I have been spending the last couple of weeks browsing around a few thrift stores and antique shops in my area. I love finding second hand treasures at affordable prices. The first few places I went to were ‘antique shops’ and I found that the prices were much higher than I was willing to spend. I like old things…I just don’t want to spend a fortune on them just because they are OLD. I also don’t want to buy things that I am just going to look at. I find that most antique shops have things that you would not actually use…old dolls, delicate china, rickety furniture, etc. My ideal thrift store find is one that I can actually use in my day to day life.
Posts feature partner companies & may be sponsored. Post contains affiliate links & I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
At one antique shop I did find a collection of metal spoons for $3.00 which I snatched right up. They are great for school lunch boxes and an assortment of spoon crafts that I have planned! I also found a 3 sided cheese grater at another antique shop which I really want to make into an earing holder for my daughter. I need to find just the right color paint first!
✯Don’t want to miss the next post?✯ Follow Turning the Clock Back on Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest Or join the private Facebook group for simple tips on going green! 
Every time I go to a thrift store, though, I come home with stuff I really don’t NEED. I saw a beautiful little hand made pottery creamer and I just had to buy it. I mean, it was only a DOLLAR! Of course, I already have 2 creamers and really don’t need another one but that’s the problem with thrift store shopping. You just can’t resist buying something you like because it’s so cheap! My argument was that it would look perfect in a photograph of some pancakes filled with maple syrup. So, now I need to make pancakes to justify my purchase!
My most exciting thrift store find today was actually a set of 4 hand made apple bakers. I have been looking at every pottery place we stop at but they are always close to $20 each and since I want a set of 4 I just couldn’t bring myself to spend the money. Today’s thrift store journey netted me a set of 4 hand made apple bakers (I even found the seller on Etsy with the artist stamp on the bottom!) and I spent $2 each. Yup, big spender aren’t I?
Thrift store prices are much better than antique store prices but it definitely depends on what exactly you are looking for. I found a beautiful collection of old marbles at the antique store but they wanted $50 for them! I just wanted them for crafts and decor so that was a bit too pricy for my tastes. But, at the thrift store I found an old picture frame for $2 that I am repurposing for my daughter’s class picture.
This is what we started with…rather boring! And, my daughter pointed out, covered with what looks like pot leaves. How she knows what pot leaves look like, I don’t want to know!
I gave it one coat of white primer…it was a bit too dark for what I had in mind.
And covered it with washi tape! Much prettier!
Over all, my thrift store explorations the last couple of weeks were very fruitful. I found things I needed but didn’t want to pay full price for, things that were cheap that I just had to have because they were pretty, and a whole lot of cool things to upcycle into NEW stuff. That should keep me busy for a few weeks, right? Like I don’t have enough to do with the holidays rolling around! Hmmm…I wonder if my mom wants a spoon craft for Christmas?
Have you found any cool thrift store treasures lately?
Diane is a professional blogger and nationally certified pharmacy technician at Good Pill Pharmacy. She earned her BS in Microbiology at the University of New Hampshire and has worked in cancer research, academics, and biotechnology. Concern over the growing incidence of human disease and the birth of her children led her to begin living a more natural life. She quickly realized that the information she was learning along the way could be beneficial to many others and started blogging and freelance writing to share this knowledge with others. Learn more about her HERE.
You found some really great things. I like the idea of using the cheese grater as an earring holder. That frame turned out very cute. Great job!
Thanks for the kind words! I am not generally a very crafty person but I keep on trying!
LOL That was what I thought too – OMG those are pot leaves! 😀
I seriously wonder if that is what the manufacturer wanted them to look like!