Blogtoberfest Day 24: Not a lot of Thrifting but Thrifting All the Same

With our eldest's birthday on Saturday and our activities on Sunday, this weekend did not leave much time for traditional thrift store searching. It did get me thinking about how I 'thrift' in settings other than a traditional thrift store (Salvation Army, Value Village, church nearly new), garage sales or flea markets. I read about many bloggers that attend estate sales and come home with wonderful vintage finds. I would be game to give it a try but there does not seem to be many or they are not well advertised in this city. Any tips of how to get into that loop? One place that I do not consider a thrift store but will occasionally shop at is a consignment shop. I generally find that their prices for clothing is too high for me compared to what I can find at a charity shop and the home goods are not often in keeping with my vintage tastes. I have had my best luck at this type of store with some books and a few select pieces of Pyrex. For instance, I found three of my Butterprint Cinderella Bowls to match the one that I already had and made a set of four. What was particularly gratifying is that those bowls were at their final marked down price just as the cache pot pictured here was. Although not really vintage, I have a small collection of this type of R.B. Bernarda piece from Portugal. I love the botanical drawing style which is similar to some of Portmeirion's patterns. We have as small amount of Variations which as its name suggests is a variant of the hugely popular Botanic Garden Series. I also cannot resist an attractive cache pot.



Another alternative to thrifting is getting something for free! I have a number of not so small pieces of furniture that were picked up curbside or simply offered to us by friends or neighbors. Because we have four children, we have often benefited from the generosity of others when it comes to hand me down clothes. This has been most helpful as all but the best quality or infrequently worn clothes usually do not make it to the wardrobe of the third boy. This weekend was especially exciting because our youngest was passed down a sweater and a pair of jeans that have never been worn. I suppose that we have all missed the opportunity to return a garment that does not fit but it was especially appreciated by our youngest who almost always wears what someone else has worn before.



We frequent our local library and take out DVD's, CD's,and museum passes along with our latest must-read book. It is pretty exciting to visit the amazing museums in this city without being required to pay the admission fee or membership. We have been family members of almost all of the possible institutions in this city but it would be very expensive to maintain memberships for them all. There is thrifting opportunity in the library too. Most branches of the Ottawa Public Library have a selection of books,magazines and CD's, either donated or discarded from the stacks, that are available for purchase. This past weekend, I was able to buy 5 CD's (including 2 complete opera box sets) for $1 each and 2 hardcover books for $2 each. I have found it very convenient place to donate my old magazine which some one else will be able to buy for a dime.


The treasures that I found today will be posted later this week but if you need to see more of the amazing finds that you can find at a thrift store, check out Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday.