Goodwill Haul

So now that I have lots of Free Time (aka unemployed) I can actually go to Thrift Stores during the middle of the day. This is when the real finds are available. A couple of observations about Goodwill that I have gathered over the last couple weeks.

1. people will ram you with their shopping cart instead of using their words and saying "excuse me may I pass through". Every time it happens I am simply amazed.

2. When in doubt about an unique item, if its under $10 just buy it. You can always return it or donate it back if it doesn't work. Because if you think oh I will think about it and come back later... guaranty it is gone. If the item was good enough to give you pause at least 10 other people will want it that day too.

3. You know you have a good find when people start stalking your cart in Goodwill.

Which brings me to yesterday's haul. First of all i am helping my friend Stephanie with a decor project. She wants to make the entry wall of her house like this:

image via pinterest

So she has been on the hunt for empty gold frames. Or rather I have been hunting for her since I have the time to burn. (More on that project in other post if she lets me.) Here are the most recent frames I found for her wall:

Bonus 2 were already gold so only the one needed to be painted. They cost a total of $11. I also found this adorable little cross stitch for $1.

I am not sure where this well end up but see tip #2 above. I might give the frame to Steph for her chalk board wall, because it would make a great Tic Tac Toe grid for games at parties. Then reframe the cross stitch. Because cross stitch is HIP!

My third find was three 24x36 blank canvases, for $9 each. I grabbed them up because they would cost at least $20 each on sale at the art supply store and Stephanie (she has featured heavily in the post hasn't she) would probably take one off my hands and paint me up a gorgeous koi painting. I have a couple of her koi paintings already but I really want a large scale one.

In case anyone is reading this that I don't know personally here is one of her smaller koi paintings:

The minute I grabbed those canvases the Goodwillians descended upon me. One lady, who had bumped me with her cart earlier BTW, sidled up me and said "Good Find!! You better not leave your stuff unattended because I might swipe those." She was joking.... i hope. But I did take care to keep my stuff close at hand just in case. Seriously Goodwill shopping is cut throat. Another guy saw my cart full of canvases and asked where i got them. When I told him I grabbed them all he asked if he could have one of mine... which really is better than threatening to steal them. At this point I decided I better just go check out before I got jumped.