Lately, I have been spending more time than usual checking out the local thrift shops because I have been on the look out for something very specific. I recently converted my “house center” into a “Boston Pizza” restaurant in my Kindergarten classroom. I have been working on this project for several weeks and it has all come together quite nicely, but there are a few things I have not yet completed. I will share an entire post on the center because I do think this could be really great for early years teachers, child care workers or mom’s of little ones. It has only been up and running a few days, but it is a big hit! However, one of the projects I have yet to complete is the “large” size pizza. I really wanted to create a center that would be durable and so I wanted to create the pretend pizzas out of wood. I found both “small” and “medium” circular pieces of wood, but am still in need of a finished piece of wood that is 12″ in diameter. Here is a picture of the wood pieces that I purchased on a previous thrift shop trip. You can see that the larger was some kind of a “lazy-Susan” or something and the second is the base of the little stand in the background. I am looking for any kind of circular wooden piece that is light in colour and has no splinters or rough edges. Both of the ones I previously found work great.
I have looked at cutting boards, lamp bases, stands, serving platters, stool tops, etc, but still can’t seem to find exactly what I am looking for. At this point, I would even consider buying something new if it met my specifications. Anyways, my search continues to bring me into thrift shops on a pretty regular basis.
I was so excited about my last two trips to the thrift store, that I just had to share. This shopping trip took place near the end of our Christmas vacation. I generally don’t buy clothes, but found a few goodies that I just couldn’t resist. Check out how far $17 can go!
Now, I have to admit that I thought this trip was fabulous…what great deals! That was of course until my most recent shopping trip. Do you want to know what you can buy at a thrift store for $12.20? You won’t believe it…..
Remember, I entered the store for one purpose….one 12″ round wooden tray/circle. I don’t go to this particular store very often, so I was pretty much doing a quick once over to check it out. The scarves were neatly hanging at the end of an aisle and one of them caught my eye, so I decided to look through the large assortment and came up with 6 great scarves. My daughter is into scarves too, so we often share and I knew she would love the colours as much as I did. Just one wash away from some great new looks! I honestly don’t know why I bought the mug stands, but I thought I might be able to use them for storage at school or my scrapbooking room. They are brand new and were only 30 cents each. I figure they’re cheaper than the logs in my firewood pile, so technically I could burn them and still feel like I came out ahead. I could not believe my luck when I found the black leather garbage mitts that were not only in great condition, but also only one dollar. I managed to squeeze my non-injured hand in the left mitten and figured they would fit Shay perfectly. He loved them at first as well, but was a bit troubled when he couldn’t get his thumb in the hole of the right mitten.
Leather garbage mitts…what a buy! Not really.
Oh well, you win some and you lose some. I don’t suppose I should re-donate them, I don’t think there are too many people out there with two left hands! Even with my one little oversight, can you believe all the stuff I nabbed up for under $30 in total? In fact, when I gave Shay the chain, he told me that the chain and the sock monkey I made him were his two favourite gifts even though he didn’t get them for Christmas. He kept saying how spoiled he was and that I shouldn’t spoil him so much. Funny, he was much more excited and appreciative of the two gifts with a combined dollar value of less than 3 bucks. I wish I would have known that before we blew a wad of cash on him for Christmas. I’ll keep that in mind for next year. Sentiment goes along way with that boy!
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