Welcome back! Breathing a small sigh of relief over the initial jitters of my first blog post but man was it so worth it! Your support and sweet comments left me speechless and aglow. I danced a little jig in the kitchen, had a moment for Mom and here I am, right back at it.
So I spend a lot of time at my neighborhood Goodwill store. Most of the time, its me rolling up, unloading the latest rejects and driving on to the next errand. But every now and then I treat myself to a park it and peek inside because there is nothing better than the anticipation of the unknown when ones in the mood. Take yesterday for example. I ran in with the intention of finding old book pages for a “Happy Easter” sign I’m working on and found myself rushing from section to section cursing “why didn’t you just grab a cart Jen?”
This jacket instantly caught my eye just hanging there out in the open with all kinds of people around it. Are you kidding me?! I gave it the once over and read the tag…
I have no idea who Vertigo is but it looked quality and said Paris so its COMING home with me for $5.59! I think it will look stellar with the $5 tank my friend Sheri scored for me at Target, don’t you? A pair of jeans and some tan boots and I’m thinking hot damn how do I get back to Paris? Or dressed up over a nude dress and sparkly hand bag. We’re going to have a lot of fun together, Vertigo and me.
After I cruised through the “wares” secion and grabbed this great little decor rocking chair for my daughter’s dolls ($2.92) and plucked a hard-cover Martha Stewart book for $2.50 (because you can never have enough Martha) full of beautiful photographs, projects and ideas. She’ll come in handy for us come holiday time. I discovered a pair of cheetah leggings for my daughter at a mere $2.60. The rule of cheetah print applies in both fashion and home decor. It acts as a neutral and goes with everything!
Then it was onto shoes and probably my most favorite find of the day. Good-as-new Steve Madden heels that have vintage wannabe written all over them. How fun are these with a full skirt or peeking out under some jeans with a flouncy blouse? Every time I look at them I can’t help but sing Taste of Honey’s Boogie Oogie Oogie. Get down, do a twirl…
And lastly I wrapped her up with this nautical inspired skirt for $4.59 which will look smashing with another season of stripes this Summer.
Yesterday’s sweep got me thinking about all the finds I have around my house and all the other great reasons to shop Goodwill. Its good for your pocketbook, the local economy, the environment and most importantly the people that work there. Many are down on their luck or have a minor handicap but want to work so why not show your support? Have no shame and shop away because its a win win for everybody. The rush of finding a gem for a small fraction of the price far outweighs paying retail and buyer’s remorse.
“Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the streets. Fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.”
-Coco Chanel
The Goodwill is also a great place to repurpose frames vs. the high cost of custom. Just remember to take your print with you if you can. Its much more cost effective to purchase an unsavory looking print housed inside a decent frame into a frame shop and have them reassemble it all for you with a custom matte of your choice.
Take this first example. I purchased these vintage flash cards from a favorite little etsy shop of mine. I thought they would look great in a child’s bedroom or playroom and can you believe I actually found two frames perfect to fit them? I ripped out some old map pages for the background and voila, a pair of insta art.
I needed a square frame for my son’s first Kindergarten art project at school, which I found to be very impressive for a five-year-old (insert big smile from proud mom here). I think I paid two bucks for it. I lightly distressed the frame and used some vintage script paper I covet for the background. Feeling like a super Mom already!
I’m yet to accomplish the task with this frame I picked up for my daughter’s room. I’m a sucker for anything with vintage script on it (entire post on this soon to follow) and this grabbed my attention for $2.52. I’m going to cut out the center picture and replace it with some burlap and stencil “You Are My Sunshine” on it. I gave my daughter the middle name Sunshine as well and have yet to work it into her decor.
And I could dedicate an entire post to embellishing unsightly frames like my daughter and I did here with seashells. I squirted the glue, she sprinkled the shells we collected from Captiva Island and Mom’s feeling pretty super again! And she loves to tell everyone she made it…”I made this, I really did!”
And lastly some other great scores from my neighborhood Goodwill. A French inspired wicker side table. It was slightly damaged but nothing a piece of burlap and cut glass from the frame shop can’t hide. Want to take it one step further…stencil something special on the burlap, like a significant number, symbol or monogram.
You can still see the price, a whopping $3.23 I think.
These chairs from an older version of my dining room were probably my best score. They were a highly unpleasant aqua, teal, magenta fabric but I knew right away from the lines they were either Lee or Hickory Chair. My eye was right! At $42 a piece I could barely stand myself. I recovered them in a stripe fabric I found in Joanne’s under “suiting” fabrics which is a fraction of the cost of home upholstery and holds up well. So make a note to peek there when fabric shopping (and double bonus if you have a coupon). All the expense was in having them reupholstered but still 30 to 40 percent of what they would of cost retail.
But like most furniture in my home, its always on the move. I sold them in my antique booth I use to merchandise. I’m sure someday I’ll regret it but that’s the life and times of a designer, always changing, always rearranging. I know they went to a happy home and that’s always worth it.
And that concludes this post. I hope you have a very happy hump day and thanks for stopping by! I can’t WAIT to hear what you find at your neighborhood second-hand store. I just know it will bring you joy.
xoxo, Jennifer
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What an inspiration you are! xoxo