Goodwill Before Christmas

This past weekend we had a daybed gave to my daughter. She's been wanting one of these for a while so we drove to a town an hour away to pick it up. While there we stopped at their local Goodwill store. I'm always amazed by how much cheaper their Goodwill is than the one we have in our town. The prices at the Goodwill store in our town are double what theirs is. I found the kids some shoes and clothes but I also found these . . .

We were some of the first people in the door when they opened and I made a mad dash for this Santa. I've been wanting one of these for a while and he looks great sitting by my front door. He's missing his light but still makes a great door greeter.

These two cute little reindeer were in a basket full of Christmas ornaments. They had .39 stickers on them. I thought they were both so cute and can't wait to add them to my Christmas decor. We have to go back there again next weekend to pick up an antique drop leaf table that the same couple that gave us the bed are selling us for $50. I still can't believe it myself - it's so pretty and I can't wait to share photos. While there I might see if I can sweet talk DH into letting us stop at their Goodwill again. Until next time . . . ThriftyAnnabella

Still Here

Oh Wow - I didn't realize blogger had changed so much since I last posted. I almost couldn't figure out how to add a new post. I'm still here though. This past year hasn't been too good to my DH and I financially - he's been having a hard time working steadily. So, because of that we haven't been hitting the garage sales or Goodwill too often. I will be adding a post soon about my latest garage sale finds. I finally gave in and stopped at a sale last month after months of no sales for us. It was the end of the day around 5 p.m. and they were letting people fill a bag for $2. Unfortunately, there wasn't much left but I did manage to fill a bag. I should be posting that soon. My kids had a great Halloween this year and we're looking forward to the upcoming Holidays and hopefully a great 2013 full of garage sales and great finds.

Until next time . . . ThriftyAnnabella

First Spring Garage Sales

Participating in the following parties this week . . .

Thrift Share Monday
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Today's Thrifty Treasures

Yesterday DH and I decided to go into the city to check out all the garage sales. We didn't go to many garage sales last year after taking a small break so we weren't sure what to expect. There were quite a few of the "I got all this stuff at storage auction" sales. Now that all the Storage War shows are popular I look to be encountering quite a bit of that this summer. I tend to find these garage sales to have high prices although at one of them I did find a mini George Foreman grill for $4. Nothing else, though.

I also came across a couple of those "I'm an Extreme Couponer" sales where the only thing really being sold were toothpaste, body wash and anything else you can get with a coupon. I have nothing again couponing and use coupons myself - it's just when I go to garage sales that's the last thing I'm out hunting is more body wash and toothpaste.

At the first house we stopped at I purchased these three things.



I saw this great tablecloth still in the package for $5. Figuring it was still brand new and had never been used I didn't mind paying that for it. I later discovered when I got home and unfolded it that it was only made to look like it never been used. It actually had a nice yellow stain on it and the people had ironed it and folded it neatly and placed it back in the package. I would like to call that False Advertising and have now learned that even though it looks brand new it may not be.

Check out these nice embroidered flowers though. I'm going to try to treat the yellow stain and see if I can't get it out of the cloth.



I also picked up this nice Sterlite organizer. It looked like this when I bought it but I have since scrubbed it with a magic eraser and removed the masking tape and it looks brand new again. I've been wanting one of these for DD to use in her room to keep her hair bows organized.



My final purchase from this house was this cute T-Shirt. I told DH I may have to wear this to the next family reunion. ;)



The next garage sale had mostly children's items. There was one table full of t-shirts for .50 a piece and I found 4 great ones to wear around the house. As mentioned in an earlier post I love peace signs and was real excited to find this one.



The next few garage sales mostly had baby clothes and baby items - nothing I'm looking for. In another neighborhood we came across a garage sale that was hidden behind a house and we actually passed it up a couple times before we finally found it. I'm glad we did because it was there that I found these two nice jackets.



Our final stop of the day was at a benefit garage sale for a lady with cancer. Really the only thing they had was tables full of clothes. They were telling everyone to fill a bag for $1. I dug around for a little while but these were the only two things I came up with.



Until next time . . .

My Last Goodwill Trip

Participating in the following parties this week . . .

Thrift Share Monday
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Lately DH and I have made a couple of trips to Goodwill. We don't like to visit our Goodwill stores around here too often because the prices are so high. After our last trip Saturday we both decided to hold off on anymore trips to Goodwill since Garage Sale season is about to start around here and we can get a lot better prices at them.

On our trip to the smaller Goodwill store in our area I found a cart full of Home Interior pictures. I picked up these two since they go best with my decor. One was $9.99 and the other $6.99




Saturday we visited the bigger Goodwill in our town and there wasn't much to choose from. I did find these great juice pitchers for $1.99 each. They had four of them but I decided two would probably be plenty.



I don't know about everyone else but I am so ready for Garage Sales to kick into high gear around here now that the weather is pretty and can't wait to see everyone else's finds.

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella

Garage Sales, Goodwill and Remodeling

Happy 2012 everyone. Things have been busy around here lately since the start of the year. We're in the process of remodeling one room while working on others in our home. I've officially declared my house a disaster until we're finished and warn everyone before they enter of the chaos inside.

Under three layers of flooring in DS's room we found these great natural hardwood floors. I was so excited because I wasn't particularly looking forward to linoleum floors in his room which is what we had first decided on.



During all this work though, I have managed to squeeze in a couple trips to Goodwill and have attending my first garage sale of the season. Last weekend we went to a storage sale at DH's cousins house. She has these usually once a month during the year. This time the pickings were slim and my only buys were a Ralph Lauren shirt and a Cato jean jacket.

Things haven't been too great at Goodwill lately either. I did find this Hannah Montana guitar hanger for DD's room. We're redecorating her room and we're going to hang it for her as soon as we finish painting her bedroom. $3.99



Also I found this goblet for .99 - I eventually hope to have a whole set of these but for now this one will do.



My only other purchase was this Tommy Hilfiger purse for $3.99. It didn't have tags on it but looked brand new.



I had to get creative with my picture taking today to try not to show off my big mess. However, I can't wait to show pictures of everything once it's finished.

Until next time . . .

ThriftyAnnabella