I love, love, love to shop at thrift stores, commonly called “thrifting.”

Here are the 10+ greatest treasures I’ve found thrifting. I’m showing these to inspire you to go find some useful and beautiful items for your family, friends, and yourself. It’s so fun! plus, it saves money.

So here not in any particular order are my favorite things found from thrifting. Some are particular items and others are categories.

1. Rotating Spice Rack

My first treasure is the spice rack in the photo above. It lacked the jars and was maybe $3 at the Provo UT Deseret Industries (DI). I don’t remember exactly as this was a year ago right after we moved. I’ve always wanted a revolving spice rack, so I was thrilled to find this. I measured the holes, found the jars on amazon and made sure they would fit the holes of the rack, bought the jars, and filled them up with my herbs. So, I’ve upgraded from my cardboard spice risers I show over here. I just love how I can have this rack on the shelf in my kitchen just to the upper right of my stove and quickly grab what I want to add while cooking. I also wanted my daughter to be able to reach spices while she’s cooking, and the cupboard above the stove is unreachable for her. It doesn’t fit all my spices, just the most used. I have the rest of the spices in a cupboard right above the stove. (I’m not a 100% crunchy mom concerned about light going through the glass affecting the spices, but if you are, you can get amber glass jars.)

It’s been a year since we moved from our cozy cottage on the corner into our cozy little bungalow two blocks away. It’s a tiny cube house, whereas the previous home was kind of like a tiny Dr. Seuss house with a weird layout because it had been added on to. It also had a cramped loft that couldn’t accommodate bookshelves because of a sloped ceiling. This “new” house we moved into is a starter home from the 1940s. It’s the same type of home that some of my relatives lived in the 1970s-1990s. Whenever I visited them, I always thought it was such a small house. I never thought I would actually live in such a home but here I am! Just goes to show that sometimes life is full of surprises!

When we moved, I got rid of about 10-trips-of-the-minivan-worth of stuff to the thrift store plus more stuff. Since moving, I’ve added things from the thrift store. I gave away a full upright freezer to a friend, two chairs to a friend, a refrigerator to a friend, a rocking chair to a friend, a couch to a stranger, and bags of clothes and shoes and toys and games to DI. Since then, I’ve added a spice rack, baskets, couch, a desk and chair, books, games and clothes. Cue the music, “The Circle of Life” from Lion King, LOL. Give stuff away, bring stuff in, give stuff away…it’s how God meant it to be! The Give and Receive Cycle, to bless us all! As it says in Doctrine and Covenants 104:17, “The earth is full and there is enough and to spare.”

This house has a different configuration so we had stuff that wouldn’t fit, hence I gave stuff away, like the rocking chair I bought when I was pregnant with child #1. I gave it to a friend, so I didn’t feel bad about that. I also gave away two amazingly beautiful white leather chairs that were sleek and contemporary, so they looked so glamorous. I just didn’t have room for them here. I threw stuff away too. Because of the different configuration I needed and wanted different things that fit. So that’s part of why I have been thrifting this past year, on top of my natural desire to do it. I also thrift because I love to find interesting books and games for our family homeschooling library that I want to benefit not just my children, but my grandchildren. Then I also thrift to find inexpensive clothing and shoes, kitchen gadgets, housewares, and even gifts. It’s just so much fun!

If you are a human, especially a mom, homemaker, and/or homeschooler, and don’t have unlimited money, then you could benefit from thrifting too! It just feels so fun to find unusual or even common items that fit a need or a want and cost so little. As I’ve said before, it’s like going hunting without killing anything. It helps you create a beautiful home culture with less money. So, I hope by sharing these photos and videos you will want to go thrifting too! If you want a quick summary of reasons watch the video below. The woman in the video is Toni, of Our Thrifty Homeschool. She loves homeschooling and loves thrifting just as much as I do!

2. Baskets

See that cute turquoise basket in the photo with the spice rack, also shown just above? I found it thrifting recently. Yes, it’s plastic so it’s not crunchy mom natural wicker but I love it anyway. I love it because I love turquoise/teal and it totally fits in with the Pioneer Woman theme of my kitchen with the color and the perforated lacey design. I like putting mail on that shelf and needed something pretty to contain the mail. It looks beautiful and hides the clutter. So this works perfectly! Score! The stickered label on the bottom shows it’s from Dollar Tree (Greenbrier International) so it was $1.25 new. I think I got it for $1 so not a huge savings over retail but I think this pattern at Dollar Tree has been discontinued so I count it as a score.

Above is one of my grandsons looking at one of the board books I keep in a basket I found thrifting. His first visit to our home was last Thanksgiving when my son and his little family came from TX. I was so excited to pull out this basket for him! Most of the books are from his dad’s childhood, with a few that I’ve found thrifting since then. I adore the polka dot lining! Sometimes baskets come with lining and sometimes they don’t. If they do, just wash it. Be sure to do it on cold so it doesn’t shrink and make it hard to put back on.

I didn’t really get turned on to using baskets for storage until moving back to Utah from AZ. I wish I had started this a lot sooner. They just look so pretty, holding dry good foods, books or toys. I even found a heart-shaped basket! I also like having baskets for my desk to stash office supplies and random stuff.

When we moved into the bungalow I had fewer usable cupboards than the cottage. There are some above the fridge but who wants to use those? They are so out of the way, even though we did buy a stool. Anyway, what to do? Baskets on top of a hutch! I found these baskets on a few different thrifting trips to fit the bill. I love square baskets because they utilize space better. I keep napkins in the smaller square basket on the upper right in the photo above so that they don’t get squashed amidst the other stuff. I’m totally OK that they all don’t match.

Baskets are just such a great pretty way to contain stuff, after you’ve dejunked, so that even though it’s stuff you want for sure, your space doesn’t look cluttered. Below is my latest round of basket buying. I almost got another one that was flat and square, which had been painted. I decided it wasn’t worth paying over $5 for it. I got these at Savers and used my 20% off coupon so these were all less than $5 each. I prefer to spend $3 or less on a basket, which they are usually are when I get them at D.I.

I feel like I’m getting a bonus when I find a basket that has divisions in it. Such is the case with the basket in the upper left of the above photo. See it down below? I love that it’s divided in half. I’m going to fill it with books for my grandsons and me to tote out to the hammock in the backyard this summer to read aloud together in the shade.

Then this basket has dividers for utensils (the small divisions) and paper plates (the large division) to use for my potlucks and picnics. It’s just like one my mom has used for decades for extended family dinners. It was $2 at the Provo D.I.

3. Pretty Picture Frames

So that’s baskets, now on to picture frames! I was so excited to find this multi-stripe and multi-colored flower frame above at Savers. I knew the purple in it would match the purple dress I’m wearing in the photo with my husband. It was $3, looked brand-new, and had a Target label. It just makes me happy every time I see it in my kitchen!

I was thrilled to find both of these Pioneer Woman picture frames at Savers at the same time. I think they were $3 each? I can’t remember. Now they are on my piano with a family photo in each. They retail for around $14 at walmart.com. (Credit for images goes to walmart.com)

I just love them so much!

4. All the Narnia Books on CD

When I lived in Arizona, I found this full set of all the Chronicles of Narnia books on CD by Focus on the Family at a thrift store in Phoenix. Thrift stores in Phoenix are amazing. They abound and they are full of great stuff! This was still in the shrink-wrap, brand-new, for only $7! This is probably my favorite find of all! The stories on CD are fully dramatized with different voice actors and orchestral music. We listened to these in the car as we drove back and forth to our homeschooling co-op held once a week, that was in Tucson. The drive was 90 minutes one way. I have such fond memories of this! It probably took us a year to get through all the CDs. It looks like Focus on the Family doesn’t even sell this anymore, just digital files, shown over here, for $70! What a major thrifting find!!! I bought it in October after my visit to see my first new grandbaby, and then saved it for a Christmas gift for the family. Finding this treasure just made my heart so happy!

I started out with one Narnia hard copy book that I bought new, early in my homeschooling journey, decades ago. We borrowed the rest from the public library until I eventually found the rest while thrifting. My children have all read and love these books. You can tell they are well-loved! More on books to come in this post!

5. Beautiful Clothes and Shoes, including Designer Boots that Retail for Over $100!

The picture above shows the very first outfit of clothes I found after moving back to Utah in August of 2020. Thrift stores had been closed for months because of the plandemic. At a moms’ class for my homeschooling co-op, a new Katie, Katie C., shared her thrifting tips.

D.I. had just opened up again in October or November that year with limited hours. I was so excited to go and try out Katie’s thrifting tips, and this is what I found. It was such a fun fall outfit for me!

As you can see, I love stripes, florals, gingham, and polka dots, in spring colors, and black and white, with the occasional paisley. It’s time to cull some of the clothes though as they are getting too squashed and wrinkly. My cup overfloweth!

Tops, Dresses and Skirts

This one above was brand-new, still with the sticker, and only $3, Croft and Barrow brand!

In this photo above we see a Pioneer Woman top. I’m always on the lookout for PW clothes. The tops are sized generously (meaning they are for us middle-aged moms as they go long to cover mummy tummies), are super comfy and high quality. I love that this top goes with so many of my different cardigan sweaters: red, green, yellow, tan, white, and turquoise.

This skirt below looks like the Pioneer Woman design but it’s not. One of my recent finds! It looks so summery! It’s Croft and Barrow brand, only $5. I view it as a consolation prize for volunteering at the Provo DI on the last day it closed for remodeling this summer. It was still there when I was done with my shift so I got it. Yes, I’m going through withdrawals with the Provo DI closed.

This dress below I just found this week. It kind of looks like Pioneer Woman too. On sale with 30% off coupon at Savers for $5. It’s not the best quality as it’s Shein but hey at $5 I will enjoy it.

Then here’s my favorite thrifted item of clothing I’ve ever found, this dress below. Only $5 at the Provo D.I.

Sweaters are in their own category, see below.

Pants

I’m not showing all the pants I’ve bought thrifting, just know that I have bought a lot of them and love them. My favorite are the white capris I got at the Provo D.I. right before my second honeymoon trip to Key West. They still had their Nordstrom tag on saying they were $60 retail, and I got them for $6!

Boots, Shoes, Sandals

Last winter I found one of my greatest deals! A pair of brand-new Franco Sarto black ankle boots. They looked never worn and were $17! They retail for over $100. I was so happy about this! It was time to replace my black boots (bought at the Odgen D.I. in the fall of 2020) for something more stylish and this pair fit the bill!

Last week, I bought these super high-quality sandals for my son at Savers for only $12! They are Chacos, so they retail around $80-$100 or upwards. Such a tremendous bargain! My son found them! For years, every summer, I’ve asked him if he would like some sandals instead of athletic shoes to wear in the summer. Athletic shoes with socks look so hot for summer! I’m so glad we finally found some that he liked that are so high-quality and so affordable!

Speaking of sandals, I have found some super cute sandals at D.I. on a regular basis. Born on Concept is my favorite brand. A few years ago I found a pair exactly like these below that looked brand new for only $5. They are just so cute and comfy and go with so many of my summer outfits! Last summer I found a similar pair in black. This brand is also very high-quality. The soles are thick and sturdy.

6. Books, Books, and More Books! Hooray!

I have found so many delicious books at thrift stores that it’s too hard to pick one that is my favorite. So I’m lumping them all in the category of books. How can I be a homeschooler and not love books?

I have a bunch of collections of books I like to add to: family traditions books, holiday picture books, Little Golden Books, Pioneer Woman cookbooks, Uncle John Bathroom Readers and other trivia books, Dummies books, Bit Fat Notebooks, and songbooks, among others.

I love holiday-themed books, either books that detail family traditions, like the Christmas ones above, or holiday picture books. All three shown above came from the thrift store for less than $3 each! Here we have different faith traditions represented. The far left is written by a member of my church (a short review is here), then the middle one is by Ann Voskamp, who believes in a different flavor of Christianity, and then the far-right one is by Susan Branch, who seems to be neutral towards any one particular religion but maybe believes in God, I’m not sure. It’s actually part cookbook and part memoir of her family life growing up as the oldest of 8 children, with little stories and memories of family traditions sprinkled amongst the recipes.

Here is my “family traditions books” collection.

I bought Gathering Home by Emily Belle Freeman brand new at Deseret Book but everything else above, except for A Christ-centered Easter, is thrifted.

I was so delighted to discover Roots and Wings, seen below. I checked that book out from the American Fork UT public library as a teen, read it, and loved it! It’s a lovely book by Helen Bateman about LDS Christian-based family traditions, which she wrote in the 1980s. You can read it for free here. The Christ-centered Easter book is written by one of my husband’s cousins, Janet Hilton Hales.

My biggest holiday picture book collections are Christmas and Easter. Then I have a handful of Thanksgiving and Independence Day books.

I was so happy to find the book above, To Witness Easter, written by another one of my husband’s cousins, Lynne Hilton Wilson, Janet’s sister. For $2 at the Springville DI! The illustrations are gorgeous!

I have lots of fun displaying and rotating the books on a certain shelf in my home, to create my “shrine to beautiful holiday and seasonal picture books and children’s chapter books.” All of these books I got from thrift stores. I finally got the Easter ones down, weeks after Easter, and will get up my patriotic, Independence Day books soon.

After so many years of thrifting, I now have more than 25 days of Christmas picture books to do a Christmas Picture Book Advent, and most of these books came from thrifting.

I don’t go much for the cartoony Christmas picture books. Mr. Willoughby’s Christmas and Santa Are You For Real? are as cartoony as I get. I mostly go for the classic Christmas stories with beautifully realistic illustrations. They usually come one at a time on my thrifting trips, all through the year. I also look for classic Christmas chapter books, like The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. I know I have a copy somewhere else, but last year I saw the one above for 75 cents at DI and got it.

This particular haul shown below was grand because I added to my trivia books collection, my Christmas picture book collection, my Little Golden Book collection, and my games collection.

(By the way, the pretty white background above holding the thrifted treasures is one of the chairs I gave away to my friend Katie. It always made a great stage for my thrifting haul photos.)

This haul of books above included Hinds’ Feet on High Places. My longtime girlfriend Katie H. of foundationbuilderguide.org had us (some friends and me) read it for her moms’ book club. I was so happy to find this and give it to her for a birthday present! It has such a beautiful cover and beautiful illustrations inside. It was only $2 and looked new! It’s around $14 on amazon.com.

Little Golden Books

I have one Little Golden book from my childhood, plus two from when my oldest was little that were gifted to him. Just about ten years ago, I discovered that my mom, a former kindergarten teacher, loves LGB and collects them. She has about three wide shelves on a bookcase full of them in one of the basement guest rooms of my childhood home. Then I found out that one of my Veggie Gals girlfriends collects them too. So, then I decided to join the party. Above and below is part of my collection, with all of those shown coming from thrift stores, where I pay 50 cents to a $1. I especially love vintage ones, with artwork from Eloise Wilkin. I love it when my grandsons come over and ask me to read from these books! I have them on a low shelf and they can just pick whatever one they want.

Susan Branch Cookbooks

These are so lovely!!! If you want to know more about Susan Branch books, go here and here. They are just so fun to read.

Pioneer Woman Cookbooks

Ree Drummond’s cookbooks are also so fun to read with gorgeous full-color photos accompanying step-by-step instructions. I don’t eat food mad from these recipes because they aren’t keto. I keep them to inspire the children left at home for when it’s their night to fix dinner because my children don’t eat keto. They all love her lasagna recipe.

Random Fun Books

I also love to get random fun books. These include trivia books, Usborne books, and books about pop culture, including Legos and Star Wars. It was so fun to find the Disney Who’s Who book at the Provo DI for only $2, after seeing it for retail for over $12. The Marvel Avengers book was $2 at a DI as well. If I’m ever going to win on Jeopardy!, I’ve got to increase my pop culture knowledge with books like these, LOL.

Below is the haul that included the Disney Who’s Who.

My husband loves Car Talk so I’m saving that one for Christmas. My son-in-law was just telling me he wants to learn more about making bread with his breadmachine so I excitedly gave that to him. The Narnia book replaced a different one that didn’t match my Narnia collection. Now they all match with the same kind of cover and spine. I got the cross-sections book because I just love books like that, for the whole family, including the grandchildren.

7. Cozy Yummy Sweaters

Above and below, you see some of the sweaters I’ve found. Fun sweaters make Utah winter so much more bearable for me. I love finding cute combinations with cardigans and tops.

You can see more of my sweaters here and here.

8. Piano Music Books

I don’t often find piano music because I forget to look for it. When I do remember I occasionally find some gems. Over a decade ago I found the Dr. Seuss songbook above at the Layton UT DI. It has so many fun songs like “The Super Supper March” and “Let Us All Sing.” Then just a few years ago I found the LDS Songbook for All Occasions at an estate sale for 50 cents. Most of the songs I’ve already seen but it had a few new ones that are so delightful.

The orange book below was the children’s songbook for my church when I was little. It’s old but the copy still looked new, hardly used. I have a ton of fond memories singing the songs in that book as a child in Primary (the children’s organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). The Good Shepherd was 75 cents and has original songs about Jesus, new to me, including a few Easter ones. All written by Kristen Randle. The Versatile Pianist is full of popular, familiar songs. I play the piano and occasionally sit down and play songs and just love it.

9. Unique Board Games, including Gardening Scrabble

I love board games and I love thrifting so the fact that I can find board games at thrift stores just doubles the pleasure! I’m always on the lookout for unique board games. I pass up on common boring, chance-based ones like Aggravation and Sorry! to find unique ones, especially educational ones. I use these for gameschooling. Here is a sampling of what I’ve found. (If you want to learn all about gameschooling, go here.)

Gardening Scrabble is so much better than regular Scrabble. It has cards that give you special powers, like the ability to “fertilize” your word and triple the score, or “rototill” your garden and get rid of all your tiles and get new ones. The game below is when one of my adult sons played the game with me over Christmas break. He was such a great sport to play with me when everyone else wanted to play Catan, which is not my favorite but another son’s favorite. I got it for $4! The seed packet cards with special powers fit in the pockets of this adorable gardening tools basket. Then you draw the tiles from the inside of the basket. So fun! Now I want to find Cooking Scrabble when thrifting!

Moods is such a fun game! If you ever find it a thrift store, grab it! It’s out of print. We played it at one of my girlfriend cabin retreats and had so many laughs. It impressed my sister-in-law so much when she and my brother-in-law and niece visited from North Carolina when we played it with two of my married children, that she bought it on ebay when she got home. It’s a great way to hone drama skills! My miracle of finding the game is detailed here. You have to have the right crowd to enjoy it though, with people who are willing to act and be good sports.

Just last week I found the deal of the year! It’s the Jane Game shown above. It’s a Jane Austen-themed game! I also found two new matching pretty sparkly golden picture frames, on the same trip, at Savers. They all look like they go together, especially with the gold beige blanket, don’t they? This game looks similar to the Marrying Mr. Darcy game one of my sons gave me for Christmas a few years ago, but even better, because it combines trivia involving Jane Austen’s books, plus the role-playing of the characters in courtship, like in MMD.

The Jane Game is just so pretty!!! I might give it to my married daughter for her birthday. With a 30% coupon at Savers and then my rewards discount it was only $2.90! Her birthday isn’t until November so I don’t know if I can wait that long!

I opened it up to make sure it wasn’t empty. It had the board and instructions, but I didn’t count all the pawns or cards because I was in a hurry. I’m pretty sure it has all the pieces. I just love the gold and aqua coloring! It’s just so gorgeous! I feel so blessed!

I’ve also found LOTS of other fun games while thrifting, for $1 to $6 each. Some of my favorite educational ones are Call to Adventure (storytelling), Funglish, Huggermugger, Code Names (which I got for only $1.50, brand new in the shrink wrap, story is here), Taboo (also new in shrink wrap), Periodic, Into the Forest, Spontuneous, Encore, and lots of history and geography games.

10. Mini-Games, Quiz Cards and Puzzles for Mealtime Learning and Connection

I love finding quiz decks of trivia, or flash cards, to review basic subjects, cards with conversation starter questions, and puzzle books or tiny games to break out at the dinner table. These are all to beef up our cultural literacy and help us connect. First, we start out dinner with each person sharing a highlight and lowlight for the day, then if we have time I pull out these cards. I keep these in baskets on shelves right by the dining room table. I found all of these items shown below while thrifting, and all were $1-3.

11. Small Portable Toys and Games for Travel and/or Read Aloud Time

I love finding little toys suitable for fidgeting/keeping hands busy during read aloud time or traveling. These are also for use for my grandsons to play with on the couch by the dining room table when they finish eating Sunday dinner before the rest of us. That Bananagrams book above was completely unused, looked brand new, for only $1! I’ve loved using it on my last few airplane trips. It’s perfect for slipping into my carry-on bag with a small pencil and fits perfectly on the airplane seat table. The Swish Jr. game came with a little bag to make it easily packable for travel. I found most of these goodies right before my trip to NYC/Boston/Maine last summer. I also found a Kanoodle puzzle a few years ago for $1.

I also sometimes get basic phonics based readers for my grandchildren. I found the Rainbow Valley book from the Anne of Green Gables series so now my collection is complete again. Balance is restored!

12. Beautiful Tablecloths

The background fabric in the photo above and below are some of my tablecloths from the thrift store. (I got the books and games thrifting too, now my Anne of Green Gables series is almost complete again. I’m still looking for #3. I used to have all of them, having bought them in my teens, but somehow two went missing in all of my moves.)

Anyway, aren’t these tablecloths beautiful? They are actually bedsheets! Yes, my secret for finding beautiful tablecloths when thrifting is to look at the twin bedsheets at the thrift store in my favorite colors and prints, then reuse them as tablecloths. This works as long as you have a rectangular table that seats 8. No one will ever know the difference! I learned this trick from my dear mother. Not the thrifting part, just using a twin bedsheet for a rectangular tablecloth. Growing up, whenever we went on picnics or camping, she would pull out a cute Raggedy Anne and Andy bedsheet/tablecloth.

The bundle of fabric in the upper right is a flat twin bedsheet. Down below you see it as a tablecloth. I’m sorry/not sorry it’s not ironed.

Talking about tablecloths leads me to the next category of home furnishings. Tablecloths are part of that I suppose but I don’t want to change what I already put above.

13. Other Home Furnishings

Shelves

After moving into the Bungalow, I needed more shelves. The Cottage had built-in book shelves that I couldn’t take with me. Last summer, I found two basic brown tall shelves for $15 each at the Springville DI. I also found a black Ikea Kallax 2×2 for $15. Then I was able to find a 3X4 Kallax on ksl classifieds for $50. So combined with a brand new Kallax 2×2 I have put these all in our downstairs office to organize my homeschool supplies, and arts and crafts. Combined together they make a uniform set with beige Ikea fabric bins and drawer inserts.

Desk and Chair

Right after we moved to the Bungalow, I decided I really wanted a desk. After 50+ years of life, being a dutiful scholar as a teenaged daughter of a college professor, passing lots of AP classes in high school, getting a scholarship at and graduating from BYU, getting my children desks whenever they asked, seeing them use desks, blogging and writing books, and never having my own desk through all of that, I decided it was high time for me to have one! In high school I used the dining room table, and in college I studied on my bed or at the university’s library. I found this pretty one below on ksl classifieds, but it didn’t come with a chair. I purposely went to the Provo D.I. with the intention to find a beautiful white chair to go with it. I was so ecstatic to find the one in the photo below as soon as I waltzed over to the chair section. It matches the desk perfectly with the curved back and legs. It has a Pier 1 imports label and was only $10. It was one of those moments where I felt like angels were singing and bells were ringing! (Ignore the plastic magazine holders on top. Soon I will be painting those white.)

(That yellow basket in the photo in the lower right is what I use for Morning Basket. I keep all the read-aloud books of what I’m currently wanting to share with my son of what’s good, true and beautiful in the world, to read from every morning for our homeschooling. If you want to learn more about the Morning Basket, go here.)

Rugs

When we moved into the Cottage on the Corner, our master bedroom had a tile floor. Ugh. That’s not what I want to kneel on at my bedside when I say my morning and evening prayers. It’s so uncomfortable for my old knees. So I went to the Provo DI with the purpose of finding “prayer rugs” for my husband’s side of the bed and my side. Once again, the Lord provided right away! He doesn’t always do that, but this time He did! Right after entering in the store, I immediately found a matching pair of thick heavy-duty rugs, with a beautiful floral pattern, yet still kind of neutral. See above. They were new with the tags on, never used. I felt so incredibly blessed. They looked like they were meant to furnish the temple! I think I paid $5 for each. They served us well for almost 5 years in that home. Then when we moved to the Bungalow, I didn’t need them for kneeling on, as my bedroom has carpet, but I repurposed them for a bathroom rug and a front door rug. I love how the gray in the rug matches the gray of my bathroom floor.

This overstuffed chair below was for sale at the Springville D.I. If I had room in my home I would have bought it! Alas, I had to just take a photo of it. It looks straight out of Strawberry Shortcake’s home! I texted a photo of it to my married daughter to see if she wanted it as she has a sofa and chair that look similar. She liked it but said no, probably because she doesn’t have room. I hope it went to a great home that will enjoy it! That’s just another example of the darling stuff you can find thrifting!

That leads me to my next point…here are some treasures I’ve seen thrifting that I haven’t bought, but almost. Just for the record, I don’t buy everything I see. I don’t buy everything I want. Sometimes I feel the Holy Spirit telling me to leave the item for someone else, probably because there’s someone else out there who could benefit more from it than I would. Here are some examples:

I came really close to buying a collector’s edition Etch -a-Sketch. It was brand new in the box still sealed like the one above, for $5. It was so tempting as I loved this as a child, but I just felt like it was a no, so I walked away from it.

At the Saratoga Springs DI, I almost got a super cute navy and white polka dotted rain jacket. Then I saw my friend Katie wearing one the next week. That would have been fun to be twinners with her. I hope someone bought who loves it!

At the Provo DI I found a remote-controlled meat thermometer, still brand new, in the box and sealed. I guess it’s to use when you want to leave your meat on the BBQ grill and go inside your home for a bit and monitor the temperature. If my one son who loves to grill were home and not on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I would have bought it for him. I just wasn’t sure if my husband would like it if I bought it for him, so I left it for someone who for sure would love it. I didn’t even know there was such a thing! When you go thrifting, you find all sorts of cool gadgets! Thrifting

14. Gifts

Almost last, but not least of my categories, is gifts! Here are some wonderful things I’ve found that I’ve gifted away, in addition to the Hinds Feet on High Places for Katie that I mentioned above.

I found a like new, Book of Mormon Journal edition, just like the one above, completely unwritten in, for only $2! It’s so pretty! I gave it to my mom for her birthday. I found it in the spring or summer and saved it until her December birthday. It’s extra big and has wide margins with lines for the reader’s journaling notes that relate to the scriptures. Such a treasure! It retails for around $25.

Decades ago my husband and I stumbled upon the Curly Girl book. Since we both have wavy/curly hair, we both read it and loved it. It inspired us to stop using shampoo and use conditioner for washing. That made a huge difference for his hair. Then a few years ago I found the revised, expanded second edition at Savers and got it for his birthday. Of course it was for me to enjoy too. I’ m still figuring out the best way to enhance my waves.

My husband is an attorney so I was excited to find the above game at Savers for his birthday one year. It’s based on Ruth Bader Ginsberg, an attorney who was a Supreme Court Justice.

Then for this coming Father’s Day I got the books below. He never reads my blog so he won’t know!

Just last week, the same day I got the Jane Game, I found the above books. I went with the intention to find books for my husband for Father’s Day. I had the 30% coupon, which I got in my email (tip- sign up for Savers’ Super Savers rewards program so you can get coupons emailed to you). Plus, I took advantage of the “buy 4 books, get 1 book free” policy of Savers. I really wanted to find some kind of book on BBQ/grilling. I didn’t find it right away and just kept looking and looking and finally found it! See above. I wanted to find a funny book too and The Prehistory of the Far Side was so perfect! He loves the Far Side. He was into listening Garrison Keillor before we got married so it was so fun to find the Garrison Keillor novel. It turned out to be half off! The Great American Bathroom Book II I’ve seen off and on for years at thrift stores, along with Volume I. I’m pretty sure I got the Vol. I years ago for Father’s Day but haven’t found it. So, I might eventually get that one too if I confer with DH and decide that it’s lost. I see it all the time at thrift stores.

I know finding a birthday gift at a thrift store doesn’t always work. You can’t always find stuff that the birthday person would like in good enough condition. But when you do, it’s so satisfying! If the birthday person likes books, you can often find books in great like-new condition that match the person’s interest. A few years ago, I wanted to find some books for my second son’s birthday. I had just heard a podcast highlighting the book above, so I was tickled, as my grandma would say, to then find it at a thrift store, like new. It seemed like a great gift for a soon-to-be college grad who loves learning about time management and success. I do buy most birthday gifts for my people not at the thrift store. If I got wish lists from all of them, kept it with me on my phone, and put more effort into looking for them at thrift stores, I’d probably find more gifts while thrifting.

We did find this cool electric guitar for another son at a pawn shop, which is kind of like a thrift store. It looked like new and was only $100 instead of hundreds of dollars. That was a happy day! I had a jam session with me on the piano, that son on the guitar, and my other son on the drums. So fun!

Then for my dad for Father’s Day, I got this book above, for only $3. My son-in-law asked for the same book a year ago for Christmas. It was on amazon but took over two weeks to be delivered even though I had prime, so when I found some copies when thrifting I snatched them up. I also got the Eric Dowdle camping puzzle below. We often put together jigsaw puzzles at his and my mom’s cabin on a mountain, and he loves camping. Next time we go I hope to do it with him.

15. Puzzles

So that leads me to my last category, jigsaw puzzles. I never did puzzles as a young mom, but now that my children are all pretty much grown, I have found puzzles much easier to do. I don’t have to worry about little fingers messing them up. I keep them under a plastic tablecloth on my dining room table. Then I put fabric tablecloths on top of that. Jigsaw puzzles are vehicles for conversation with other people who work on it with you, like after Sunday dinner, or when I go to the cabin with extended family, or for listening to audiobooks or watching some enlightening YouTube videos, especially gospel-centered ones, or Relative Race, on the Sabbath. They are great for relaxation. I’ve found tons of Dowdle puzzles at thrift stores, usually around $4-5. They retail for $20 or more. I like to get those as well as Norman Rockwell puzzles.

If you have made it this far to the end of this long post, you get a bonus prize for reading so long by getting to watch these videos below!

These are by Toni of Our Thrifty Homeschool showing that you really can find cool stuff good enough for birthday gifts at a thrift store.

Happy thrifting!!! It’s so fun to find beautiful, useful, and educational items to create your family culture that embraces the good, the true, and the beautiful, while saving money at the same time (as long as you aren’t spending recklessly on things you don’t really need or want).

This photo shows one of my latest hauls. I was excited to find the Jewish holidays books. I can’t wait to show it to Katie H. because she loves all things Hebrew.