thrifting

Yet again! This is how I roll. Welcoming the new year, looking for deals, and thrifting. I have to bring my boy up right, you know? He got a little birthday money from his great grandpa, and so we went off to the thrift store.

When I go to the thrift stores, it's super dangerous (read: expensive) for me if I don't have a goal in mind, a specific item or two that I'm looking for. Sometimes it's jeans for Brad, a fresh new skirt for me, a certain size picture frame, or some clothes for this toddler that grows so quickly.

This time around, I figured I better start the size 3T stash of clothes for Joshie. My slim little guy needs adjustable waist pants, so that was on the top of the list. I figured that "Great Grandpa Ed" would probably want him to have some sort of toy, too.

Toddler shopping strategy is to ask for what you want immediately before or immediately upon entering the store. This time, it was a football. No football in sight, but a basketball sufficed. On to the toy section so that he could hold and play with whatever toy we were going to end up going home with.

Joshie spotted the vacuums. He wanted them.

And then the Little Tikes construction vehicles. The big, bulky, hard-to-hold kind. And he wanted that instead.

And then the vacuum again.

Then a transformer.

And then?

I saw two Little Tikes cozy coupe cars. They retail for between $45 and $55 new. And both were marked $4.99. Oh, okay, then. So out of the cart went the Josh, and into a car, and around the store. We parked one up front so that we could reserve it as ours.

Meanwhile, there was a $0.99 construction helmet that he fell in love with. Fine by me. I managed to find him a pair of almost-new Children's Place jeans, like these, for $3.99. Then a set of Carter's cotton pajamas, like these, for $2.99. And the icing on the cake? A J. Crew half-zip rugby-style heavyweight pullover, not quite a sweatshirt, but a thick tee with a cute little leather pull on the metal zipper...for $0.99. Hooray!

Then we were back to the toys again for another diversion so that I could continue to shop. I spotted a set of five wooden puzzles, marked $4.99, and added that to our pile. Heading toward the checkout, I saw a poor, lonely Nalgene,  for just $1.99.

And then I remembered that I had a coupon for $3 off a purchase of $10 or more. Woohoo!

So our entire pile:

Cozy Coupe Car - $4.99 (retails between $45 and $55)
Construction Hat - $0.99 (similar $5)
Carter's pajamas - $2.99 ($15 on sale right now, regularly $20)
Children's Place jeans - $3.99 ($10 on sale right now, regularly $16.50)
Crewcuts pullover - $0.99!! (similar $40)
Cute wooden puzzles - $4.99 (original price tag $23.95)
Nalgene water bottle - $1.99 ($9)

Minus the $3 coupon...

Just $20.17. Full price would have been $159.45. I paid about 13% of the full price value of these items.

Feeling very blessed!

short sleeves for spring

My mother-in-law loves to dote on her grandson. This makes me a happy momma, indeed!

Last week, we stopped in at a local children's resale shop, and she picked up a haul of great deals for Joshua to enjoy this spring and summer! A couple pairs of shorts, a Fisher Price bubble mower, and their everyday 10 onesies for $10 deal.

Four of the onesies happened to be long sleeved, and that's not so suitable for spring, right? But I had an idea...

...and I made them into short sleeved onesies!

You may remember that I wrote a silly little lament for my sewing machine. The machine is still out of commission, but a good friend of mine let me borrow her (new in the box!) machine for my little project. So generous! It was a dream to sew on such an easy-to-use, smooth machine. Everything went so perfectly. Thank you, Dena!

I cut off the sleeve at the length I wanted the finished sleeve to be. I used an existing short sleeved shirt of Joshua's to be sure it was a good length.

Then, I cut off the original shirt sleeve cuffs, turned them inside out, and fitted them over the newly-shortened sleeve so that the raw edges lined up.

Lastly, I stretched the fabric out and sewed straight-line stitches to reattach the "new" sleeve cuffs. Turned them back to the right side, trimmed threads, and there we go!

Cute? I think so! I'm pleased and happy to have some "new" play clothes for my little boy! Thanks, "Grandma!"

thrifty Thursday

I love thrifting. It's thrilling to me to find something I've been needing for so much less that it would cost from its original store.

Lately, Brad has been needing jeans to wear to work. His office recently switched over  to more casual dress, and he hasn't worn a pair of khakis to work in ages! His jeans collection was starting to be a bit threadbare, and one of his last good pairs ripped all the way up the leg. Dire situation, indeed.

My mission upon entering thrift stores, then, has been first, to find jeans for Brad, second, to find clothes for my ever-growing toddler, and third, to find a couple nice pieces  for myself, since my post-pregnancy shape is so different.

Today was a triple win. Hooray!

Not one, but THREE pairs of pants for Brad:
One pair of Levi's (about $58 new), one pair of brand new, with tags, Old Navy jeans ($29.50), and a pair of Banana Republic jeans ($89!?!) for a grand total of $35.

A likely brand new baby Gap thermal (white with navy stripes) for my sweet little boy:
(Similar one $19.95) for $0.75. Boom, baby.

And a cute sweater and skirt for me! The skirt is old, from Old Navy. Probably about 2006? Let's imagine that it was probably about $15. The sweater doesn't have a tag, but it looks like it could be Old Navy, as well. I'll imagine that it was likely $20 new. Both items came to $6.50 total.

So the grand total is about $42.  It would have been about $222 new. I paid about 19% of the original price of these items.

I. Love. Thrifting.

Happy Thursday!