The Six Best Things I Ever Thrifted

Hi y’all,

Lately, I’ve been on a thrifting kick. I’ve always found thrifting fun, but when we recently added an electric fireplace with built-ins to our house, my love was rekindled. It’s about the chase. Looking high and low to see what good stuff you can find. Moving stuff aside and looking under things to find a hidden gem. Tolerating “that smell” because there might be a diamond in the rough somewhere.

I also love that thrifting really lets you define your style. Eclectic? They’ve got it. Antique? They’ve got it. Target dollar-section chic? They’ve got it (and they’ve marked it up so it’s more expensive than Target!) I like to describe my thrifting style as “Your Grandma’s House and Your Grandpa’s Clothes”.

So, what’re my best thrift finds? Well…let me tell you.

1. The Wicker Pear

About a year ago, I was thrifting for nothing in particular, when out of the corner of my eye, I saw it. The pear. It had light beaming down around it, and I  slomo baywatch ran over to the pear, ready to throw bows at anyone who made eyes at it.

In a true feat of glory, I made it to the pear first. Or maybe no one else was even eyeing the pear. Doesn’t matter…the point is, I’ve never been so certain about a thrift find before.

What would I do with it? Unclear.

Does it go with my things? No, not really.

Can I pass up a fruit-shaped wicker basket? Absolutely not.

The only fleeting thought that kept popping up into my mind was…is it an urn? I mean, urns can come in all shapes and sizes. All materials. It really looked like it could be an urn. I was slightly taken aback by the possibility that I could be bringing a used urn home, but I thought, this sounds like a spooky good time! Hopefully whoever’s Aunt Gertrude previously resided in this pear-urn will treat us well.

I did buy it. And when I got it home, I did find a little bit too much “dust” at the bottom of the urn, I mean basket. I still love it. But I have not found somewhere to put it. Maybe…next to my second-hand ouija board?

2. The Fish Sweater

What more needs to be said? It’s a wool sweater with giant fish and mallards on it. As a lover of camping, I simply could not pass it up. I’ve owned this sweater for probably 10 years, and to this day, I wear it every time I go camping and frequently when I’m having a bonfire.

The best part about camping is that you can go away for a few days and not be expected to shower. And the best part about this sweater is that I have no idea how to wash it. So needless to say, it’s well seasoned.

3. The Trash Grill

They say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure and well…I’m the trash man? Every spring in our area, they do “Spring Cleanup” where the trash company will haul away your big stuff for no extra fee. So that means a lot of people clean out all the things they’ve been hoarding away in their homes.

There are two types of Spring Cleanup people. There are the people who want to get rid of perfectly good things, and there are the people who do not have nearly enough shame and will happily go shopping in other people’s trash. Can you guess which I am?

We’ve found several good things on the curb, but the trash grill takes the cake as my favorite. This particular year, our neighbors across the street were throwing away a perfectly good grill. After we saw some vultures circling the neighborhood and eyeing the grill, Ben decided to walk across the street and roll it home.

The trash grill went on to serve us well for another two years, at which point it became someone else’s trash grill. But my favorite part about the trash grill is that we refused to call it anything else. We were proud owners of a trash grill we rolled home and we wanted people to know, so you could routinely hear us telling our friends and family about how we just cooked them dinner on the grill we rolled out of someone’s trash pile.

4. The Sorority Recruitment Dress

Freshman year of college, I utterly shocked myself when I decided to go through sorority recruitment. I’m pretty sure I did it exclusively to make friends with other people who would end up dropping out just like me. But that’s not really the important part of the story.

The important part of the story is the dress I wore on day one of sorority recruitment. It was adorable for its time. A high low. Fun greens and blues. CUTE! And other people thought so too, as I got a lot of compliments from the girls as I was visiting the houses!

But much like having to tell everyone about the trash grill, I couldn’t hold it together. I could NOT just say thanks. That was simply not enough information. So instead, multiple times, I said: Thanks! I bought it at Goodwill for $2.

Not sure why, but no one seemed to be nearly as impressed as I felt they should be. And in a strange twist of fate, no one invited me back to their houses for a second day. Probably two completely unrelated things, I’m sure.

5. All Things Wicker

It’s wicker. I’m going to buy it! Why would I not buy it? Ben shames me every time I go thrifting and come home with a minimum of one new wicker item. But the way I see it, he should be thanking me because by the principles of girl math, if a used wicker basket for $0.99 makes me happy, I am actually making us money by not buying a $30 wicker basket from Target. So, you’re welcome for earning $29.

I’m not exaggerating for the sake of storytelling when I say that I have at least one thrifted basket in every room of our house and multiple thrifted wicker baskets and decor pieces everywhere you look on the main level. In our main living area alone you will find (WARNING, LONG LIST AHEAD):

• A picnic basket holding our blankets

• A picnic basket on the shelf just looking cute

• A picnic basket holding a bunch of candles

• A picnic basket for wine bottles

• A wicker basket holding dog brushes

• A tiny wicker basket holding our knick knacks

• A small wicker basket with wicker coasters inside

• A wicker vase holding flowers

• A wicker basket hanging on some hooks holding some flowers

• A wicker basket tray holding a bunch of kitchen items

• A wicker basket holding books

• A skillet-shaped wicker basket that’s just looking cute

• A beehive-shaped wicker basket that’s just looking cute

• A ten-gallon hat-shaped wicker basket that I bought because it was “unique”

• A wicker owl holding dog bags

• A wicker watering can

• A wicker basket in the bathroom that I bought because it was “shaped like toilet paper”

• A wicker stool holding a plant

• A wicker chair holding another plant

I feel like this list says everything there is to say about wicker baskets. They are versatile. And they are good. And I will buy them all forever. Also rattan. And bamboo. I will buy all of those things too.

Pro-tip. Thrifted wicker baskets are frequently cheaper than gift bags. So why not save some money and help save the planet while you inadvertently put together an adorable gift basket. However, if I find that you all are buying up all the wicker baskets I will come for you, because at this point, I’ve staked my entire personality on buying new used wicker baskets.

6. The Bowling Shoes

When I was in high school, I thrifted a pair of bowling shoes that were absolutely stolen from a bowling alley. They didn’t really fit and they were not sanitary, but I had to have them.

At the time, multiple people sensibly asked me if I was really into bowling. How foolish of them, of course not. I’m really into fashion!

At least, 16 year old me thought bowling shoes were fashion. They paired perfectly with my poker chip necklace and my band t-shirts. In retrospect, I think my idea of fashion was just haphazardly displaying hobbies on my clothing and accessories, whether they were really my hobbies or not.

Actually, in not-retrospect (currentspect?), this might still be my idea of fashion…

Anyway, mysteriously (this is gross, sorry)...I got a terrible ingrown toenail in high school that almost required toe surgery. I’m sure it had nothing to do with wearing thrifted stolen, too-small bowling shoes. Another truly unbelievable coincidence.

And a Couple of Honorable Mentions…

• Many vests. In high school and college I was obsessed with throwing vest-themed parties (aptly named “Vestival”) and I acquired my fair share. While I haven’t had a vest party in nearly a decade, I still manage to keep finding uses for these vests.

• A tea set and serving tray. It should be stated, I don’t drink that much tea and I have only once served a guest tea, but a girl can dream, right?

• A candlestick holder that looks straight out of the Beauty and the Beast. Maybe by the power of Aunt Gertrude’s ashes and the ouija board, we can manifest it to life.

• A tiny wall-hanging curio cabinet. I looked at it and I thought, I bet I could sell that online for at least $14 dollars, so it’s definitely worth spending $6 on. I was right.

• A flower pot-shaped mug that I use as a flower pot. Inception at its finest.

BRB, Busy Shopping Til I Drop

I know you must be bummed that I’m so good at thrifting. I promise, I’ll try to leave some gems for the rest of y’all. However, I have recently graduated from regular thrifter into “rewards card” thrifter, so yeah, I’m slightly superior.

Cheers + Wicker,

Lisa