some excellent finds

My sister and I got a chance to get out of the house without kids- (twice!) while she was here so that we could do some serious thrift shopping. What a treat for me- this is something I love and don't get to do as often as I'd like. Not only did we have a great time, but we scored a few really great finds- the kind that make thrifting one of my very favorite things.


She found this black skirt (new with tags!) on our first day out, and then the top and shoes at a different shop on our second day out. Everything fit and looked great on her! I just love when you get an entire outfit, and it came in around $12 all together- not bad at all.


I got some ultra cool elephant fabric and some vintage linen pillowcases to add to the stash.


This little trivet will be painted black and go on a wall in my house- not sure where yet but I really love it. Having Tammy there really made a difference too- I was ready to pass this up because I didn't like the brass color. Never even considered painting it- 'doh!


The dresses featured in my last post were actually our birthday gift to Ava- I picked up 4 for her and one for Stella (because when you are 4 years old sometimes watching someone else get so many new dresses is too much to handle) and then altered them to fit the girls perfectly. I just buy very small women's dresses, and watch for sleeveless or spaghetti straps as well as stretchy fabric. I take tucks to make them fit, but don't trim the fabric away inside, and then the tucks can be repositioned as the girls grow. They absolutely LOVE these- so much better than the cheap junk that stores often try to pass off as "dress-up" clothes.


Ava's favorite color is pink and this little number has criss-cross straps in back. So cute!


This one actually needed no alterations at all- the straps tie behind the neck and the stretchy fabric made it work for all the girls- from 4 to 13! I LOVE when that happens!


Stella's dress needed to be shortened, so she got a bonus matching scarf out of the deal!


This is actually the part I cut off the bottom of one of the other dresses, but I think it looks like chain mail so there is a Knight's costume in Lyle's future.


And lastly, the absolute Find Of The Day (week, month... even year, maybe) was this pan Tammy snagged at a little tiny shop. It was marked $5 and was in near perfect condition. It sells for over $100 new! The very best part was when the guy in the shop downright denied that it was All Clad, because he had missed it (whoops!). He knew how much it was worth once Tammy pointed out the marking underneath the handle, but there was nothing he could do then. SCORE!!