"Goals are dreams with deadlines" -- Diana Scharf

Monday, March 25, 2013

Thrift Store Scores: Seasonal Decor

We love decorating for the holidays.  Every year, we look forward to setting up the decorations while reminiscing about years past -- the year the Christmas tree feel down, the year the dog ate the Christmas roast, the year we accidentally dyed raw eggs.  I'm unsure which of those occurrences was the biggest "whoops."

When Mr. W. and I started dating, his parents invited me to spend Easter with them.  My family was 3,000 miles away, so I gratefully accepted.  Upon arriving at their house, one of the first things I noticed was that Easter decorations were everywhere: on the front door, on the back door, in the kitchen, in the dining room, and in the powder room.  It felt a little like walking into a Martha Stewart Living magazine.  As I would later learn, this approach to decorating would be repeated for every major and minor holiday.

After a few years, I casually asked Mr. W's mother how she had accumulated such an impressive collection of holiday décor.  She hesitated for a moment, then sheepishly answered, "the shop."  This was her term for the local thrift shop.  She pointed out which items had come from the thrift store and shared how much she had paid for them.  Each item had been less than $5, and many were $1-2.  I was amazed by her resourcefulness. 

Ever since then, I've scouted the local thrift stores for holiday décor.  Through a combination of thrift store finds, Target, and DIY projects, we've built our own small collection of spring décor.  And we spent just $15 on the whole kit and kaboodle.  That's something to get egg-cited about (sorry -- couldn't help myself).

Egg display with green candles: $3 from thrift store
(the chicks on the bottom level were $.50/each from Target)



Stuffed bunny: $.75 from thrift store


Eggs cups: $1/each at Target

DIY wreath: $6 for materials
 




Wooden bunny box: $1.99 from thrift store (I added "Hoppy Spring")
 
 
Do you enjoy decorating for the holidays?  What are your favorite items to buy from a thrift store?

4 comments:

  1. Thift stores are great! I buy most of my books from there as well as a range of other goods. I rarely buy clothes but I love their decorative stuff they have. I am not the holiday decorator type but If I was I would totally buy most of it from a thrift store. Someone is always getting rid of decorations. Garage sales are good for these items as well.

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    1. Buying books from the thrift store is a great idea, especially if you're trying out a new author/series/genre. I find that our thrift stores tend to end up with a lot of bestsellers, so I'm able to cross a lot of those off my list without spending a lot of dough.

      And thanks for the garage sale suggestion. I haven't been to too many, but I've been meaning to try them out.

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  2. I love decorating for holidays too, but come to think of it, I don't have anything for Easter! I also LOVE the little "hoppy spring" detail - so creative :)

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    1. I think that holiday is one of those things that makes a house feel more like a home. And that seems especially important while living in an apartment, since we're limited in what we can do with our unit.

      The "hoppy spring" lettering makes me smile. It's a little cheesy, but then again, so am I : )

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