Thrifty Finds

When I get a new blog follower, I like to see what other kinds of blogs they are following in addition to mine. This is how I found out about The Thrifty Chicks. To The Thrifty Chicks, thrift store shopping is more than a hobby. It's practically a philosophy. Much of the blog is devoted to finding fashionable (often new, often designer) clothing for unbelievably low prices at thrift stores.

Although I've found a few new and name brand pieces of clothing in thrift stores, a fashionista I'm not. Instead, I thought I'd share with you some of the things I've found at thrift stores and garage sales that I've put to good use in decorating and/or organizing my home.

While I don't remember their exact prices, I usually don't spend much on garage sale or thrift items. I think it's safe to say that none of these things cost more than $5, and most likely, only a dollar or two.

First up is a large basket. For a while, I used it to hold books that I was planning to read, but I soon found it wasn't big enough. However, it does hold two full-sized afghans. I also use it to keep our door from blowing shut when we have the windows open in our bedroom.


Second is this cute painted box. It's mostly for decoration, but I also use it to hold some Sudoku puzzle books that my mother-in-law gave me.

This wasn't a thrift-store find, but I thought I'd include it anyway. It's an empty Patron tequila bottle, now being used as a mouthwash decanter in our bathroom.

Here is another basket. It's about 10" deep top to bottom, but only about 4" deep front to back. We have it mounted in the living room near the front door. It holds a couple flashlights should we ever come home to a power outage. It holds some other miscellaneous items as well.

These jars were from a garage sale, but are also available at Wal-Mart, Target, etc. These hold our cereal. I also have others like them that, store candy, cookies and Chex mix. It's not often that all five of them are full, though.

I have two of these little chest made of bamboo or some other kind of reed. One holds rechargeable batteries and their charger. The other holds my small stash of perfumes and nail polishes.

Finally, here are two more baskets. These are actually in our kitchen, on my cookbook shelf, but they are used much like valet baskets would be used on a bedroom dresser. One for Shane and one for me, they hold our wallets, sunglasses, keys, and cell phones when we aren't using them.