thrifted treasures

I just love a good thrifting trip.  I have had such good luck the last couple of trips that I thought I'd share some of my favorite finds.  There are two thrift stores (that I know of) here in Palmer, Family First Treasures and Bishops Attic.  I've found a few good thing at each place, and one of the things I love is that there is a lot to search through!  That's one of my favorite things about thrifting, spending an hour (or more...or much more) in the small, but packed stores, sorting through things that seem to have no value for a gem here and there.

I found this beautiful teal colored Fiesta mug at Family First Treasures for $0.50 - really?  I was so excited, especially because it is in perfect condition.  I also picked out two other mugs, a lovely deep, dark blue and another teal colored mug with a beautiful shape.

Then the most exciting find of all was the four glass insulators that I found on a high shelf near the cash register, a sort of a neglected spot that I barely spotted as I was about to leave.  Three of them are on the original wire still, and I can't wait to clean them up and put them on display.

I'd love to find a few blue or green versions as well, but for now I am very happy with these.  I love that they're so beautiful and have such a history, as well as a significance to our family since Steve is a lineman apprentice and will (hopefully) be in the trade for many years to come. We love our lineman and are thankful to him for working so hard!

All 4 Kids - a Review

All 4 Kids - Old Seward Highway

Out of all of the second hand clothing stores in Anchorage that I've reviewed, this store is unfortunately my least favorite.  The store is poorly merchandised, and has a little bit of an odd smell (probably from the previous tenant).  There aren't prices on most of the items, which can make browsing a little frustrating.  Many of the clothes are pretty outdated and well worn, and a lot of the toys just seem junky to me.

But on the positive side, the prices are definitely the lowest of any of the other stores, and there is a wonderful book selection.  Like the rest of the store, the book section is pretty poorly organized, but it is enjoyable to look through the wide selection.

I had a little luck finding some cute clothing items, but felt like I was very lucky.  Here are some of the items I found:

BabyGap sleeper
$2.50

BabyGap newborn pants
$2.00

Izod (?) overalls
$1.50

Value Village Purchases

I promised I would add some pictures of items I've purchased at Value Village and the prices I purchased them for.  I finally was able to go home and get the pictures off my computer, so now I will share them with you!

Splendid for Target one piece outfit
(Splendid is a designer brand usually sold at places like Nordstrom and boutiques.
Each season Target has a different designer design clothing for them)
$2.50

Oshkosh button up
$2.99

Gymboree overalls, brand new condition
$5.99

so cute - I love each series with the little stuffed animal in the pocket :)

Old Navy Sweater vest
$2.99

As you can see, if you look hard enough, there are always super cute, very affordable things to be found there!

Kid to Kid - a review

Kid to Kid - Anchorage location

Kid to Kid is probably my favorite used clothing store for children.  I love the way the store is organized, and I think their prices are the most reasonable in town.  New with this post are pictures of things I've found at Kid to Kid with accompanying prices (at the bottom of the post).

My favorite things:

1.  Organization & Layout:  The store is organized very well, and I always see the gals who work there scurrying around the store tidying up after messy shoppers.  A few areas I love that are easy to overlook:

• the onesie bin:  they have a big bin of onesies near the infant clothing full of boys and girls onesies for only 50 cents each.  I love this bin!  I always find good stuff in there, and it's a great resource since onesies get the most wear and tear of practically any item of baby clothing.  You can't find onesies in town for less than 50 cents each, so they win the prize for price here.  Lowest price I've seen at VV is 99 cents, same with Once Upon a Child.  
• the sock bin:  this is the first "area" I go to whenever I shop here.  Simply put, all the socks in the bin are four for 99 cents.  And let me tell you, they aren't dirty, stretched out old socks.  They are cute socks in all sizes!  Nearly all of the socks I've gotten for Riggs thus far are from the sock bin at Kid to Kid. 
• shoe wall:  The first couple of times I shopped at Kid to Kid, I managed to ignore the shoe wall.  I don't know how, I just never noticed it.  In my defense, it is sort of tucked into a back corner of the store.  I was missing out!  Nearly every time I've gone since I noticed the shoe wall, I find at least a pair of adorable barely used shoes (even for boys!).  

2.  Prices and Trade-in:  Like I mentioned before, the prices at Kid to Kid are very reasonable.  Most items are about $2.99 to $7.99 (this includes outfits).  They also give pretty good credit for items customers bring in, and are always very nice and honest about why they couldn't take certain items.  Plus they have a frequent shopper card - "Earn one stamp for every $10 spent.  Redeem the full card on your next visit for 20% off your entire purchase!"

3.  Technology:  One thing I especially love about Kid to Kid is their utilization of technology.  They have both an active webpage and a very active facebook page.  Their webpage gives up to date information about what items they could especially use in the store, and their facebook page is constantly being updated with new items they get in, and is also a great place for asking question since they are on so regularly.  

Problem areas:

1.  Stock:  Compared to Once Upon a Child, the selection of clothing at Kid to Kid can seem a little sparse.    For some of you, this might be a problem.  But for me, it just makes it that much easier and faster of a trip!  Their inventory is also moving much faster because of this, and so nearly every time I go I find a few things in each size that I like or would purchase.  But, if you are looking for a specific item, this might be a problem for you from time to time.  

2.  Size:  The size of the store is on the small size and can feel sort of cramped from time to time.  Luckily, they combat this issue by keeping everything very well organized and having no heaping piles of "stuff" all around the store.  But it can be frustrating if there are a lot of customers shopping, especially with kids. They do manage to squeeze an enclosed play area into the store, which makes shopping there even more convenient for moms with kids in tow.  

Here are pictures of items I've purchased at Kid to Kid and their prices:

from the sock bin at Kid to Kid - 4 for 99 cents

Smartwool, Baby Gap, Gymboree - all for about 25 cents each!

Smartwool booties for $5.99

dress outfit - size 6 - 12 months

shirt:  Children's Place $3.99

vest:  Baby Gap $2.99

pants:  Ralph Lauren $3.99

total:  $10.97

Value Village for Kids - a Review

I heard of a new second hand store for kids in Anchorage a few weeks ago that I hadn't been to yet.  I love shopping for a bargain - there is nothing like finding something completely adorable for a steal of a deal.  The store was a little out of the way, so I didn't want to waste my time going all the way over to the store if it wasn't going to be worth it.  I wished to myself that someone could tell me their experience with the store, but I didn't know anyone who had been there yet.

This thought gave me the idea to share my opinion and impressions of all of the second hand stores in Anchorage that I visit for kids stuff.  As I mentioned in my previous post, today I'll begin with a review of Value Village (the Dimond store).

Value Village - Dimond Location:

1. V.V. used to be my all time favorite second hand store for clothing.  I could always manage to scour through the racks and racks of clothes and find a few gems for under $5.  Lately however, I have been very disappointed with two major things about Value Village.  They have completely changed their organizational system in the infant and toddler section and to put it frankly, I can't stand it!  It used to be organized by size and gender.  You know, the usual newborn, 3 months, 6 months, ect, ect.  For some reason that is completely beyond me, they decided to "organize" it by type of clothing and very loosely by gender.  For example: pants, shorts, short sleeve shirts, long sleeve shirts, ect.  It is horrible and on top of it all, with the new organization system, it also seems like there is half the stock that their used to be.  So that is the first major issue I have with Value Village now.  
2. Second, their prices have gone up to nearly ridiculous levels for some things.  If you keep reading, you will get to reviews of Once Upon a Child and Kid to Kid which go more into detail about those stores, but one of my biggest problems with Once Upon a Child is price.  They seem to overprice their used clothing, but in their defense at least they offer clothing that is up to date, somewhat stylish, and (mostly) clean.  At Value Village, their prices are now rivaling and sometimes exceeding Once Upon a Child, and you have to dig through a lot of outdated and stained clothing to find the more trendy items.  The pricing is also obviously very dependent on the opinion of whatever worker happened to price it and therefore varies widely.  What I mean by this is that some days, I find a Disney themed pair of pants for $7.99 (not even joking) and a pair of barely used Baby Gap jeans for $3.99.  Or a Carters long sleeve onesie for $5.99 and a Gymboree long sleeve onesie for $2.99.  Now anyone who knows the original prices of these items knows that this is very skewed from the original value of the clothing.  It works out great for me, as I'm typically looking for "brand name" items from Baby Gap and Gymboree especially.  But I imagine it to be very frustrating to whoever wants those Disney character pants or Carters onesie.

Despite these issues, I know I will continue to shop at Value Village in the future, especially when I am in the mood to rummage.  Bottom Line:  If you like to shop at thrift stores and find a great deal, it is still a good place to look.  But if you are not into rummaging through less than worthy items to find your own gems, it might not be the place for you.  

Tiresome Tuesday...

Well I really shouldn't complain, I've actually managed to get almost everything done today that I wanted to. Invisalign appointment, Value Village, Costco, dog food made...

...it doesn't look the most appetizing, I know, but it's full of all the goodies my babies need! Poor Pepper is getting old, we have to pamper her. Also made some sugar cookies, did dishes and finished laundry, hopefully I'll get to some homework after I finish this post. But this cold that Steve and I have is extremely annoying...sneezing, runny nose, watery eyes...boo. I just want to feel normal! Throat Coat with a little honey is really the best thing when you're sick, Steven and I have been greedily drinking it down every evening.

Tonight I'm making a recipe from a friends food blog, Stuffed Shells and Sauce, and I can't wait to see how it turns out! It's nice when you decide you want to cook something new and after looking at the recipe realize that you have 98% of the ingredients already on your shelf! All we had to grab were the shells, so Steve and I picked them up last night along with some salad makings and ice cream at New Sagaya's last night.

I did manage to find some goodies at VV and I can look foreword to finding more on Monday, when they have their 50% off everything sale. With everything 50% off, you really can't go wrong! Here are a few of the prizes I've found in the last couple of visits...