Thriving Thrifts

When you walk into Walmart, Target, Kohls, Home Goods, etc during the holiday seasons you see so many of these beautiful decorations and you just want them all until you look the price tag. Wreaths are $40 or more, fake pumpkins are $15, center pieces are $25, and ornaments are $10 each! It's absurd and way out of my price range for decorations. I have a solution though but it does take some creative outside of the box thinking. First, you have to decide what style of decor you are wanting for the holiday. Is it farmhouse style, traditional Christmas colors, turkey thanksgiving, or pumpkin thanksgiving? Once you have that chosen it is time to get shopping. Be prepared, though, to have to go to many thrift stores and yard sales. Thrifting takes work and planning. Today, I am going to share how to think outside of the box with decorating your home using thrifted and secondhand items. Many of my ideas will be based on my style and will require a little up-cycling. Some, however, w...

Happy Halloween everyone! It's the last day of October which calls for my blog of my thrifted outfits of the day I have this month. This is a new posting I will try to do every month (not sure how well this will go since I wear a lot of outfits over and over). I will show you ways to mix and match thrifted items to create cute and stylish outfits. Not including shoes, all of my thrifted outfits of the day are under $8! When coming up with thrifted looks you have to think outside the box. Also, don't forget that the same piece worn with a different top or bottom can make a huge fashion difference! Here are my thrifted outfits of the month for the month of October. I will tell where I got each item and for how much. Enjoy and get inspired! The above left outfit is one of my all time favorites because of the colors and the style of the shirt. The total cost of the outfit is... drum roll... $3.00!!! I got the faded blue skinny jeans at Goodwill 50% off color tag  event ...

So I have been MIA because... I got married this weekend and it was absolutely amazing! I couldn't have asked for a more perfect weekend in Candler, NC. The weather was perfect, the venue was perfect, and everyone that came to support us was perfect! I wanted to apologize for not being consistent with my posts lately but the wedding, moving, and the new job have kept me a little preoccupied. It's still going to be crazy because next we are going to be looking at buying our first house. I wanted to get in touch and post a few pictures of my wedding and talk about my next blog. My next blog post will be a short one on my monthly thrifted outfits of the month. I am going to try to do this once a month to keep giving you all ideas on how to make thrifting stylish. There are only a handful of October outfits but I will be sure to have more for November since I need more fall tops! Following the Monthly Thrifted Outfits will be a blog on the best things to purchase from the thr...

There are a few things you should just not buy at thrift stores or yard sales in my opinion. I have composed a list of 10 items that are never on my raider to purchase at secondhand stores. Now don't get me wrong, there are always exceptions to some of these items if they are brand new, still in the package, or have still have the tags on. Usually, though, this list of items are the ones I stay clear of because of germs and other reason. I collaborated with my friends and family to come up with this list because I was having brain block trying to think of items I wouldn't get. Well let's get to it! 1. Underwear, socks, and bra's: I would never buy any of these items unless they were brand new in the package. Except for underwear... I am just never buying them in a thrift store or at a yard sale. My under garments will just have to be purchased at a retail store and that's final. You just never know where those things have been or what they have gone through. ...

This past weekend I went to visit my future sister-in-law to go to the Jurassic Park concert at the Baltimore Symphony. The concert was my first and it was absolutely amazing! I can't wait to go to the next one! Before the concert, we stopped by this place that sells Healthy Blue Bags for $8. The program fills a huge bag full of vegetables and fruit. If not sold, the food would go to waste because it is surplus food from markets, its too ugly to sell, or close to expiring. It is insane how much food you get for just $8. Ally and I decided to get a bag to take home with us for lunch food. Here is what we got for a total of $16.  Our huge bags... except they are never actually blue.  All of our food!!! It filled the entire dining room table. We ended up getting eggplant, bananas, celery, fava beans, snap peas, onions, Brussels sprouts, bananas, cherry tomatoes, potatoes oranges, cabbage, salsa, vegetable mix, thyme, lemons, melons, and mushrooms. Keep ...

That time of the year is here! The weather is getting cooler and garage sales are beginning to cease. But have no fear, thrifting is here! I know, I know, corny but I had to. On a serious note, I am going to talk about my 10 tips to thrifting that I believe will help anyone become a true bargain shopper. Of course, there are tons of thrifting tips but these are my go to tips to anyone trying to utilize their second hand stores. Tip #1: Make a list of what you need. Don't get me wrong, there are days when I just want to step into a thrift store just to browse and there is nothing wrong with that; sometimes that is when you find the most amazing deals. However, having a list can keep you focused and can make you plan for certain deals in your areas. Example, my Goodwill does $2 Tuesday on clothes so when I am looking for clothes items I tend to try to go on those days. Tip #2: Do the research in advance! Check out your local thrift store deals and coupons. Check out the weekly co...

Here is to forgetting to post this garage sale haul... oops! This haul was from a few weeks ago. I honestly couldn't even tell you when because that is how forgetful I have been the last couple months. Being busy and getting old makes you forget. What can I say!  $5 for dog back pack!  $3 for the bucket filled with what we will use as dog toys. Charlie loves the soccer ball and has really good footwork for a dog.  $2 woven basket that we are currently using in the kitchen to organize and hide our lunch box Tupperware.  $5 car racks that fit nicely on our Honda HRV. These will be used to lug around our kayaks.  $5 for science posters, science lesson plan books, 5 metal paper holders/organizers, and a rock lamp for Ally's class.  $5 for more weights for my bench I got at another yard sale!  $5 for a heat lamp that will be used for Jingles and Pep (our lizards). Last but not least, 50 Cent small bookbag pocketbook that I love!