Welcome back to Frugal Fridays!! Yay, I am so glad it is SPRING which means yard sale signs are popping up and this Friday feature can come back to the blog. For those of you that are new around here, usually from April – September/October, I share my Frugal Finds of the previous week here on the blog on Fridays. You can see all the past posts here. I am a BIG yard sale/flea market/thrift store shopper and furnish our home and even sometimes our wardrobes from shopping secondhand.
I am debating about changing my Friday Frugal Finds post up a bit this year. Changing up the name for one. And along with sharing anything I bought that week at yard sales or thrift stores (or even a fun home/décor/clearance find too), I thought I might share some of the things I come across at thrift stores or yard sales that I don’t necessarily buy but I think are a really good deal or would be a really good makeover. Or maybe a really good thrift store/yard sale makeover I come across that another blogger or reader did. I hear from so many of you that say… “I just don’t have the eye for things that you do.. I can’t see that dusty old thing or out of style piece of furniture and imagine what it could look like in my home after a makeover?” And I want to help you to be able to see things at thrift stores and imagine the possibilities!
So I will let you suggest or comment on a name too. Thinking just “Friday Frugal Faves” or “Frugal Fridays” or “Friday Faves + Finds” or “Friday Faves + Frugal Finds”. I used to call it “Friday Fun + Frugal Finds” but wanting to get it a bit shorter and concise. Or you can suggest something totally different.
Ok… so first off here’s some things I found that would make GREAT makeovers.
This lamp was advertised for $8 on a local yard sale facebook site just yesterday, and normally I wouldn’t even have stopped scrolling to look. I am not really sure where I would put a floor lamp like in my house right now even though I do like the idea.
BUT I had just seen Sabrina at Thrift Diving’s lamp that she made over and it was IDENTICAL to this one… So I knew what it could look like after a makeover! I didn’t get it but maybe one day when I find a place for one I just may have to find a thrift store or yard sale one and make it over. She even made over the lampshade too! It was that accordion style just like in the picture above and turned it into this pretty fabric covered one. Check out her whole process and tutorial here.
I want you to see that white lamp (or you could paint it oil rubbed bronze or black) when you see that ugly brass outdated one at the thrift store – look past the ugly/outdated look and see how it could look in an “after picture”. Some of that comes from following blogs (like this one!) or browsing Pinterest. I am not a great originator of ideas… BUT I have seen enough painted thrift store lamps and painted furniture to imagine the AFTER in my mind.
Now for some of my recent finds that I did buy! I did just a bit of yard saling last Saturday. Stopped by a really good sale near my home and came away with a car load. Unfortunately the bulk of it wasn’t for me but I still love finding great deals.
Rugs are one of the first things on my list for this yard sale season… some for me and also my friend was looking for some more traditional type rugs for her house too and I told her I would watch for her. I didn’t know I would furnish her whole house at the first yard sale of the season. 😉 I hit the jackpot on rugs at this one sale and got huge very nice rugs for $10 each and they are in great condition! One wool rug still has the tag from Target on the back for $149 and another one has a furniture store tag for $249 on the back. So all 4 of those will go to my friend – she was beyond excited.
I only spent $10 for stuff for me but still got some fun things. The gray shaggy rug was $1.00, the pink and green rug was $2.00 (it will actually probably go to my nieces), the iron basket was $1.00, and the yellow bench was $1.00.
I LOVED this huge sunburst mirror… well, I guess just a frame right now. I paid $5.00 for it which was a steal! Hoping to check a few places today to see where I can get a piece of mirror cut for it. I figure even if I have to spend $15 for the mirror, a huge gold sunburst mirror like this for $20 is still an amazing deal. It has a furniture store tag on the back but I see ones like this in places like Homegoods run close to $100. The verdict is still out if it will get spray painted. I know gold is in… BUT it really isn’t my favorite or my style. But I do sometimes like touches of it in a room. So once I get the mirror replaced I will decide if I will use this in our master bedroom, guest room, or maybe even the living room and then decide if it needs to be painted.
She actually said she would have more things out later at her sale, so I stopped in Sunday after church to the same sale and she had added a bunch of clothes from her grandkids. I made her a deal on 20+ items and ended up only paying about $0.65 each for a huge pile of Polo and Children’s Place clothes for my little nephew.
So that was the extent of my shopping last week… I stopped at a few other sales but didn’t find much.
I visited my friend Molly from Pennies ‘n Grace a few weeks ago and of course we went Goodwill shopping one day. Here’s a few of the things I came home with….
A glass cloche for $5.95 (I have been looking for and wanting one of these to use for decorating!)
I also came home with a few pillows, of course… Although there were many that I loved that I left behind – having to get a bit more choosy with them as I don’t need many more.
I am starting to work on my guest room and working on collecting items for in there. I think the gray pillow in the front, the small yellow one, the greige pillow on the left, and the gray rectangle pillow in the middle all came from my most recent trip to Charleston – three of those were only $0.99 at her Community Thrift store she has in SC. The set of 3 gray pillows were a Goodwill find back in January and the Target gray/yellow geometric one was another Goodwill pillow. So all of these pillows except the yellow one in the back (Hobby Lobby pillow cover) came from thrift stores. This isn’t a final arrangement on this bed – may steal some for my room or downstairs – it is all a work in progress! By the way, the lamp in the corner is the one I found at Habitat for Humanity a few weeks back.
I have several rooms “in progress” and a huge lineup of furniture to paint and of course I will be sharing it all here – just got to get it all done first!
I am always looking for throws too – especially in the new colors I am adding to my house. This gray one came from Value Village last week for $1.99 (it still had the tags on it!), and the yellow one I got a few weeks back for half off at $1.25.
I have a favorite Goodwill that is just 1/2 a mile from IKEA that I love to stop at now. On a recent IKEA trip, I found this IKEA white ruffled throw for $2.52, I think. There is usually several IKEA items in that store – a lady grabbed up 2 of the really nice wicker baskets that go in the Expedit shelves before I could grab them.
So there’s my finds… my list for my home is getting much shorter but I do have some specific things I am looking for and hope to find over the coming months of yard sales. Today is shaping up to be a beautiful Friday so maybe will see stop at some when I am out running errands.
Any fun thrift store or yard sale finds for you recently? What is on your list to find this year?
Christa says
Super fun finds!! Love the lamp idea!!
Sherri S. says
Yay – I love your posts about your goodies! I think your new thoughts on your Frugal Friday posts are all great ideas. Cute names as well 🙂 🙂 🙂
Have a Happy Easter…
Sherri
Lanita says
Hey Christina,
I always enjoying seeing what you find at yard sales and thrift stores….you really scored big this week! I think I like “Frugal Fridays” for the new title – that can include anything! Thanks for sharing! Hope you and your family have a wonderful Easter!
Blessings to you,
Lanita
Cindy says
You may be able to find a round mirror at Michael’s. I love your frugal finds 🙂
Kaye M. says
The rugs that you found for your friend were amazing–what great buys! I have a similar floor lamp that needs an update, thanks for the inspiring ideas.
Emily says
I’ve never commented on your blog before, but a couple days after I saw this post, I got an Ethan Allen flyer in the mail featuring a mirror that looks just like your sun mirror… For $629! Talk about the look for less! I don’t know if I can put URL’s in here, but it’s easy to Google. It’s their 43″ Sunburst Mirror. I like the beveled glass; maybe your replacement could be the same for that authentic EA look. 😉