Follow Your Thrifting Radar

What is “Thrifting Radar”? It’s that extra sense or little voice that says, “Go to this shop” or “Stop here…Today!” Sometimes, it’s just wishful thinking but sometimes the radar is true and good finds await. Yesterday that radar was working just fine and it was telling me to stop at a little Thrift Store I don’t normally go to. The prices tend to be higher and the offerings are not usually what I look for but that little voice was yelling “Stop Here!” as we were driving by…so we did.

I’d been looking for Fall/Hallowe’en items and not having much luck. The first thing I found was this great pumpkin cut from plywood. It’s quite large and will make a great wall display. The stem needs a little wood glue and it needs another round of stain but that’s easy to do. Then I’ll have a great piece to work into my Fall decor. Did I say it was only $2.50?

Next I found these great cheese boxes in excellent condition. They are well made and the wood is in great shape. They are large enough to house a whole wheel of cheese and go for quite high prices online. These were very affordable.

I also found these great linens.

Four beautifully embroidered Fall placemats with a leaf motif that you can see in the first picture found their way into my cart. Four butterfly placemats and a beautiful Fall round tablecloth with weighted rolled hem were the next finds. All were in wonderful condition and will be great pieces to use this Fall.

We stopped at two other stores and found this great, very large, sign that simply says Family. It has that shabby chic look to it and will be great on my gallery shelves. It’s the width of my Morning Room round table so will make a nice statement.

This cat has a lot of personality and will hold a votive candle lighting up the fish he has just eaten. A fun piece for Hallowe’en and he even has all his whiskers.

Another cat piece done in cross stitch. Love the sentiment. This piece was absolutely filthy when I saw it and I couldn’t tell if the dirt was confined to the frame or on the needlework as well. It was under $2 so decided to take a chance. You can see it cleaned up really well. A little windex and some Liquid Gold and the frame and glass showcase the needlework once again.

I found a set of Pewter plates at Goodwill. They had three sizes so I ended up with 7 dinner plates, 6 salad/dessert plates and 8 bread and butter plates. They were priced as a set at an excellent price. I can just see them on the table.

Starting at the top left you can see a wine box. I always pick these up if they are a reasonable price. They are great for displaying all kinds of thing from flowers to ceramic balls. The center top picture is just a simple large wicker fan. Maybe some Fall herbs will be displayed with the fan as a base? Next is a pretty blue picture frame. So many possibilities for this.

The bottom row begins with a very tall glass cylinder. I picked up two of them. These are great for Christmas balls or candles or…? The ribbon is a wired reversible ribbon with a deep rose color on one side and a green on the other…very pretty. I like to pick up ribbon when I see something at a good price. Finally, a bouquet of black flowers great for Hallowe’en.

The final item my Hubby found and it is really interesting. It’s a set put out by Bombay Sapphire Gin and is made from heavy plexiglass. There are a couple of martini shakers, 5 candle holders with votive candles inserted in the top, some picks (very cool) and another three part holder for mixing. It’s a designer set and really nicely designed by Stephen Burkes. It dates to 2003 nd sells on Ebay for $200 and up. Not too shabby.

Hope your next thrifting adventure is filled with fun finds and remember to follow that thrifting radar.