I love dropping in thrift stores from time to time. After the big hoard clean out and yard sale of 2010 I’ve slowed down my thrift shopping.  Currently I stop in about twice a month to a few stores and the things I’m looking for are always changing.  Some of my most recent finds?

Candles.  All the candles in the top photo and the one on the right in this photo are from thrift stores. (and the top photo candelabra is from OKL)  I’ve started buying all colors of vintage (sounds better when you call them vintage instead of “used”) candles when I’m thrifting.  I pay ten to fifty cents and it’s a great deal especially if you like to have lots of candles.  If a candle has a strong scent I’ll pass but if it’s not smelly and is a color I think I could use, I’ll buy it.  Candles are an easy way to introduce a little color to your space.

I also have a little thing for bowls.  This one is holding some rocks/gems? that we’ve mined for at various gem mines over the years here in North Carolina.  The bowl was 99 cents at the local Salvation Army.

how to thift shop

I also suffer from a sickness called “if some child made a bowl and it’s at a thrift shop I must purchase it-itus”  So I usually end up with a few handmade bowls in various colors. I love the imperfection of them and they are useful too.  Again, bowls are a low color commitment so it’s fun to experiment with them.

Here’s another bowl I couldn’t refuse.

…and one more….

And of course I could not pass up this pair of owl lamps.  I’ll spray paint them glossy white and that should help with the scary eye problem that they currently have.  I have a thing for pairs of lamps, did you know that?

Finally, I’ve been on the hunt for books.  Some I buy because I like the color, some I like the title, some I’ve wanted to read.  I pay 80 cents to $1.50 so even if I get 20 pages in and hate the book, I don’t have to feel like I wasted my money.

What have you been thrifting for this summer?