Thanks, it's thrifted!

a few of the treasures I've found among other peoples trash

The first memory I have of going shopping was also my first shoplifting experience (don’t clutch your pearls too hard—it’s the one and only time I ever shoplifted)! I was about five, and at a thrift store with my grandmother. She lived for a deal—yard sales, estate sales, thrift stores, antique shops, she frequented them all, often.¹

On that particular shopping trip, I found a cute little purse which she graciously agreed to buy for me. While she was busy scoping out the rest of the inventory, I tucked a few Hello Kitty accessories that had caught my eye inside the purse: a pencil sharpener, a mechanical pencil, a tiny ruler. No one but me realized the purse wasn’t empty when we checked out. Back at her house after our thrifting excursion, I pulled the accessories out of the purse and started playing with them.

I’m not sure if I even realized what I’d done was wrong, but as soon as she realized what had happened, I was quickly informed that it was in no way, shape, or form acceptable, and we’d be returning to the thrift store so I could return the items and apologize to the owner. Things are fuzzy from here—I can’t remember if I ended up handing over a quarter to buy the coveted Hello Kitty accessories, or if I left them at the store never to be seen again. But I got two things out of that experience: a healthy fear of shoplifting, and a realization that other peoples trash could be my treasure.

I’m not quite as avid a deal-seeker (or seller!) as my grandmother was,² but something about seeing a little glimmer of gold buried on a thrift store shelf is so very satisfying.

In college, I outfitted almost my entire room with some combination of thrift stores, antique stores, and random stuff people left on the curb when they were moving out of apartments.³

As a camp counselor, I found the best outfits for themed weeks at the thrift store. (I once had an amazing stone-washed denim cropped jacket with black sequin sleeves that was the best for 80’s themes, and I am sad to report that not only is this no longer anywhere to be found in my closet, I also cannot locate any pictures of me wearing it.)

This thrift store dress made a few appearances at camp dances. I believe this was 80’s week.

When the responsibilities of adulthood piled on (and online shopping became more and more a way of life), I gradually drifted away from trips to the thrift store. When my kids were small, an Amazon order delivered to my doorstep or a Target drive-up order made my life significantly easier; I didn’t think about what I was losing when I gained convenience.

Thrifted mini-cross stitch, elephant, and tiny tea set

But now that my kids are a little bit older and I’m more aware of the overconsumption epidemic, the environmental impacts,⁴ and the way things today aren’t made to last, I’m all in on thrifting whenever possible (though I cannot deny that the convenience of Amazon and Target still wins sometimes).

Left, thrifted skirt and earrings. Middle, thrifted dress. Right, thrifted sweater.

There’s nothing quite like strolling through the aisles of my favorite thrift store, uncovering unexpected wonders as I go. In our AI-driven, hyper-connected world, it’s a delight to be somewhere full of the unexpected, where I have to put it a little extra effort to find the good stuff.

How cute are these pumpkins ($1 each!)? The painting was marked half-off the day I grabbed it, so only $3! And those Lands End boots cost me $6 and were basically brand new!

I love that the things I find when I thrift tell a story. They require a little more work to get, and sometimes it takes a little imagination, a little vision to see their beauty. But more times than not, the things I find at the thrift store end up being some of my favorite things.

I love a good thrift store makeover - these were both blank pieces when I found them, and I spruced them up with a few coats of paint to make some seasonal decor!

I want to know—are you a thrifter, or do you prefer shopping new? Fellow thrifters, report to the comments and tell me about your all-time best find!

1. My dad and aunt used to tell stories about how, when they were on road trips, it was a whole family endeavor to try and distract my grandmother from seeing any thrift stores they might pass. They weren’t always successful, and my dad was eventually able to laugh about riding for hours squeezed in the back of a station wagon next to a butcher block that she couldn’t pass up.

2. Another favorite story my dad used to tell was about how, in high school, he’d be sleeping in on a Saturday morning and would wake up to strangers standing at the foot of the bed. “Get up, just sold the bed,” my grandmother would say, and the strangers would carry it right out of the house. At this point, he might relocate to the couch and turn on a football game, but the couch wasn’t safe either—more than one game was interrupted by, “Get up, just sold the couch!”

3. Several of those college finds are still going strong—the twin bed frame I picked out back then is now slept in by one of my children, and the cute two-drawer chippy yellow nightstand has since gotten a fresh coat of red paint, and now holds toys in our hallway.

4. If you haven’t watched Buy Now: The Shopping Conspiracy, it’s very enlightening (and horrifying).