Finders Keepers #1

Hello everyone and welcome to a new series I've been wanting to create! I had so much fun writing about my Top 5 Thrifting Finds that I figured I would keep you all up to date with everything I come across! Therefore let me introduce Finders Keepers, a monthly (or weekly depending how often I find items) post of all my thrifted treasures! I'm super excited to finally get this post out, and just want to let you all know that the items shown here were all found between the end of December 2017 and January of this year. So let's get started!

The first item I want to show is this adorable Kate Spade cupcake tote bag! I actually came across 2 of these bags at the same time, priced at $10 each. They did not have their original KS tags on them but were in like new condition (and included a small green Kate Spade "Care Card") and I'm actually not sure if they were ever even used since they are in such great condition! There was not an ounce of wear or rips on them. Unfortunately though, Goodwill does mark the price of their purses with a Sharpie marker on the inside of liner. So after a quick google search and about 30 minutes later, I was able to remove the sharpie completely making these purses even better! We actually ended up selling one of the bags, and I kept the other for myself! I can't wait for the warmer weather to get here because this is definitely a Summer bag!



Next we have this triangular salt lamp, which I scored for only $4! I already own a natural salt lamp that Zachary bought me as a gift and I normally see them priced around $10-$20 (or more depending on the shape) since you can find salt lamps anywhere these days! But for $4 I couldn't pass it up, it's an absolute gorgeous piece and I love it on my shelf.



These next small figurines are some of my favorite finds! First, we have this Target exclusive Lightning McQueen Funko Pop! which unfortunately didn't come with the box but it's an exclusive Pop! so I had to pick up. I can't remember the exact price but I think I paid $4. Normally these go for $10-$12 retail, so regardless of the missing box it was still a good deal! Second, we have a Olaf figure from the Disney Traditions by Jim Shore and it was only $1! I am obsessed with the Disney Traditions by Jim Shore, and my love for these pieces all started when I found a Princess Aurora one at a Flea Market. These Disney figurines are so unique, beautiful and really bring my bookshelves to life! So when I found Olaf (brand new still with the tags on!!!) I literally jumped for joy. Lastly, a Harry Potter snow globe, which is a little broken but it was only $2 and it's Harry Potter... I really can't say no to any HP merchandise. If you look closely you can see that Hermione's wand is broken off but it's an easy fix! I plan to buy some wire and brown clay to make her wand myself. It obviously won't be as good as the original but it'll be good enough for me!



Let the HP merchandise continue, I also found a brand new Hogwarts mug still in the package for $3!



Lastly, would it be a thrifting trip if I didn't look for books? Nope, definitely not. These are all the books, including some brand new coloring books, that I bought all priced $2 or less! My favorite thing about Goodwill is that I find newly released books all.the.time! Therefore I cannot stop looking for them, and after seeing the books I found, can you blame me? I really need to start reading some of these soon :)



So again, these were all the things I thrifted at Goodwill in December and January! I hope you all enjoyed my first Finders Keepers post! If there is anything else you'd like to read or know about my thrifting adventures please let me know in the comments! I'm already working on my February finds since February is already almost over, seriously where is the time going?! Make sure to keep an eye out for that post soon! Thank you for reading, take care!

Top 5 Thrifting Finds

As you may have already read my Top 5 *50 off* Thrifting Finds post I decided to share my all around Top 5 Thrifting Finds! Now these finds are not limited to strictly Goodwill like my other post was. These are my absolute favorite, once in a lifetime, never will forget top 5 thrifting items I've gotten throughout the past 4 years! Whether it be from a tag sale, flea market, Savers, Goodwill or just a local thrift store, here are my Top 5 favorite thrifting finds!

5. Chicago Roller Skates, $20 ($19 after my 5% discount!) Soooo can we talk about nostalgia? Because these actually scream it. I used to roller blade almost everyday when I was younger, though I wasn't very good at it. Regardless, I was dying to find a pair of retro skates to remember my childhood and I've actually seen them making a comeback. Now, these are much more easier to skate in than blades and since my clumsiness hasn't gotten any better over the years, when I came across these BRAND NEW skates they had my name written all over them. I haven't skated with them yet but I will be come Spring!



4. Sleeping Beauty snow globe and Princess Aurora "Jim Shore" figurine. These were found over the summer and the snow globe was the first Sleeping Beauty item I've ever found thrifting and in perfect shape nonetheless! No bubbles or discoloration in the water, no chips or breaks in the ceramic. I couldn't put it down once it was in my hands so I knew it was coming home with me! The Princess Aurora figurine was found at our local monthly flea market, right up the street from our house. I've seen these hand crafted Disney figurines by Jim Shore before and knew I wanted one for my collection so for $2 I immediately said "I'll take it"! I love every Disney Princess so the more merchandise the better! Since this Princess Aurora Jim Shore piece I've added a Belle and Elsa one to my collection as well. I'm now asking for more of these as Christmas gifts because they are so beautiful and I love seeing them on my bookcase shelves!



3. Olive Green Rain Jacket, the story behind this still amazes me to this day. So as I talked about in my Thrifting Tips post, Target donates their clearance items to Goodwill. Now obviously I still actually go to Target every chance I can because their stuff is amazing, but one day I decided to try on this super cute rain jacket and it fit perfectly. The length fell at just the right spot on my hips, I had room to move around and layer clothes so I fell in love... until I saw that price sticker, $39.99! Sometimes I just cannot fathom spending retail so I had to put this jacket back on the hanger and walk away. But don't get your hopes up yet because about 3 weeks later I FOUND THE SAME JACKET AT GOODWILL IN MY SIZE... FOR ONLY $6!!! YES $6!!! My heart dropped, I was ecstatic, I grabbed that jacket and literally ran to Zachary to show him (He was standing right next to me at Target and knew how much I loved it) and we both couldn't believe it. I wore that jacket so much last year that I already have a hole in the arm, but I sewed it up so it's ready for Fall and Winter! I just can't let it go yet! Here's a photo of Zachary and I Christmas Tree shopping last year, I'm wearing the coat!



2. Harry Potter Collector's Edition Books. 2 of these books were bought at the same time and the other was actually found in Pennsylvania while on our way to a mini weekend vacation, but since they are all Harry Potter related I included them as one awesome find. I came across the Harry Potter Film Screen for $10 at a thrift store in Pennsylvania! I was hesitant to get it because there is a rip on the spine but deep down I knew this was a one in a million find (and if I did end up coming across another having 2 isn't a big deal right?). Zach convinced me to buy it and I'm so happy I did. I held that book like a baby walking out of Goodwill that day and now when I see it on my shelf I not only remember the deal I got, but also the fun weekend vacation we had. The other 2 books were found at one of our local stores, and Zach actually grabbed these for me. He walked by the book section right as an employee was putting these on the shelf. They were only available for about 30 seconds before they were in his hands. Want to know the price? They were $2 each! How incredible is that?!



1. What could my top thrifting find be? It couldn't possibly be a book could it? Yup, it definitely is a book! Here we have The Wrath & the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh. Now every single one of the books I've thrifted should be on this list but to keep matters short I narrowed it down to my all time, absolute favorite book. I actually read this first on my kindle when it was on sale for $1.99 and immediately fell in love on the first page. The story has so much depth with an intense plot, interesting characters and it was so hard to put down. I recommend it to everyone and my review for it can be found here! However, since I had a Ebook my heart was set on finding a hardcover copy for my collection, and the day eventually came when I found it in perfect condition sitting on the shelf of a Goodwill for only $2! I left with the biggest smile on my face that day and it still remains just thinking about this book. A few months later I found the paperback copy at a different GW for $1! You better believe I snatched it up quick, because I obviously need more than 1 edition of my favorite.



So there's my Top 5 favorite finds! It was so hard for me to choose only 5 because we find so many awesome things a week! I actually had to rewrite this original post because my Top 5 changed. With that being said I decided to start a weekly blog post of everything I thrift each week, launching within the month or so. The days I post will vary because sometimes we come home empty handed, but right now I plan to get one out every Friday! I'm looking forward to writing these and this way I won't have to think of my top favorite finds because I'll be sharing them as I find them! So please stay tuned for these upcoming posts! Thank you and take care!

Top 5 *50% Off* Thrifting Finds

As I mentioned in my Thrifting Tips post, every week Goodwill has a "color of the week" sale. The 4 colors that rotate are red, yellow, green and blue. After 3 weeks certain colored items are marked down to help sell and make way for new merchandise. That means these items have been sitting in Goodwill for over 3 weeks just waiting to be found... 3 weeks!! That may not seem like a long time but with avid thrift shoppers like Zachary and I who constantly look for the best deals, it can be hard to find that must have item at 50% off. However, once and a while I get lucky so here are my Top 5 50% off Thrifting Finds found at Goodwill!



5. Wall-e Blu-ray movie - Originally $6, bought for $3. Zach and I are huge Blu-ray collectors, we own over 200+ Blu-rays and most are courtesy of thrifting. Many of our movies are Disney because...DISNEY, need I say more? $3-5 for Blu-rays are our happy number, which means we don't normally like spending any more than that unless it's a new release we absolutely must have. Most Goodwill's price Blu-rays $5 or less but sometimes they get greedy. We've seen them priced at $15 before while the same movie is at Walmart for $5! So when I saw Wall-e priced at $6 my heart sank a little. Do I spend the extra $1 over "happy price" or just walk away? Well, I decided to walk away and every time I walked into that GW for the next 3 weeks Wall-e stared me in the face. Once it was priced down I grabbed it before anyone else could!



4. Black booties - Originally $15, bought for $7.50. Scored these super cute brand new booties at a Goodwill that was closing down! This deal is actually an exception to the weekly 50% off because this was found when the entire store was on sale! As a promotion to try and sell merchandise before their move to a new store built up the street, my local GW had everything discounted at 50% off! Pickings were slim so I was pretty excited to get these in my size!



3. Harry Potter tank top - Originally $4, bought for $2. Hufflepuff pride here! Anything HP draws my attention regardless of what it is, so this tank top immediately caught my eye and once I saw it was marked down I went right to the checkout! Layer it with a cardigan, leggings and sneakers and I have a new thrifting Fall outfit!



2. Holding up the Universe by Jennifer Niven ARC - Originally $1, bought for 50 cents. This book by Jennifer Niven was released in October 2016 but I actually found this ARC (Advance Reader's Copy) in July of 2016! So it was a special surprise to have this book before release date! I didn't end up reading it until June of this year though. Jennifer Niven is a favorite author of mine, her book All the Bright Places was one of the most beautiful books I've ever read. It's a definite must read so I recommend both of these books to anyone who loves YA contemporaries!



1. 3 Batman statues - Originally $113, bought for $53.50. So this find is for Zach and since we found these Batman related items all at once I am counting it as one. Now when we go thrifting we have our usual weekly spots but there are quite a few stores about 1 hour away from us, in each direction, so once in a while we'll pick a different town to go and take the drive. This was our 2nd time at this particular Goodwill and it was a Sunday, a new week, therefore a new 50% off tag color. Almost immediately upon walking in we both notice these huge Batman statues above the glass case. Zach was on a Batman statue kick at the time so he was bouncing off the walls with excitement... and then we realized the color of the week matched the price stickers on these statues! Total they were supposed to run us $113 but with 50% off (PLUS the additional 5% off since we spent more than $20 and used our GW membership perks) he only paid about $53.50! After some research we found that one of these statues alone sells for over $70! Now he can add these 3 to his collection for a great price! It was definitely worth it and we were so excited we chose that Sunday to go because these statues wouldn't have been there for much longer!

So that concludes my Top 5 50% off Thrifting Finds! Please follow my blog to stay updated with my posts as I'll be sharing my all time favorite Top 5 Thrifting Finds very soon! Thanks for reading, take care and happy hunting!

Thrifting Tips

Before I post more about my thrift store finds I want to share some helpful tips, that I've found work for me, in case you ever decide to check out your local thrift store! Which I highly recommend you do because it's extremely fun to see all the items people donate. Thrifting has brought countless times of nostalgia and has become a way of life for me these past 4 years. My boyfriend and I even map out thrift store while we go on vacation. We find the road trip to and from to be just as exciting as the actual vacation because of the flea markets we stop at! Thrifting is a great way to save and budget your money. People donate unwanted items to places like Goodwill, Savers, Salvation Army (depending on which state you live in these names may vary) and sell them for a reduced retail price. So therefore here are some tips on how to thrift, now please keep in mind that I've created these tips based off my personal experience so some may work for you and some may not. Nevertheless, enjoy!

Tip #1: Go thrifting as often as you can! Thrift store inventories change daily and you never know what people may have donated that day. I've noticed that Goodwill is very good about getting their donated items into the store as quickly as possible. So if you go a few days a week you'll be able to notice items that you've already seen and spot the newer items quickly. Also it doesn't matter what time of day you go because people are constantly bringing their donations to thrift stores. We've tend to stick to mornings but also enjoy going in the afternoon, new items are always being brought out so go whenever you have time!

Tip #2: *Applies for Goodwill only* Look for Target items! Ask your Goodwill if Target has a donation drop off day and when it is, but make sure you ask because not every Goodwill will have this. There are many Goodwill's around me but we've only found 5 that receive clearance/returned Target items. But who doesn't love Target, right?! It's definitely my favorite day to shop at Goodwill! I've gotten brand new clothes, shoes, handbags, video games, books, household items, office supplies, heating units, makeup, candles and so much more! We normally spend hours at our Goodwill's "Target day" waiting for bins to come out. If your store does not know which day Target comes, just remember that all Target items should be priced with a white sticker, and are normally priced for half of what the item was on clearance! What a deal!!

Tip #3: Become familiar with the "Color of the Week". So unfortunately the color of the week does not apply to Target white sticker-ed items, however, the normal Goodwill price sticker colors are, red, yellow, green, and blue. All stickers with the "color of the week" are marked 50% off. This is a huge way to save money, especially on clothing. I normally only buy clothes if they are the color of the week (unless they are from Target). I've gotten jeans for $3, button up shirts for $2.50 and even boots for $7.50 all brand new, this way. We've also added numerous Blu-ray movies to our collection for $1.50 with the color of the week sale. There are usually many signs around each store that tell you what the color of the week is, but if you are unsure, just ask an employee!

Tip #4: Be aware of over pricing! I can't stress this enough, please, please, please do not think that just because you are buying something from a thrift store that it means you are getting a good price. Ebay has become a very handy app while I thrift to look up what certain items are really selling for. I've seen thrift store prices similar to ones on Ebay and sometimes more. There have been times where the store has print outs from Ebay showing us what the item is selling for and pricing theirs a few dollars less. Which yes, the lower price is obviously better but you still do not need to be spending $25-$45 on used clothes, jeans and shoes when you can drive to the mall and get them new and maybe cheaper. I've also come across movies priced for double of what Walmart was selling them. This tip also includes the donated Target items because at times Goodwill prices merchandise for more than what it was on clearance, it doesn't happen often but still helps to be aware. So just be very cautious and don't be afraid to look online to see if you can get it cheaper elsewhere!

Tip #5: Take advantage of the membership card! This is just a little extra way to discount your entire purchase. Not every thrift store offers memberships but I know Goodwill and Savers does, and each has their own great perks. For instance at Goodwill if you spend more than $20 at any time you'll receive a 5% discount for being a member, and during your birthday month you'll receive 25% off a one time purchase! Savers sends you e-mails letting you know when member only sales are taking place and gives you 20% off your purchase the day of your birthday! Again, based off where you live these perks may be different so just ask when you sign up! Every penny counts while thrifting!

Tip #6: Look through the entire store before leaving! My boyfriend Zachary mainly thrifts for video games and movies while I thrift for books, now I can't begin to tell you how many times I've come across games and movies crammed in the book section, or sometimes even in the clothing sections. People may pick up an item, walk around with it, decide they no longer want it and drop it into the first spot they see. So keep your eyes open, especially if you are looking for a specific item or items. Don't give up hope, it just might not be placed in the section it should be!

I hope you enjoyed my thrifting tips! Please feel free to ask any questions, if I come up with any more tips I'll be sure to post them in the future! Take care and happy hunting!

Welcome!

Welcome everyone to my first official blog post and thank you for taking the time to read a little more about me! Hello, My name is Amanda, I'm 27 years old and live in Connecticut. I've thought about creating a blog for sometime now but wasn't exactly sure if it was for me. Just last year I started posting my book reviews on Goodreads and quickly began to love it. Now that I've been doing that for a while I've decided that I wanted to open up by own little space to talk about the many things I love, and not just books. So, I'll be updating my posts as often as possible ranging from a variety of topics, such as books, movies, TV shows, Funko Pops!, thrift store finds and more! My boyfriend, Zachary and I are huge thrift shoppers (we thrift about 5 times a week) so I'm definitely looking forward to sharing our finds along with some thrifting tips. We're also huge movie fans so I know that's a topic I'd love to discuss more of. I'm so excited for this new journey and hope you will stay along for the ride! I have my many ideas stewing in my mind for future posts so to stay updated I'd greatly appreciate if you subscribed to my blog! Thank you so so much again, and I'd love to hear any feedback you have for first time bloggers! Take care!