My Friend T.S.

Thrift stores have really become my friends.

(Can a store be one’s friend?  I guess if I declare a store to be my friend, then a store is indeed my friend.  End of discussion.)

As I was saying, thrift stores are my friends.

I mean, this story isn’t as impressive as the Frye Boot Discovery of 2012.  I don’t actually expect to top that story this year.  Maybe not even next year, but you never know.

But I did find some little treasures last week.

We’d like to bike a local trail near our house.  The majority of our children’s heads have no helmets to protect them.  (Remember Mosely’s bike incident last summer?)  But outfitting our many children’s melons properly would require a chunk of change – at least $100.  Which is why we bike on our meager driveway at home helmet-less.

So.  Back to my friend Thrift Store.

We’re all visiting the local thrift store – me and my six kiddos – and we are cruising the outside perimiter first.  (That’s how I like to roll.  Outside first for any surprises, then to the clothes in the middle.)

I’m scanning the old paintings for any treasures to reinvent in some other form when the kids get an eyeful of something exciting.

Bike helmets.  Four of them.  Like new.  Bell.  No scratches.  No marks.  No scuffs.  Reflectors.  Working snaps.

$3 for each one.

For less than the cost of one Target bike helmet, we purchased four helmets – which just so happened to perfectly match the desires and tastes of four of our children.  Some sea creature for Bergen.  (A scorpion.  A lobster.  I don’t know.  Yes, I know a scorpion is not a sea creature.  Okay?)  Plain blue for London.  Colorful cartoons for Piper and pink and purple sparkles for Mosely.

Oh – and – hilariously enough – I found a homemade pet bed for our front porch.

I think it’s comical.  I plan to paint it.  But here’s hoping its presence on the porch will alleviate our pets’ desires to sleep in non-sanctioned areas of the porch.

And again, back with T. Store . . .

In the clothes aisle we land a pair of Guess fitted jeans for Bergen.  Did you even know they made stylish jeans for a seven year old boy?  Of this fashion trend I was not aware.  I still don’t actually care about the trend – but no-holes jeans for $1?  I care very deeply about that.  And so does my friend Thrift S.  (We give each other nicknames, my friend and I.)

Riley found multiple brand name clothing of which she is rawther fond.

London found a pair of camo boy pants that fit her.  I wasn’t rejoicing over that  purchase, but I let her have them anyway.

Mosely received $1 Gap pants and Berg got $1 OshKosh athletic pants and a $1 cute sweatshirt/hoody thing-a-ma-jig.

I also ran across this sweet single Ikea curtain for $1.50.  If it features red predominantly, I probably want to own it.

 I guess you can say Thrifty and I speak the same language – that’s why we get along so well.

We like re-purposing things.  We like low costs.  We like great deals.  We like it when someone else out there pays the high first price tag and we’re happy to pay the lower second price tag.

I wonder if Thrift is available this Friday night.  I should see what he’s doing.