Joining Silver Spring Sewing Sisters led to the occasional, organized club thrift, as well. See me in front of the local Goodwill with my Sisters? Who is holding the most over-stuffed bag? Yup.
And I am still trying to place dresses from that one 50% off everything holiday Monday at Unique, wherein I went a *bit* overboard and spent more than I ever had in a single shop.
So, caution.
I organized my closet, made note of what I had enough of (almost everything) and what I needed to replace (that sad burgundy velour track suit that has an unfortunate yogurt stain and a broken zipper, but which I would continue to wear if I did not find a suitable replacement) and resolved-ish to demonstrate a little self control.
I made a thrifting goal for the year to replace our everyday glassware and my baking ware with pieces I love and to find some good serving platters (So next Thanksgiving I might not show up with a turkey in a disposable aluminum roasting pan.)
And then I bugged Allison about maybe going to Unique the very first Thursday (AKA VIP Day) of the month. She could not make it.
I made plans to take my neighbor, Sharon. My car's power steering went out.
So I went Monday, when just anyone can get 25% off everything without a VIP card. I'm still special, though.
The haul was pretty good.
There were two four-piece sets of amber Sausalito dinner plates from Pottery Barn. Hmm, not serving platters but dinner service for eight in a color from my chocolate and tobacco dining scheme? In the cart they went.
Honestly, the paint on these is a bit streaky. It is intentional, surely sold as "artisanal." Ah yes, here it is on the PB site: "Each piece is glazed by hand and has visible brush strokes." Whatever, I'm not crazy about that element.
Still, service for eight, which will stack nicely with my beloved (and piece by piece, breaking) brown vintage Pfaltzgraff plates. For $6.96 a bundle, time two, minus 25%= $10.44 or $1.31 per plate. New they are sold in sets of four for $48, or twelve bucks a plate.
Admittedly, I am still hiding them in my trunk until I can arrange the kitchen cabinets in a way that will make them look elemental, not excessive.
The kitchen aisle also yielded a two-tone green vintage Thermos Picnic Jug. Similar Thermoses are listed on etsy and eBay in the $20-50 range. I could not find one that was really the same model as mine.
It was (still is) marked $8.98; so I got it for $6.74, before tax
This was a pure love piece, but will be put to good use in coffee service. Just as soon as I bleach it out.
Yes, we serial thrifters are known to sneak and to stockpile. But some things are used right away. These tend to be the more common finds, like the Nigella Express I snagged from the cookbook section while scanning in vain for glassware.
My other mission, velour track suits, proved a success. Now, I had been looking for the past month or so and, ugh, nothing. Too many windsuits left over from the eighties and overly-embellished pullovers from women in their eighties.
But 2012 brought me a champagne-colored Everlast suit with a satin-lined hood and a pink norsport suit with a secret pocket. Between the hip hop and suburban mom styles of these slipped a pair of charcoal grey Seven7 lounge pants. In respect for my absentee label-whore partner in thrift, like.
But the real find of the day was in my new favorite section of the store: the children's oversized books. Since Unique started flat pricing books last year, all kids books are 69 cents. (Or 52 cents on a discount day.)
There I found a copy of Gyo Fujikawa's Come Follow Me. If you click through, you'll see that the least expensive used copy of this volume available on Amazon is listed for well over $40. The listings quickly climb over the $100 mark.
My copy is not perfect. It is missing its dust jacket. But it is clean of pen, crayon marks. It does, however, have some really mild water marks that one would have to be looking for. The top and bottom of the spine have some shelf wear. But the binding is tight. It is a 1979 printing.
Anyhow, this is all for bragging rights. I am not looking to resell. I am letting my girls read the book. What the price points do indicate that this is not the easiest book to find. Fujikawa is by far my favorite children's book illustrator.
I am a lucky girl.
