Showing posts with label Volunteer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Volunteer. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Treasure Find Tuesday

It's about time! Last week I got back to work at the base thrift shop after two weeks of vacation. This Fossil watch came in for just $5! The watch has never been worn that I can tell. It even still has the plastic wrap on the glass. I looked it up online and it retails for about $65. Oh retail, how ridiculous you are.
I like that it is a "cuff" watch. This style works because...
it looks good on a man
and a woman.
Now that my schedule is getting busier it is going to be super helpful to have a watch. It is amazing how time flies when you are being productive. Have a WONDERFUL day.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Treasure Find Tuesday

Hello Friends! What a Tuesday indeed. Today I pulled double duty at the thrift shop because it was my week to provide lunch for all of the volunteers. You can imagine how nervous I was considering my cooking background. Chris was a HUGE help in preparing two homemade lasagnas on Monday night. I am a very lucky lady. Last minute I was invited to a theatre scholarship event downtown and literally ran out of the apartment saying "I love you please layer the last lasagna, put it in the oven, and make room in the fridge for both of them k bye!". No worries, I made sure to return with a butterfinger milkshake for the man (and one for me so I wouldn't eat all of his). Lunch is one of the best things about working at the base thrift shop. Every week someone cooks and it is ALWAYS a hot delicious homemade meal. It just so happens that I am the baby and everyone else is far more experienced. BAH! Happily lunch was a success. I got a lot of support from my fellow volunteers and even had some time to search the store for todays treasure finds.

A quick note about our "thrift shop"
We do consignments for military members... I don't really understand why they call it a thrift shop when it is a consignment shop, but no one has asked me for my opinion on the title. When you bring in items to consign (you are limited to sixteen a week), they are displayed for five weeks. On Monday of week six volunteers do a sweep of the shop and move all "expired" items to the welfare room where everything is discounted and ALL the money goes to charity rather than a portion to charity and the other to you the consigner. If you want you can also donate items which people often do if something has a stain on it or they just don't want to hassle with ... making money? I don't know why you wouldn't want to make a little on the side but to each his own. Donations immediately go to the welfare room. Sometimes it seems a bit complex, but it is actually an efficient system.

This morning I mentioned that todays post would include items found today. This added a little pressure because I don't like to buy things I can't use/don't need and you never know what will be there. Here is what came of it:


Magazines are by far one of my favorite items at the thrift shop. Someone out there donates rather than consigns their old Country Living Magazines each month which means they go straight to the welfare room. This means they are current, thirty cents, and all the money goes to charity and scholarships. Every now and then I pick up a Better Homes and Gardens or score a MARTHA, but Country Living is my favorite.

This shelf was a whopping fifty cents. I had my eye on an old ladder weeks ago, but alas someone else snatched it. I mentioned the ladder to Barb, a lovely lady I work with, two weeks ago. When I walked in this morning this ladder-looking display wall hanging was set aside for me. She felt bad that I didn't get the ladder and thought this could tide me over until I find another one. It was SO sweet of her to think of me I had to buy it ... any ideas on what I can do with it???
Now these I really did need. I have been looking for more practical cooling racks and for fifty cents these are perfect!

This three wick candle was originally fifteen dollars. I bought it for two. Now that it is in my home ... it kind of smells. No lie. I may be re-consigning this one. You Can't win them all.

This cast iron mold is my favorite find of the day.
I wanted to buy it last week.
I'm glad I resisted, so I can share it with you today.
It makes a beautiful home decoration and I am dying to see if heart shaped pancakes and cornbread work out! This was pricer than my other finds, but at 5. 25 it is still worth it. All together I spent about 9.98.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed!

Chris made me feel bad because I am posting this on Wednesday night, but I am going to label it as if I posted on Tuesday ... i'm a liar, but I was tired and had friends over for leftover lasagna last night and Treasure Find Wednesday isn't as catchy.


Tuesday, January 12, 2010

You Never Know What You Will Find

I could happily spend every day digging though thrift and consignment shops. A hobby I inherited from my parents. Department stores are just too easy and cookie cutter for me. I like the hunt for the perfect item (not to mention the price tag that usually go with them). I have had a dream lately of opening my own special finds shop. There are so many jewels hidden among the junk. I would love to be able to excavate them and make them available to others. I only have room for so much myself. I would probably have to have an online shop considering we are military and bound to be on the move ... which means I could store all of the items in my office and pretend for at least a little while that they are mine. Oh my goodness even if I could design rooms for other people using thrift shop finds I would be in seventh heaven. That should be a TV show (Its probably obvious that I am watching HGTV as I write this). Sigh. SO much love for these ideas - this isn't over.

For now I volunteer at the base thrift shop on Tuesdays and I LOVE it. I get to hang out with interesting people, do good, see crazy things, get great deals, and I get a homemade lunch for only $2. Delicious. Amazing.

The only downside is that I can never seem to leave empty handed ...
... and I always seem to walk out with a classic mason jar of buttons.