then when we are done, I will get you a Frosty from Wendys" That's all it takes. $1.50 Frosty and she is all in!

I had mapped out 4 shops that we would hit up. First one was mediocre, but I did walk away with a few items. Plus a cute jacket for Avery that Evan picked out.

The second shop is a place that I go to for one thing and one thing only. For whatever reason, this place gets loads of vintage sheets and bedding.

I picked up at least 30 pillowcases and sheet sets. So many that they wouldn't fit in the dinky cart and I made my kids carry them around their shoulders.

Here are just a few, all are available Here----->Random Goods Vintage







And lots lots more. Some fitted sheets and flat sheets. Haven't even begun to photograph them. 

The third shop was also a good haul. This is where Evan comes in handy. He has been shopping with me for years, so he already has an eye for the good stuff. Also he is good about convincing me to buy certain things that I am on the fence about, and talking me out of purchases that I want, but he knows that I will end up regretting. Immediately he ran to this discovery and said "You are getting this!"


Its string art, mid century and steam punk and vintage airplane. How great is that? But then I saw the price and said, "its great, but too much money, no can do!" and then we saw the sign that said ALL FRAMES AND ART 50% OFF.  Still more than I wanted to pay for it, but it was a much more doable price.

Available here----->STEAM PUNK STRING ART

I can say that I have never seen any string art like this before. There is a wooden propeller and metal bit and pieces for the engine and tail. It is heavy as fuck though. So it wont be a cheap item to ship.


Then I found this! This was one of those items where I was on the fence. Actually  there were 2 different ones, and I am now kicking myself for not buying the other. Especially since they were priced so cheap they were almost free. (Remember 50% off all art)

This is a silkscreen print by mid century artist Marushka. As was the other one I left behind :-( This one is very large, at least 4 feet tall. (the one I left behind was probably 6 feet wide)

Not listed as of yet, so it is available for local pickup. It doesn't weigh much, but because of its awkward size, I need to bring this and the following item to UPS to get a shipping and packing quote, until then, both of these items are available for local pick up.




Trust me, it is much larger in person.

The other item that I mentioned available for local pickup until I get off my lazy ass and drag them to UPS, is what we thought was a chair. Evan was wandering around, scoping the shop for anything else that may be of interest. He said he found a mid century chair. Before even seeing it, I reminded him, "what the hell am I going to do with a chair?" I cant ship furniture, and I don't have a bricks and mortar shop. He convinced me to just take a look. So he dragged me around the maze of furniture and showed me. Again I was on the fence. Yea, it was cool, kind of weird, definitely mid century, great condition and priced very inexpensively. However, not something I want to ship. Once again, we looked at the sign 40% OFF ALL FURNITURE. Evan didn't wait for me to answer.  He just took it and dragged it around to the check out and said "you're getting it, we will figure out the details later" So I got it. We took it home and cleaned it up. Did some research and discovered that it is not a chair, but a men's valet. AND the back of the chair was screwed in upside down for whatever reason. I think that's why I thought it looked strange. Evan got out his tool box and unscrewed the back and re-screwed it the way it was supposed to be.


I still think that it would make a great chair. It is correct seat height and its comfortable. But technically it is a valet and there was a hanger thing that was supposed to be inserted at the top. Currently available for local pickup (Tampa Florida)

The following items are available here------>RANDOM GOODS BOOK ROOM


I am a sucker for anything 80s. I promised myself that I would no longer buy vintage puzzles that I wouldn't put together first to verify that it was a complete puzzle, no missing pieces. So I picked this puzzle up because it is so fantastic and I opened it up to put it together. I said "fuck no" and I closed it back up. A complete black border to start...yea...not happening. It sat in my stash for 5 months. Finally, I figured that I may as well list it, at a cheap price and see what happens. It gets to the point that I just list it or dump it. Nothing ventured nothing gained. It was packaged well, so I am assuming its fine. Up for a gamble?



Yep, solid black border.



This next one was a find from Detroit's infamous garage sales that I mentioned this past summer. Again it just sat around for awhile because I had no idea if it was complete or not. I finally decided to list it and I discovered that the few other ones available online had way less pieces AND were priced crazy high. So, I inspected this set further and I realized that it seemed to be complete, but just kind of unorganized.



And last but not least, the joy of this book. Because.



And the fourth shop? Yea...we never made it that far. Avery was being a doll the whole time and I didn't want to push my luck. And I too, was in the mood for a Frosty.


Hope your holidays were fantastic and this New Year brings you plenty of Vintage goodness!

Do you find that thrift shopping after the holidays is great? I usually find success this time of year. I think people get rid of stuff to make room for the new stuff. Also, living in Florida, spring is a good time to shop, because the snow birds leave to go back up north and they tend to get rid of things before they leave. What times of the year work best for you?















10 comments:

  1. We need to go thrifting together one day soon, T. I'm tired of hitting League of Mercy and Sunshine Thrift all by my lonesome...

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    1. Haha! League of mercy! Girl I have stories about that place! Yea anytime. I have my "rounds" I hit the Dunedin safety harbor, Clearwater area one day. Then the carrolwood area another day, then south tampa another day etc. Since I go so often, I had to make it effiecent!

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  2. Nice finds! I made a few string art pictures back in the day (I was a kid then, and they were smaller kid type craft kits). I think they are pretty collectible today. My local thrifts are closed between Xmas and New Year's. Drag!

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    1. oh that sucks! That's such a great time to go! I would be so bummed!

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  3. Omggggg I went today for the first time in two weeks (because of the kids!) and it was helllllll!!! Never going on Sunday again. Insane busy.

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    1. I haven't hit a shop on the weekend in ages. It just seems like a bad idea!

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  4. You scored big! My kids are small enough that they're either strapped in the stroller or can be amused by the toy sections. Still, I like to go by myself. I find it relaxing. I haven't been in so long though! This makes me want to go.

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  5. Hopefully they will end up enjoying shopping one day!

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  6. january is the time for killer stuff around my parts! everyone seems to be decluttering and donating good stuff. it's too tempting. ;)

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    1. Exactly, people get rid of stuff to make room for their new stuff!

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