Secondhand Stuff

Today Erin was wearing one of my favorite things I have ever bought at Goodwill.

So I had to take a picture.  I found the shirt/dress/whateveryouwanttocallit on a day when I had a coupon, so it was only $1!!!  The leggings are hand-me-downs from a friend, and the boots are from a garage sale (years ago.  Katie wore them- a lot!).

Don't you just love it?  It's Gymboree, and I have already washed it several times (and will have to again- notice that she dripped a tiny bit of her popsicle on it?), and it washes great, sparkles and all.

Right now, the Ames Goodwill has a rack of "Halloween Costumes."  They are not all actually costumes, some of them are just very ugly or very outdated regular clothes.  I was looking through them when I found this:

No, no one in my family is going to dress up as an Arizona Hunter Ed Instructor.  But, my husband happens to collect law enforcement/conservation enforcement patches, so he was happy to get this.  He won't keep the shirt, but it is pretty cool- vintage Cabela's.

This is what I wore to work today.  A velvety navy blue blazer.  I never would have bought this for retail, because I wouldn't be able to commit much money to a velvet blazer. What if you wear it one time and then hate it?  But $3.99?  Sure!

Find anything great this week?  Post a comment!  I haven't figured out how to reply to them, but I like reading them.

Iowa Barn Tour

 My mom, Katherine, Erin and I went on the Iowa Barn Tour yesterday.  All over Iowa, you can visit historic barns and learn more about them.

http://www.iowabarnfoundation.org/events.htm

They host this event every fall.  It was free (always a bonus), and we had a great time.  There is a huge list of barns participating, but we only went to the 5 that were in Boone and Story County, nearest to us.

You could climb up in their haylofts. Kind of scary.

We drove all over- gravel roads, searching for the right address.  Then you would see it- across the field!

 This is Handsaker's barn in Story County near Fernald.  Very cool barn!

Erin's favorite part of the whole day was feeding those pigs.



October

 





The girls and I went to Deal's Orchard by Jefferson on Sunday.



 

 



We went for a wagon ride..... beautiful Percherons

 









I tried to get them to put their ears up for the photo.  Typical mules.
I asked their owner what exactly they were, and he said, "Their mama
 was a Belgian mare, and their Daddy was a travelin' man."





 







There's something about an old oak tree.  Don't you think?



 

 

 



We didn't buy pumpkins at Deal's...... not when you
can buy them from our neighbor for $2!



 



Can you believe it?



 

 

I love gourds.



















 

I love October.



This guy was on the road on our way there.

 I tried to get him off the road by throwing a rock at him.

 He didn't even flinch, so I thought he was dead......

 until we came home a few minutes later and he was gone! 

So now that I know he was alive I wish I hadn't got so close.



This is what we did with some of our pumpkins and gourds. 
These days our house has more sparkles than Taylor Swift.







Secondhand Stuff

I like to buy things secondhand.  It is one small way of creating less waste, plus it saves our family a lot of money.  There are many ways to shop secondhand- craigslist, Ebay, consignment sales..... I prefer garage sales and thrift stores.  There are great deals to be found everywhere, but you have to know what you are looking for.  The main things I am scouting are children's clothes (including outerwear), and clothes and shoes for me.
I am going to make sharing my finds a regular feature on the blog.  Maybe it will inspire someone else to try thrifting!


These are some of my latest and greatest:

Erin loves this butterfly shirt... especially because it is sparkly!  I bought it at a garage sale for 25 cents.

 I like for my girls to wear nice clothes.  Don't we all?  Expensive clothing seems to wear better, wash better, last longer.  I just don't like to pay a lot! 

Katie's favorite color is green.  I found her this Guess shirt at Goodwill.

Never buy things from Goodwill that you could buy at Walmart or another discount store.  Children's clothes at our Goodwill are $1.99 per item.  You could have bought it new, on sale at Walmart for that price, so don't bother buying it used for that price.  However- a well-made item is a great deal, as long as it is in good shape.

Children's Place purple sweater.  I had a coupon for Goodwill (from the state fair), so this one and Katie's green shirt were only $1 each.

You're not going to score a great find, exactly what you need, or valuable antiques every time you go to a thrift store.  Personally, I think that about 85% of the things in those stores are junk (to me..... maybe a different 85% to the next person).  I shop often- just a quick scan through my favorite areas- but usually I don't buy anything.  It's just a matter of being there at the right time.  Like when I found these:

Naturalizer heels.... size 7 1/2 wide!

I bought these shoes 2 years ago at the Urbandale Goodwill.  They looked brand-new (I really wouldn't recommend buying used shoes unless they look new), and were exactly my size.  The last time I bought a pair of new heels, I paid $20 (on sale of course!) at Payless for real leather, wide widths.  I wore them to a wedding and by the time I walked into the reception I had to take them off they hurt so bad.  These lovely Naturalizers?  I have no idea how much they would have cost new, but I paid $3.59 for them.  Last week I wore them aaaaalllllll day (about 12 hours) and my feet were not sore.  I love them.

Good luck bargain hunting!  Post a comment about any of your great finds.