When people started telling me that their favorite posts of mine on Instagram were my thrift store finds, I had to laugh. Most of what I post there are things I didn’t buy. So, I decided to do a home tour of some thrift store finds that I did buy. Or rescue from the curb.
I didn’t decorate at all last year for Christmas, or invite anyone over, or do anything constructive (other than write) the whole season, so I thought I would make up for it by having my thrifty home tour happen during the holidays.
Over the next few blog posts, I will bring you tidings of secondhand joy.
First, the kitchen:
Let’s start here.
It may not be Christmas-y, but it was a present. The moment I received this needlepoint, I knew I was headed toward greatness. I wasn’t even shopping at Goodwill and I got this from Goodwill. My sister-in-law knew it had to be mine and bought it for me. Listen, the key to thrifting is keeping your eyes open. If you can somehow train other people to keep their eyes open, too, then you have eyes everywhere.
And that’s when you become Queen of the Thrifting Kingdom. I am well on my way.
(If you’re reading this, bab, I love your work.)
I made this white corkboard from a dresser mirror that my neighbor was putting out on the curb with the trash. I couldn’t let that happen! I took it home, removed the broken mirror and side posts, spray-painted the frame, and lined it with cork. It is definitely one of my favorite finds. The red plastic chair was $10 at Goodwill, and I paid way too much. But I wanted a red plastic chair, so there you go. The paper wreath is the result of watching reruns of 24 on my computer while sitting too close to the printer. I had no plan for what I was making, I just started fidgeting and went all Edward Scissorhands. Jack Bauer does that to me. It looks like an odd mix of banana leaves and blue spruce, but that accurately represents the highs and lows of a Texas winter, anyway. The Mt. Vernon pennant was $2 at an antique store. I squealed when I saw it. Who wants a pennant from Mt. Vernon, anyway? Only the girl who rolled off George Washington’s back porch at top speed because she forgot to put on her wheelchair brakes.
When I moved into this house, the first thing I wanted to do was rip down all the 1989 builder brass. Rather than throwing out this dining room light fixture, I moved it to the kitchen after I spray-painted it (There has to be an easier way than hanging it in the garage and dealing with a fine layer of red paint on everything I own forever after). I always give it a few ornaments in December. Those yellow plastic sconces … you should have heard me beg the lady at Goodwill to sell them to me for less than $4 each. No such luck. The table cloth was $1 at Thrift Town. The window valance is a leftover scrap from a skirt I made. Does that count as secondhand? Maybe just repurposed? Why are there only three chairs? Because the other one is almost always in front of my sewing machine. I need to just break down and get another one.
I love this small metal mixing bowl, and you had to see it close. I found both this one and a larger version for a few bucks at a garage sale, and because I am too impatient to wash by hand, they are already rusted out from the dishwasher. But it makes a good fruit bowl. 
What do you do with your classroom set of clipboards when you quit teaching? You hang all twelve of them on a wall in your kitchen, that’s what you do. I tore out pages from a 1967 encyclopedia set that an old library was giving away and printed vintage Christmas images on them. Usually I have kids’ artwork, take out menus, invitations, or Scriptures I am trying to memorize on these clipboards.
I snagged this lion cookie jar from my mother. Does that count as secondhand? When I saw a lion cookie jar similar to this selling at Anthro for a million dollars, I felt like I won the lottery. This lion was in our kitchen my whole life. We were Anthro before Anthro was cool. The star hanging under the cabinet? My sister-in-law was getting rid of it. Interception. When you teach, you get a lot of ornaments from your students, and they don’t always fit with your tree. I like to hang similar ornaments on a mobile, if I don’t want to use them on my tree. Here, I gathered all my gold stars. 
I begged for these Tupperware cannisters. I had a friend who was getting rid of hers, and since my sister-in-law has my mom’s identical mustard-gold Tupper-wonders, I wanted these. There is nothing like a Tupperware cannister. I love them. They remind me of my childhood. Hmmm … breathe in the plastic, hear the satisfying seal. But the glorious thrift store find in this picture is the gingerbread house sugar and creamer set and salt and pepper shakers! How cute are they? I’ll tell you what, finding them at Goodwill for $3 made them even cuter (The roof of the sugar cellar was broken when I found it. These are the things you can’t care about if you thrift). Tiny trees for Christmas villages and train tracks? Buy them every time you see them. Place them throughout your house. You will find yourself smiling for no reason.
Last but not least, my most recent thrift store find is this ceramic Dutch shoe. Yes to every Dutch shoe! When I talked to the lady at the thrift store, and she was selling it for no less than $7, I pouted and said I didn’t want it anyway. Then my cousin Jenni went back to the counter when I wasn’t looking and talked the lady into selling it to her for $2. Jenni wears horn-rimmed glasses, has a cupcake tattoo and is way cuter than I am. That must be why this was possible. Anyway, she gave it to me, that gem-of-a-girl! This Tom’s jar is not a secondhand find. It was really used to sell peanuts in my grandmother’s grocery store. I love the red nob and I love the words. Anything with words on it is better than something without words on it, as a general rule.
That’s it for today. Come over later! I’ll show you my living room and serve you that southern spiced tea that’s made with Tang! (You know you love it).
