The Thrifty Chicks

Rewire us please

2012-01-28T14:39:00.000-08:00

I know it’s not true. Why do I hold fast to the assumption those “new” items will work or even meet basic expectations when they arrive in my home? I constantly forget to give “new” items a good once over while shopping. More often than is right I must about face and return a “new” item because it is defunct, lacking. I waste too much time on “new” items and I don’t even buy that many compared to the average American consumer. (I do not enjoy the abuse of quotation marks, but time has taught me that new items are often “new.”)

Let us be clear. Just because an item is new, it doesn’t guarantee that it: 1) has never been used before and returned; 2) is clean; 3) is in working order; 4) has all the parts required to work; or 5) will function in the manner as promoted. All five unfortunate events have happened to me many times. They’ve happened to you as well. We take the abuse. Think of all the miles wasted to return or exchange a “new” item. The time in return lines. The anxiety spent on whether we will be challenged or insulted by clerks standing at the dreaded customer service desk. I’d like to see these figures in the February Harper’s Index.

Let's face it. Not everyone returns or exchanges a newly purchased disappointment. Many are tossed in the trash or sent packing to thrift stores. How could we be so wasteful?

I thoroughly inspect secondhand items. Rarely does a thrift store purchase not meet expectations when carted through the front doors of my home. This phenomenon needs a catchy title. Anyone?

I have mantras that come in handy in the thrift store. Why are they chucked out the window when I enter the conventional market? Is it the music that choreographs shoppers to spend more? The overpowering product displays? The offensive maneuvers of a commissioned sales staff?

From now on, I’m going to dope slap myself out of the haze of the check out lines so that I might avoid the return lines.

The price of living

2012-01-10T17:14:00.000-08:00

As January sets in, I face another birthday. At 44, I don’t consider myself “old” but I no longer see eye to eye with youth. Could this be the nether years?

My daughters are growing up; fast. College will set upon my oldest faster than I’m prepared while my youngest clings to the elementary school years and I cling with her. I’ve cuddled with Little Pie most every night of her life. Hard to imagine that shall pass.

Watching them grow makes me aware of my own mortality and I realize just how lightly we tread on the history of humankind.

Going lightly is an approach I try to apply to many life endeavors. It’s common sense.

My home is a collection of historical curios, books, and items pulled from the forest compiled in attempt to evoke a rounded curiosity in my daughters. I think it has. But sometimes, like when I have the blues, it feels a bit overwhelming and a visit to some Scandinavian furniture store to replace my curios and mix-matched vintage with light wood and simple lines seems to make sense. That’s likely the fault of the blues. Stepping back, I see that we are not consumption junkies, though the basement is always tornado alley after the holidays. My little family is moderately mindful about our material acquisitions.

But it still begs the ultimate question, why do we consume so much when life is so short? Especially when so many of us place a higher value on experiences rather than material goods. Think of all the possessions and waste each of us will leave behind. In many ways, the current American culture forces us into a corner of consumption instead a plain of awareness.

In a world where it can be so confusing as to what action is best for the planet and future generations, I can take refuge in the fact that shopping second hand is a sustainable practice. At least I know I'm doing one thing right.

Purchase Patience

2011-12-24T08:44:00.000-08:00

Stopped by the credit union the other day and did the standard 10 minute surgical strike at the neighborhood thrift.

I found one. It’s been two years of searching I call Purchase Patience. The price is always dirt-cheap and never the issue. The problem is there’s a certain model I want. You know the old doctors scales with a platform to stand on with two weights to balance? This recent scale was close in design, but not close enough. I passed.

Snapshots of all the scales found but not purchased came to mind. There’ve been many.

It’s not aggravating, the scale of the wait. [Pun intended.]

Purchase Patience emphasizes the value of waiting for a reward, something seldom promoted in the current American Now Culture. When consumers are given the latest gadget and toys year round, what could one want for Christmas? I guess that’s why we have Chia Pets, chocolate fountains and S’more makers. Yikes.

A girlfriend once told a precious story about her brothers and sisters crowding around the freshest JC Penney catalog with lightening fast reaction to be the first to slap their little hand on an item and call, “Dibs!” for Christmas.

I remember the Penney’s catalog and the roller skates I wanted for Christmas. Once received, I wore them everywhere but school for about two years, possibly three. I asked for a size up and stuffed the toe until I fully grew into them, thinking ahead as to how I could make these skates go the distance on time.

I reminisced items passed over just this year alone. Can’t count how many pieces of cashmere not purchased, all under my Flinch Point. If the funding were available, I’d open the Girlfriend Hotel where women check in for much needed therapeutic respites. The hotel would have a huge library of movies and books, serve the best comfort food, have suites of adjoining rooms, an in-room spa service for pedicures, and each visitor would be given a complete ensemble of cashmere to wear during their stay. The hotel would offer all the things that help women relax so they can come together for girlfriend laugh therapy. Until that day comes, camping in the mountains with our little girls serves as a primitive hotel. The bathrooms are not bathrooms but the views of the Milky Way can’t be beat.

In today’s world it’s a bit comical that I’ve passed on replacement glassware because the glass was $0.99 not $0.49. The same applies to replacement plates and bowls. I’ve passed on natural fiber yarns, new skeins for about $1, because the color wasn’t quite right.

People not familiar with Purchase Patience will dive on a bargain without stopping to think, “Is this really what I want or need?”

The knowing that what you want will eventually present itself, eliminates the pressure in purchasing and allows Purchase Patience to take root.

I hope more Americans pause and realize we, as a nation, need more Purchase Patience on all items we consume, both large and small ticket. We’re purchasing jokes, frauds, default credit swaps. Why?

If we haven’t learned that the Now Culture is not sustainable, wow, that doesn’t speak well to our smarts as a first world country.

Think about it, wouldn’t Purchase Patience be a good thing to want for Christmas? That, and Peace. [I made Peace a proper noun because I think it important enough.]

Our family received an unexpected and much-wanted gift yesterday. Our dear friend, unanimously elected into the family, showed up at the front door via Jamaica! She’s in little Pie’s room and is about to sledding on Governor’s Hill. Being from Jamaica, this will be her first time. Today, we sled!

Best to all and may you find what you truly need and want this Christmas. Godspeed!

Beware of the looming Gifting Anxiety

2011-12-15T06:38:00.000-08:00

This post ran last year and resonated with many. I think we could all use a little reminder...

I’m no fan of staying up late on Christmas Eve to wrap gifts only to have my daughters wake me up pre-dawn. I really appreciate sleep. I’m nearly finished, just a few more to wrap.

One would think completion of such a large task as wrapping would usher in a feeling of relief or satisfaction.

It never does.

After everything is neatly wrapped with personal tags dangling, I step back and look at the whole of my year-round efforts of thoughtfully hunting treasure for my family and friends. Instead of thinking,” Wow! It’s beautiful!” I think, “Wow! It’s such a small pile.” How crazy is that? I need to remind myself we've a home with a holiday tree we chopped down ourselves in the forest and a real fireplace. We have heat and food in the pantry. Warm beds. Coats. Each other.

We’re trained to think that our children will feel completely dejected if there's still standing room in our living room on Christmas morning. We believe our home should look something like the home of Herr and Frau Silberhaus in the Nutcracker mixed with an FAO Schwarz two-story display that assaults the senses.

It really gets under my skin. I fall for the illusion every year. I begin to feel like I’m a bad mommy because I didn’t scout out enough gifts. I didn’t give enough. Enough of what? I'm not even certain.

This tempts me to race out at the last minute and fill that void with more gifts.

Attention, shopping never feels psychological voids. Nope. Na-uh. No way.

The reality? I really don’t have enough time to think about what else could be truly meaningful. I’ve spent the entire year searching and thrown a lot of thought into the gifts that sit before me. To think I’m going to find the great and profound missing pieces in the last hour is a bit foolish.

If I did race out to buy more, it’ll likely be gift filler, meaningless stuff thrown in to aid in the illusion that quantity trumps thoughtfulness. A cheap acrylic sweater isn't going to tip the scales.

Why this feeling always overtakes me every year is a real stumper. It is far out of line from my standard shopping mentality.

Perhaps I need some sort of therapy. Or perhaps, we’ve been conditioned to think we will never give enough presents to our children. The latter is a horrible thought. It would be cruel if I had succumbed to this as a deliberate marketing tactic. The only thing we can give more of to our children is love.

I need a distraction. I think hot cocoa with whipped cream and sprinkles, a fire in the hearth and a family game of dominoes under the tree might do the trick.

I think that’d make more sense than racing out now to buy stuff that’s going to be massively discounted in a few days. Besides, I'm not even certain I want the items when they're 80% off so why would I pay full price?

I KNOW others deal with this psychological issue every year too. How do you manage?

My home of abandonment

2011-12-11T11:52:00.000-08:00

My brother in law visited recently. He had not been to our Denver home, quite a different place from the home we left in Boulder. Built in 1900, it’s much older as are the contents.

Nearly every piece of furniture was once abandoned, whether it be found in an alley, yard sale, estate sale or a thrift store, someone had given up on it.

As I’ve written many times, the ultimate value of an item cannot be determined by money. If the only attributable thing to an item is money, like company stocks, it will never be stable. It even has the potential to fail. Other items, like cars, have a set schedule of depreciation of value.

But items of ultimate value only accrue value and meaning. I’ve a tattered, worn, once plush rabbit that is nearly as old as me. It has no monetary value but its ultimate value is more than almost any item I own. The same applies with my collection of unique alley finds and thrift store treasures. They have stories. Some involve my repairs, others complete refinishing, and others with the complete wonderment that something could be so old and in such amazing condition.

I’ve learned many things since opening the Etsy store. The thing I enjoy most is the items I release onto the Etsy go to homes where they will be valued. Not because of cost but because of what they are as items and the purpose they serve. The many stories I’m told by customers at point of sale serves testimony.

Perhaps if we truly held ultimate value to the items we purchased, we’d all be better off in our pocket books and our states of mind. Something to think about during this season of buy, buy, and buy like your life depends upon it, or at least Wall Street does.

Go chopping not shopping!

2011-11-21T17:07:00.000-08:00

For over a decade my family has been chopping in lieu of shopping the weekend following Thanksgiving. The National Forest Service offers many sites and invites citizens to purchase a tree-chopping permit for $10 each on select dates and select areas in Colorado.


Tree hunting when the girls were little.

This program is a win-win for all. Families get a real Rocky Mountain experience, roaming the woods for their holiday tree while helping the rangers manage the forests from devastating fires by removing excess fuel.

We go to the Buffalo Creek area just south of Pine, CO, about 40 minutes outside of Denver. If you’re interested in making this a tradition, contact The South Platte Ranger District. If you’re not in Denver, they can direct you to a site near you.

Pack Thanksgiving leftovers, hot chocolate and gingerbread.

There is no comparison to a day in the quiet woods to that of a crowded mall. One year, we came ten feet within a gray fox. We stared at the other for what seemed like ten minutes, though it was probably more like ten seconds. I felt so honored and am most certain I thought a lot more of him than he of me.

The gray fox almost looks feline and is the only canine that can climb trees.

Have a relaxing Thanksgiving and ensure that it has some element to allow you to reflect. These are such hard times. I just heard today on Colorado NPR that Food Stamp enrollment is up 80% in Colorado since 2008. Perhaps a little more balance is needed in our country and the world. If only…

Until that balance can come to fruition, turn to traditions such as our holiday tree hunt for comfort.

If you live in another state and participate in a similar state or federal ranger-sponsored program, please share details in the comments.

Totally outfitted placesetting: china to flatware to stemware to individual salt and pepper shakers, under $4.75

2011-11-15T01:53:00.000-08:00

This post originally ran in November of 2009.

Just over a week before Thanksgiving, we thought it wise to remind Americans there are alternatives to outfitting a table worthy of a spread in a magazine. Only in this case, the full, complete table setting will cost less than a new dessert plate purchased at a conventional retailer. Quality will not be sacrificed by shopping thrift.

When most Americans think of entertaining, they think of racking up purchases at department stores or discount retailers. To put on a full spread for twelve guests for one swank occasion could cost over $500 on the china alone!

But there is an alternative that few consider. The thrift store is the smart entertainer’s choice. Thrift stores routinely have all the accoutrements: punch bowls, domes and pedestals, linens. The host can save hundreds of dollars buying these items thrift.

The above photo features one of my treasured finds, an L. Bernardaud $ Co. Limoges
antique covered dish bought at Goodwill for $5.

My favorite spot to save big is the $0.49 per item shelves a la Goodwill stacked with plates, bowls and glasses; both tumblers and stemware. That’s right $0.49 per item. Sure some of its Corelle, but some of it can be Alfred Meakin Tea Leaf Ironstone, or crystal.

This complete place setting cost less than a venti mochaccino.
Once you're done with it, you get wash it and enjoy it again

The above photo serves testimony. Not certain if it’s apparent in the photo but the water goblets are new, with sticker still affixed. They were $0.49 apiece, the heavy crystal tumblers $0.49 per item too. When buying china from the $0.49 shelves, stick with a simple dinner plate for the foundation of the pacesetting. These $.0.49 apiece plates have a simple gold rim and fit well with most china patterns. Now, I confess my grandmother pulled the green glass salad plates and gold bread plates (I think) out of her giant grandmother’s purse that also serves as a weapon in a pinch. But similar items can easily be found on Goodwill’s $0.49 shelves. Okay, my grandmother found them at estate sales and they didn’t put a dent into her checking account. But they could fit in that purse.

Silver plate flatware shows up in thrift stores for $0.10 apiece.

Wait. It gets even better. The flatware in this setting is a mix of estate sale and thrift. We use it daily. Sure, it’s not sterling but I prefer the vintage patina that silver-plate earns. Sterling can be 100 years old and polish up looking new. There are advantages to that, but I don’t want to pay the price for a set of sterling flatware.

Adding this up per place setting we have:
three plates $1.50,
two glasses $1.00,
seven pieces of silver-plate flatware $0.70,
individual salt and pepper shakers $0.41,
tea cup and saucer (not in photo) $1.
The entire placesetting totals $4.61.

Punch bowls sets easy finds at thrift stores usually be purchased for about $7.
Always wise to buy two, one for virgin and one for alcohol.

All candles and candle holders came from Goodwill for pennies on the dollar.

Glass pedestals and domes are musts for entertaining and are easy finds that run from $7 to $12.

We don’t need bother to compare these prices to conventional retail the difference is laughable.

There are so many more possibilities to entertaining an addendum was written to this original post.

Listing is a lonely process

2011-11-10T10:40:00.000-08:00

With over 100 listings, some repeat items, on my fourth week of hosting Shopping Glightly, an Etsy store, I’ve arrived at the sad conclusion that listing is a lonely job.

Mr. Golightly thought I was playing the drama card. “You like it. It’s fun looking up stuff.” I gave him my best Beatrice Arthur glare from Maude and said, “No. It’s not fun. Not fun at all.”

I’ve taken the Meyers Briggs three times. Always ENTP. Something to note, very heavy on the E, the Extroversion. So heavy, I could be labeled an Extrovert Junkie. This is weird because many of my very close friends are introverts so why they tolerate me is beyond understanding. Guess that’s just love because we do have sincere fun, a lot of it and we laugh hard and often.

I tried making games of listing. When photographing items, I pretend I’m shooting for Vanity Fair, “Work it enamelware platter! Give me that gorgeous color. Show me that sheen! You're too sexy for the tabletop!” Even asked books to literally talk to me. They don’t and I scream, “You’ve tens of thousands of words in your pages! Can’t you say just one thing? One syllable? Sheesh!”

I’ve used my imagination. Hard. No matter how I try, I cannot make these inanimate items my peers, my work mates. I’ve lost that child in me that I witness as Piper, my Little Pie, has when she plays for hours with her Papo horses. Ugh!

Oh yeah, and now it’s chilly outside making photographing in natural light more unbearable. I’ve learned to run outside, snap a few shots and race back inside to do this silly dance to warm back up. I wear a red knit cap with earmuffs, finger-less gloves with my mukluks. Thankfully I only shoot in my backyard.

Then there’s the monotonous categorizing the item and writing its description. I’m already frustrated with the item because it cannot play or talk with me, so it’s hard writing something nice about it. I’ve cranked Carmen, Peter Gabriel, Charles Brown, Annie Lennox and I always end up wanting to jump around the house to the Ramones “I want to be sedated.” But I don’t because if I did, I’d hit replay 200x and be chronically late to pick up Piper from school. Then I’d have to write why I was late in the late pick up manual which would eventually warrant a meeting with her principal.

But sales! Sales are another story. A voice talks back and it’s lovely meeting people and learning why they bought the item. Like the kind woman in Virginia who bought the baby scale as a prop for photographing newborns. (She’s sending me a photo soon.) Or the retired teacher in Washington who collects typewriter tins, over 900 of them, and I happened to have one he did not. What are the odds of THAT? Or the mother of four in Texas who wanted something a bit different in her life, just something small, so she bought a bright teal stapler with a huge button to stamp for what I call “I mean it office work.” The kind woman in New York who makes hand bound books and has love of vintage bookplates. The gentleman in London who bought the magazine rack with the porcelain enameled “Keep clear of chute” sign, which I thought to be right on with British humor. The friend in Wyoming who immediately jumped on the vintage tablecloth who collects them for her home.

Etsy’s a pretty cool place, it’s a community. The listing just sucks. I’ve thought of hosting listing parties, but who’d want to come to that?

Any suggestions? Hey, I’m hip to kooky ones.

At least it’s reuse.

Maybe I could hire a psychic while listing to channel the former owner of the item or, even better, a person who had a part in it’s making. If I did that, I’d be running in the red. So far, I’m learning re-sale is not for those wanting a heavy profit. Well, maybe it just takes time and becoming more established. Few new ventures go gangbusters from the start.

Again, at least it’s reuse.

About the only item, aside from groceries, we buy new without second thought

2011-11-02T05:21:00.000-07:00

Thrift store family of horses for my Little Pie, my Piper.

This weekend I picked up this family of horses at Goodwill. They are tucked away for the holidays for my little Piper. I will not wrap them. On Christmas morning, they will be sitting somewhere about the living room for her to spy. Besides, would it not be animal cruelty to box them? From my daughter’s imaginative point of view, these horses have feelings, personalities and eventually names. Shouldn’t I respect that?

She loves horses and when she cannot play or ride real ones, she turns to her extensive collection of Papo and Schleich figurines. Piper ensures she has the current pocket-sized catalogue to determine what Papo figurine she might like next for a treat or birthday. Sometimes she just looks at it like I used to thumb through the JC Penney catalog. Yes, these are mass produced toys, but the quality is certainly not lost.

Yes they’re imported from France and Germany and, yes, they’re plastic. But, the only shelf packaging they have is a small price point tied about one of their legs, easy to remove without leaving that annoying sticky residue. Tear it off and you’re ready to play. Daddy doesn’t get a hernia attempting to open some ridiculous packaging.

Piper plays with these figurines for hours a week.
In this photo we see the fairies have rounded up the horses in a tinker toy corral.

I know a lot of children play with Papos and Schleich. Rarely, I mean, very rarely does one find them in a thrift store. I imagine that’s because they become a legacy toy, something that is kept for the next generation. They withstand the wear. This is just like it’s highly uncommon for one to spot a wooden train set in a thrift store.

A Papo or Schleich can even enchant adults. I’m going to be a brand snob, most other plastic figurines just don’t make the cut.

The family of horses I found at Goodwill are not Papo. They larger figurines, more expensive than their little Papo and Schleich cousins. These horses sit on the toy store shelf in loads of packaging for about quadruple the price. Hmm, is that the price of packaging? It is a heavy price that no one knows for certain. If we knew, we’d probably rather not pay the price of the cardboard penitentiary and just set our toys free. Regardless, I’m happy to pay the thrift store price, sans packaging.

After the round up, the horses convene on their own.

I graduated college in the early 90’s recession. Until I landed my what I will call the career job at The Lincoln Park Zoo Society in downtown Chicago, I worked the floors full time at Crate & Barrel. We had fun at Crate, a load of recent graduates waiting for our break, break as in career.

Crate & Barrel did something unique in store display and design. They allowed the products to sit out of the box on the shelves. Customers were able to really see and touch what they were about to purchase and it made them happy.

Time after time, I witnessed the disappointment in a customer’s eyes when they eagerly brought an espresso machine off the display shelf up to the register desk and I’d journey to the stock room to pull an espresso maker, new in the box to give them. It was like they didn’t want the one in the box that they couldn’t see or touch. I do believe I had customers ask, “Can’t I just take this one?” Photographs on the box were not enough to make them satisfied about their purchase. The same thing happened with glassware, china, and pot and pans. We watched it over and over again.

Let’s have a round up of wise toy purchases for children. Aside from the Papos and Schleich figurines, my daughters have experienced a lot of mileage on Thomas the Tank and Brio wooden train sets, Tinker Toys and Lincoln Logs. If you’re going to invest in toys, invest in something that will be a toy, meaning it spawns imagination not hands it over, and it will go the distance. I was a Tinker Toy and Lincoln Log kid myself.

Thoughts? Ideas?

More from the journals of a new online re-seller

2011-10-28T08:56:00.000-07:00

The online store Shopping Golightly premiered on Etsy this October 16th selling vintage finds with plans to eventually include handmade items. Hah! It was a small, intimate premier.

Etsy gets all around kudos. The interface is easy to understand and navigate. The help section provides uncomplicated answers, a complete blessing for the novice. I’m no longer in need of huge Atlas jars to shout words into the world should never hear.

The first goal is to load inventory. It currently takes about an hour to research, photograph and write a description for each item. But, wait! How did I ever acquire so much inventory when I never had a store? I’m like a little bird collecting little shiny objects and curious. I think they’re unique. Hope others do to.

Caduceus WWII Sweetheart Photo Locket
with dashing sweetheart still lovingly tucked away.

I’ve listed over 60 items and expect the listing to remain intense for the next few weeks. Fortunately only natural light is used to photograph, so there’s an on/off switch for the day. Otherwise? It’d be 3AM and I’d be chugging coffee. It’s the old fundraiser in me (at Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo) that compels me to list on such a large scale. Don’t want to miss that opportunity for a sale. My hope? I level out and just list three to five items a week found during the standard thrift routine. Continue at this rate? Not certain this endeavor would make sense. I’d earn less than minimum wage.

This porcelain enameled sign from the early railroad
has potential for a lot of bathroom humor.

Etsy is a community I’ve yet to explore, the second step of this journey. I’m afraid to peek into stores until finished with listing because I could spend hours be-dazzled by the merchandise both vintage and handmade. Piper, Little Pie, and I spent over an hour browsing Halloween items. Time stood still and we missed our regular bedtime by a number I’m not willing to share because you might think me a bad mommy to do this on a school night. Piper didn’t mind.

The third step will be putting the pretty’s on the store, banner, etc. Right now, it’s simply product but that doesn’t seem to deter traffic. I’ve had 8 sales of 11 items to date. No idea how that translates in terms of success. Getting to know the customers has been a surprising treat. The people on Etsy are a lovely crowd. Even shipped my first international package to a charming gentleman in London yesterday.

Shipping? USPS Flat Rate rocks! Though we’ve known the other for years, opening this store has given us something to bond over and I’ve learned volumes from our postman at the neighborhood branch. He’s become my informant, offering the postal skinny to help me learn the ropes. We chat after I drop off Piper at school, at 8AM when the post office opens and is quiet. He’s also encouraging and never treats me like I have just asked a very dumb question. I appreciate that.

This endears me closer to the USPS. It cannot be allowed to fail. It’s iconic. When they raise the rates this January, the general public will belly-ache. Really? Americans will be upset about a penny or two more on something that’s STILL an amazing service that is less than a dollar?

Nine-penny cuff/bracelet.

I pick up pennies. My grandfather, a man who holds a large part of my heart so tenderly, once told me his grandmother, the woman who raised him during The Great Depression, always walked with her head down searching for stray coins. I found this so touching; I never walk by any coin without picking it up but see people do that quite often. The first time I visited her grave, I placed a penny upon it and said, “Thank you for raising my Granddad” and wept for a while never to know the woman who meant so much to him. Piper’s middle name is my great, great grandmother’s maiden name. Maybe I should invent yoga pose, “Penny Picker.” Regardless, you see the irony, not pick up a penny or coin but complain when a few are added to the cost of a stamp, often a work of art in itself.

Inventory and customers are recorded in an Excel book that’s been modified countless times to determine the best way to manage information. Of course I’m too cheap to purchase inventory software. Besides, that would offer another thing to learn. (I reserve the right to change my mind over the months ahead.)

With serendipitous timing, a reader corresponded this Monday with questions about setting up a blog. I offered the 10,000’ version of The Thrifty Chicks and how I worked this blog like mad in 2009, rivaling a full time job. I had successes never imagined considering this blog started out as a creative outlet. Funny she should write about starting an online journey when I’m in the midst of a new online journey.

People have been telling me to open an online store for years. The reality, I like thrift because it meets my family’s needs. So, I’m still on the fence about this but am willing to try. Piper once told me, “I like sitting on fences.” She meant that literally.

Vintage Adirondack Peters child's sled with wooden runners.

Please take some time to look/see Shopping Golightly inventory and share what you think. I know, not thrift store prices. But, consider the time it takes to find the item, list it, associated costs from Etsy and Paypal, and then ship it. At first I priced a little lower than what I could have. That took me to the cleaners right fast. I don’t price aggressively. I’m not out to price gouge, just be a fair participant.

It’s Etsy!

2011-10-20T12:15:00.000-07:00

Week three: Change of resale shop opening plans.

Enter vintage on Etsy! The store was up and running in less than an hour. Of course it’s not fully stocked. My goal in Apron Thrift Girl’s October Resale Challenge is to now list at least one item a day for the remainder of the month. My, do I have inventory!

At the present, the store is rather rudimentary but better design will come with time. Please visit Shopping Golightly on Etsy.

Mr. Golightly and I will get back to learning how to list items in the eBay store another weekend.

I believe I’ve priced items fairly, mostly a bit lower than the going rate but now so low as to anger other vendors. But now that I see the actual mark up, I don't feel so bad about it. It's just that darn shipping fee I wish I could boot. Hey, just come to Colorado and stop off at the Golightly's to pick up your item en route to a lovely vacation in our beautiful mountains. [No, I'm not getting $$ for plugging vacation in CO. Rats! But it is beautiful.]

Continuing with my lessons from former posts:

Lesson 3: Consider Etsy.

Learned: Etsy has a great interface to set up a store and list items. BUT! I was so overjoyed I did not compare which venue has lower fees for selling items. Curses!

Lesson 4: The sellers on Etsy seem to be ex-professional photographers. Many photographs of featured items could be published. Some product engaging descriptions too.

Learned: I need to be a creative with the camera on Etsy to be noticed.

Flying by the seat of my thrift store pants!

Journals from a newbie online reseller

2011-10-12T11:45:00.000-07:00

Note: I'm receiving emails to purchase items scheduled be sold the in store that have been photographed on this site. This is a tough decision. Not because of inventory, I've loads of it. I'm uncertain of resale ethics. [Head in hands.] Add to this, I'm struggling with the eBay interface to list items and it might be another week before items will be available. I need to think about this. In the interim, if you're really, really interested in an item, if your soul is telling you it's from your past life, feel free to email me (Contact Section in right column) and I'll keep you posted as to what I decide about pre-store sales. I completely understand the rush of seeing something rare and original. In the meanwhile I'll confer with a few experts.

Day Seven at Camp Four, Final ascent to build the eBay store
Sunday, October 9th

Advanced Warning! High Drama Comedic Alert!

After many failed attempts to achieve ownership of an Active eBay Store going solo, I enlisted a guide to help in the final ascent. I ceremonially burned the hair pulled from my head in exasperation from former efforts in the back yard sending smoke signals to the Online Store Gods to right me in the quest. I shouted nasty words into a large, vintage Atlas jar, so they could never escape into the world and buried it in the backyard with a Haz Mat symbol affixed. Piper, my youngest daughter, hung prayer flags. Instead of oxygen tanks, I choose a three-buck-chuck Cabernet.

Hope to list, vintage Kokeshi couple. They've been together a long time.

My new partner, Mr. Golgihtly, sherpas over 20 years of software engineering from coding to development to consulting to training. He even dabbled as a value added retailer for leading E-commerce software firm for a few years. I thought him formidable to this task.

Mr. Golightly currently travels on business. Our time, limited. Saturday was out for precious family time. So there it was, six hours to achieve our goal today, Sunday.

It wasn’t easy, even for Mr. Golighty. EBay, perhaps I’ll feel differently after we’ve established a deeper rapport, but I believe you’ve knocked three years off my life setting up an online store. Intuition is not your middle name; I’m not even certain it’s a branch on your family tree. Your little help character, whose given name I cannot say without screaming, was zero help. She was like the SNL Flight Attendant Skit with David Spade and Helen Hunt. We type, “Am a registered seller, want to set up store.” Your help person basically replies, “Buh-bye!” Perhaps you should change out her graphic rendering from a svelte woman to, oh I don’t know, Death?

I can NOW announce I have an active eBay store, Shopping Golightly! I was able to pick color preferences and load a photo and started to feel real accomplishment.

Store now active, I wanted to list a few items just to get my feet wet. Alas, it appears that learning to list will be as hair pulling as learning to set up a store. Thankfully, I’m blessed with extra thick hair. Much of my life this has been an annoyance, but I now understand why I was given this head of hair, to survive my beginnings on eBay without going complete bald by my own hands. I’ve the items, the photos, the product descriptions, the pricing. I’m ready, just not capable.

Next time you visit eBay, send a salute to the person who built that online store from which you are making a purchase. You will never know their pain, what they lost (hair, teeth, fingernails) or what they gave up to get where they are.

Sure, online stores are easier to arrange than a store sitting on real estate. No zoning, no issues with leases, no building maintenance, staff, fixtures, etc.

However, an online store isn’t as easy as the average person might think. Guess this goes back to the old saying, “If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.”

EBay, this is not intended to knock you but, is there a reason it has to hurt so much? It is to weed out the non-motivated sellers? Let’s reconcile! Flowers might be nice. You have my address.

Hard Lesson 1: Stocked online stores are not garnered in a few hours, even if you have the merchandise surrounding you in your office.

Learned: Quintuple the hours you think the time setting things up will take and then times it by 50 and add 243 minutes. Be well stocked with tissues for tears. Move the coffee maker to your office, preferably on your desk so you need not get up, or just drink from the carafe.

Vintage wooden nursery light. Pink bulb sets a wonderful glow.

Wow! How am I to manage my time?
Monday and Tuesday, October 10th-11th

I tried to list again on Monday. No dice. So I continued to catalog and take photos.

Reality smacked me on Tuesday; my personal life and family life a disaster. When was the last time I bathed? I was fairly certain the girls were at school. A volcano of laundry had erupted in the upstairs hall. What? Out of crème for my coffee? This neglect is serious! I checked the bank. Phew! Bills had been paid, we get to keep the house.

Lesson 2: I thought time management covered because I do not plan to add hours to my weekly thrifting routine (might be laughing at those word in a few weeks). I had not really thought about the added hours of listing, photographing, researching, shipping…

Learned: Start logging hours to truly get a sense of what an online store earns per hours and chart the times I work to figure if that schedule makes sense for my life.

Question to self: Which makes more sense to earn extra income for my family? An online store? Higher end part time job? The ideal answer is employment by The City of Denver's Economic Development Office in further growing a Denver re-use market. I know former Mayor Hickenlooper read my plea. His Assistant was kind enough to email me that she placed that letter upon his desk. I was honored she took the time to write, perhaps she thrifts too. But all I heard back was the sound of a cricket. (We actually do have a pet cricket. He has one leg and Piper could not stand to leave him outside.)

Hope to list. Baby Sofie on top, not for sale.
She's sitting on a book, she doesn't weigh that much. The scale is accurate.

Aside from that, Mr. Golightly and I agreed before we even married that I shall be the primary parent and must to be available to our daughters first. I naively thought the older they grew, the less they would need me. Not so. It’s like a Nanny McPhee situation, they actually need me more. So I must factor in parenting time as well. Up until know my work has been volunteer, people have more understanding when you have to miss a meeting or need more time on your deliverable. I don't think paying customer will be the same.

Question to readers: What are you thoughts/experiences with online selling?

It's all in the bag

2011-10-10T17:12:00.000-07:00


Vintage Spools of thread you can repurpose as holiday ornaments with sheet music also found in those bags. Little Piper and I worked on these this weekend.

Ever wondered what's in those clear plastic bags hanging in sections of thrift stores? Loads of goodies are there, just look. You might find:

Vintage bookplates from the New York Public Library
in a bag among other curios.

Felted beads or other various types of beads.

Original paper products. These cards will be outfitted as special thank you cards.

Wooden fans. This fan was in a bag with two sets of
cloisonné chopsticks for $2.

Two sets of darling daily tasks vintage embroidery.
These were purchased this weekend and include several yards of linen.

Letter dice.


Bits from the past; graphic plates, train ticket punches (which are great to punch holes for ribbon to be woven into paper).

Shuffle through those bags. Something cool will be there for pennies what you'd pay conventional retail.

Struggling with Resale

2011-10-05T16:22:00.000-07:00

Apron Thrift Girl and I've chatted many times about how I need to open an online resale shop. I've sat on this idea for over one year. So I'm taking ATG's October Resale Challenge. Today I FINALLY started. As a brand spankin' new resaler, I think ATG will give me some wiggle room. I hope.

I've been taking inventory on merchandise and attempted to get started on EBay this afternoon. I struggled. Made faces at my monitor. Said a few words I wouldn't say in front of my children. I even cried. Yup, I cried about this. Silly, right? Enter Mr. Golightly to save the day. He'll manage the crazy sign-uppy stuff that crosses my eyes. Sometimes I just don't like the Internet. (Notice that The Thrifty Chicks header's been messed up for a while. I've tried to fix it more times than I've fingers. It's a miracle I'm able to post.)

With Mr. Golightly managing the EBay stuff, I picked up the camera and started taking photos. That I can manage. To keep me going and to force me to follow through with this effort, I'm posting some of the photos of items that will soon be available for sale.

I've felt all shades of pricing anxieties and have finally decided to let the market decide. Yeah, that's a big duh for most people but I don't want to price gouge. At first I thought a 100%, then 200% mark up. (Some may recall I even asked readers for advice.) But that didn't take into account how often some of these items circulate the thrift market. Say, I see one of these items once every two years. Well, that's a lot of time as opposed to something that pops up every three months. So if it took me months to decide to take the market price, you can imagine, well, I think you get the point that I'm nervous. Really nervous.

I picked my favorite photo shots of the items. Of course there will be more to show off the item once listed. Here we go so there's no turning back.

For the retro office...


This is really cool. It's a Discounted Cash Flow Slide Rule. The instructions were typed with a typewriter.

Vintage tape dispenser with hysterical decal. This item is so heavy it could also be a weapon.


Vintage stapler with extra hip button to hit with your fist for those "I mean it!" staple jobs. My daughters were first taught that exclamation marks were "I mean it marks."

Vintage expandable magazine rack. Has 17 slots.

For the kitchen:

Major score on this Granitware pot. It's gorgeous, no?


Dessert cups from Japan. Could you serve dessert in anything that could be more cheerful?


Very old Graniteware muffin tin. This is haunted bakekware. Imagine the muffins and the cakes this piece has cradled?

This slow drip coffee make is a rare find. It's hard to have all the pieces.


Coffee pot from Poland. This piece has a place in someone's Halloween decor. I've several coffee pots, assorted styles, colors. I love enamel cookware. Every kitchen needs enamelware in it to cheer it up.

In a former post on children's thrifted party favors, I thought I nice to offer tea cups as favors for birthday parties serving High Tea:


Mix and match tea cups, Meakin ironstone saucers with bone china cups.


Dainty cups and saucers hand-painted in Japan.

So here's a sampling of my finds. Any thoughts? I'm on the fence about clothing because it requires a load of inspection. It's one thing if I miss a stain, it's another if a customer purchases that missed stain.

I've a lot of inventory to price and list. My mantra? List an item. Breathe. List. Breathe. List. Consider a glass of something red. List. Consider a glass of something chilled and white.

I'll keep chipping away at this. I guess participating in product reuse on both sides of the fence, buying and selling, will broaden my understanding of the reuse market and help me help get more shoppers in it.

Original Halloween

2011-10-03T12:06:00.000-07:00

Our mantle outfitted in thrift for Halloween. Most notable, the round mirror ($8) topped with
a feather cape ($3) and the vintage Columbia scale ($6) weighing in a papier-mâché lantern ($1).

I stood behind a newbie thrift convert at check out at the ARC last week. It was refreshing to witness her enthusiasm. Her cart brimming with items she proudly displayed repeating, “Can you believe this?” She continued, “I just stopped in on a whim and had no idea that I could find this here of all places.” She’ll be coming back. She’ll tell all her friends. Many will think she’s exaggerating.

A floating bud vase substitutes for a crystal ball holding our fortunes. Last year I picked up this
changing photo of the soldier for a dollar and placed it in a frame we had at home.
Apparently, this has caught on this year. I've seen the same idea in conventional retail stores
selling for $25 without the frame. Turn any silver into something dark with black candles
(Yes, I bought both at the thrift.)

Essentially what she’d tapped into was the Halloween surge of merchandise. October is one of the busiest months for thrift.


Some of the best Halloween decor is that which was designed for other use like the black shawl draped over the lamp or the black lace over the sofa.

Thrift stores beat any “party” store when it comes to Halloween that sell overstock to thrift stores. New still-in-the-box wigs, costumes and accessories are sold for a fraction of the original cost. Those, highly flammable looking costumes found at the chain discount retailers? They’re also hanging on hooks in thrift stores.

These original moccasins ($4) were purchased last year.They've held up quite well for my oldest
daughter. I believe they are now too small but she's in denial about that. Guess I would be too.

Me? I prefer so steer away from the flammable-nylon-made-in-China look and thrift provides a lot options. A dress that Auntie Em sewed for a play some 30 years ago hangs next to a sweet polyester leisure suit that hangs next to seriously fringed suede hangs next to a 40’s vintage gown. That day at the ARC, there were at least a dozen truly breath-taking vintage gowns on the racks. Gone by Saturday, a vintage dealer is happily washing them and mending any snags, eager to hang them on their racks at triple if not quadruple the thrift cost. That mark up doesn’t bother me. Vintage dealers are serving a different market, those who do not wish to weekly burrow into the racks of charitable thrift and are willing to pay the higher cost for the time saved to find something amazing. Eco-points go to them for participating in product re-use.

I'll share the Golightly costumes for next week's post. (One score set me back $8 and can be found retailing online from $100-$200 but there’s no way my older daughter is giving them up and they’ve already been promised to my younger daughter who is chomping at the bit to receive them.) Though I've reservations on sharing Mr. Golightly's. For the first time in our marriage he had to ask, "Honey, can you zip me up?" while in the thrift dressing room. Petite Poe and I had tears in our eyes from laughing. Little Pie was spared, she was at a birthday party.

Papier-mâché lanterns, one dollar each. Someday I want to get messy with papier-mâché.
It's on the crafts bucket list along with sewing.

The Golightly's love Halloween and half the fun is outfitting the home. Yes, some of the items I’ve picked up have origins in China. But, I did save them from the landfill and this sticks with my intention of circulating the stuff we already have in our homes in America and not bringing more stuff into the country. Let's get real. We don't need more stuff in this country. Besides, most the jobs that went into making stuff are no longer in the country. That's what we need, those jobs.

Wooden cats are easily found in thrift, often less than a dollar a piece.

As long as our wooden ones don't out number our live cats we're okay.
Candle holder ($4) and candles ($2) are thrift item.

I confess, it was difficult picking what items to feature for this post. Yes, we've a month to go before Halloween. However, decorating for it in the Golightly home is an ongoing process, there is much more to go up or be re-arranged. It's especially important this year to get it right because we are hosting Little Pie's annual Girl Scout troop's Halloween party. It's serious business. Modern Mommie reads tea leaves and she has the gift.

Include Dia de los Muertos in the celebrations and honor the ancestors.
Though not really a part of this celebration, it's fun to include
Oaxacan folk art (all items less than $10 total).

Little Pie and I made 175 of our crayon pies this weekend to add to her class Halloween treat bags. We figure better to recycle crayons than to purchase plastic mini-bubble blowers that will last less than five minutes and then be chucked into the trash. Plus, the crayon pies cost a penny a piece. Each student will recieve a set of six.

Little Pies much loved recycled crayon pies.

For instructions on how to make these visit our little sister blog, Mommy Golightly.

Unconventional Harvest

2011-09-26T09:29:00.000-07:00

The autumnal equinox was last Friday, the 23^rd. Fall is my favorite season. Not only am I a person who loves sweaters and hats, but also I love a good harvest, an unconventional one of course. We’ve been harvesting vegetables and berries from the garden for some time. I’m writing about the stuff that falls from trees and I’m not talking apples (though apples are appreciated).

Last week the call came in from Modern Mommie. “They’re falling! Bring some bags and meet me on the north end of Marion Parkway now.” She didn’t need to say what, I knew. Acorns. We scavenged the grass and gutters for acorns with the endearing help of Modern Mommie’s three-year-old daughter who simply refers to them as “corns.” She was completely enchanted and very serious about collecting.

Why? Because acorns are beautiful! A mass produced holiday anything made in China doesn’t stand a chance when placed next to an acorn. Yeah, not even a plastic acorn can beat the real deal, but they manufacture them anyway and people buy them when they could just pick them up for free. Go figure. Once you bring them home, roast them in the oven at about 180 degrees to be rid of any little natural critters (worms) that like to burrow into the nut. If you pick up an acorn with holes in the nut, best to leave that one on the ground. You'll note the caps will fall off after the nut dries and shrinks, a little wood glue will take care of that.

An aside: I've always wondered what the people in China think as they paint decorations for Christian and Jewish holidays. I'm certain its a very different experience from when their ancestors made items that pertained to their culture. Funny how for thousands of years imports from far away lands had high value and often represented fine craftsmanship, something friends came to admire. Now it could be a plastic Easter egg or a plastic carnival whistle.

The horse chestnuts will be falling soon. Here’s a garland I made several years back. I’ve about 30 feet of horse chestnut garlands, maybe more. Readers will ask so I’ll explain now. To make this garland, take freshly fallen horse chestnuts (which are NOT edible) and grab that drill. Drill holes completely through the chestnut while fresh (try to drill after they’ve hardened and be prepared for a trip to the ER). Roast the chestnuts in the oven on a low setting, say 180 degrees, until they dry out and harden up. String them up and hang them in a place to completely dry. If there is ANY moisture left in the nut, it will mold from the inside. Best to ensure it’s really good and dry. That’s it. You have an organic, homemade garland that will decorate your home for years and cost you nothing but some fond memories collecting and string.

Here’s something to think about. Young children love collecting acorns and chestnuts. It’s something they can do without help. Bring some cider and gingersnaps along when you go. When the holidays arrive the acorns and the chestnuts hang on the tree and the children feel a nice satisfaction of seeing they truly contributed to the magic of the holiday tree.

Modern Mommy’s little one had a terrific idea. She told us we need to place our “corns” in a “nature bowl.” She was right!

So, out came the wooden bowls from the thrift. I prefer to purchase bowls carved from one piece. Bowls at thrift stores may come home a little scratched but sandpaper will take care of that. I often sand off any finish and prepare the freshly exposed wood with mineral oil. They’re simple and eloquent and cost something crazy in convention retail. But, you don’t need to pay that price when you thrift.


This beautiful bowl was purchased at a half-off sale for $1.50. This is art.

Found for $6, this myrtle wood bowl somehow magically ripens pears to a mouth-watering perfection.

Our bread bowl for $3. Now's the time to prepare citrus and clove pomanders to dry in time for the holidays. Young children enjoy this most when the fruit is pre-punctured in patterns, cloves slide in the peel without struggle.

Before racing out to buy holiday decorations, which have probably already arrived in local shopping malls, take a look in your back yard or a walk in the woods. Nice memories at little cost that build up to something magical and meaningful for the holidays.

There's one more reason I take note of the autumnal equinox, it's Mr. Golighty's birthday.

Among a few things, we made a hand stitched book of poems about his favorite things.

Please list in the comment, other handmade holiday decorations your family enjoys. Ah, if only bittersweet grew wild in Colorado. Wait, roses do. Hmm, something with rosehips would be nice.

Least I not forget the Ponderosa Pinecones. They're a bit sharp but beautiful. A small eye hook drilled into the base with a ribbon slipped through make for something beautiful to hang.

Post Script: On a recent reconnaissance mission I saw that Pottery Barn is selling wooden balls with acorn tops glued to them, made in China. $14.50 buys you 56 fake acorns. I don't have 56 acorns, I've a couple hundred. They're also selling wine corks. I doubt they're recycled corks. Rats! A missed opportunity to compare the cost of wooden bowls.

New Position: Blue Jean Distresser

2011-09-19T14:14:00.000-07:00

Officially announcing availability as a Blue Jean Distresser for the fashion market. Now Hollywood starlights can wear and feel the truly and honestly distressed jean from hard, backbreaking work. No more fake wear from machine scrubbing or acid washing. The Real Wear market is open!

I’ll even offer a line of Double Distressed starting with a pair from the thrift store. That's twice the honest wear!

They’ll be green too! These jeans will be engaged only in healthy work. Hike mountains, garden, bike, build… honest actions to establish the true and telling signs of honest work.

Special orders can be taken too. Say you want that horseback look. I’ll ride horses. Or, perhaps you’re more of a construction type, I’ll remodel my home and accent with a few paint splatters from the roller.

Be assured, the extra $200 - $900 you will be paying for that distressed look will be genuine wear. Take these above for example. They’ve held up over ten years and now I only use them as “work” clothes. I’ve planted countless gardens, hiked mountains, painted rooms, refinished furniture and many other life activities in this pair.

See! Here’s me and Petite Poe at 12,000’ on Mount Emmons in this very pair in 2004. Yup, these jeans have truly made the circuit.

Such masterpieces take about ten years to create so order now! I’m certain there are plenty of prospective Blue Jean Distressers just waiting to be called to action. Please list your name in the comments and we’ll start our list of professional Blue Jean Distressers.

Call me crazy but, I think the machine market is quite passé.

Leave your comment to become a professional Blue Jean Distresser. Only honest workers apply. Women who work family farms, I beleive you will now have a second job.

We shall be the John Henry of Blue Jean Distressers! Except we shall not die in the end! Our hard efforts will put our children through college. Just in ways we hadn't quite imagined.

How much are you going to pay? To who?

2011-09-05T15:49:00.000-07:00

Above is a project I'm happy to complete, refinishing this vintage sewing box. Little Pie and I spied it at Goodwill three weeks ago for $9. Hand-crafted in Poland, each component still has penciled numbers on the undersides. It was a tedious process and it was well worth it. I used products we had left over from restoring our 100 year old casement windows in our bedroom. The only new items purchased for this project were brass screws and washers from the mom and pop hardware. I've deep appreciation for the amazing craftsmanship and care that went into constructing this piece so many decades ago. I think it's a work of art.

Now my thrift store sewing and craft supplies have better organization. Everything below is from thrift. Particularly interesting are the early plastic, possibly Bakelite, scuttles.

I cannot remember how much embroidery floss below cost, but am pretty certain I bought a wide color spectrum of 30 spools for less than $5 flinch point.

Embroidery floss is easy to pick up at thrift stores and it's a bargain too. I purchased this set for $1 this weekend. Modern Mommie and I took our girls to the high country of the Rockies for a two night camping trip. We sat about the fire making friendship bracelets. Little Pie makes them lickety split. I can't keep up.

Thrift stores are many things. One thing for certain they are an excellent resource for sewing, knitting, art projects and crafts in general. Whether you are purchasing something never used like a skeen of yarn, reusing yarn by unraveling a scarf or finding a new use for a moth-eaten cashmere sweater, thrift is common sense and resourceful.

Let's get honest. Shopping for craft items is really a question of who do you want to give your money to and how much are you willing to pay. Please consider that before racing off to the chain stores that largely sell products imported from overseas and likely send their profits out of your state. For example, I paid $4 total for all the black grosgrain ribbon below. It was 50% off during Labor Day weekend at the ARC. It'll take me awhile, but I will use all this ribbon. Imagine how much this would have cost at a chain retailer.

Fortunately, this ribbon was manufactured in the USA. I understand that some purchases at thrift stores are mass manufactured items from China. I'm not particularly thrilled that jobs went overseas to bring such items into our market, but once in circulation we might as well make certain items are used in a resourceful manner - if that can happen. Better to use the item than toss it unused into a landfill. Hard to imagine that unused items are tossed in landfills every day in this country.

In essence, how about we better manage the stuff we already have via reuse, repurposing or recycling before we race out into the new market and fetch stuff from across the Pacific Pond?

As I've written many times, I cease to be amazed by the stuff Americans toss. Like all this quality origami paper pictured below. I use this in making cards and invitations. Little Pie folds it. I give some to the classrooms at Little Pie's school. It does not go to waste.

This week I picked up two Strathmore drawing pads. The first to pages had been used, that's all. There are loads of art supplies awaiting purchase in thrift stores. Drawing pads are not uncommon on school supply lists.

Every now and the a little gem comes along. Modern Mommie and I've yet to determine what to do with these crocheted flowers and snowflakes. All 25 handmade pieces cost me $6.

Follows is a random brain dump of items commonly found in thrift stores that had their original start in chain craft stores. Many of these items will never have been used. Shopping thrift is smart on the pocket book, saves items from landfills and supports a wide spectrum of charities.

Rubber stamps and stamp pads
Cutting boards, die-cutters, scalloped scissors
Picture frames and mats
Crochet hooks and tatting needles
String, yarn and ribbon
Silk flowers, dried flowers, garlands
Stickers
New scrapbooks, paper and stickers
Glue guns and refills
Oasis and Styrofoam forms
Glass vases, chimeras
Baskets
Polished stones, glass balls, seashells, cedar wood balls
Sewing patterns
Embroidery and quilting hoops
New and vintage fabrics
Cut quilting squares
Paper card stock, poster board, foam-core and construction paper
Bottles of glitter and confetti
Sewing machines and bobbins
Volumes of instructional manuals from making paper to recipes
Cookie presses, piping tips and bags, assorted cake pans
Buttons
Boxes of new mason jars, vintage mason jars too

Along with great deals and green shopping there is another benefit to thrift. One learns a new resourcefulness when participating in the reuse market. For example, my old sewing box was not one purchased at a chain retailer, it was an old over night piece of luggage.

I'm thankful for what I find. Currently I'm knitting a holiday gift that requires eight skeens of yarn. I found eight beautiful skeens of quality yarn for $7 thrift. Conventional retail would have easily pushed this project over $100 for product.

Please share items you have found or items you have found new life or new purpose for. If you thrift, you know what's available.

Post Script: A smartly outfitted sewing hamper would be a lovely gift for the person who's about to leave the nest and strike out on their own. Do it thrift and make it personal.

Crafty or resourceful? Resourceful I think.

2011-08-29T17:54:00.000-07:00

I don't consider myself a crafty person. But then, I hunker down in this heat wave and felt little birds for the holidays with Little Pie. That's kinda crafty. We have fun Little Pie and I. She always out does me. Maybe it's just because she's so sweet and everything she touches becomes such. Which ones did she make? Just pick out the sweetest ones and you have them.

I'll also buy a thrift store scarf for a dollar or two and pull it apart and knit the foundations for long pair of arm warmers with this 100% wool yarn here:

Then find a few skeens of an angora/wool/nylon blend in the thrift store bags for a few bucks and knit a holiday gift that's going to be so gorgeous, I can't wait to give it. It was modeled off a design I saw in a boutique. Here's a sneak:

Today I scored eight skeens of a mohair/wool/acrylic blend for $7 total. I was quite happy to find this among the piles of ucky acrylic yarns. Knitting is almost a form of meditation and I'd just completed the project above and didn't really want it to end. If you knit, you'll know I saved grocery bags of cash and still ended up with a beautiful quality product. Little Pie helped me roll them.

Mt knitting needles? They're thrift too. Metal, plastic, wooden. All sizes and lengths.

Then there were the hand-felted beads bought in a bag for $2 that I strung up to make bracelets on thrifted elastic twine. I've a BUNCH of bracelets saved for Pie's friends during the holidays. They're darling.

Remember the trunk for $2?

I sanded and painted it with leftover paint from the bedroom job. It now sits in our ante room as a coffee table and holds all my knitting supplies.

Nah, I don't like crafts, especially craft stores. Maybe a specialty mom and pop yarn store. But big retail chains? Yuck! Maybe I'm not crafty, just resourceful. I think that's what crafty used to be until someone came along and created an entire industry around it just to make money. Silly.

It ends and begins on Septemeber 2nd

2011-08-24T18:24:00.000-07:00

On September 2nd, a group of about 300 American consumers will hit a personal milestone. With the exception of a few items like undergarments, they will not have purchased any new clothing for a full calendar year. The will have completed their pledge to The Great American Apparel Diet. The first annual diet was launched in 2009.

Often times when people remove something from their lives for a set period of time they race out and indulge once they’ve met their goal. Like, if I gave up baked sweets for a year? I’d have a huge sheet cake waiting for me to jump upon and roll around in so that every pore of my body could soak up that butter, cream, vanilla, sugar…

I don’t have the impression these consumers are going to be renting U-Hauls to hold all the goods from some wild shopping frenzy after September 2nd.

I imagine they’ll simply sign up for another year of not buying new. I imagine they’ll recruit friends to join.

Radically changing your shopping behavior in America is a personal and spiritual journey. We’re blasted practically everywhere we go to purchase items, many items that serve no real personal purpose.

It’s time to consider if you’re ready to join this group for the coming year. Should you take this challenge and hold to it, I promise other parts of your life will change too, all for the better. I’ll sponsor you. Email me when you’re fighting the urge.

Yes, many people treat me like I’m “cute” because I shop reuse. This is not fluff. This is how we choose to spend our money, our personal resources.

Me? I'm now in need to go out an buy a batch of cupcakes.

If you know of other retail diets, please list them in the comments.

The Consumption Economy Is Dying—Let it Die! by Michael Mandel

2011-08-17T18:34:00.000-07:00

Michael Mandel is chief economic strategist at the Progressive Policy Institute. His piece, "The Consumption Economy Is Dying—Let it Die!" appears in The Atlantic on August 15th.

Mandel's passion, backed with his extensive and prestigious market study experience, gives me hope that more Americans just might begin to consider alternative methods to "Reset the American Retail Button". This is long overdue.

Mandel conlcudes:

If we want Americans to prosper, we need consumer spending to become less important to the economy, not more. In the end, we need a production economy, not a consumption economy.

One thing for certain, Mandel makes me feel justified in my snarky rants on consumerism. Yes, it's fun showing photos of items my family needs acquired at eye-popping savings. It's also great my purchases divert items from landfills and have significant carbon footprint savings in not requiring newly-manufactured items to be packaged and shipped from the other side of this planet. And, it's poetic that my purchases deliver funds to help Americans in need of "re-purposing" their lives al a Goodwill Industries. One thing I know to be true, this population of people is growing; fast.

Just saw this in the current Harper's Index:

Percentage of Americans who say their household couldn't come up with $2,000 in thirty days: 47.

While we transition from an economy of MORE to LESS, wonder what Michael Mandel would think about promoting more and more reuse in America?

Thank you Mr. Mandel. I'd like to hear more of you and less demands that "shopping is patriotic"! Funny how it's never defined exactly what country it's patriotic for. We assume the US, but Mandels points out this is not so.

Or, how about this sent in from a reader from The New York Times, "Shopping for Freedom" where then NYC Mayor Rudolph Giuliani declared, “Freedom to shop is one of the fundamental liberties terrorists want to deprive us of!” Really? Shopping is a fundamental liberty? So why wasn't the Mall of America targeted?

Okay, we have a need to acquire food, shelter, etc. Until a better system is in place I agree with Mandels and start looking for that precious Union Label. If you can't find it, get thee to the thrift store until manufacturing returns jobs to the American markets.

Taking on Water But Loving It

2011-08-14T18:57:00.000-07:00

Ever started a home project only to find you've open not one, but a dozen cans of worms? That's what Mr. Golightly and I did while the girls were at summer camp. For three weeks we worked tirelessly, late into the nights painting our sitting room and our bedroom. It's an old house with funky shaped rooms.

Our bedroom is a sleeping porch of sorts, added in the 1920's. It features four huge three-paned casement windows overlooking our backyard oasis on the high plains desert (Denver's official ecosystem). To get to our bedroom, one walks through a what we call the sitting room. Both have been freshly painted and the wood of a built-in dresser exposed and finished. It looks gorgeous. We just need to finish restoring the bedroom casement windows. I've learned restoration is no small task. Burnout made us put down the window glazing and polyurethane for a spell. A spell being a couple of weeks with plastic on the windows. But, it is time to begin anew. Sigh.

In the interim, thought I'd share a few photos of items acquired during the process and give me an excuse from window duty. Our first night back in our bedroom we felt like it was a stay at a hotel, even with the windows unfinished.

Below is our thrifted bedding ensemble. The Columbia comforter was $12.99 and the five decorative pillows totaled $18. When buying thrifted pillows, I prefer those where the cover can be unzipped so the pillow case can be washed. That's Alley Cat. She stays in our bedroom. At 15, she is very skittish around the two upstart cats Cleo and Lily. The vet recommended we separate them so Alley remains in our "apartment." When I was single I swore I'd never have cats. Mr. Golightly had two when we married. Since then, we've been as high as four. I attribute this to my taking Comparative Anatomy in college and having a cat to dissect for an entire semester. Karma caught up with me. We also have a "sucker" sticker written across our foreheads when we walk into shelters. It's a blessing and a curse.

Items sitting atop my wardrobe, all thrift. Yes, that's a ceramic goose lamp. His name is Ferdinand. The vintage overnight case is my sewing kit, always available. Mr. Golightly loves mysteries. The series of books were a gift to him from Little Pie. She was so excited to give him this gift, she wrapped each individually and she purchased all with her own money; making it all the more special that mom didn't help her out. Children want spending power too.

Metal shabby chic plant stand for $2. I love ferns.

How cool are vintage lamps on vintage bamboo three-legged tables? All under $35.

Petite Poe even wins with this handmade rug for $3.

Then, when I'm swamped in projects, a deal comes along I can't pass up. This vintage trunk for $2. It won't be a big project and will be so worth it, but it's more work. Here's a teaser as to HOW COOL this (3 foot wide) trunk is...

I figure I'll cover the bamboo edging and lightly paint the sides. The top is in horrible condition. At first I was going to place fabric over it. But, remember I have cats! Think I'll just sand and leave wood exposed.

Nothing needs to be done to the pristine inside!

What's that honey? Oh, guess I need to get back to this 5-foot window:

See, we're so close. They'll be beautiful once done. We're just crawling up our personal Heartbreak Hill at the moment to finish the job.

We'll take the lot of frames we took down and put our favorite family photographs back in the rooms.

If you haven't read from our slightly neglected blog, Mommy Golightly, you might enjoy this post, Make more than just a mark, about the threshold between our sitting room and bedroom.

I should get back to finishing some projects before Mr. Golightly discovers the ones I haven't sprung on him yet.

Pushing the re-set button on American retail

2011-08-10T16:19:00.000-07:00

My mental back-burner's been simmering since the former post, “A Plea to Anthropologie.”

I fell short on a few critical points about this business proposal. Keep in mind, the mission of this blog is "dedicated to a robust reuse market." We do this by offering tips, testimonials, photos and stories from our readers. Sometimes we must pull back our sleeves and climb out on the fragile limb of brainstorming alternatives to the current retail system. Strange how this can be such a touchy subject.

Our American retail system has effectively constructed many mental obstacles on our consumer highway. New product retailers cling fast to their current MO - which is slowly (and not so slowly in some cases) destroying their customers' purchasing power. Even the most simple business model shows we can't buy much if we have no money. Who wins then? Example, do we wait until we’ve tapped all the global oil wells before we are forced by a monumental crisis to significantly make change?There is such a thing as change that can benefit both retailer and consumer. It's time.

It messes with my brain to witness how short-sighted the American cultural ecosystem has become. We’re short-sighted on energy, education, economics, health care. Even our eating habits are short- sighted. Short attention spans, anyone?

Obviously businesses are in business to first make a profit, or they can't do anything else, but that doesn't mean that's all they can ever do. Sadly, whenever someone hints that businesses consider having a social conscience, the market stops smiling and wags that nasty finger, declaring such a gesture would be one from a"socialist" or "anti-capitalist." Tell you what. Businesses better start caring about their American customers. Guess what guys, the majority of us? We've just about maxed out on credit and have little assets left. If you don't think it necessary to care about the health of your customers, I recommend you move your retail centers overseas to the countries were you've outsourced our income. However, you will need to adjust your price point to a third world economy.

I can't believe how much unsolicited credit lenders at throw at us. Should I jack the Golightly spending up to its credit limit, I can't fathom how the debt would ever be paid off, even with our modest but very smart mortgage. I’ll bet there are consumers out in Credit Land who could have bought two homes with all the (non-mortgage) interest they’ve shelled out. Someone please explain how this is good or right.

I once stood in line behind a woman at a major retailer who had two credit cards denied on her purchase. The clerk then gave her a 10% discount by opening a new credit account sponsored by the retailer. The clerk was thrilled because she received a commission for adding a new credit customer and the customer was thrilled because she now had more credit to mismanage. So there you have it. Spend money you don’t have. It’s okay. Really. Just live in the moment with your spending, it's the USA!

Here’s a few of what I perceive as mental/cultural obstacles that get in the way of people coming to understand the former post. If you don’t like Anthropologie - great - substitute a store you do like and believe sells a lasting, quality product.

Secondhand is not a market strictly open to poor people. I believe major discount big-box retailers have done a bang up job pushing the economically poor through their racks and double-wide register lines to purchase cheaply made crap. Unfortunately, this population has been, for some time, targeted as a growth industry. I cannot imagine how any architect can now design a structurally sound bridge to connect the gap between the haves and have-nots that "sustain" current conventional shopping. How about the corporate retail moguls be the first to test out that bridge? It might be wise to think about the purchasing patterns of such a large (and growing) segment of our society. Don’t ya think? Instead of thinking about methods to milk the poor, how about methods to give the poor milk so they can have strong economic bones to run that economic mile?

Secondhand is a market - plain and simple. There seems to be a misconception that profit cannot be pulled in this market. Au contraire! Goodwill has been widely recognized as a terrific business model. Okay, yeah, they are run off donations. But! Stores like Buffalo Exchange are thriving. We don't need to be victims of the usual demographic pigeonholes. We can dare to brainstorm alternatives.

Consumers don’t balk on buying a used house or car. Why the drama and disgust on other used items (unless they're considered antique or vintage)? Most readers of this blog have no hang ups with secondhand goods. But, step outside your community and examine mainstream America. They have serious problems with it, almost a borderline phobia. I know, I know! I run into my friends at the neighborhood thrift and no one is embarrassed. It’s like meeting for coffee. I’ve friends who have significant income who shop thrift and feel not an ounce of shame. But there are people who would rather indiscriminately abuse $40K in credit card power by purchasing $178 blue jeans (yes, at stores I cite on this blog) rather than even considering a similar (or even identical) pair for $4.99. This may be true even if the original price tags for $178 were still dangling from the thrift store pair! My fellow thrifters, these people don't need our pity, they need our help! Maybe conversion to second hand can be an act of civic responsibility. Don't think twice about it.

There are more points to be scored in mass reuse than recycling. We mostly recycle down in product quality. The business world likes recycling because it doesn't really offer much competition. Recycling is a worthy practice. There is a now a huge industry that supports recycling. Note recycling requires a respectable use of energy to transform the product. Recycling = Good. What's wrong with Reuse = Good?

Reuse fundamentally requires a simple exchange via transaction. Purchasing a gently-used wardrobe? That's competition for new product. How strange that most Americans like the word competition, but not if it's from reuse. Fine for department stores to sell a "lot" of unsold merchandise to close-out retailers. But reuse? Forget it. I guess the American businesses want us to just chuck our reusable items in landfills to clear out our homes so we can purchase more new stuff. This is actually happening with some large retailers. They destroy unsold merchandise before placing in it the dumpster. Remember this January post in 2010?

It is entirely possible to build a reuse economy that caters to different economic tiers. There is a relatively small system of a tiered reuse market in place but, it’s in desperate need of growth both in product and customer quantity. There’s enough inventory in American homes to sustain a sweet secondhand market. Think of all the stuff that’s been acquired via decades of conspicuous consumption. Wow. And it’s just sitting there in closets, attics, and basements. We’ve even had an entire storage economy housing this stuff! Double wow.

Our market system was once globally admired because it encouraged ingenuity, not just greed. Used house and car market aside, its an irony that we lack the collective creativity to succeed in a statistically significant way through a more open and prevalent resale reality.

A plea to Anthropolgie

2011-08-01T08:59:00.000-07:00

Dear friends at Anthropologie,

Anthroplogie stores are more than a shopping environment, they are a refuge; at least for me they are. The classic and vintage-inspired clothing is a relief against the keystone cop approach to trendy fashion hooking most Americans and dressing them like lost children in a deep and desperate identity crisis, one that will never find peace.

Antropologie, your stores have provided many Americans with fashion/style rehabilitation.

The problem is many Americans cannot afford your current prices.

Given this, I ask you to stand behind your product, it’s quality and test of time by opening an Anthropolgie resale market. Do not develop a lower grade product to broaden your market like so many other retailers before you in the form of false outlets. Do not compromise your quality or design. Take your current customers and offer them the opportunity to sell back items they no longer need. Offer them store credit towards new purchases to strengthen that initial market and open a new market of second hand Anthropolgie. Toss in authentic vintage if you like. Go beyond selling and teach. Yes, teach your customers about quality. Teach us how to own something wonderful and wear it for 20 years. Be good to your customer, consider what will keep them healthy and they will return the good will by remaining loyal and marketing your efforts over coffee with friends. What better marketing effort is there than personal testimony?

The current store theme evokes the feeling of a French flea market. Designers decorate stores with simple, everyday items and make them beautiful if not enchanting. Why not broaden that to wholly embrace the French flea market style economy?

Please lead American consumers in a market that is not addicted to trends, but integrity, dignity and poise. Be more a kin to the original flea markets of France. Help us appreciate re-use for your profits, consumer pocket books and the Earth’s general well being. Promoting reuse would make a bigger difference than selling reusable shopping bags.

Please help pioneer this new market and smart business model. I’m not certain that many companies would buy back their products from consumers when their product is cheaply made or is so trendy, it’s obsolete a month after purchase. You, on the other hand, have the goods to go the distance.

Smart, economically sound customers are good customers. When all the other customers have maxed out their credit, your stable customers will go the distance.

I have hope,
Ms. Shopping Golightly

Posted in the Comments but thought it should be elevated as a Post Script:
I can only hope that retailers go back to the old ways of business. Reciprocity has become passé in so many segments of our current culture, especially in the retail world.

I hope that someday retailers learn they cannot bleed consumers of their assets to meet Wall Street projections. How short-sighted can a buisness be? The monetary bloodletting of a customer base is either extremely selfish or stupid. Most American consumers are out of cash, maxed out on credit, unemployed or underemployed.

Competition must not always boil down to money. There are plenty of other ways to operate a smart, sound and lasting business model. I've no doubt that many will view these words with disdain. Too bad, we've reached the point of a retail revolution.

Start by publicly blowing raspberries

2011-07-21T07:38:00.000-07:00

Mainstream American consumers are cultivated purchase items en masse. We even purchase “bargains” en masse. Lost in the world of retail sales, shoppers forget they will not be using the item they acquire 75% off original price. It becomes a pointless act of acquisition and often begets suffering, especially in the realm of debt. Retail therapy might have a short-term rush, particularly when a sale is involved, but in the long haul its consumer hooey.

Thrift store gurus have taken a giant a step closer to contentment. Enlightened shoppers do not purchase bargains. They purchase needs and honest wants at prices that work to their personal best interest. This is nearly spiritual and I see this only in thrift stores where there are no studies conducted to boost sales via types music, scents, product display placement, etc. Most thrift participants will stop and do a once over on the contents of their carts before check out. A few items will likely go back to the shelves.

A thrift guru develops a knowing of how often an item pops up in stores. I contently pass on purchasing the cashmere sweater with original retail tags of $200 still dangling for $4.99 if I am on the fence. No regrets. Cashmere sweaters cycle through thrift stores like water through a wheel.

Yes, we all fall from time to time.

Best to tend to needs and take the time to learn wants, not be told what they are. Our current culture has done a splendid job of making dictated and trendy wants take priority over needs. Now most Americans are in terrible economic, mental and physical states of existence. Don't even get me started on what this is doing to the health of our planet. Think about it.

Wow, this post is becoming very lose and stream of consciousness. Okay, must be a reason.

Want to tend to needs first? Start by, pledging to disregard commercials and glossy advertisements. Marketers no longer bother selling products. Be assured, they’re selling wants. Create the want and the product will follow. I predict there will be commercials for commercials. Wait. Who am I fooling? That’s probably already happened. Yes, we’re that messed up.

I’d be so honored if just ten readers would stand in front of an advertisement in a subway station, on the sidewalk, anywhere in public and spend five seconds blowing raspberries at it. Please report in via comments at what and where you blew that raspberry.

Would you join in a pledge to cover your ears and blow raspberries at commercials? It’d be a great family tactic. Add humor. Blow off some steam. Get a better check on reality. Raspberries are good for us.

I sound very immature by asking this. Am I? Sometimes silly ridiculous actions are required to break silly, ridiculous binds.